I feel like my world is crashing down now. It's been a week since my little adventure. A week since I last saw my sister. I admit that I still didn't know what was going on. When Teal'c went over and made the ring thingy work, which I now know is called a Stargate, I thought that I would see my sister on the other side. O man, was I going to give her a piece of my mind, leaving us there like that. She scared us half to death. Then we entered the wormhole and I found myself surrounded by grey concrete and a bunch of people I could identify as military men. Medics were rushing around, trying to help all the people who were injured. Soldiers with guns were pointing at us like we were the enemy. One of the medics was trying to get me to lie down, but I kept looking for the one face I knew had to be here. One voice over all the others grabbed my attention. "Colonel O'Neill. Where is Major Carter?"
"Major Carter has been compromised." Five little words and my world came crashing down. Not only mine, it seemed liked everybody in the room tensed up, paled, or shot fleeting looks to Colonel O'Neill. Compromised. He made it sound so final, so bad. I don't know if it was the despair in that little statement brought to the room or if it was my own exhaustion that was coming back with a vengeance but I soon found myself in the comforting grip of darkness once again.
The next time I awoke I realized I was in some sort of hospital. The walls were still the same grey concrete so I was pretty sure I was still wherever I was brought to. I could hear beeping sounds of heart monitors, but thankfully none of that stuff was by me. That meant that I was fine right? I looked around the room. I saw Daniel and Colonel O'Neill in beds next to each other, Teal'c sitting between them. A nurse or a doctor was hovering over them. The other people who were on that planet were at the other end of the room. I was surprised to find that dad had taken a seat at my bedside. He was looking at me with tears in his eyes. Tears that told me what I had hoped was a nightmare was real. "She's gone, isn't she?" I didn't think I said that very loud, but the next thing I knew that medical person who was hovering around Daniel and the Colonel was suddenly hovering around me. Suffering through her quick examination I kept my eyes focused on my dad's. He returned the gesture, never breaking the eye contact.
"Dr. Frasier, is he alright."
"Yes sir. I can release him into your care if you wish." He nodded and the petite doctor turned toward me. "Just take it easy and come back in if you need anything." As she's saying this I remove my eyes from my father and look at her. Her eyes are red and puffy, like she just got done crying. That doesn't make sense. Doctors aren't supposed to cry, especially not military doctors. There's also a sadness in her eyes that counters the quick smile she gives me before heading back to her perch between the two beds.
"Son, I think we need to go somewhere private and talk." I agree with him and he helps me off the bed and leads me into one of the many rooms on the base. There he tells me everything, all the horrible, ugly, nasty truths that Daniel had just touched upon during our talk on the planet. My sister was now the enemy, one of the Goa'uld who do such nasty things they make Hitler look like a boy scout. He told me they will still look for her, they'll never give up looking for her. But he also told me it is unlikely they will ever find her.
Dad tells me they declared Sam MIA. Dad has a week before he needs to leave again. I decided to spend the time with him. To be completely honest I really don't remember much of that week. Just bits and pieces, mostly people coming to say how sorry they are for my loss and the numbing realization that my perfect life was over. But I do remember how dad never left my side, the way he acted like the parent he should have acted like when mom died.
But now it's time to get back into the real world, to the living world. Dad has to go back to the Tok'ra and I'm on a plane for San Diego. I promised I wouldn't say anything about their secret as long as they kept me informed about any news with Sam. I don't think General Hammond liked that, but dad and Colonel O'Neill had the look on their faces that said they were going to tell me no matter what. I don't know what I'm going to tell my family about where I've been the last couple of weeks. They said they already took care of that and told them some cover story. I have a copy of it just in case I forget. I guess I really should read it over once more just be sure. But I can't stop my thoughts about where my life is now. A year ago if this had happened I wouldn't have been nearly as affected as I am now. But that was a year ago, a year when I didn't have my family.
So many things change in a year. I got my family back, my whole family, just to have it ripped apart again. I never knew how much I missed them until that day they were standing unexpectedly on my doorstep. I know my sister isn't gone, and they're going to do all they can to get her back. I just have to keep my hope alive and hope that one day they'll be able to come back to my doorstep together. One day she'll find her way back. One day.