Imbroglio- Chapter 8
Huge thank you to Sarah and Paul for their medical acumen. Any mistakes herein are
mine alone!
//italics// are used to indicate host/symbiote discussion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last month on IMBROGLIO....
"Tha.." Suddenly Sam's hand fell from Jack's as her body arched upwards in the
throws of a seizure. Instantly Jack was at her side attempting to hold her shoulders
down as a nurse placed a gauze covered bit between her teeth.
Out of nowhere Jack heard Janet's frantic shout. "Get me a portable head CT NOW!"
And that's when he heard it.
The sound of a flat line.
And now Chapter 8:
Jack quickly stepped out of the way as the barrage of medical personnel surrounded
Sam.
"Give me 5 mg Epineprine stat!" Dr. Fraiser yelled as she quickly compartmentalized
the fact that Sam Carter, one of her best friends, was lying unmoving on the bed by
her side. "And charge the paddles to 200!" Not fully comprehending what he was
witnessing, Jack took another step backwards. First Daniel, now Sam- how the hell
had all this happened?!
Medication was added to her IV and an endless moment ensued while they waited to
see if anything would happen.
Nothing did. Sam's gown was opened and heart paddles placed on her chest.
"Clear!" Janet yelled as she activated the paddles causing her friend's chest to jerk
up off the table. In the corner Jack stood stock-still, listening and watching
everything that was happening.
"Still no rhythm Doctor." A nurse said somberly as they all continued to listen to the
EKG flatline.
"Dammit Sam, don't you do this to me." Janet whispered as she prepared to shock
her friend once again. Janet knew it wasn't standard procedure to shock someone
with no heart rhythm, but she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Charge to 300 and clear!" Janet yelled again as she applied the paddles for a second
time. Again Sam arched in the air, but this time the sounds changed as she fell
heavily back to the bed. Everyone in the room could hear the steady beep-beep of
normal cardiac rhythm.
"We have normal sinus rhythm. " A nurse said smiling.
"She's back." Janet whispered lowering the defibrillator paddles to her side. She took
a moment to watch as her friend's chest raised and lowered gently on it's own. That
had been way too close. Janet drew comfort from the steady beeping of the EKG and
hoped it continued until they got Sam into surgery. Surgery she needed to get into
*now*.
"Start her on Mannitol, 2* 66 grams per hour." Janet ordered calmer now that she
was back on stable medical ground. The diuretic drug would help alleviate the
intracranial pressure and would hopefully keep Sam stable until they could operate.
"And begin prepping Major Carter for surgery."
Janet scribbled a few more notes on Sam's chart and turned to the nurse closest to
her. "I also need someone to check on Dr. Warner and get an ETA on Daniel. Tell
him what's happening out here and see if he wants me to page Dr. Mitchell or if he'll
be able to evacuate this hemotoma himself." Janet knew she did a lot of good as the
SGC's primary doctor, but just this once she really wished she had more surgical
training.
"I'm going to scrub in on Dr. Jackson. Keep an eye on Major Carter and the moment
she regains consciousness; start her on 200 mg of carbamazapine. Call me
immediately if there are any further complications."
"Understood Doctor."
"Doc, what's going on?" Jack asked taking a step closer towards Sam now that the
immediate danger was over. He was clearly frustrated at his inability to help, or
understand what the hell had just happened. He needed to know what they were
doing to his 2IC and he needed to know now.
Janet sighed softly and contemplated how best to inform the Colonel of what was
going to happen next. Although she suspected the Colonel understood more than he
let on, he still preferred to receive the 'Just-the-facts-ma'am' version in plain English.
She could do that.
"Colonel, we need to get Sam into surgery." Jack opened up his mouth to object, or
at least suggest calling her dad but Janet held up a hand for silence. "Colonel, I know
you think we should call General Carter, but honestly Sir, there just isn't time."
"Why? What the hell is going on!?" Janet exhaled audibly and led a frustrated and
worried Colonel O'Neill away from Sam and into her office. Time was of the essence,
but she could spare a minute or two to put the Colonel at ease. Or at least make him
understand what they needed to do. Besides, the nurses needed room to prep their
patient, and she really didn't want Jack to witness exactly what needed to be done
prior to surgery.
