"How are they?" Jack blurted out as soon as Janet emerged from the OR.
"We removed the bullet from Major Carters shoulder blade, she'll be grounded for the next three to four weeks. I expect her to wake up with in the hour." Janet sighed and sat down. "Max is another story. She has severe road rash on her back, right arm, and the right side of her face. Her arm is broken in two places, and there's a tear on her left thigh that took thirty-seven stitches. But the worst part. . . "
"It gets worse!""Jack." Daniel growled.
"Yes I'm afraid it does." Janet opened the folder in front of her and spun it so the General could see the papers inside. "Her skull is fractured and there is a lot of swelling in her brain."
"Will she recover?" General Hammond asked as he looked over the papers in front of him.
"It's hard to say. If she was human I'd say it is very unlikely, but since we still know so little about her and her physiology, I'm not sure. But I wouldn't get your hopes up."
"Can we see them?" Daniel asked quietly.
"Yes. I've placed them in the same room. I'm hopping being around Major Carter will help." All four men stood and headed toward the infirmary. "Major Carter doesn't know yet. I'm not sure how she'll take it. I'm afraid she'll blame herself."
"It's not her fault and she knows it! NID. . ."
"Sir." Janet cut Jack off. "Sam's been teaching Max how to ride that bike. She and Max bought it for the sole purpose of fixing it up for Max so they could ride together."
"I'm sure everything will work out Doctor." General Hammond said.
The group nodded their silent agreement then followed Janet into the recovery room containing their friends. They both looked unnaturally pale. Sam's arm was secured in a sling and she was laying on her side, facing Max. Max was sporting a cast and several large bandages.
"I'd like for at least one of us to be here at all times, until we've had a chance to explain to Sam what's going on."
"That won't be a problem." General Hammond whispered. "SG-1 is on stand down until further notice."
A soft moan pulled the groups attention to Sam's bed. She was starting to come around and trying to lay on her back.
"Sam, I need you to open your eyes." Janet soothed while keeping her from flopping back and aggravating her injury.
"Hurts."
"I know. You were shot, do you remember?"
"Mmm. NID." Sam's eyes snapped open, her own pain forgotten. "Max!"
"She's here."
"She was hurt bad Janet." Sam tried to sit up.
"Yes she was. Sam you need to calm down." Janet waved a nurse over, silently requesting a sedative. "Max is here but we're not sure if she's going to pull through."
Sam struggled a little and looked questioningly at Janet. She saw the damage, she was worried about brain damage, that's why she wanted to get her back to base. "There's nothing you can do?"
"I did what I could. It's up to Max now and I'm sorry to say, but it doesn't look good." Sam closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Janet's nurse moved through the group of men and handed her the sedative. Janet smiled her thanks and turned back to Sam only to find her asleep. Checking the monitors she noted the decreased heart rate then turned to the guys "She's asleep."
"That's unusual." Jack quipped.
"But not unheard of, everyone out. Now that she knows what's going on there's no need for you guys to linger and I don't want anyone waking her up. Out." Janet practically pushed the men out of the room.
sgcsgcsgcsgcsgcsgc
Sam opened her eyes to the dimmed lights of the infirmary. 'Must've been out a while' she thought. From her position on her side she could clearly see Max's still form. Moving carefully to avoid pulling her stitches Sam sat up on her bed.
"Major Carter, you shouldn't be up." Nurse Volce appeared in front of Sam.
"I'm tired of lying on my side and it's not like I can roll over." The nurse gave her a skeptical look. "Could I get some water?"
"Sure. I'll be right back." Wisely Sam remained seated while the nurse left the room to retrieve a pitcher of water. When she returned she smiled upon seeing Sam hadn't moved. "Here you go. Do you need anything else? I need to finish restocking the supply room."
"No I'm fine."
"Okay." Volce turned to leave then stopped. "Oh and Major. I'll let you sit for a while but if you try and get out of that bed. . . Doctor Fraiser has authorized me to strap you down."
"Yes ma'am." Sam smiled. "When will Dr. Fraiser be returning?"
"She and the rest of SG-1 are in a meeting with the General. Why?"
"Ready to go home." Sam shrugged, wincing as her injured shoulder protested.
The nurse shook her head and walked away. Sam patiently waited until she was around the corner before shifting around on her bed. Carefully she reached over and deactivated the alarm on the bed. They guys go crazy trying to figure out how Janet always knows when they get out of bed. Sam had learned, through helping out in the infirmary, that the beds and most of the equipment were rigged with alarms. When weight was removed from the beds an alarm would sound in the nurses office informing them which bed had been vacated. There were similar alarms on the monitors if they weren't shut off properly. After turning off the bed's alarm Sam did the same to the monitors, she was about to remove the IV from her hand before she thought better of it. Instead she turned off the IV machine and disconnected the tubing from the needle in her hand. Janet was going to be pissed enough, Sam didn't want her inserting a new IV as well.
Clasping her gown in the back Sam snuck through the infirmary. When she came across a lab coat she stopped, removed her sling and slipped the jacket on, leaving the sling hanging on the hook in its place, and continued along to Janet's office. Once inside she left the lights off, she would only have one chance at this and if she got caught before she got her prize she'd be screwed. Moving over to the secured cabinets Sam started working the lock, between the darkness and being one handed it took her a wile to break into it. The click as it finally came open was followed by a whispered "Yes!" Sam scooped out the healing device, relocked the cabinet, and headed back, making a side trip to ensure nurse Volce was still in the supply room before returning to Max.
Max looked worse close up, she was hooked up to way too many machines, she was intubated and there were four bags of fluids hooked up to her IV, including blood. Sam sighed, the deep breath sending shots of pain down her arm. 'I should of kept that sling.' Sam thought, her arm and chest were killing her.
Slipping on the healing device Sam brought it up level with Max's head. To Sam's surprise the device lit right up. She was already tiring and the road rash had just began to recede from her face. It was taking too long, Sam was sweating and starting to sway on her feet. Max's eyes opened as Sam moved down to her back but Sam didn't notice.
Max was confused, she was hurting but the pain seemed to be backing away. Opening her eyes she saw Sam standing above her, there was a look of pure concentration and intense pain playing across her face. Max tried to talk but couldn't the pain in her back was now gone, and in her arm too. She tried to reach out to get Sam's attention but she had moved further down, working on her legs. Sam's eyes were starting to close, Max could see Sam was about to collapse but her body wouldn't cooperate.
"Sam!" Janet yelled across the infirmary startling Sam. The break in her concentration was her undoing. She glanced up at Janet before passing out and crashing to the floor.
"Damn it! Volce, Joe, Dom! I need you in here now!"
Janet rushed around the bed to Sam, she couldn't see how Sam had landed but she knew a drop like that onto concrete wouldn't' be good. Passing the bed she half noticed Max trying to sit up.
"Max don't move!" Janet barked as she dropped next to Sam checking for a pulse, finding it easily as her team rushed in. "Volce take care of Max, keep her in bed! Joe, Dom I need you here."
Sam had landed on her injured side, there was a small laceration on her temple from where her head hit the ground and there was blood seeping through the lab coat.
"Get her on the bed, I need to check her stitches then I want a CT."