Her eyes closed, and the sound of the TV through the door combined with the gentle light from the front window lulled her to sleep despite the cold and damp. At least she wasn't getting rained on anymore. She was home.
Chapter 62Colonel Jack O'Neill woke with a start, the early morning sun reaching in through the front window hitting him directly in the face. Something he wasn't used to since he had a room in the back of the house. The light generally didn't hit him unless it was full noon, an event that didn't occur on a regular basis. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa, TV on, the hockey game he'd been watching now an early morning news program.
Jack yawned, and stretched, his neck and back not thanking him much for the position he'd slept in. Jack peered at the clock on the VCR. 0630. He didn't need to be in until 0830, so plenty of time for checking the paper, having breakfast, and taking a long hot shower.
He adjusted his robe before opening the front door, ready to step outside when he noticed the pile of mud and dirt on the mat just in time to avoid stepping on it with his bare feet.
"What the?" Jack was just about to go back inside for a broom when he took a closer look at the "dirt."
Oh god. It couldn't be.
"Carter?" Jack crouched down and touched her. Cold, she was so cold. When she didn't respond, Jack shook her gently, panicking when she still showed no indication of consciousness. Frantically, he laid his hand over her ribs, surprised at her thinness.
Under his fingertips, he could feel just the faintest flutter of a rapid heartbeat and barely perceptible movement of her ribs as she breathed. Without caring who saw him in his boxers and t-shirt, he shucked off his robe, and wrapped Carter in it, alarmed at the way her head lolled lifelessly. Carefully, he gathered the entire bundle into his arms and carried her into the house, searching for his phone.
"C'mon Sam, don't you dare go dying on me. You made it all this way, you're home now, so don't even think about giving up on me now, or I swear I'll wring your neck! Dammit Carter, I'm ordering you to hang on." Jack continued to order, cajole, threaten and plead with her, refusing to put her down while he searched for the phone. Finding it at last, Jack cradled her gently, using the phone one handed.
"This is Colonel O'Neill, get me Hammond right now, and I don't care if he's on the red phone, you put him on right now or I'll personally see you are scrubbing out latrines for the next month." O'Neill barked at the unlucky airman who was unfortunate enough to answer the phone. While he waited, O'Neill found his pants and boots, and put Carter down long enough to pull them on.
Concerned that she still hadn't stirred and still seemed so cold, Jack quickly shrugged on his jacket, then, unwrapping the robe slightly, popped her inside, so that she was lying directly against his t-shirt, the robe covering her and the jacket zipped tightly over them both with just the tip of her nose sticking out. God she looked awful. Worriedly, Jack slipped a hand under the jacket, reassured at the tiny flutter of her heart, and the slight rise of her chest as she breathed.
Making a split second decision, Jack headed for his truck, phone cupped under his ear against his shoulder, grabbing his keys in one hand and the other gently cradling his precious cargo. He started up the truck and turned up the heat full blast, pulling out of the drive and off to the mountain.
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General Hammond stood at the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain Base, awaiting the arrival of Colonel O'Neill and the long missing Major Carter. O'Neill had been vague with the details on the phone, afraid that someone would be listening in. He'd only said that he had "her" and requested that a full medical team meet him at the front gate.
Captain Brunsfeld arrived, a lieutenant from the vet clinic accompanying him, and joined Dr. Janet Fraiser, who was waiting with a stretcher, medical equipment, and several other medical personnel. They didn't know what to expect, so had brought a lot of things with them. Teal'c stood behind all the various staff, hands clasped behind his back, an unreadable expression on his face. Dr. Jackson was notably absent, he'd gone home the night before, but Hammond had arranged for a message to be sent to the man, asking him to return to base urgently.
No one spoke as they waited, the silence and heightened awareness nearly palpable. Teal'c was the first to spot the Colonel's truck; two MP's escorting him through the checkpoints at Hammond's direct order. The leading MP pulled out of the way, allowing Jack to pull his truck right up to the waiting team. Not even shutting the trucks engine off, Jack leapt out, his jacket curiously bulky.
Hammond didn't have long to wonder about the jacket, as the Colonel unzipped it quickly, removing... something from inside and passing it over to the waiting medical personnel. If he hadn't known that Jack was bringing in Major Carter, he would have never recognized her.