"Sir, the blunt force to her head earlier today resulted in an unforeseen subdural
hemotoma. Basically Sir, just like bumping your head and getting a bruise on the
outside of your skull, it's possible to get one on the inside as well." Janet paused to
make sure Jack was still following. He nodded slightly urging her to continue.
"That bruise is nothing more than small micro tears of broken blood vessels. But
because it is inside the head, there just isn't a lot of room for it to expand. The
subdural hemotoma, the bruise inside her head, is now pressing down on Major
Carter's brain. This is probably what caused her drastic personality change and this
will rapidly become life threatening unless we can release the pressure."
"You're going to cut into Carter's head?!" Jack asked clearly appalled at the thought.
They can cut into his brain all they want, but they should leave Carter's the hell
alone.
"Not her brain Colonel." Janet said placing a hand on Jack's arm and trying to calm
him down. "We're not going to get that far Sir." Picking up a pencil and a piece of
paper, Janet attempted to draw a picture of the procedure. "This is your brain Sir,
and here is a thin layer of tough tissue that surrounds our brain. We call it the dura.
What Sam has is a subdural hemotoma; a bruise underneath the dura and pressing
down on her brain. What we're going to do is drill a small access hole into her skull
and basically make an incision through the dura, and into the hemotoma. We'll then
pierce the hemotoma and drain away the excess blood and fluid. The pressure on her
brain will disappear and Sam will be out of danger."
"What about the liquid stuff our brains float in?" Jack asked straining to remember
what he could about brains.
"CSF Colonel?" Jack just stared at Janet incomprehensively. "The cerebral spinal fluid
Sir." Janet explained. Jack nodded.
"We have CSF both here," Janet said pointing to an area between the skull and the
brain, "and here." She drew an arrow to a thin layer between the dura and the brain
itself. "We'll leave the CSF Colonel and just drain the hemotoma Sir." Seeing both
fear and concern on his face Janet tried to convince him that it really would be ok.
"Colonel, I know it might be hard to believe, but this procedure really isn't that
complicated. Don't get me wrong Sir, it *is* major surgery, but it isn't especially
difficult surgery. Both Dr. Warner and Dr. Mitchell are more than qualified to drain
the hemotoma without any real danger to Sam. But it needs to done now."
"There really isn't time to call Jacob?" Jack asked resigned to the fact that Carter was
going to need surgery regardless of who was here or who gave permission.
"No Sir, I'm afraid there isn't."
"O.k then." Jack said making up his mind. "Do it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Waiting sucks." Jack said aloud as he plopped himself into a hard plastic chair next
to Teal'c.
"I have observed O'Neill that you are not proficient at waiting." Teal'c said with his
eyes still closed from his light meditative state. "Unless you are in a military
situation." Teal'c added unnecessarily.
"Tell me something I don't know Teal'c." Jack murmured as he scrubbed a hand
across his tired face.
"I can tell you many things you do not know O'Neill." Teal'c replied as he opened his
eyes to study his weary friend.
"This has been a really rotten day Teal'c." Jack said with a heavy sigh placing his
head in his hands.
"We have had worse."
Jack gave a dry chuckle. "You've got me there 'T."
"Both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson are in capable hands."
"I know." Jack said quickly. And he did too. Dr. Warner was a good surgeon and
Daniel's life really wasn't in any real danger. Still, Jack felt guilty. Daniel wouldn't
have been in this mess if it weren't for him! And then there was Carter. Jack didn't
even want to go to the dark place that placed the blame for her condition firmly on
his shoulders. He never should have let her leave the infirmary. Never. Still, he knew
Janet wouldn't lie to him. If she said the procedure was relatively routine, than it
probably was. That didn't mean he had to like it though.
Jack was pulled out of his dark mood by the sounds of alarms going off.
"Unscheduled wormhole activation. Repeat unscheduled wormhole activation."
Jack looked at Teal'c expectantly. "I will wait here O'Neill." Teal'c said calmly as he
listened to the overhead speaker announce this was not a drill.
"Thanks Teal'c." Jack said standing up quickly and jogging down the hall.
