Ch. 13
He helped her into the infirmary, which was by this time cleared of SG18. Only Siler was occupying the farthest bed, having shocked himself for the eight or ninth time that month. Janet was waiting for them, and as she exchanged sympathetic looks with Jack while helping Sam sit down on the side of a bed, Sam realized that Janet must have known all along that nothing was wrong with the Colonel's ankle. She had been the one doing the cast, after all. Her brain was too fuzzy with pain to properly lash out at Janet, however, and she finally lost the struggle to stay conscious as she felt herself being changed into a hospital gown.
When she came to, the first thing she recognized was the smell of the infirmary, closely followed by the beeping of the heart monitor she was hooked up to. She opened her eyes groggily and looked around.
Jack was sitting next to the bed, looking miserable. He met her eyes and recognized the look on her face. "I'll go," he said quietly, getting up and leaving. She noticed his cast was gone now, and he was walking normally again.
He had obviously told Janet she was awake, because the doctor soon hurried into the room, started checking all of her vitals, and recording them on her chart. "You've got a mild concussion and a broken ankle, Sam. Broken clean through. I've already set it."
She elevated the bed halfway so that Sam was half-sitting up. She looked down at her leg, which was in a cast identical to the Colonel's, and propped up on two pillows. After a brief neurological exam, Janet sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her friend.
"Ready to hear an explanation for all of this?" she asked gently. Sam nodded. She was too tired to be openly hostile towards anyone right now anyway. Best to get all of the information first and then let them have it once she was better.
"Apparently, Colonel O'Neill and Daniel were having a conversation before your vacations started, and they were discussing the fact that you always work through yours. Somehow, the idea that you would only take time off if you were injured and ordered to got turned into the idea of one of them being injured, and they came up with Colonel O'Neill breaking his ankle. According to Daniel, it started off as a joke, but then they decided to see if it would work. Which was how I found them in my infirmary early one morning trying to steal the supplies to make a cast. They filled me in on everything, begged for my help, and I couldn't say no. I wanted you to rest, and I figured this might be as good a suggestion as any. And I know you're angry now, Sam, and I don't blame you, but... it did sort of work, didn't it? I mean, before the accident this morning, you looked phenomenal. I haven't seen you so happy and relaxed since right after we started working here."
"So I'm just supposed to ignore the fact that all of that was based on a lie and be what? Grateful that my CO faked an injury to get me to sit around his house with him for two weeks?"
"Sam. He feels terrible. He told me he tried to tell you about the whole set-up last night, but you had fallen asleep already."
She snorted. "Yeah, right."
"That's just what he told me. Look... maybe there's another way to look at this."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, think about it. The man hates anything having to do with being sick or injured, and he voluntarily wore an itchy cast and walked around on crutches for two weeks for no reason. He also gave up a fishing trip on the off chance that this crazy plan would actually work a little bit. I'll never understand the way the two of you work, but can't you find that... endearing? Or something?"
"It doesn't change the fact that he lied..."
"Only because you would never have let yourself be around him for that long without a reason. How many times has he invited you places and you've turned him down? Instead of giving up and asking one of the MANY other women I'm sure would be thrilled to go out with him, he faked an injury and spent his vacation sitting on his couch so he could make sure you got some sleep. And whatever you say, or whatever you're trying to convince yourself is true right now, you know as well as I do that the only thing about the last two weeks that was a lie was the cast. Anything else that might have happened wasn't."
"Nothing happened, Jan," she said automatically.
"Maybe not in the world of normal people," Janet agreed casually.
Sam sighed and studied her hands.
"He's waiting outside. Want me to let him back in?"
"Okay."
Janet headed for the door, stopped, and turned back to her friend with a smile. "We've forgotten one important thing."
"What?" Sam asked.
"After what he just pulled, you can get away with anything now. He owes you big time."
Sam smiled. "That's true."
THE END.
He helped her into the infirmary, which was by this time cleared of SG18. Only Siler was occupying the farthest bed, having shocked himself for the eight or ninth time that month. Janet was waiting for them, and as she exchanged sympathetic looks with Jack while helping Sam sit down on the side of a bed, Sam realized that Janet must have known all along that nothing was wrong with the Colonel's ankle. She had been the one doing the cast, after all. Her brain was too fuzzy with pain to properly lash out at Janet, however, and she finally lost the struggle to stay conscious as she felt herself being changed into a hospital gown.
When she came to, the first thing she recognized was the smell of the infirmary, closely followed by the beeping of the heart monitor she was hooked up to. She opened her eyes groggily and looked around.
Jack was sitting next to the bed, looking miserable. He met her eyes and recognized the look on her face. "I'll go," he said quietly, getting up and leaving. She noticed his cast was gone now, and he was walking normally again.
He had obviously told Janet she was awake, because the doctor soon hurried into the room, started checking all of her vitals, and recording them on her chart. "You've got a mild concussion and a broken ankle, Sam. Broken clean through. I've already set it."
She elevated the bed halfway so that Sam was half-sitting up. She looked down at her leg, which was in a cast identical to the Colonel's, and propped up on two pillows. After a brief neurological exam, Janet sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her friend.
"Ready to hear an explanation for all of this?" she asked gently. Sam nodded. She was too tired to be openly hostile towards anyone right now anyway. Best to get all of the information first and then let them have it once she was better.
"Apparently, Colonel O'Neill and Daniel were having a conversation before your vacations started, and they were discussing the fact that you always work through yours. Somehow, the idea that you would only take time off if you were injured and ordered to got turned into the idea of one of them being injured, and they came up with Colonel O'Neill breaking his ankle. According to Daniel, it started off as a joke, but then they decided to see if it would work. Which was how I found them in my infirmary early one morning trying to steal the supplies to make a cast. They filled me in on everything, begged for my help, and I couldn't say no. I wanted you to rest, and I figured this might be as good a suggestion as any. And I know you're angry now, Sam, and I don't blame you, but... it did sort of work, didn't it? I mean, before the accident this morning, you looked phenomenal. I haven't seen you so happy and relaxed since right after we started working here."
"So I'm just supposed to ignore the fact that all of that was based on a lie and be what? Grateful that my CO faked an injury to get me to sit around his house with him for two weeks?"
"Sam. He feels terrible. He told me he tried to tell you about the whole set-up last night, but you had fallen asleep already."
She snorted. "Yeah, right."
"That's just what he told me. Look... maybe there's another way to look at this."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, think about it. The man hates anything having to do with being sick or injured, and he voluntarily wore an itchy cast and walked around on crutches for two weeks for no reason. He also gave up a fishing trip on the off chance that this crazy plan would actually work a little bit. I'll never understand the way the two of you work, but can't you find that... endearing? Or something?"
"It doesn't change the fact that he lied..."
"Only because you would never have let yourself be around him for that long without a reason. How many times has he invited you places and you've turned him down? Instead of giving up and asking one of the MANY other women I'm sure would be thrilled to go out with him, he faked an injury and spent his vacation sitting on his couch so he could make sure you got some sleep. And whatever you say, or whatever you're trying to convince yourself is true right now, you know as well as I do that the only thing about the last two weeks that was a lie was the cast. Anything else that might have happened wasn't."
"Nothing happened, Jan," she said automatically.
"Maybe not in the world of normal people," Janet agreed casually.
Sam sighed and studied her hands.
"He's waiting outside. Want me to let him back in?"
"Okay."
Janet headed for the door, stopped, and turned back to her friend with a smile. "We've forgotten one important thing."
"What?" Sam asked.
"After what he just pulled, you can get away with anything now. He owes you big time."
Sam smiled. "That's true."
THE END.