DISCLAIMER: If you think these characters are mine, I have a bridge of solid gold I'd like to sell you.

SUMMARY: Sam's been shot. Shey's got her vision back and Pete's disappeared. That's about it for now.

SPOILERS: Up through Season 8 "Affinity". Anything else may or may not be addressed here.

A/N: Sorry that this chapter comes so close on the heels of the other one but hey, I had to do something while FF was down.

Daniel and Jack sat in the commissary. Dr. Brightman had chased them out about three hours earlier and told them to stay away. He had grown tired of trying to work around the two of them.

The two men had tried playing games on Jack's GameBoy. Daniel had quickly lost interest. Jack couldn't concentrate. There had been no word on the two women since they had left.

"I swear I'm going to kill that bastard. I'm going to smear his face in the mud."

"I wish one of us would have thought to knock him out and tie him up before we saw to Sam and Shey." Daniel wanted to see Pete get his comeuppance. He wanted Jack to beat the ever living hell out of the officer that Sam had once cared for.

They both looked up as Teal'c stepped up to the table. "Why did you not call me for assistance, O'Neill?"

"You've spent most of the past eight years away from your family. I didn't want you --- Never mind. I never was very good at lying. I didn't think about anything but keeping Sam safe. I didn't even consider it."

"I understand, O'Neill. I will go see Colonel Carter now." With that, the former Jaffa warrior left the commissary and headed for the infirmary.

Dr. Brightman looked up as Teal'c walked into the infirmary. 'At least it's not the general or Dr. Jackson.' "Hello, Teal'c. I assume that you've come to see Colonel Carter." The doctor gestured to the bed where Sam lay still unconcious.

Teal'c stepped to his friend's side, then looked across Sam's bed to where Shey lay awake and looking right at him. "Good evening, She'tiana. How are you feeling?"

"Much better, Teal'c. It is nice to have an image to go with your voice."

Teal'c merely nodded his head. "Dr., will Colonel Carter awake soon?"

"It's impossible to tell, Teal'c. All of her vitals are normal. Everything I see tells me that there is no reason for her to still be unconcious. I'm hoping that she wakes up soon. I don't know how much longer I can keep General O'Neill and Daniel Jackson out of here."

"Jack?" The harsh whisper came from Sam as she tried to sit up. Teal'c immediately moved to help his friend in order to prevent her from hurting herself.

"We will bring him here, Colonel. Just sit still and let the doctor check you out first. We will defer to his decision." The doctor stepped over to the bed and started checking over Sam. She shied away from his touch as if she wasn't sure of who was touching her.

"Colonel, stay still. I won't call for the general until I've made sure that you're alright."

"I hear your voice. I can't tell where you are."

"Samantha, you can not see?" Shey's voice came to Sam's ears.

"No, Shey. I can't. Where are you?"

"On the bed to your right. I will help you. I can see."

"How?"

"I begged of the Morrigan and she restored my sight. I do not know for how long so I intend to see as much as possible before it is gone again."

"Interesting. Doc, are you finished? Can we call Jack now?" She had felt him move away from her.

"I'm finished. I'll call him. But I'm going to talk to him before I let him in to see you. If you want to argue the point," he continued, seeing that she was just about to argue with him. "just remember that it's my decision as to when you are fit for duty." With that he went into his office to page Jack and Daniel to come down to the infirmary.

Jack stood outside the infirmary with Daniel. Doctor Brightman had said he wanted to brief both men on the colonel's condition before letting them in so they wouldn't be surprised.

"I want this understood. If I think that this is having any ill effect on Colonel Carter's health, I will terminate the visit and send everyone who is not a patient out of the infirmary. Understood?"

"Yea. Sure. You betcha. What's with the sudden concern over Sam?"

"General, Colonel Carter is blind. I don't know why or how long it's going to last. I would guess it's because of the blow to the head. What I do know is that Samantha is not taking this very well right now."

"Of course not," came Jacob's voice from behind them. Jack wasn't surprised. They had been back for a while and he hadn't seen Sam yet. Of course he would come down here to see what was going on. "Sam never has liked to depend on anyone else for anything. She's always been too damn independent for her own good."

Suddenly, a voice came from inside the infirmary. "Colonel Carter, please get back in bed."

"I hate this! I want Jack! I want ---!" They all heard her voice break as the tears started. The next sentence reminded them all of a small child who had just been denied something. "I want my daddy! I want my sight!"

Jack couldn't handle the sound of Sam in tears. But before he could react, Jacob had pushed his way into the infirmary and did the only thing he could think of to make her calm down and think rationally. "Samantha Jean Carter, back to bed!"

Sam stood stock still where she was. She snapped to attention with a salute, not even thinking about how helpless she felt at that time. "Yes, sir!" She put her hands behind her and felt for the bed, knocking over a tray in the process. Jack went to move past Jacob to help her but he didn't get there. Jacob grabbed his arm.

"She has to do this on her own first. Then, she'll learn to accept help." Jack was forced to watch helplessly as Sam found the bed and sat back down. She seemed defeated. "That's better, Sammie."

"Why did you do that?" Jack asked him, trying not to notice how Sam reacted to the fact that he had been standing there watching her.

"We had to break through the emotional crisis she was having at the moment. We had to bring out the resilient Sam Carter that puzzles her way through everything. She needed to bring herself back under control. The best way to do that was to remind her of her military discipline. Selmak's idea really. I was thinking more like the overprotective daddy. I wanted to help her. But Selmak reminded me that there won't always be someone there to take care of her. She has to do things for herself, even if it means that she might get hurt."

"Thank you, Jacob. At least she's not crying anymore." Jack turned to Sam. "Sam, are you okay?"

"I will be, Jack. My dad's right. I can't always depend on others to fix things for me. I haven't so far and I won't start now. I have to learn to deal with this." She bowed her head. "Just be patient with me? I might still have a few outbursts when I need to be reminded of who I am."

"Always, Sam. I always have patience for you. And I always will." Little did Jack know how far that patience could be tested.

A/N: There you go folks. Hope you enjoy.