Chapter 23 – A Small Scare
The ride to Cheyenne Mountain was made in relative silence. Both Jack and Sam were preoccupied with their own thoughts. Jack worried how this new setback would affect Sam. She had been pretty down last night and he wasn't sure how she would handle this new development.
For her part, Sam was desperately trying to rack her brain and remember how old she had been when she first had the chicken pox. Although she was known for her genius mind, when it came to remembering details from her childhood, she was woefully inadequate. She was fairly certain that she had had the chicken pox in her early elementary years; that would place it anywhere between the ages of 5 and 9. If it was after age 8, she knew enough about medical issues to know that her chances of contracting the childhood disease once again were quite high. She also knew that, if she got sick, she would be out of commission for at least one week; possibly more.
Jack's gaze traveled between the road in front of him to the rearview mirror and Sam in the backseat. He could tell that she was deep in thought and was loath to disturb her. Yet, he didn't want her wallowing in self doubts if indeed her thoughts had taken her there. He decided to speak up as they were quickly approaching their destination.
"All right Sam, whatcha thinking back there?"
Sam's eyes met his in the mirror, her slightly unfocused look confirming that she had been seriously contemplating the recent turn in events. "Excuse me?" she asked. She had not heard his original question.
He smiled slightly at her predictable behavior. "I said, what are you thinking about back there? And don't tell me nothing, because you were obviously deep in thought."
Sam frowned as she recalled her efforts to remember her past. "I was trying to remember when I had the chicken pox, to tell you the truth. I know I was somewhere between 5 and 9. I'm just hoping that it was closer to 5 years old than to 9!"
Jack nodded in response; he too hoped that she was younger than her current age when she first had the chicken pox. It would help her chances of having immunity against the disease. "Don't worry about it for now. Dr. Frasier will check your records once we get in."
Sam nodded, then leaned back against the seat, thinking once more of the ramifications of coming down with the chicken pox. Chicken pox! Of all the thing that could happen to her. And at her age!
Sam was sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary, waiting for Janet to return from checking her medical records. The doctor had been concerned when they arrived; not sure what side effects Sam might have if she contracted the childhood disease again. Since she was currently in a child's body, she might weather the disease just fine, unlike an adult, who had a greater chance of serious complications. There was also the added concern of her spreading the contagious disease among other visitors to the SGC. All personnel either had chicken pox as children or had the vaccination, but there were alien representatives occasionally in the complex, so Janet had placed Sam in an isolation unit for the time being.
Janet entered the room, clipboard in hand. She looked over at Sam, whose feet were once again swinging against the side of the bed, to Jack, who sat in a chair nearby. He was worriedly watching Sam but trying to look unconcerned. He didn't fool either one of them. "Well, you can stop looking so concerned Colonel, Sam should be immune from the chicken pox. According to her records, she had them when she was 6 years old. Sam, the chances of you contracting them again are very slim. To be on the safe side, I am going to run a blood test to make sure the virus isn't in your bloodstream. If everything looks okay, you'll be free to resume your duties."
Sam sighed in relief, "Thank God for that! I don't think I could go through another crisis at the moment!"
Jack stood up and patted her leg reassuringly. "I don't know Carter, you always act pretty calm and collected in a crisis as far as I'm concerned." He moved toward the door, "While you're waiting for the blood test results, I'm going to check in with General Hammond. If you get a clean bill of health Carter, I'll let you know if you need to attend to this situation of Felger's. Sit tight!"
"Yes sir," Sam answered. Not surprisingly, they had automatically reverted to military titles upon entering the base. Sam rolled up her sleeve and grimaced slightly as Janet stuck the needle into her arm. She'd been poked and prodded more in the last week than she had in the last few months!
"You stay here Sam. I'll have the results in 20 minutes or so." Janet took her sample and left the room.
"It's not like I can go anywhere," Sam mumbled in frustration. She sure hoped there was no sign of the virus in her blood. She wanted to get back to work; the sooner the better as far as she was concerned!
Thirty minutes later, Sam was given a clean bill of health and happily hopped off the bed she had been sitting on. There had been no traces of the virus in her system and Janet felt confident that it wouldn't show up later since, in her current state of being an eight year old, Sam had had the chicken pox just 2 years ago. Sam hadn't heard back from Jack yet, so was going to head to Daniel's lab before going to Felger's lab on level 18. "Thanks Janet!" she called as she made her way to the door.
"Hold on a minute Sam. What about this?" the doctor asked, holding up the unused sling.
