Chapter 22 – Life's Little Problems

Jack rushed into Sam's room, his heart pounding. Sam was twisting and turning in her bed, alternating between yelling out and whimpering softly. As he went to sit on the edge of her bed, he heard her clearly calling out, "Please, don't leave me! I'm right here! Don't go!"

"Sam! Sam, come on, wake up." He shook her shoulder as spoke to her, hoping to wake her from her nightmare.

Sam sat up with a start, her eyes wide with terror. Her breathing was labored, almost as if she had been running for miles. Jack put his hand on her back, slowly making circles in order to ease her tension and calm her down. "Hey," he said softly, "It's okay. You're safe. You just had a bad dream."

As Sam's gaze focused on him, her breathing slowed down and the look of abject terror in her eyes dissipated. She closed her eyes briefly, then hugged her knees to her body. Sam put her head on top of her knees, trying to dispel the images that had recently been playing themselves out in her dream.

Jack continued to rub her back, waiting for her to be ready to talk to him. Minutes passed when Sam finally looked up at him, her face a mixture of relief that the dream was over and embarrassment. "I'm sorry I woke you up, Jack. I don't usually have nightmares like that."

"Hey, it's no problem. You want to tell me about it?" He removed his hand and sat back to give her some room.

Sam looked across the room, thinking about the dream. "It was strange," she began quietly. "We were on some planet, running from a huge contingent of Jaffa. All of a sudden, I fell into this large hole; it was like a trap had been placed there. You, Daniel and Teal'c kept running. You didn't even notice I was gone. I was so small, that I couldn't climb out of the hole. The sides just kept growing taller and taller. I kept calling for you to come back, but you didn't hear me. You left me behind," she finished with a small gasp.

"Come on Sam, you know we would never leave you behind," Jack tried to reassure her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I know, at least not intentionally." Sam remained quiet for another minute. "If I don't change back though, you'll have to leave me behind here. I can't go off world like this and you can't wait forever for me to be normal again. Or for another 20 years, when I'd be able to rejoin a team," she thought depressingly.

"That's not going to happen Sam. I won't let it." Jack stated in an adamant tone.

"You can't know that for certain Jack. And I won't be responsible for holding the team back. Sooner or later, a decision is going to have to be made regarding my continuing on at the SGC. I'd rather be the one to make that decision. Maybe I should think about resigning or..." Jack didn't let he finish her sentence.

He took her chin in his hand and turned her head toward him. "You are not giving up, do you hear me Major? One bad dream is not going to cause you to stop believing that you will be back to normal soon. I have never seen you give up so easily, and I'm not about to start now!"

Sam sniffed as she desperately tried to hold her tears at bay. "It's just so hard sometimes! We don't seem to be any closer to an answer than we were a few days ago. And I feel so useless! Everyone is working so hard just for me and here I am, not doing much of anything except for fracturing my wrist and causing fights in back alleys!"

Jack chuckled softly at that. "You do have a knack for getting into some scrapes now and then! As for not making much progress, Daniel and Teal'c have uncovered a few more things about that damned triangle thingy. When we meet tomorrow, they'll go over everything with you. I'd tell you but, you know me when Daniel tries to explain something about his rocks." He gave her a crooked grin.

Sam smiled slightly at him. "Yeah, I do. You act much the same way when I try and explain scientific terms to you."

"There is that. So, no more of this negative talk then OK? Or do I have to make that an order?" he teased her.

"I'll try, but I won't make any promises."

"I guess that's good enough, for now anyway. You want to try and go back to sleep? I can stay in here for a while if you'd like," he offered.

"No, thanks. I'll be fine on my own now," she reassured him. As Jack got up to leave the room, Sam called out to him. "Jack?" When he turned around, she quietly said, "Thanks... for everything."

Jack smiled at her, "No problem. What are friends for?" Then he turned and left the room, leaving the hall light on, just in case.

Sam laid back against the pillows, deep in thought. Even though she had promised, she couldn't help but think about what she would do if she didn't get back to normal. She shivered at the thought of having to leave the SGC and her team. She'd probably have to go and live with some family...they wouldn't let her be on her own and she could never go and live with Mark. How would she explain all this? Maybe she would have to live with the Tok'ra for 15 years or so. That would be interesting.

Sighing, Sam rolled over onto her right side, cradling her left wrist. The images of being stuck in that deep hole would not leave her mind. She felt like that right now, stuck in a hole she had no way of getting out of. It was a long time before Sam fell back asleep and even then, it was a very restless sleep.

