Supporting Rumors - Part 72

"I'm sorry General, but until Mrs O'Neill is fit it just isn't possible …"

"Why?" interrupted Jack. "You've spent the last few months making me independent and it's certainly cost enough ..."

Stu shook his head. His patience was wearing a little thin under the eagle eyed General who was just not taking no for an answer.

"Your wife isn't independent herself at the moment. She needs assistance with ..."

"I can help her. Look, if I was already out there and this happened – what then?"

Stu raised an eyebrow. The man had a point... "Then you would probably just struggle on with it, sir. However, you don't have to do that ..."

"I want to." The General turned his chair around then sighed and swung it back.

For someone to want to do things the hard way made a refreshing change. Most of the Center's clients were wealthy and in no hurry to do things for themselves, and wanted the easier option. Then again this man had certainly provided them with a fresh outlook since his arrival and he hadn't needed dragging into the therapy program. If sheer guts and determination had anything to do with recovery, then the man would win his battle without a doubt.

"Driving?" Stu sat straighter, thinking of one possible problem. "Uh, Mrs O'Neill cannot drive at all at the moment. You would be ..."

"I can get a driver and a vehicle, besides there is always a thing called a cab ... perhaps you've heard of them ..." Jack's voice rose a little.

"I'm sorry, General, but there is no need to take that tone."

The man shrugged. "I want to go home."

"And how does Mrs O'Neill feel?" Stu put out his last objection.

"Mrs O'Neill wants him home," interjected the voice from the doorway.

Stu didn't miss the way O'Neill's face lit up with surprise and happiness. The look the man exchanged with his wife was filled with such obvious love that he felt a sudden urge to call his own wife just to hear her voice.

Mrs O'Neill stepped fully into the room, her eyes never once leaving her husband's face. She held out her good arm, taking the General's hand and squeezing it tightly.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Jack had never been happier to see Sam, but he acknowledged that she was looking far from her usual self. The cast was partially hidden in a sling and although the bruising had receded to mostly yellow, it stood out on her too pale face.

He brought her hand up to his lips, his eyes fixed on hers. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be ..."

"Daniel brought me over, he's waiting ..." Sam indicated the adjoining room.

Stu rose, obviously feeling like an intruder between them. "I'll go and join him, let you talk this over - call if you need me."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

They barely acknowledged his departure and he closed the door softly behind him, moving out of the bedroom and into sitting room of the general's suite to find Doctor Jackson. The doctor, and his frequent companion, Mr Murray, had visited several times in the past week, both to stay with General O'Neill and to take him to visit his wife. They were clearly very close friends with the General and knew how badly his wife's absence had affected him.

"Doctor Jackson." Stu greeted the man with a handshake. He had been put right at their first meeting regarding the man's non medical doctorate... "I gather you are aware of the General's intention to go home."

Jackson smiled. "Uh, yes. Jack definitely wants home. Seriously though, I know Sam wants him home as well. Will you let him?"

"I can hardly stop him Doctor Jackson, and if anyone can cope, then I am sure those two can. But the last thing we want is Mrs O'Neill struggling out of a sense of guilt."

"Sam doesn't want him home out of a sense of guilt – she wants him home because for some strange reason, that I could never quite fathom, she loves him."

"It won't be easy though."

"Uh, well, yes, Jack was never one for the easy road and Sam seems hell bent on following him."

Stu smiled. "I've read the General's file - habit of a lifetime huh?"

Daniel smiled and nodded.

"I guess I had better go and begin the paperwork then... I think you should see if you can persuade them to hang on until the end of the week, just to give Mrs O'Neill a little more time."

"Me?"

"You're a very persuasive man, Doctor Jackson, I'm sure you can use your talents to help them both see the positive side of a few more days. It's been a pleasure to meet you again, sir."

Freund couldn't help the smile that escaped as he saw the expression on the other man's face and he bid a hasty retreat in the light of a victory - well of sorts. The General was going home, but in a few days. That would give him a chance to get the home visits and ongoing therapy sorted out.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Daniel was eventually joined by Sam and Jack, both of them looking much happier now they were together. He broke it gently about leaving at the end of the week, but Jack's expression darkened at the news. He was frustrated, Daniel knew, and extremely homesick. He pointed out what Freund had said about it giving Sam further time to recover and Jack visibly calmed down. He watched as Jack regarded his wife's face closely and then nodded at Daniel.

"Friday - and not a day longer." Jack's voice was almost a growl and Sam looked down and laughed, giving the hand she held a quick shake.

"Friday," she agreed, bending to kiss Jack.

As Jack's arm captured his wife gently, Daniel made himself scarce. They served a good cup of coffee in the restaurant and that would be much better than watching his friends making out like teenagers.

"You've got an hour," he warned them before closing the door firmly behind himself.

The difference in Jack when he was with Sam never ceased to amaze Daniel and although he knew that the man had loved Sam for a very long time, it had always been an emotion he had been forced to stifle. To watch it finally blossom and grow and with it the man, was something that Daniel was extremely glad to witness. Sam too had some surprises. It was a very beautiful woman brought at last to life that gazed adoringly at her husband, not the soldier, or the 'Sam' he knew of old.

Daniel's pace picked up a little and he turned the corner of the corridor. He fondly remembered Sha're and what joy she had brought into his life, the effect she had had on him and how he had felt … and how he had felt losing her. He slowed a little and sighed deeply, knowing just what effect it would have if either of his friends lost each other.

Jack hadn't said a lot on their journeys to and from the mountain, but his body language had spoken reams, his somber mood only lifting as he entered his wife's room ... the journey back from the mountain becoming steeped in misery yet again.

Daniel had been surprised to receive a call from Jack early that morning, at a time he knew was normally reserved for intensive gym work. What wasn't a surprise was the state of mind his friend was in. Jack was agitated, his words veiled with the torment he was suffering, saying nothing tangible - actually saying very little, but it was what he didn't say that worried Daniel. He had tried to reassure Jack that 'they' weren't actually 'throwing away the key' ... but even when Jack eventually hung up, Daniel knew he hadn't actually managed to calm his friend down.

He practically tore himself in two to find a way to help without causing Sam further upset. Thankfully Teal'c came to the rescue, the simplicity of the answer astounding.

"It is O'Neill's desire to be with his wife."

"Uh, yes ..."

"And Samantha desires her husband." At Daniel's nod, Teal'c continued. "Then we must strive to bring them together as soon as it is possible."

Daniel shook his head sighing. "Oh ... we need to speak to Doctor Lam first."

"Indeed."

In fact Lam hadn't needed much persuading - she was all for it. There was nothing to stop Sam being discharged from the infirmary and going home in a few days and from what she had witnessed of the General's abilities so far and from what she knew of the man, she had every faith they would be able to cope ... after all, they had friends to help if need be… She reminded Daniel that both his friends had had numerous injuries in the past and told him that her predecessor, Janet Fraiser, had commented frequently in her notes on the benefit an early discharge from the infirmary had on their recovery.

After his talk with Lam, Daniel headed straight for Sam's room. As soon as he mentioned he'd had a call from Jack and began to give just a hint of what he thought Jack was feeling, Sam was practically half way out of bed…

After much deliberation and pleading from Sam, Doctor Lam agreed to release her temporarily, provided she came straight back to the infirmary after the visit.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

TBC