"How's he doing?"

Sam looked up and saw that Daniel and Teal'c had joined her in O'Neill's room. She'd long since stopped bathing him with the damp towel, and had claimed the chair next to his bed that Janet had used when she'd been examining him. Her feet were tired from standing outside his room, and she was ready to get off them for a while.

"I'm fine..."

They all looked at Jack, who was lying still with his eyes closed. The faint lines of pain in his expression were the only indication that he wasn't asleep. Sam wondered how long he'd been awake.

Daniel smiled, but it was a worried smile and Sam wasn't fooled for a minute. He was just as worried as she was. Jack didn't look 'fine' at all.

"So much for hanging out at your house and watching the hockey game, huh?"

Jack scowled, and opened his eyes, giving the archeologist a sour look.

"Thanks for reminding me, Daniel."

"Sorry."

"Uh huh." He didn't look sorry.

"How long have you been awake?" Sam asked, resisting the urge to reach out and take his hand. Instead, she reached for the water glass once more and handed it over to him.

"I don't know..." O'Neill shook his head, waving away the water. He was thirsty, but he was tired of drinking water. It made him feel full, which in turn made him feel sick. "I'm not sure I was sleeping..."

Sam was.

"Janet says there was a sliver of some kind in your wrist and that's what's making you sick," Daniel said, coming over and standing on the other side of Jack's bed and looking down at him. "She's working on isolating something or the other so she can..." Daniel trailed off, and shrugged. "... fix you." He'd been paying attention, but sometimes he didn't understand Janet's medical jargon any more than Jack understood his archeological speak.

"Well... great... I can't wait to be... fixed..."

"Is there anything we can bring you to make you more comfortable, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked him. He'd been told that they wouldn't all be allowed to stay with Jack; he needed rest and wouldn't get that with the entire team clustered around his bed. Daniel and Teal'c had talked it out and decided to let Sam do all the visiting for them – except for this one visit. Carter was one of the few people Jack would respond to if he were supposed to be doing something – like taking medicine, or sleeping, or whatever. Daniel couldn't bully Jack into doing anything, and Sam sometimes could.

"Nah... I'm good..."

As good as you could be when you felt like shit, and you had tubes and wires attached to you, and machines beeping in your ear in time to your heart.

"We'd better go, then." Daniel said.

Jack normally would have at least pretended he wanted company. He did, after all, like Daniel and Teal'c, and he enjoyed spending time with them. Just then, though, he was really glad they were leaving. His throat hurt and he didn't want to have to make conversation any more than necessary. With only one person – and any one of them; Sam, Teal'c or Daniel – Jack wouldn't feel the need to talk, but with the group hovered over him and looking so concerned, he felt almost forced to reassure them, and the effort of trying to look like he wasn't feeling as bad as he really was feeling was telling. He was dragging.

"Come back anytime," he told them.

"When you're better..." Daniel frowned at just how raspy Jack's voice was, but he didn't comment on it. Obviously, Jack knew how it sounded, and he didn't need Daniel mothering him about it.

O'Neill watched as they left, and looked at Sam, who hadn't moved from her chair. She looked at him, wondering if he wanted her to leave him alone.

"Are you staying?" Jack asked, his eyes unreadable. Normally she'd know if he was teasing her or not just by looking at his eyes, which twinkled happily whenever he had an opportunity to tease. This time, though, they were the mirror to a very fevered and sick soul, and she couldn't read anything in them. She flushed, slightly, unsure of what he wanted, but sure of what she wanted.

"I don't have to... I-"

"If you don't have any plans..."

"I don't..."

"I wouldn't mind the company..."

"I could... stay... awhile." She stammered. "To keep you company."

Jack nodded, and leaned back into his pillows, closing his eyes once more. It hadn't escaped him that this was a little like the time they'd been sent accidentally to that ice cave in Antarctica. She was worried about him, he knew, and again there wasn't anything she could do for him, and here he was... trying to figure out a way to keep her from worrying about her. Nothing was coming to mind, though.

"At least I'm not freezing to death..." he murmured, softly, to himself.

"What?"

He opened his eyes, and shook his head.

"Nothing, Sam... I was just... thinking out loud..."

She gave him a worried look and reached out and pulled his blankets up a little, thinking that he'd said something about freezing.

"Are you cold?"

"No..." He caught her hand – he didn't want her covering him up, it was too hot for that – and gave it a light squeeze. "I'm fine, Sam..." he whispered, closing his eyes, and not releasing his grip on her. Whispering didn't hurt as much as talking. "I'll be fine... Don't worry, okay?"

"I'm not worried..."

Jack nodded. They both knew she wasn't being completely honest, but he'd never call her on it. He squeezed her hand once more, realized what he was doing, and released it. No matter how crappy he felt, he had no right to take advantage of her concern, and he knew it.

Sam sighed, and settled back in her chair, waiting to see if he wanted to talk, or if he was going to go back to sleep. He was asleep in only a few minutes.