Fraiser, Brunsfeld, and their teams swarmed around the tiny form, masking her from view. The brief glimpse he'd gotten revealed a scrawny, filthy animal that had looked nothing like the healthy well cared for cat that had been taken from his facility over two months ago.
As the medical staff whisked Major Carter away down the hall, Colonel O'Neill moved to follow, surprised when General Hammond held a restraining hand up, preventing him from going after them. Teal'c remained behind as well, looking at the two with interest.
"She's in their hands now son, you did your part in bringing her back. Now let them do their jobs." When O'Neill looked ready to protest, risking a charge of insubordination, General Hammond continued. "Look son, it will be a while before they can tell us anything. I suggest you go get showered, and changed. In fact, I insist. I can make it an order if I have to."
Jack looked down at his clothes in surprise. He hadn't paid much attention earlier, but his pants were hopelessly wrinkled, he'd probably grabbed them out of the linen basket. His t-shirt, an old soft comfortable one he usually only slept in, and not necessarily fit to wear in public, was filthy. He'd shoved his feet into his boots without socks and hadn't even bothered to tie up the laces, just tucking them inside the boots. He didn't even want to think about what his hair probably looked like. He hadn't bothered to shave, or even look in a mirror in his haste to get Carter to help. Fine example of an officer he was. But despite what he no doubt looked like, Jack really just wanted to be standing right outside the infirmary door, waiting for news on his second.
Watching the battle wage on the Colonel's face, Hammond's expression softened. "Look, Jack, I know you are worried about Major Carter, as we all are. But we can't do anything right now except get under foot. Now please, go take care of yourself."
"I will watch over Major Carter, O'Neill. I will alert you should any change in her condition occur." Silent until now, Teal'c finally spoke.
Jack caved in, Teal'c would keep his word, and General Hammond was right. Still, it would probably be the fastest shower he'd ever taken in his life. One of the MP's who'd escorted him in asked if he could park his truck, startling Jack. He passed the keys over gratefully. He'd forgotten that he'd left it right there in front of the entrance. Reluctantly, Jack headed to the showers.
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In less than ten minutes, Jack arrived outside the infirmary. True to his word, Teal'c stood by the door, awaiting any news. At Jack's look, Teal'c shook his head. So far, there had been no word.
General Hammond joined them a few minutes later, carrying a tray with three cups of coffee, one cup of juice, and an assortment of muffins and bagels. Teal'c inclined his head as he accepted the juice, and Jack took the coffee gratefully, forgoing the food for now. The reason for the fourth cup became evident as the final member of SG-1 came skidding around the corner. Hammond knew his foremost team very well.
"Whoa, hey, what's going on? General, your message said urgent, but it didn't say what it was about, they told me you were down here..." Daniel trailed off as he noticed the somber looks on everyone's faces.
The General chose to address Daniel. "Major Carter has been found."
"Well hey, that's good news, right?" Daniel searched their faces, worry growing.
"She's in a bad way Daniel." Jack said, not meeting his gaze.
"Wh-what? What do you mean? Can I see her? What happened?" Daniel tried to look past Teal'c into the infirmary, but all he could see was a hive of activity behind a pulled curtain.
General Hammond held up a hand to stop Daniel's barrage of questions. "Colonel O'Neill found her this morning. As to what happened, I have yet to hear the details myself." The last he said while looking pointedly at Colonel O'Neill.
Jack shuffled his feet, aware of all eyes turning towards him. "I'm sorry sir," said Jack addressing the General, "I really don't have much idea myself. All I know is that when I went to get the paper she was laying on my front step, out cold. God, she could have been there all night."
Daniel laid his hand on Jack's arm, and Teal'c moved to stand alongside him. Jack saw no blame on either of their faces, and took comfort in his friends presence.
General Hammond dropped a hand on his officer's shoulder. "You did the best thing you could son."
Jack glanced at the General, as he excused himself to attend to duties he'd left earlier. Left alone, SG-1 settled in to wait.
Wanting to break the sudden stifling silence, and change the subject, Jack tried to start a conversation.
"So, Teal'c. How's Thor?"
