She awoke in the infirmary, hooked up to an IV with her arm bandaged.

"Hi." Janet said, Sam's chart in her hand. "How're you feeling?"

"Where am I?" She asked, slightly confused.

"The infirmary at the SGC." Janet said, somewhat concerned.

"No, I know…I mean, what version…?"

"Version of what?"

"Am I married, a Colonel, or have I just been tortured by Ba'al?"

"You've just returned from being tortured by Ba'al."

"This is real." She said, closing her eyes in a somewhat mournful relief. What she and Jack had in her imagination was good…great, even…and now, he was her commanding officer again. "Damn!" She cursed softly.

"Sam?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry…I'm REALLY glad to be back."

"What did he do to you?" Janet asked. "You said something about versions of realities?"

"Nothing."

"Sam…"

"Janet, it wasn't so much him as it as me…I did this to protect myself. I mean, he gave me the Blood of Sokar, so it wasn't entirely me, but…"

"He gave you the Blood of Sokar? That didn't show up on any of the tests that I ran…"

"It was the first few hallucinations. To be honest, I forgot how many there were…"

"Sam, do you have any idea how many times you were killed and revived using the sarcophagus?"

"Janet, I'm fine."

"Sam, you've been tortured, killed and brought back to life more times than you can count, and to be honest more times than I can even imagine. There are bound to be adverse psychological effects."

"I know. And I'm not trying to lie to you. I just…I don't need to see a shrink, I need to see my team. I need to see…" The name of her commanding officer was not uttered, but Janet knew instinctually who she meant.

"Sam, I can't send you back through the Stargate without a psych evaluation."

"Then give me some time!" She said, frustrated. "Let me talk to Daniel…he's better than MacKenzie because he actually knows what's going on out there!"

"But he cannot remain as objective as he needs to be to help you through this." Janet said, soothingly.

"I'm not going to see MacKenzie."

"Sam, I have deadlines, and if you're not going to see him, I have to inform General Hammond. You will be stripped of your rank and sent into the civilian world. Is that really what you want?"

"Janet, just give me some time." She begged.

"Sam…"

"How rigid are these deadlines?"

"One to two weeks."

Sam's face registered her horror. "I can't possibly be expected to deal with that in one to two weeks!"

"Sam, please…go home and get some rest. You've been through a lot, and your body's protesting quite loudly."

Sam nodded, tears running down her face. She needed something…but neither Janet nor MacKenzie could help her with it.

"If you need anything…"

"Thank you." She said, cutting the doctor off.

She nodded.

She hastened out of the infirmary only to run, literally into Colonel O'Neill.

"Ooph!" He said, as the air from his lungs were expelled forcefully. He looked down at Carter. "Carter? You okay?"

She looked up. His concerned eye, his face, his hair, his chest, his arms…first a Jaffa, then her husband…memories swirled around her, making her dizzy and threatening to take the last bit of sanity she had managed to hold onto with each swirl. "I…you…I missed you!" She said, sobbing into his BDUs.

"Who, me? Your grouchy and annoyingly cute commanding officer?"

She nodded into his shirt, still clinging to it as if her life depended on it.

He realized that she wouldn't be letting go anytime soon, and quickly realized that to have this scene in the hallway was probably not the best idea. He led her to the storage closet to the side and opened the door. They walked into it, and she pulled away, her tears leaving a trail on her face.

"I'm sorry, sir…you didn't…"

"Shh." He said, placing a finger on her lips. "I'm here. You don't have to apologize."

She bit her lip as she tried to regain her composure.

"You want to…leave?" He asked.

She nodded.

He opened the door again, after handing her a handkerchief with which she could wipe the tears from her face.

She started walking toward the locker room where she would change in her civilian clothes when she realized that Jack was walking in the opposite direction. "Jack!" She called, running after him.

"Jack?"

She froze. "Sir…I'm sorry…"

"It's okay. I probably should have told you that I'm going to tell Hammond that I'm leaving. He had some paperwork that he wanted me to turn in."

Suddenly, she felt guilty. "I'm sorry…if you had plans…"

"Carter…first of all, I do not in any way shape or form consider paperwork plans. Second of all, you've just been through hell and back again. Several times. You want to have someone there. That's your right."

She nodded, somewhat submissively. But as he turned to leave again, she grabbed his arm. "Don't leave me." She said, frantically.

"Okay…I'll just use the phone." He said, surprised by the desperation in her voice. He studied her for a moment. She was barely talking and only in short spurts. She was full of fear and terror, but at the same time, a genuine sadness enveloped her. If he was still alive, he thought, Ba'al would wish he had never been born after messing with Carter.

He dialed the General's extension. "Sir…it's me. I'm gonna take Carter home. She's…" He trailed off as the General said something. "Yes, sir. I understand, sir. Thank you, sir."

He hung up the phone. "SG-1 is on stand-down for three weeks or until you feel better."

She nodded, grateful that he had shared that information with her.

"So…let me take you home."

She nodded and he led her down the concrete corridors of the SGC to his truck at the surface.