A/N: So I was going to post this chapter and the next one as one really long chapter, but I didn't like the way I'd written a part in the second half of it, but was too tired to rewrite it when I got home. So instead there will be two slightly shorter chapters, making this one sorta more transitional rather than cliffie kind. I'll try and fix the other part tonight after I've slept and taken the furbabies to the vet. (their second appointment, will see how much they've grown in three weeks lol, Sam weighed 2.3 lbs and Dragon was 2.5 lbs last time. They've definitely gotten much bigger and are causing even more mischief than before. I'm thinking of renaming Dragon to Demon and Sam to Spawn... that way if they ever get out I can stand on the porch and yell for Demon Spawn to come home right this instant. Although Mom wants me to name Sam Spook because he is pale like a ghost and Dad thought I should call him Zambo or Zam, something about a John Wayne movie where he sings a song about the monkeys have no tails and Zamboanga...)

Hoping to get the story done before I take a trip to Manchester for a long weekend. Probably won't have internet access the entire time. Maybe I can post the last chapter then go into to hiding in case you all decide to hate me lol.

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.

Chapter 63

The day passed, and changed eventually into night. Night passed even more slowly, and very little changed. In a way the lack of change was good, since it meant that nothing with Sam had gotten any worse. On the other hand, nothing had really gotten any better.

The medical staff continued to ensure that Sam stayed warm, and that fluids kept pumping into her small body, carefully re-hydrating her, while warmed air kept blowing across her face, providing her extra oxygen to take some of the work from her weakened and overworked lungs. Antibiotics were administered regularly throughout the day and the night, trying to stave off the infection that had taken hold on her weakened body.

Once or twice, she had given everyone a scare, when her breathing had weakened to the point that the medical team had considered putting down a tube to help her breath. But each time, the moment passed, and Sam held her own.

The night gradually changed into morning, the clocks the only indication deep inside the windowless mountain that time was passing. SG-1 continued to hold its vigil over their recently long absent teammate. Sometimes one of them would talk to Sam; sometimes they just stayed nearby, sometimes touching her, sometimes not. But none of them ever left her side for more than a few minutes at a time.

It was around 0700 hours when finally something changed, and not for the worse. At the time, Jack had wandered over to the next unoccupied bed, and was trying very hard to avoid the temptation to play with the oxygen sensor on the monitor. Teal'c had taken a seat on the floor back out of the way of the equipment around Sam and was meditating in front of a single lit candle. Daniel was seated near Sam's head, with his text resting on the edge of her bed where he could read it. But instead of reading he was watching Sam, which he'd found himself doing quite a few times that night. As such, he was the first to notice when something happened.

"Hey, Sam just moved." Daniel set the text down, and immediately moved closer to Sam.

Jack put the oxygen sensor down (he hadn't been able to resist temptation after all) and returned as well, and Teal'c immediately opened his eyes and stood up. All three crowded around, watching their unconscious teammate. Just as Jack was going to ask Daniel if he was sure, she moved again. It was little more than a twitch of her back leg, the one with the IV in it, but this time it was accompanied by a soft sound, something like a cross between a human moan and a cat's meow.

The three looked at each other and back to Sam.

"I will retrieve Doctor Fraiser and Captain Brunsfeld." Teal'c quietly slipped out, a man on a mission.

"Sam?" Daniel was watching Sam closely for any response, but she didn't quite seem ready to be awake just yet.

Just as Teal'c was returning with both Dr. Fraiser and the good Captain in tow, Sam started to stir again. This time she was shaking the leg with the IV and seemed irritated by the wires and the air blowing on her face. Her movements became stronger, and it was obvious that she wasn't happy.

"Easy Sam." Janet pushed SG-1 out of the way, laying her hand gently on the woman turned cat. Brunsfeld moved up on the other side, checking the readouts.

Sam's movements stilled slightly at the sound of Janet's voice. Encouraged, Janet kept talking to her, gently stroking her while her struggles ceased. "It's ok Sam, you're back home again, and you're in the infirmary. Can you open your eyes for us? C'mon, that's it, you can do it."