"Thor is doing well O'Neill." Teal'c clasped his hands behind his back and glanced into the infirmary. Obviously, Teal'c was feeling chatty.
Jack glanced at Daniel, who just shrugged helplessly. Jack sighed. It was going to be a long wait.
MeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowMore than an hour had passed, and the three men had settled into various poses of waiting. Teal'c remained standing by the door, Jack was sprawled across one bench idly playing with a yo-yo he'd found in his jacket pocket, and Daniel sat sideways on the other, legs bent up in front of him, a text he'd gone to retrieve resting against his knees. The coffee and juice had long since been emptied and a sizable dent made into the muffins and bagels the General had so thoughtfully brought. General Hammond himself had stopped by several times, and several officers and scientists had dropped by from time to time to inquire about the Major's condition.
Time passed slowly, minute by boring minute. The activity and equipment going in and out of the curtained area of the infirmary gradually slowed. Just as Jack was considering forcing his way in and demanding information, Janet appeared. All three of them stood up, waiting for news. Janet looked tired.
Janet looked at each of the men. "She's alive, and stable for now, but the next few hours will tell. She has a long road ahead of her."
Silence, as they digested her words. Daniel spoke first. "Do you mean, ah, that she might... uh...?" He didn't want to say it.
Janet had been expecting the question. "She's in critical condition Daniel. In addition to pneumonia, complicated by two cracked ribs and numerous bruises, she is malnourished, dehydrated, and was hypothermic when she came in. On top of that, she has a broken leg, that's at least a day old, and so are the cracked ribs. If she makes it through the night, odds are she'll make a full recovery, but it's going to be a long night. She's lucky that advances in veterinary medicine have come so far; some of it even rivals human medicine. Several years ago, an animal in Sam's condition would have just been put down. But thanks to recent changes, we have things to give her a fighting chance, almost as much a chance if she were human."
Daniel looked up startled at Janet's last words. "But... we can make her human. We figured out the machine. We can change her back..."
But Janet was shaking her head. "No, at this point, the shock of her traveling through the Stargate might just kill her. And if that didn't, the transformation likely will. No, we just have to do our best now with what we have, and hope."
"I want to see her." Jack had listened intently to everything Janet had said, but it wasn't the same. He wanted to see her. Jack wanted to touch her, reassure himself that she was there, that she was real. He felt Daniel and Teal'c move to either side. None of them wanted to take no for an answer.
Janet had been expecting this too. Normally, she'd only allow a single visitor, for a short period of time, to have access to such a critically ill patient. But this was SG-1, and they seemed to need each other, seemed to thrive in each other's presence. Sam needed them as much as they needed her.
Janet nodded, holding up a hand to keep them from entering the infirmary until she'd had her say. "I'm bending the rules this once, you can all stay, but you need to stay out of the way of the medical staff. And I want you to leave at anytime if I say so. Doctor's orders." Janet spoke in a tone that brokered no argument. At the various nods and mumbles of assent, Janet continued. "I just want to warn you, she's hooked up to a lot of machines. It looks a little intimidating."
"We get it doc, now can we just see her?" Jack was getting impatient.
Janet led the way, pulling back the curtain. All three men had been prepared for something awful, but they had not expected it to be as bad as what was laid out before them. All the machines and monitors dwarfed the tiny occupant. Different things beeped and whirred or flashed. Somewhere, they'd found a heat lamp, like the kind used for newborns, where the baby was placed in an open tray, the warm lamps bearing down on the occupant. A staggering array of tubes and wires all led to the tray, and in the middle of the mess, laid Sam.
Somehow, they'd managed to get most of the mud and grime off of her, and Jack wasn't sure if that was an improvement or not. Because now you could clearly see how painfully thin she was, and it made the various tubes and wires look even larger and more ominous. A splint was affixed to her right front leg. Despite the staff's best efforts, her fur was still matted and dull. She looked lifeless, and Jack had to search for the signs that she was breathing.
She lay on her side, while a large white plastic corrugated tube was pointed at her face, blowing warmed oxygen over her. Small wires were attached to various parts of her, and in turn connected to various monitors. A clear plastic tube ran from an IV bag to somewhere on her back leg, Jack didn't want to think about where. As he watched, a tech entered with something in a syringe, and injected it into a tuft of fur behind her neck. Jack winced in sympathy, but Sam didn't even flinch.