This day was really starting to suck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Receiving IDC code now Sir." The technician said waiting for the scrambled code to
reveal the identity of the travelers en route. He looked up from his screen as the
code was revealed. "It's the Tok'ra Sirs"
"This day just keeps getting better and better." Jack mumbled audibly as he
accompanied the General down to the gate room. Together they waited at the foot of
the ramp for the traveler to appear and both were surprised to see Jacob Carter
emerge.
"Jacob?" Hammond asked guardedly as he took his friend's offered hand. "We didn't
expect to see you again so soon."
"Figured after helping to bring down Seth, you guys would be off doing," Jack paused
as he gave a little hand wave, "I dunno, other Tok'ra spy stuff."
"Tok'ra spy stuff Jack?" Jacob said with a laugh. "I can see why they made you a
Colonel."
"That's classified." Jack retorted. Jacob just shook his head.
"So what brings you to Earth Jacob?" Hammond asked as he began to escort his
friend out of the gate room. The sooner he got Jacob back to the briefing room the
better. He did not want to tell him of his daughter's condition in front of an audience.
"It was Selmak's idea actually." Jacob admitted as he looked around for his
daughter. "Where's Sam?" He knew his daughter was a workaholic and seeing as
Jack was currently on-world, that meant his Sammy must be as well.
Jacob immediately grew worried at hearing no immediate response from either
George or Jack. This time there was no hiding the concern in his voice, "George,
where's my daughter?"
"I'll fill you in on everything Jacob, let's just get inside, ok?"
Jacob stopped dead still and turned to his friend and his daughter's CO. "I'm not
going anywhere until you tell me what happened to Sam! God, George, if she's dead,
just tell me!" Jacob was having a hard time controlling his emotions and was
clamping down on hard on Selmak's offer to intervene.
"She's alive Jake." General Hammond said laying a hand warmly on his friend's
shoulder.
"We had a little trouble off-world Sir." Jack said wishing he could curl up under a
rock someplace. Thank god he didn't have to tell Jacob that he had gotten his
daughter killed.
"Cut the 'Sir' Jack." Jacob said tiredly as the emotional adrenaline began to ebb. "It
sounds like crap coming from you."
"Gee, thanks Jacob." Jack said lacking in any real sarcasm.
"Your daughter's in surgery Jacob, so why don't you come inside and we'll tell you
what happened."
"Surgery? What the hell happened? Is she going to be ok, right?" Jacob asked
needing to know all the details immediately.
"She's going to be fine Jacob." Hammond said ushering his friend into his office. Jack
followed and closed the door behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam is not going to be thrilled with the new haircut." Jacob whispered as he gazed
down upon his daughter. Her head was swathed in bandages and Jacob knew that
underneath was nothing but a small incision and pale smooth skin. Sam had been
moved into the SGC equivalent of Intensive Care about 20 minutes earlier and Jacob
cursed himself for not for not getting there sooner.
//You could not have known Jacob.//
//We could have healed her Selmak. We could have used the healing device and
prevented the surgery!//
//You heard the doctors Jacob, she is expected to make a full recovery.//
//She'll be bald for the next two months!//
//I did not take Samantha for a vain woman.//
//She's not Selmak, but that's not the point! My baby girl had brain surgery!//
//And survived Jacob. And survived.//
"The docs say she really will be ok Jacob." Jack whispered next to him. Although he
too was greatly concerned for Carter's well being, his concern was that of a friend
and commanding officer. Jack could only too easily imagine what it was like looking
at your child on a hospital bed.
"I know Jack." Jacob whispered giving his daughter's hand a small squeeze.
"I'm here for you Sammy."
Together the ex-General and Colonel walked out of one hospital room and into
another. Daniel was quietly talking with Teal'c at the far end of the nearly empty
infirmary.
"How's Sam?" Daniel asked anxiously struggling to sit up. He had been conscious for
over an hour now and was growing more and more frustrated at not being able to be
at his friend's side.
"Easy Daniel." Jack said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't want to rip
out any of those fancy knots the docs just put in." As promised, Daniel's surgery
went off without a hitch and no major organs were damaged (thankfully) in the
attack. Although he would be sore for a couple of weeks, Daniel was expected to
make a full recovery.
"Hell of a way for SG-1 to get downtime." Jack said shaking his head as he flopped
into yet another hard plastic chair. Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.
