The Briar and The Rose
oOo
He could feel it, it wasn't the first time but he was pretty sure it would be the last. Death danced around him just waiting for the music to stop. Jack sucked in another painful breath; he could feel rib bones shredding important internal organs. This wasn't the first time, but it was the first time in a long while that he felt any regret about dying. He would be leaving her behind. The thought that he would never see her again hurt far worse than a thousand broken ribs.
The soil around him was damp and clammy; he could feel his body heat being leeched from him by the greedy earth. The Jaffa had made him dig his own grave, and when he'd been unable to carry on the Jaffa had continued to dig it for him, all the while grinning at him as he lay on the ground, bleeding and dying.
He could see the bastard now, above him; silhouetted against the grey sky. He was drinking from a flask. Which only served to remind Jack how thirsty he was; he would almost be okay about being buried alive, if only he could have a drink of water first. It wasn't going to happen; he watched the man drop the flask and pick up the shovel.
The first shovel full of earth hit him on the chest .The weight of it surprised him and he groaned at the pain it caused. By the time it started hitting his face he was almost grateful.
The noise was muffled. He thought it sounded a little like gunfire, but he couldn't be sure through the barrier of four feet of earth and the pounding of his labouring heart. There had been a tiny airspace, which lasted a few minutes, but now it was all gone.
There was no last minute review of his life, nor was there any great epiphany, just the panic that comes with suffocation, and somewhere underneath that, a desperate longing for her. His body suddenly ceased its struggle for life, he was done; he stepped into the void.
Someone was kissing him. It hurt. Kissing shouldn't hurt. He felt fingers on his face, in his mouth and nose; then something warm and sweet rushed through him. That hurt too, but it was so very good he didn't mind so much. Maybe the kissing wasn't so bad, just as long as the sweet warmth continued.
There was someone calling him, the voice sounded panicked, desperate and very, very frightened. He tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be glued shut. He felt a hand on his cheek brushing the damp soil of his face. Suddenly he recognised the touch. "Sam." He tried to say her name, but he was pretty sure it didn't come out right.
"Jack! Jack, it's okay, we're going to get you home; you'll be okay. Just hold on… please hold on."
It must be bad, she'd dropped the 'sir'. Her voice made his heart quiet and his mind still. It was okay. Whatever happened now, it was okay.
The end