"Oh god." Daniel's voice behind him reminded him that he wasn't alone, reaching out a hand, he squeezed the younger man's shoulder, before letting go and approaching the bed carefully, leery of disturbing any of the things that seemed to be keeping Sam alive.
Oh so gently, he stretched out a hand, touching her. She was warm now. Solid. Real. Alive. But he couldn't help but think for how long. Looking at her, he wasn't sure how she was alive even now. "Hey Carter, you're home now, in the infirmary. Me and Teal'c and Danny are here, you gave us all quite a scare this morning." Jack paused, taking a deep breath. "Look, Sam, I don't know how to say this, but you just gotta pull through." Jack couldn't continue, he took his hand that had been absently stroking her head and pulled back, before anyone could see the tears in his eyes. Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF did not cry.
Teal'c moved forward, also placing a hand on Carter's side. "Major Carter, your strength as a warrior has already been proven on the battlefield. Your illness is merely another type of battle, on another kind of field. You MUST fight, Major Carter. Failure is not an option. You WILL prevail. I pledge that we will remain by your side while you fight your battle, you will not be left alone. You must come back to us Major Carter." Teal'c bowed his head, and stepped back after his rather unexpectedly long speech.
It was Daniel's turn now. Following his teammates' lead, he gently touched Sam, softly stroking her behind the head while he talked. "Hey Sam. You uh, you don't look so good. We, uh, we missed you a lot the last two months here Sam. It just hasn't been the same without you." Daniel paused, awkwardly running his free hand through his hair, while he continued to gently smooth Sam's fur. "When you get better, we can make you human again, so you just hang in there ok?" Daniel's voice cracked slightly and he wiped his eyes with the back of his free hand.
Janet stood watching the three men from by the curtain, unnoticed. Jack had placed his hand on Daniel's shoulder, although whether for his own comfort or for Daniel's, she wasn't sure. Janet wiped away a tear of her own. She counted herself lucky to be a friend of Sam Carter, and seeing her like this was difficult. But whatever the bond between her and Sam, it was nothing compared to the bond that Sam shared with the rest of SG-1. That bond was something that went beyond friendship, beyond family. Janet knew that if Sam had any hope of making it through the night, then she needed all of them with her, surrounding her with love, warmth, and a reason to continue fighting. Quietly, she brought over several chairs, and told the staff that the three men would be staying, and then went off to report to the General.
MeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeowA/N: So there was the first of the promised ship lol, especially the first part of the chapter, but later as well. Your reward for not giving up the story after chapter 61. I tried to stay true to the show and the characters though, so if you're hoping that Jack is gonna French Kiss Sam when/if she's human again... sorry lol. Sam and Jack are just too honorable for that in my mind, and there won't be any convenient presidential pardons, retirements, etc to get them together lol, at least not in this story. But I do think that Jack can be a pretty tender guy, when you get under his shell, and Sam is a pretty sensitive woman, if she'll let down her "tough guy" exterior. Which you generally only see if one of them is under duress. So that would be why I whumped Sam so bad, to the point that Heisenberg gave his life to save hers, because she had to be in pretty rough shape to make Jack's shell crack... I also gave the other guys a little bit of tenderness too. As close as SG-1 is, they aren't really very touchy feely. Everyone always focuses on the Sam/Jack aspect, but she's pretty close to Daniel and Teal'c too, so I thought they all deserved their own private moments.
Thanks for all the support and reviews. 22 on just the last chapter and over 500 on the story! So many wonderful, nice comments! I'm glad you are all having so much fun. Nearing the end of this story, and I'm so glad I started writing it. Your comments mean alot, and for those that have read a story, and for whatever reason didn't want to leave feedback, just want to tell you that it really means a lot to a new writer. Without those first early comments, I might have thought no one was reading this story and might never have kept going with it after the first one or two chapters. And it makes it so much more fun! Knowing that people were actually reading my story, AND enjoying it, made me want to outdo each chapter as it went on... So thanks again for the feedback, without which, this story may have never gotten off the ground.