"Tell me again Jack, just why exactly you removed my daughter from an infirmary
and drove her half way across town?" Jacob said in a dangerously low voice as he sat
down next to Jack. Now that the immediate danger was over, Jacob was allowed to
feel angry. And Jack, being his daughter's commanding officer, would be on the
receiving end of that anger.
//Jacob, you heard that it was Samantha's idea.//
//Doesn't matter. Jack should have known better.//
"Jacob, you have every reason to be pissed at me."
"It *was* Sam's idea General Carter." Daniel added in Jack's defense.
"That's no reason." Both Jacob and Jack said at the same time. Daniel just rolled his
eyes as the two military men continued to stare at one another- one with malice and
one with guilt.
"You're right Jacob." Jack said looking up and meeting Jacob Carter's angry gaze. "I
never should have allowed Carter to leave the infirmary." He abruptly stood up and
started pacing. "It's just that she was so excited about this house Jacob! Between
alien bugs and kicking alien butt, Carter just hasn't been able to find the time to do
the things normal folks on this planet usually do!"
"Like buying a house." Jacob Carter said with a small nod.
"Exactly."
The two men faced each other in silence for a long moment before Jacob sighed. "It
isn't fully your fault Jack." Jacob reluctantly acquiesced. "I know how my daughter
can get when she sets her mind to something."
"Still, I should have been smarter than that Jacob." Jack said still not ready to fully
forgive himself.
"Yeah, you probably should." Jacob said nodding. "But Sammy is going to be ok, and
that's all that really matters, right?"
"Right!" Daniel said loudly from his bed. Ever the peacemaker, Daniel needed for
Jack and Jacob to stop fighting and just accept that Sam was going to be fine. Jacob
caved first and gave a wry chuckle as he flashed Daniel a small smile.
"So Jack," Jacob said taking a seat and motioning for Jack to do the same. "Tell me
about this house that Sammy wants..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: We're getting there kids! I promise not to hurt Sam and Daniel any more. I can
say the end is in near sight, but I can't tell you exactly how many chapters it will
take for me to find that sight! I do promise to post the next chapter in a timelier
manner; the imbroglio of medicalese is now over! Thanks again to Paul and Sarah for
all their help.
Huge thank you to Sarah and Paul for their medical acumen. Any mistakes herein are
mine alone!
//italics// are used to indicate host/symbiote discussion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last month on IMBROGLIO....
"Tha.." Suddenly Sam's hand fell from Jack's as her body arched upwards in the
throws of a seizure. Instantly Jack was at her side attempting to hold her shoulders
down as a nurse placed a gauze covered bit between her teeth.
Out of nowhere Jack heard Janet's frantic shout. "Get me a portable head CT NOW!"
And that's when he heard it.
The sound of a flat line.
And now Chapter 8:
Jack quickly stepped out of the way as the barrage of medical personnel surrounded
Sam.
"Give me 5 mg Epineprine stat!" Dr. Fraiser yelled as she quickly compartmentalized
the fact that Sam Carter, one of her best friends, was lying unmoving on the bed by
her side. "And charge the paddles to 200!" Not fully comprehending what he was
witnessing, Jack took another step backwards. First Daniel, now Sam- how the hell
had all this happened?!
Medication was added to her IV and an endless moment ensued while they waited to
see if anything would happen.
Nothing did. Sam's gown was opened and heart paddles placed on her chest.
"Clear!" Janet yelled as she activated the paddles causing her friend's chest to jerk
up off the table. In the corner Jack stood stock-still, listening and watching
everything that was happening.
"Still no rhythm Doctor." A nurse said somberly as they all continued to listen to the
EKG flatline.
"Dammit Sam, don't you do this to me." Janet whispered as she prepared to shock
her friend once again. Janet knew it wasn't standard procedure to shock someone
with no heart rhythm, but she couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
"Charge to 300 and clear!" Janet yelled again as she applied the paddles for a second
time. Again Sam arched in the air, but this time the sounds changed as she fell
heavily back to the bed. Everyone in the room could hear the steady beep-beep of
normal cardiac rhythm.
"We have normal sinus rhythm. " A nurse said smiling.
"She's back." Janet whispered lowering the defibrillator paddles to her side. She took
a moment to watch as her friend's chest raised and lowered gently on it's own. That
had been way too close. Janet drew comfort from the steady beeping of the EKG and
hoped it continued until they got Sam into surgery. Surgery she needed to get into
*now*.
