Supporting Rumors - Part 67

Sam heard the ding dong of the bell, somewhere in the midst of her dreams and it took a moment for it to register. She snuggled closer to her husband, until the sound finally penetrated her brain.

She sat up, her movement causing Jack to groan and his arm snaked up to pull her back down.

"Door bell."

"Leave it …" he murmured sleepily.

Sam took a glance at her bedside clock. "Shit, look at the time, it must be Freund …"

"Tell him … to come back … later …" Jack's voice was sleep sodden.

Rearing up, Sam grabbed at some of her clothes. "Come on, Jack, we can't …" She scurried round the bed and began flinging his clothes on top of him. "Get dressed," she urged as she fought to get herself decent.

Jack peered out from under the shirt that had landed partly across his face. The twinkle in his eyes and the lazy grin of satisfaction on his face were unmistakable and Sam paused in the midst of dressing for a moment, smiling down at him. However, another ding dong of the bell promoted a further flurry of activity and she grabbed at her top, forcing her arms into it and bringing it over her head. "Get dressed," she hissed from beneath the material, "I'll stall him."

Not waiting for a response, she left the room, closing the door behind her with a bang.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Sam smoothed down her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair instead of combing it. Taking a deep breath she plastered a smile on her face and opened the door.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she apologized to Stu Freund and stood back to let him enter. "I was out back …"

"No problem." He walked into the lounge area and Sam signaled him to take a seat.

He was looking around as he spoke and Sam gave him a smile as she crossed to the kitchen area. "Coffee?"

"Please. How's it going?"

Setting the machine to brew, she busied herself putting clean mugs in place. "Fine. Jack's uh, taking a nap." She moved back into the lounge area and carried on through towards the bedroom. "If you excuse me a moment, I'll let him know you're here."

"No problem, take your time. I'm glad to hear he's resting, it can be very exhausting."

Color flooded Sam's cheeks as she left the room, but thankfully her back was to him.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"… told him you were napping …"

Jack was mostly dressed as she entered, but was having an issue with his pants. "Damn knee," he complained.

Sam shook her head as she caught sight of the swollen joint. "Oh, Jack . . . Don't you think we had better get …"

"I'm okay, it's just the fluid build up. We can strap it later."

Wordlessly Sam took a loose fit pair of sweat pants from a drawer and helped him dress.

He transferred himself to his chair, gritting his teeth, clearly trying to hold back from showing his discomfort as he settled his feet on their supports.

Chewing at her bottom lip, Sam watched anxiously, seeing how much he was hurting even if he was doing his best to hide it.

"Go on, better get back out there," said Jack.

"You're not coming?"

"Gotta pee."

"Oh, okay …" Sam nodded and took a deep breath as she left. She couldn't believe how much she felt like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't . . . It wasn't even as if they shouldn't … At least no-one had said they shouldn't … 'Relax', she chided herself. She pasted that smile on her face again and returned to the lounge.

By the time she'd poured three coffees and taken a seat, Jack was wheeling himself through. "Ah coffeeee," he said with a grin. "Stu." He greeted the man with a quick handshake, before taking the drink from the table, holding the warm mug between his hands as he took a few sips.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Jack saw that Sam still seemed a little flustered and he gave her a smile and nod of understanding.

"How's it going, General?"

"Good, great even."

Stu raised an eyebrow to Sam and she nodded enthusiastically.

"Now then, tell me more about the knee. Do you still have sensation?"

"Yep." Jack grinned. "And more."

"More?"

"Oh yes, definitely more …" Jack couldn't help the glee that he knew must be reflected in his voice. He was trying to keep his face more neutral, but boy it was failing fast.

"It's my right knee and would you credit it, it hurts a little, but I can feel from here …" Jack demonstrated on his leg, touching just below his knee, "to here ... and here."

Jack's grin widened as he indicated quite high up on his thigh, almost to his groin.

"You didn't mention that in your call earlier, Mrs O'Neill," said Stu, turning his attention to Sam.

"We didn't know then," smirked Jack, enjoying the flush of color that rose in Sam's face. "That happened later, when we …"

Sam jumped up, interrupting him. "Yes, quite a surprise. His knee is swollen though. Do you think he needs to see the doctor?" She looked at Jack as she spoke, her expression glaring, indicating payback.

"I can strap it effectively, had enough practice. The swelling will go down."

"I'm sure you can, sir. I understand it is an old and somewhat persistent injury. If anything changes from the norm you only have to call and we can arrange for a doctor to see you. Now then, how are the changes around the house working out?"

"Okay, though I haven't actually been out in the yard yet ... not tried out everything."

"Any problems in the bathroom?"

"Nope. I managed everything for myself this morning." Jack puffed up with more than a little pride.

"Bedroom?"

Jack was distracted by the sudden sight of Sam's face turning puce at an amazing rate.

"General, any problems with the equipment in the bedroom?" prompted Stu.

Jack's grin was so wide, it almost caught him ear to ear. "We had a little problem earlier, but it wasn't anything my wife couldn't fix."

"An equipment malfunction?"

Sam rose, spluttering back a choking cough.

"Honey, get yourself a drink of water." Jack tried for a sympathetic face, but knew he was failing miserably.

Sam nodded, giving him a glare as she coughed, her hand covering her mouth as she escaped into the kitchen area rather hurriedly.

"Sorry, where were we? Oh yes, the equipment's fine now, thanks to my wife's capable hands."

Jack almost laughed out loud when he heard Sam coughing water out over the sink. He had to swing his chair around away from Stu to compose himself. "You okay honey."

Sam continued to cough a little, wiping her face on a cloth, keeping her back to them.

"And you're continuing your exercises?"

Jack swung back to smile at the other man. "You bet."

"Well, if you're sure there's nothing ... I'm quite happy for you to return to the Center Monday evening." He raised his voice slightly to address Sam in the kitchen. "I do hope you're not coming down with a cold, Mrs O'Neill." Sam managed a nod and Stu continued. "If you need absolutely anything, or have any questions, General, anything at all, please do not hesitate to call, twenty-four hours okay?"

Stu rose and Jack moved his chair with him towards the door. Sam managed to recover herself and came forward to stand beside Jack, one hand on the chair as they said goodbye.

"Don't forget to take full advantage of all the equipment, General. It is there for your benefit."

"Oh, I think I can do that. Those bars in the bedroom are particularly good …" Jack practically leered at Sam as he spoke and the delightful shade of puce was back, rapidly rising up her neck.

Stu managed a polite cough and raised his hand to wave goodbye as he made his escape down the path.

Sam turned round to Jack, hands on her hips, her eyes blazing, the puce all the way up to her face once more. "You are so for it!" she barked.

"Oooops?" offered Jack weakly, his eyebrows raised, but expression somewhat pleading.

Her expression changing suddenly, Sam leered back at him. "In the bedroom mister!"

Jack swung the chair as she raced off. "Hey not fair," he whined.

"No, it's not ... and shut the door!"

Jack half turned and slammed the door shut, hurriedly putting his chair into motion. "Hey, wait for me!"

xoxoxoxoxoxo

TBC