At Janet's soft urging, Sam opened her eyes, closing them again tightly before reopening them as mere slits and blinking a few times. Her confusion and panic were evident, as she tried to see around her.

"We've been really worried about you Sam, everyone is here." Janet stepped back slightly, allowing the three men who were waiting somewhat impatiently, to have access to the now awake patient.

"Hey Sam." "Yo, Carter." "It is good to see you awake Major Carter." Came the chorus.

"Mrow?" Sam replied, the sound barely perceptible, but it was clear from her movements that she was trying to get up. Unfortunately, the splint and IV, not to mention all the monitoring probes and other things made that highly unlikely.

"Whoa there Sam, take it easy. You aren't ready to get up just yet and you're not out of the woods by any shot. Now, Captain Brunsfeld is going to take a closer look at you, and after that you are going to rest." Janet kept her hand on Sam until she nodded weakly and laid her head back down, eyes half closing already. She was exhausted, and had hardly done anything.

Jack, Teal'c and Daniel looked on worriedly, but Janet just herded the three men out of the area, drawing the curtain to give Sam some privacy.

"We have to wait and see what Captain Brunsfeld says, but I think she's doing much better." Janet told them, and the worried expressions eased slightly. She started to make some notations on Sam's chart while waiting, and the other three all found things to occupy their interest. Jack had gravitated to the oxygen sensor again, but as if sensing his intent, Janet had glared at him before he'd even touched it, and he'd backed off acting as if he'd really wanted to look at the IV pole.

After several minutes, Captain Brunsfeld emerged from behind the curtain, and he had a tired smile on his face.

"She's responding to the treatments. Her temperature and heart rate are returning to normal, and her breathing is greatly improved." He told everyone waiting.

Grins were hard to hide, relief that Sam was doing better.

Brunsfeld still cautioned them. "She's doing a lot better, but she still has a way to go before she is back to normal health. I'll leave some further recommendations in her chart." The last was directed at Dr. Fraiser.

It was an interesting mix of human and veterinary medicine, as well as collaboration between both sides of the medical field that cared for Major Carter. Because of her current form, her anatomy and physiology was foreign to the staff that normally cared for humans. But because her mind was human, it was decided early on that it would be best she be cared for in the infirmary, under Dr. Fraiser. Even though the vet clinic was better suited to care for Sam's physical body, it really wasn't equipped to deal with a human, whether it was in an animal body or not. It would be cruel to Sam to place her in that sort of setting, where she'd be surrounded by cages, whether she was in one or not. Especially given what little they had learned so far about her captivity with Arden, and her subsequent escape and journey home.

Captain Brunsfeld left, and Janet turned to the three men, before they had a chance to cluster back around Sam's bedside.

"Sam should be asleep for the next few hours I think, and she needs the rest. She's doing much better now, so I think its time for you three to go get some rest of your own." All three men opened their mouths to protest, but Janet just shook her head at them.

"No buts. I don't want to hear it. I'm in charge here, and you all agreed to my rules before I let you all come in here." She pulled herself to her full height, and glared each of them in their eyes until she got a reluctant nod from each one in turn. They had agreed, but it still wasn't fair to use it against them.

"Now, I don't want to see any one of you in here for the next two hours. After that, you can work out shifts as to who can stay with her and when. I'll tell the medical staff that one of you may stay with Sam at all times, until she's doing better." They looked like they wanted to protest again, but Janet glared sternly at them until they'd backed down. "Those are my rules. Now I want you all to go. Eat, sleep, I don't care what you do, just get out of my infirmary."

Her face softened slightly, as she saw the doubtful looks they were casting at the closed curtain. They'd only just gotten their team member back, and they were reluctant to let her out of their sight. She knew they also didn't want to leave Sam alone in case she woke up and was disoriented again.

Janet tried to reassure them. "Look, I have a lot of charting and paperwork to catch up on. I'll be right beside her the entire two hours, ok? I promise to notify you of any changes, or if she wakes up again while you are gone."

Finally, they seemed at least partially satisfied. Nodding, but still reluctant, they left. Janet let out the breath she'd been holding, and went to gather up her papers, preparing to spend a little time of her own with Sam. Not just as the Doctor, but as a friend too.