"Start her on Mannitol, 2* 66 grams per hour." Janet ordered calmer now that she
was back on stable medical ground. The diuretic drug would help alleviate the
intracranial pressure and would hopefully keep Sam stable until they could operate.
"And begin prepping Major Carter for surgery."
Janet scribbled a few more notes on Sam's chart and turned to the nurse closest to
her. "I also need someone to check on Dr. Warner and get an ETA on Daniel. Tell
him what's happening out here and see if he wants me to page Dr. Mitchell or if he'll
be able to evacuate this hemotoma himself." Janet knew she did a lot of good as the
SGC's primary doctor, but just this once she really wished she had more surgical
training.
"I'm going to scrub in on Dr. Jackson. Keep an eye on Major Carter and the moment
she regains consciousness; start her on 200 mg of carbamazapine. Call me
immediately if there are any further complications."
"Understood Doctor."
"Doc, what's going on?" Jack asked taking a step closer towards Sam now that the
immediate danger was over. He was clearly frustrated at his inability to help, or
understand what the hell had just happened. He needed to know what they were
doing to his 2IC and he needed to know now.
Janet sighed softly and contemplated how best to inform the Colonel of what was
going to happen next. Although she suspected the Colonel understood more than he
let on, he still preferred to receive the 'Just-the-facts-ma'am' version in plain English.
She could do that.
"Colonel, we need to get Sam into surgery." Jack opened up his mouth to object, or
at least suggest calling her dad but Janet held up a hand for silence. "Colonel, I know
you think we should call General Carter, but honestly Sir, there just isn't time."
"Why? What the hell is going on!?" Janet exhaled audibly and led a frustrated and
worried Colonel O'Neill away from Sam and into her office. Time was of the essence,
but she could spare a minute or two to put the Colonel at ease. Or at least make him
understand what they needed to do. Besides, the nurses needed room to prep their
patient, and she really didn't want Jack to witness exactly what needed to be done
prior to surgery.
"Sir, the blunt force to her head earlier today resulted in an unforeseen subdural
hemotoma. Basically Sir, just like bumping your head and getting a bruise on the
outside of your skull, it's possible to get one on the inside as well." Janet paused to
make sure Jack was still following. He nodded slightly urging her to continue.
"That bruise is nothing more than small micro tears of broken blood vessels. But
because it is inside the head, there just isn't a lot of room for it to expand. The
subdural hemotoma, the bruise inside her head, is now pressing down on Major
Carter's brain. This is probably what caused her drastic personality change and this
will rapidly become life threatening unless we can release the pressure."
"You're going to cut into Carter's head?!" Jack asked clearly appalled at the thought.
They can cut into his brain all they want, but they should leave Carter's the hell
alone.
"Not her brain Colonel." Janet said placing a hand on Jack's arm and trying to calm
him down. "We're not going to get that far Sir." Picking up a pencil and a piece of
paper, Janet attempted to draw a picture of the procedure. "This is your brain Sir,
and here is a thin layer of tough tissue that surrounds our brain. We call it the dura.
What Sam has is a subdural hemotoma; a bruise underneath the dura and pressing
down on her brain. What we're going to do is drill a small access hole into her skull
and basically make an incision through the dura, and into the hemotoma. We'll then
pierce the hemotoma and drain away the excess blood and fluid. The pressure on her
brain will disappear and Sam will be out of danger."
"What about the liquid stuff our brains float in?" Jack asked straining to remember
what he could about brains.
"CSF Colonel?" Jack just stared at Janet incomprehensively. "The cerebral spinal fluid
Sir." Janet explained. Jack nodded.
"We have CSF both here," Janet said pointing to an area between the skull and the
brain, "and here." She drew an arrow to a thin layer between the dura and the brain
itself. "We'll leave the CSF Colonel and just drain the hemotoma Sir." Seeing both
fear and concern on his face Janet tried to convince him that it really would be ok.
"Colonel, I know it might be hard to believe, but this procedure really isn't that
complicated. Don't get me wrong Sir, it *is* major surgery, but it isn't especially
difficult surgery. Both Dr. Warner and Dr. Mitchell are more than qualified to drain
the hemotoma without any real danger to Sam. But it needs to done now."
