Christine
The next few days went by far slower than any of them had wanted. There was a constant influx of people to the infirmary to see Sam. Of course Daniel, Teal'c and Cameron were a staple. As were Cassie and some of the other SG teams. Janet was in once or twice an hour, just to check on her vitals personally. But more than anything, they wanted Sam awake and talking. That in itself would put all of her friends at ease.
Jack was there too, every night, all night. He never once left her side once night fell. The nurses had kept the bed next to Sam empty so he could sleep, but he never used it. Instead he took up his spot in the chair next to her bed and fell asleep holding her hand with his head on the bed.
Unfortunately, he couldn't immediately abandon his position in Washington, he needed to get all of his bases covered and he spent his days putting plans in motion. He had no intention of leaving Sam until she was ready for him to leave. He was still angry at himself for not being there to watch her back, and that made him all the more determined to be here to help her recover. With one last phone call it was done. Jack was now free for at least a week, and by then he would have himself set up to perform his duties from Colorado Springs. This time, he swore, this time the damned country would have to come second.
By the third day Janet decided that the nerves had sufficient time to settle, Sam's initial tests were good, and that keeping Sam in a drug induced coma was no longer necessary. She stopped the drugs in the early afternoon and the wait for her to wake up began. Jack came in after dinner to relieve Daniel.
"Hey Daniel," said Jack, "Any change?"
"Well," said Daniel getting up to face Jack, "She's not awake yet. Janet said it might take awhile for the drugs to fully leave her system."
Jack pat him on the shoulder, "She'll be up soon, I can feel it. Why don't you go, grab something to eat and go home. I'll call you if she wakes up before you're back in the morning."
Daniel nodded, "Ok, but you'll call if anything changes right?"
"Right," said Jack. Daniel turned to leave, "Hey Daniel?" asked Jack.
"Yeah," said Daniel.
"Thanks for calling me about Sam." Daniel nodded and left Jack alone with Sam.
Jack sat down in his regular spot and reached for Sam's hand, "Hey there. It's Jack. Good news. Janet stopped your sleepy drugs. So you can wake up anytime now, ok?" He waited for a response, "Ok so I'm just a little impatient. You've never been this quiet for this long." Still no response. "Ok, look Sam, I'm just gonna have to order you to wake up. I mean I may not be your CO anymore, but I still outrank you. So, I order you to wake up. I mean it." He stared down at her hand, held gently in his and hung his head. He was never good at patience, that was always her thing. And right now, he needed a whole lot of patience.
He looked back up at her, "C'mon Sam. Wake up. Please. I'm here and I'm not leaving so you're just gonna have to wake up." Jack shook his head not taking his eyes off of her. He brushed a stray hair from her face and that's when he noticed it, a slight movement of her hand. He looked at her hand held in his own and waited for it to happen again, afraid it was a fluke. His patience was rewarded with a tiny squeeze of his finger. When he looked up at her she was staring back at him. She was still groggy, but she was awake.
He smiled at her, "Hey there, 'bout time you rejoined the rest of us."
Sam looked like she was going to say something but she was having trouble getting the words out. "W...Wa..Wa.."
"What? Water?" She nodded, "Ok hang on." Jack went to let go of her hand but she wouldn't let go. "Hey, it's ok, I'm just gonna get the water and you can have my hand back, I promise." She nodded. He poured her a glass and brought it to her, complete with a straw. Sam drank a little at first and then finished it off. "Better?" said Jack, putting down the glass and once again holding her hand.
She nodded, "What happened?" she asked hoarsely.
"You don't remember?" he asked.
"I remember getting hit...oh god Daniel what about Daniel?"
He put a hand on her shoulder, "It's ok, he's fine. He's been in here with you almost as much as me."
Sam looked confused, "How long have I been out?"
"Two days. Janet kept you sedated until this morning." He knew the inevitable questions would start and he knew he had to answer them. He had already discussed with Janet how to handle her questions and made sure he knew what to tell her in terms of her condition and prognosis. He had asked that if she weren't there that he'd be the one to fill her in.
"Two days? I remember being hit in the back and hitting my head." Jack nodded, "Well, my insert is back there and I mean did I hit my head that hard?"
Jack got up from his chair and sat on the edge of the bed, his head down. "The hit you took missed the insert. Not by much, but it missed it. Hit you just to the right of your spinal cord, and more towards your lower back. Did a lot of damage."
Sam looked directly at him, her blue eyes now focused and clear, "Look at me, Jack." Jack didn't look up. Sam used her free hand to tilt his chin up, "It's bad, isn't it?"
Jack looked into those clear blue eyes, and prepared to deliver them a blow they weren't expecting. "You're going to be fine...in time."
"What does that mean? Don't drag this out Jack just tell me. Please."
He held both her hands in his own, "The blast took out the nerves leading to your right leg." He could see her eyes move to her leg. "Janet operated for what seemed like forever putting everything back together the best that she could."
Sam's eyes returned to his, wet with unshed tears. "And?"
"And for right now, the nerves are mending, but your not going to be able to move that leg for awhile."
Sam broke her gaze at him and looked again at her leg. She let go of his hand and moved her right hand over her leg. A tear ran down her cheek, "I can't feel my hand on my leg." She said, trying hard to maintain her fragile composure, "And if I can't feel my hand on it, I'm guessing I can't move it either." She tried to focus on moving something, anything. Her toes, her knee. Nothing worked. No matter how hard she tried her leg wouldn't respond. More tears fell down her cheeks and she looked at him, "You said I'd be fine in time. How much time?"
Jack sighed, "Janet's not sure. A month, maybe two. It depends on how those nerves heal. She said you can't do physical therapy until the nerves heal and you get some feeling back."
"But, I am going to get the feeling back? Please, tell me the truth." She was stiffening up in the bed, trying to tuck all of her fears under her "soldier" façade. Jack wasn't buying it.
"Sam, I would never lie to you, you know that right?" she nodded, "Ok, Janet said that once the swelling goes down you'll be able to feel that leg again. However, you're going to need the physical therapy to re-teach that leg to work again with the new nerve endings."
She seemed to calm down a little bit, "Okay." She managed in between sniffles, "Okay, I guess I don't have a choice here."
"You know you have had an awful lot of people worrying about you." He reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks, "They're gonna be thrilled that you're awake."
She reached up and stopped his hand, "Wait a minute," she said, "when did you get here I mean, what about Washington? Your job? You need to go back."
"Uh uh, I don't need to go back. I'm free for a week at least, then I'll set up shop here 'til you're better." He went back to tracing circles on the back of her hand, which seemed to calm her down a bit.
"I can't let you do that, Jack. You have a job to do." She looked down at their hands, "Don't get me wrong, I...I want you to stay. I almost need you to." She looked away from him, not wanting him to see the fear in her eyes.
"A while ago I promised you I'd always be here for you. Well, I wasn't here for you when you were on that planet. I wasn't there watching your back. But I'm here now, and I'm gonna stay here until you don't need me to be here anymore. Sam?" She was still looking away from him, trying not to cry, "Sam look at me." He turned her face towards him, "It's ok to be afraid." She nodded. "C'mere." He leaned into her and surrounded her in his warm embrace, now tracing those soothing circles on her back as she cried, "It's gonna be ok. You're not alone in this one. We'll do it together."