Jack grabbed the phone quickly as it rang out in the quiet morning. It was 0730. They were supposed to be at the SGC at 0800 but he didn't have the heart to wake Sam up; she had had a restless night and he wanted to let her sleep as long as possible. He had just been getting ready to call General Hammond and explain why they'd be late when the phone rang. "O'Neill," he stated into the phone as he walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey Danny. I was just about to call General Hammond. We're going to be in a little later than originally planned. No, she's fine. Just had a rough night and I thought I'd let her sleep in a little longer." After a pause while Daniel talked, Jack answered, "I suppose it could have had something to do with the sugar but I don't know for sure. I'll fill you in later. What's going on?" As Jack listened to Daniel explain some things, he made a mental note to just tell Sam to check in with Felger once they got to base. There was no way he'd remember all the mumbo jumbo Daniel was throwing at him right now. Something about chemical reactions and containment fields. He hoped to God it wasn't dangerous!

"Okay Daniel, I'll let Sam know and she can check in with Felger once we get there. What in God's name were they working on anyway? On second thought, don't tell me. I don't think I want to know. Is there any danger involved to the base? Not sure, huh? Okay. We'll see you in about an hour or so. Thanks for letting the General know that we'll be in a bit later Danny. Bye."

Jack hung up the phone, contemplating the little bit he understood about Felger's latest screw-up. They were pretty sure there wasn't any danger involved in the chemical leak, yet he still felt a bit apprehensive about sending Sam in there. She was their foremost scientific expert but she was rather vulnerable right now. Jack knew Sam wouldn't appreciate it, but he felt overly protective of her these past few days. He'd check things out with General Hammond, just to make sure the situation was safe. He knew the General wouldn't risk anything else happening to Sam either; no one on base would.

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Jack had just finished scrambling some eggs and, mixing up some orange juice when Sam came rushing down the stairs, a frantic look on her face. "Why didn't wake me up? We're going to be late!" she admonished him.

"Take it easy Sam, I talked to Daniel and he's going to let General Hammond know that we'll be a bit late. I thought you could use the extra sleep." He frowned as he noticed the dark smudges under her eyes. "You didn't sleep very well after I left, did you?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders as she ran her hand through her hair. "I'll be fine," was all she said as she walked into the kitchen and sat at the table. Jack gave her some eggs, toast, and juice and sat down across from her. He told her about the little problem Felger was having on base and that the scientist wanted her help once they got there. "I want us to check in with General Hammond first. We need to make sure that it's safe for you to go to Felger's lab."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Sam answered as she finished up her breakfast. "I'm going to take a quick shower...er, bath I guess," she amended, looking at the cast. "Can you help me wrap this up in plastic again?"

"Sure thing," Jack answered and got up to get another plastic bag and some ties. Once she was all set, Sam left to take her bath and get dressed while Jack cleaned up the kitchen. Before he headed up to his own room, Jack took her clothing out of the dryer and put it on her bed, smiling at the small items of clothing. He still couldn't get over the fact that his 2IC was a little kid; well, in a little kid's body, he reminded himself.

After taking his own shower and getting dressed, Jack met Sam in the hallway. "You all set?" he asked, taking in her freshly scrubbed face, jeans and t-shirt. Something was missing. "Don't you think you should put that sling on?" he pointed to her left arm.

"I really don't think I need it anymore. Plus I can do a lot more with it off."

"Like play pool?" he asked with a grin.

She smiled back, "Something like that."

"Well, I'd bring the sling along, just in case Dr. Frasier sees you. She might want you to still use it; it's only been three days since you broke your wrist."

"Fractured; it's just a fracture," she insisted. Still, Sam made her way back to her room to grab the sling, not bothering to put it on just yet. "I'll need my laptop too. Where did you hide it last night?"

"I didn't hide it, just put it somewhere safe. Hang on." Jack went back into his room and got her laptop. When Sam tried to take it from him, he switched it to his other hand. "I'll carry this, you get the door."

Sam had opened the door for him and they were both about to head outside when the phone rang again. "Oh crap, now what?" Jack asked. He put down her computer and returned to the phone, barking a not so pleasant, "Hello," into the receiver.

Sam went outside and waited on the front porch, breathing deeply of the cool morning air. It helped dispel some of the negative thoughts she still had from last night. If they were calling her to come in and help with something on base, maybe the administration wasn't going to be so quick to get rid of her, she thought. She was actually looking forward to helping Felger out, even though he was rather incompetent at times!

Sam turned when Jack came out onto the front porch. He stood in the open doorway, giving her the strangest look.

"What's wrong? Who was on the phone?" she asked, her heart beginning to hammer in her chest. Judging by his expression, something wasn't right!

"We're going to have to make a stop in the infirmary before you go anywhere else on base." Jack was trying to gather his thoughts before he told her the rest. At her look of concern, he tried to be as composed as possible. "That was Brian. It seems as if Chris came down with the chicken pox last night."

Neither one of them had to give voice to the thought that crossed both of their minds.