"Ian, that's a secret, you know…"

The cadet looked at Jack, and then turned his head painfully to look at Sam.

"You'd better not tell Sam, then, huh?"

Jack smiled.

"She already knows."

"Does Doctor Fraiser know, too?"

"Yes."

"It's not much of a secret, then, is it?"

Sam chuckled.

"It is, actually," Jack told him. "What I'd like to know is how you know it?"

"The voice told me."

"The voice?"

"Yeah…" Ian trailed off, looking up at the ceiling, his dark eye still fairly dazed. "But he's a secret, too, right? Shhh…"

"Um… yeah…"

Jack looked over at Fraiser, who shrugged and smiled.

"He's on some very strong medication, Colonel. You'd be lucky if he could tell you his full name right now…"

"Ian Michael Brooks." Ian told her, turning to look at her and wincing.

"We should probably let him get some rest," Dotty said, noticing the wince. "I helped him, but he's still going to be in a lot of pain – many of those bruises are fairly deep."

Janet nodded her agreement. She was glad he'd already woken up and was able to talk to them, but she wanted him to have a chance to sleep now that she'd had a chance to see that he was – more or less – in full possession of his faculties.

"He needs to sleep," she told them.

"He needs someone with him, though," Jack said, scowling. He didn't like the thought of Ian being alone with the hospital staff – already he'd confirmed that there was no way he was going to be able to throw the medication enough to keep secrets that they definitely couldn't have shared. Besides, he wanted to stay with him.

"I'll stay with him, Colonel," Janet assured him. "You go tell the others that he woke up and is going to be fine."

"Will we be able to come back?" Jack asked.

She nodded.

"Once Sam has a chance to get some rest."

Now it was Sam's turn to frown.

"I'm fine, Janet. I-"

"You need to make sure that you are resting regularly and not stressing," Janet said. "Last night was undoubtedly rough on you and Colonel O'Neill – but moreso on you – since he's not pregnant and you are."

It was a calculated move on Janet's part, because she'd recognized the signs of Jack getting ready to argue with her, and had used the one thing that would work every time to get him to do what she wanted. Sam. Of course, she'd meant it; Sam did look tired and needed to get some rest.

Predictably, Jack nodded. He'd argue about anything but Sam's health – which he trusted completely to Janet.

"I'll take her home and come back-"

"I'm not going home," Sam said, indignantly. "I'm not going to break and I don't need you two telling me what-"

"Sam…"

She stopped her annoyed tirade at the sound of Ian's whisper and looked down at him and he reached out his unbandaged hand towards her. Knowing just how much that had to hurt, Sam took it and supported it for him.

"Go ahead and go home," he told her, giving her a weak smile. "I'm just going to sleep anyways, and that's not very interesting…"

She sighed, but the same connection the two of them had that made it possible for her to tell him what to do also worked the other way, and she didn't argue with him. He looked too awful to argue with.

"You'll be okay?"

"Of course."

She smiled, and squeezed his hand gently and then lowered it back to the bed.

"Fine. Jack and I will go home and get some rest and then we'll come back and spend some time with you when you're feeling a little better." She looked at Jack. "Won't we?"

Which meant that she wasn't going to let him sneak back and visit him while she was stuck at home. Jack scowled, but nodded.

"Sure." He reached down and touched Ian's leg. "But if you wake up and need something-"

"I'll call."

Jack nodded again and looked at Janet.

"I'll have Hammond leave a guard here so you can get some rest, too."

She nodded, not denying the fact that she could use a break. It'd been a long night for her, too.

"Will you ask Emmett to take Cassie home for me?"

"Cassie's here?" Ian asked.

Sam smiled.

"A lot of people are, Ian. They've been worried about you."

"They shouldn't be. I'm not worth losing sleep over."

"I think they'd disagree," Sam told him, leaning over and pressing a gentle kiss against his forehead. "And they'd be right."

He blushed, but didn't say anything, and Jack smiled.

"We'll be back."

He caught Sam's hand and with Dotty accompanying them, they all headed for the door, and Janet went around the bed, checking all the wires and then comparing readouts form the machines now to those that had been taken before Dotty's visit. The change was substantial, but nothing that couldn't be explained. Ian was young and healthy, after all, and those were the ones that recovered from traumatic injuries the quickest.

"I'm not dying?" He asked her, watching her as she worked.

She shook her head.

"You're going to be fine."

"I feel awful."

"I bet you do."

Janet rested her hand lightly on his chest, checking the rise and fall of his ribcage while he breathed without pressing down against it to hinder his breathing. Despite how tired he was, Ian watched her, still, trying to figure out what she was doing.

"You should sleep."

"I know."

"But you won't?"

"I can't with you watching me…"

She smiled, and moved her hand from his chest.

"I'll leave you alone, then, but you'd better be asleep by the time I come back."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She left the room, but stopped right outside the door, looked down at her watch and waited exactly one minute before going back in. When she returned to his bedside, she found him sound asleep. She shook her head, and went back to checking his monitors.