"There really isn't time to call Jacob?" Jack asked resigned to the fact that Carter was
going to need surgery regardless of who was here or who gave permission.
"No Sir, I'm afraid there isn't."
"O.k then." Jack said making up his mind. "Do it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Waiting sucks." Jack said aloud as he plopped himself into a hard plastic chair next
to Teal'c.
"I have observed O'Neill that you are not proficient at waiting." Teal'c said with his
eyes still closed from his light meditative state. "Unless you are in a military
situation." Teal'c added unnecessarily.
"Tell me something I don't know Teal'c." Jack murmured as he scrubbed a hand
across his tired face.
"I can tell you many things you do not know O'Neill." Teal'c replied as he opened his
eyes to study his weary friend.
"This has been a really rotten day Teal'c." Jack said with a heavy sigh placing his
head in his hands.
"We have had worse."
Jack gave a dry chuckle. "You've got me there 'T."
"Both Major Carter and Daniel Jackson are in capable hands."
"I know." Jack said quickly. And he did too. Dr. Warner was a good surgeon and
Daniel's life really wasn't in any real danger. Still, Jack felt guilty. Daniel wouldn't
have been in this mess if it weren't for him! And then there was Carter. Jack didn't
even want to go to the dark place that placed the blame for her condition firmly on
his shoulders. He never should have let her leave the infirmary. Never. Still, he knew
Janet wouldn't lie to him. If she said the procedure was relatively routine, than it
probably was. That didn't mean he had to like it though.
Jack was pulled out of his dark mood by the sounds of alarms going off.
"Unscheduled wormhole activation. Repeat unscheduled wormhole activation."
Jack looked at Teal'c expectantly. "I will wait here O'Neill." Teal'c said calmly as he
listened to the overhead speaker announce this was not a drill.
"Thanks Teal'c." Jack said standing up quickly and jogging down the hall.
This day was really starting to suck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Receiving IDC code now Sir." The technician said waiting for the scrambled code to
reveal the identity of the travelers en route. He looked up from his screen as the
code was revealed. "It's the Tok'ra Sirs"
"This day just keeps getting better and better." Jack mumbled audibly as he
accompanied the General down to the gate room. Together they waited at the foot of
the ramp for the traveler to appear and both were surprised to see Jacob Carter
emerge.
"Jacob?" Hammond asked guardedly as he took his friend's offered hand. "We didn't
expect to see you again so soon."
"Figured after helping to bring down Seth, you guys would be off doing," Jack paused
as he gave a little hand wave, "I dunno, other Tok'ra spy stuff."
"Tok'ra spy stuff Jack?" Jacob said with a laugh. "I can see why they made you a
Colonel."
"That's classified." Jack retorted. Jacob just shook his head.
"So what brings you to Earth Jacob?" Hammond asked as he began to escort his
friend out of the gate room. The sooner he got Jacob back to the briefing room the
better. He did not want to tell him of his daughter's condition in front of an audience.
"It was Selmak's idea actually." Jacob admitted as he looked around for his
daughter. "Where's Sam?" He knew his daughter was a workaholic and seeing as
Jack was currently on-world, that meant his Sammy must be as well.
Jacob immediately grew worried at hearing no immediate response from either
George or Jack. This time there was no hiding the concern in his voice, "George,
where's my daughter?"
"I'll fill you in on everything Jacob, let's just get inside, ok?"
Jacob stopped dead still and turned to his friend and his daughter's CO. "I'm not
going anywhere until you tell me what happened to Sam! God, George, if she's dead,
just tell me!" Jacob was having a hard time controlling his emotions and was
clamping down on hard on Selmak's offer to intervene.
"She's alive Jake." General Hammond said laying a hand warmly on his friend's
shoulder.
"We had a little trouble off-world Sir." Jack said wishing he could curl up under a
rock someplace. Thank god he didn't have to tell Jacob that he had gotten his
daughter killed.
"Cut the 'Sir' Jack." Jacob said tiredly as the emotional adrenaline began to ebb. "It
sounds like crap coming from you."
"Gee, thanks Jacob." Jack said lacking in any real sarcasm.
"Your daughter's in surgery Jacob, so why don't you come inside and we'll tell you
what happened."