"Come, on Janet, I really don't need that. My arm isn't tired at all and I need to be able to move it freely," Sam pleaded with her friend.
Janet narrowed her eyes in thought, then spoke up, "All right Sam. But if you feel the least bit of fatigue in your arm..."
"I'll put the sling back on. I promise!" Sam replied. She gave a quick wave to Janet then turned toward the door and out into the hall where she proceeded to run head first into her commanding officer's legs and fell backwards onto the floor. Looking up, she rubbed her head where it had made contact with his hip and gave him a glare.
Jack, looking surprised by both the encounter and Sam's annoyed look, held his hand out to help her up. "Sorry about that Carter. I didn't expect you to be on your way out. Good news I assume?"
"Yes sir," she answered as she got to her feet. "There's no trace of the Chicken Pox in my blood so I'm free to go. I was just going to see Daniel and then head down to Felger's lab."
Jack shook his head at her, "No need to see Felger. Whatever problem he had going on has been cleared up. Surprises me though. That guy can't do much of anything on his own!" Sam chuckled at his comment but felt she should at least try and defend her fellow scientist.
"He may be clumsy but he's really quite brilliant. All of his work is done behind the scenes; you just don't get to see all of his accomplishments."
"Yeah, well, just so he stays behind the scenes, that's all I care about! Anyway, seems like Felger's not the only one who's been asking for you. Apparently there's some minor problem with the gate. Siler's wondering if you can head to the gate room and give him a hand before you see Daniel."
"Sure," Sam smiled, happy to feel needed once again. "I'll head there right now. Thanks Sir."
"Hold on a minute Carter, you can't go down there dressed like that," he indicated her jeans and T-shirt. "Not official, you know!"
Sam looked down at her clothing. "I don't have anything else to change into Sir." Sam looked at him first in confusion, then puzzlement as she took in the twinkle in his eyes. "Ok, what are you up to? Sir," she added belatedly.
With a grin and a flourish, Jack took his left hand out from behind his back and held out a hanger containing what appeared to be a small SGC uniform, complete with green BDU's, a black shirt and a button-up green shirt. The outer shirt even had an SGC patch on it! "Here you are. A new uniform, compliments of Lt. Cooke from SG-8. Seems she can sew, along with all of her other talents!"
Sam took the uniform with a smile. "Did you put her up to this Sir?"
"Nope," Jack answered. "After she heard about your little problem, she took it upon herself to create a down-sized uniform for you. Of course, she did clear it with Hammond first and got your size requirements from the good doctor. Afraid you'll have to do without the boots though, no one could come up with any that small!"
Sam frowned at his comment before answering. "I'll have to thank the Lieutenant when I see her. This is great! Thanks for bringing it to me, Sir."
"You're welcome Carter. I'll just wait while you change, then bring you to the gate room so you can work your magic."
Sam looked up at him, considering her words carefully. She didn't want to seem ungrateful but... "Sir, I've been walking these halls for seven years now. Just because I'm currently in a kid's body, doesn't mean I can't make my way around the SGC on my own. If the General thinks I'm ready to help out with the gate and with chemical containment problems, I really think you ought to let me walk around by myself. I promise I won't get into any trouble!" She smiled at him to soften her words.
Jack thought briefly about what she said, then nodded his head. "You're right Carter. You are now on your own. Just see that you do stay out of trouble young lady. Otherwise you definitely won't get that pie tonight!" he teased, shaking his finger at her.
Sam laughed, "Geez, I forgot all about that! I should have had pie for breakfast! That would have gotten me going!"
"OIY!" Jack slapped his hand to his head. "Thank God for short term memory loss! I'd hate to put General Hammond through one of your sugar highs."
"Hey!" Sam playfully punched him on the arm as she passed him on her way to the women's locker room.
"Hey yourself! I can have you court-martialed for that – assaulting a superior officer!" Jack gave her a false stern look.
Sam laughed back at him, "I can see that going over well; court-martialing an eight year old!" she grinned cheekily at him. They shared a laugh, then parted ways, both of them in relatively good moods considering how the morning had started out.
A/N: Okay – no more Sam whumping...for now! I couldn't bear to give her the chicken pox on top of everything else that has happened, but had to offer the little teaser as it came into my mind and just wouldn't leave! Thanks so much for the reviews – I never expected this story to be over 20 chapters and garner over 200 reviews! I am thinking it will go another 4 chapters but you'll just have to wait and see!