AN: Ok, this is really short, but again, RL is rearing it's ugly head. It's looking like the next part will be the last, but then again, who can tell, right? Please let me know what you think!

Chapter Seven

It felt like hours to Jack as he underwent x-rays and treatment for his knee. The doctor's grim face reinforced what Jack already knew. He'd really done it. The doctor shook his head as he faced Jack, telling him pointedly that he was amazed Jack had been able to walk on it at all after he fell. It was going to take a minimum of two surgeries to correct the three torn ligaments. And the minimum of two was really being excessively optimistic, he said. The doctor started going into all the things Jack would have to do to alleviate the pain and prevent more problems.

Jack held up his hand, cutting the doctor off mid-sentence. "I have to get to Sam." He'd been patient. He'd behaved. But he'd dispatched Daniel to go check on Sam an hour earlier and he hadn't heard back. He was done being good.

The doctor looked confused, unprepared for that statement. "I'm sorry?"

"She was in an accident. She's hurt. That's how I fell in the first place. Please. I need to go see her." He couldn't remember a time he'd sounded so pathetic, but he wasn't ashamed - not if it helped him get to her.

The doctor nodded. "Give me a minute. I'll see how fast I can get you out of here."

A nurse appeared a few minutes later with paperwork, a pair of crutches and a brace of some sort that covered nearly his entire leg. As soon as his leg was wrapped up and immobile, Jack took off down the hall, swinging himself roughly on his crutches. He found Daniel and Teal'c sitting in the hallway only a few doors down from where he'd been.

"Daniel?"

Daniel looked up, startled to see Jack. He looked at his watch. "I'm sorry, Jack. I didn't realize it was that long."

Teal'c looked at Jack's leg. "Were you also injured with Colonel Carter?"

"No. Have you heard anything?" Jack dropped into a chair by them; the brace on his leg forced his leg to stretch out awkwardly before him.

Daniel shook his head. "They haven't really said much. I was going to wait until I heard something to come back and talk to you. She hasn't woken up. Her right arm is broken. They're not too worried about her head because she was wearing a helmet, but they're concerned about internal and spinal cord injuries."

Teal'c leaned forward. "They have taken Colonel Carter for a scan of her cat."

"CT scan, T." Jack corrected him automatically, before the news of her possible injuries really hit him.

Teal'c nodded. "Yes. This will reveal the extent of her injuries."

Jack leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was so tired, but he knew there would be no rest for him until he could see Carter and know that she was ok. He glanced at his watch, more out of habit than anything else. It was nearly seven. He should probably notify someone somewhere that he and SG-1 weren't going to be in. He patted his pockets for his phone, but came up empty.

"Looking for this?" Daniel was holding the phone up in front of him. "I never gave it back to you."

Jack reached for it and called Colonel Reynolds, giving him very few details besides the fact that he was being left in charge for the day. Jack hung up, hoping that he'd have good news to take back to the base the following day. He knew word would eventually spread about Carter's accident because there had been so many airmen from the SGC out there looking for her.

It wasn't long before the doctor came looking for them. Daniel was the first to jump to his feet, followed by Teal'c. Jack struggled for a moment, trying to get up without using his injured leg. The doctor smiled at Daniel. "Are you Jack?"

Daniel shook his head, turning and noticing his friend's struggle to stand. He and Teal'c had no trouble helping Jack up. Irritated, Jack propped himself up on his crutches and willed himself not to feel the throbbing pain. "I'm Jack."

"Sam's awake. She's been asking for you."

Jack let out a sigh of relief. "How is she?"

"She's pretty banged up. We can talk more about her status in a minute. I'd like you to come back and see her first."

Jack looked curiously at Daniel and Teal'c and shrugged. They shrugged back. Jack followed the doctor. "But she's all right, right?"

The doctor half-smiled. "She's pretty upset at the moment. She really wants to see you." He paused at the door.

The doctor opened the door and stepped out of the way. Jack hobbled forward. Sam fought against the collar to turn her head toward the noise. Jack could see from the way she moved that she was desperate to see who was coming in. "Sam, it's me." He hopped across the room because it was faster than the crutches. He went to reach for her hand, but one was hooked up to an IV and the other was wrapped up in gauze. He reached out and ran his hand along her cheek instead.

Her eyes met his and he could see her relax. "Jack?" Her voice was weak, but it didn't matter to him. He was just glad to see her awake. "Sir?"

He shushed her. "After tonight, you can call me Jack."

Tears formed in her eyes and he watched helplessly as they ran down the sides of her face. "Thought you were there."

He carefully wiped away her tears and smiled. "We'll talk about that later, ok?" He leaned down and kissed her forehead, not caring how inappropriate the action might be. "Now you have to let the doctor take care of you, deal?"

She smiled and nodded. "Don't leave."

"I'll be right outside." His hand ran along her cheek again and he reveled in the soft feel of her skin beneath his hand. "I promise."

The doctor accompanied Jack back to wait with Daniel and Teal'c, explaining Carter's injuries on the way. Besides the broken arm, her hand was fractured, she had several broken ribs, various injuries to her legs, and a small fracture in the vertebrae in her neck. There was nothing she wouldn't heal from in a few weeks, the doctor promised. The last thing Jack heard sent a chill running through him.

"It's a good thing they found her when they did. With her injuries and the temperature dropping, she would have been hypothermic in a few hours. She probably wouldn't have lived until morning."

Jack met Daniel's eye in the quiet that followed; both of them knew there was no way to explain how they'd found her in time.