"Surgery? What the hell happened? Is she going to be ok, right?" Jacob asked
needing to know all the details immediately.
"She's going to be fine Jacob." Hammond said ushering his friend into his office. Jack
followed and closed the door behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sam is not going to be thrilled with the new haircut." Jacob whispered as he gazed
down upon his daughter. Her head was swathed in bandages and Jacob knew that
underneath was nothing but a small incision and pale smooth skin. Sam had been
moved into the SGC equivalent of Intensive Care about 20 minutes earlier and Jacob
cursed himself for not for not getting there sooner.
//You could not have known Jacob.//
//We could have healed her Selmak. We could have used the healing device and
prevented the surgery!//
//You heard the doctors Jacob, she is expected to make a full recovery.//
//She'll be bald for the next two months!//
//I did not take Samantha for a vain woman.//
//She's not Selmak, but that's not the point! My baby girl had brain surgery!//
//And survived Jacob. And survived.//
"The docs say she really will be ok Jacob." Jack whispered next to him. Although he
too was greatly concerned for Carter's well being, his concern was that of a friend
and commanding officer. Jack could only too easily imagine what it was like looking
at your child on a hospital bed.
"I know Jack." Jacob whispered giving his daughter's hand a small squeeze.
"I'm here for you Sammy."
Together the ex-General and Colonel walked out of one hospital room and into
another. Daniel was quietly talking with Teal'c at the far end of the nearly empty
infirmary.
"How's Sam?" Daniel asked anxiously struggling to sit up. He had been conscious for
over an hour now and was growing more and more frustrated at not being able to be
at his friend's side.
"Easy Daniel." Jack said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't want to rip
out any of those fancy knots the docs just put in." As promised, Daniel's surgery
went off without a hitch and no major organs were damaged (thankfully) in the
attack. Although he would be sore for a couple of weeks, Daniel was expected to
make a full recovery.
"Hell of a way for SG-1 to get downtime." Jack said shaking his head as he flopped
into yet another hard plastic chair. Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.
"Tell me again Jack, just why exactly you removed my daughter from an infirmary
and drove her half way across town?" Jacob said in a dangerously low voice as he sat
down next to Jack. Now that the immediate danger was over, Jacob was allowed to
feel angry. And Jack, being his daughter's commanding officer, would be on the
receiving end of that anger.
//Jacob, you heard that it was Samantha's idea.//
//Doesn't matter. Jack should have known better.//
"Jacob, you have every reason to be pissed at me."
"It *was* Sam's idea General Carter." Daniel added in Jack's defense.
"That's no reason." Both Jacob and Jack said at the same time. Daniel just rolled his
eyes as the two military men continued to stare at one another- one with malice and
one with guilt.
"You're right Jacob." Jack said looking up and meeting Jacob Carter's angry gaze. "I
never should have allowed Carter to leave the infirmary." He abruptly stood up and
started pacing. "It's just that she was so excited about this house Jacob! Between
alien bugs and kicking alien butt, Carter just hasn't been able to find the time to do
the things normal folks on this planet usually do!"
"Like buying a house." Jacob Carter said with a small nod.
"Exactly."
The two men faced each other in silence for a long moment before Jacob sighed. "It
isn't fully your fault Jack." Jacob reluctantly acquiesced. "I know how my daughter
can get when she sets her mind to something."
"Still, I should have been smarter than that Jacob." Jack said still not ready to fully
forgive himself.
"Yeah, you probably should." Jacob said nodding. "But Sammy is going to be ok, and
that's all that really matters, right?"
"Right!" Daniel said loudly from his bed. Ever the peacemaker, Daniel needed for
Jack and Jacob to stop fighting and just accept that Sam was going to be fine. Jacob
caved first and gave a wry chuckle as he flashed Daniel a small smile.
"So Jack," Jacob said taking a seat and motioning for Jack to do the same. "Tell me
about this house that Sammy wants..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: We're getting there kids! I promise not to hurt Sam and Daniel any more. I can
say the end is in near sight, but I can't tell you exactly how many chapters it will
take for me to find that sight! I do promise to post the next chapter in a timelier
manner; the imbroglio of medicalese is now over! Thanks again to Paul and Sarah for
all their help.