On the days she didn't have rehab she and Jack worked on her exercises and got her up and moving. Donna had Jack come to a session or two so he could see what was involved in getting Sam up and around. So every Tuesday and Thursday Jack and Sam would have their own version of rehab right in Sam's living room. There were no bars for Sam to balance on, so Jack would stand in front of her and hold her arms at the elbows, while she did the same with him. The hold gave her enough stability to try to put more weight on her leg knowing that Jack would be there and wouldn't let her fall. She was doing better since she had accepted that she couldn't control her recovery time. Now, instead of fighting her body, she let her body set the pace, and soon she was making great strides. Before she knew it, that stubborn right leg not only moved more than an inch forward, it had begun to hold some weight. Before long, she was taking a full step forward.
During one of her sessions with Donna she had a breakthrough. As they were walking along the parallel bars, Donna noticed that Sam wasn't really putting a lot of weight on her hands. "Sam?" asked Donna, "You seem to be doing a lot of walking on that leg now."
Sam nodded, "Yeah, I almost have all of my weight on it."
"Do you want to try walking without the bars?" asked Donna.
Sam stopped and looked over at Donna, "Without the bars?"
"Yes, without the bars." Donna looked over at Sam, who was looking at her feet. "Sam? Is there something wrong?"
Sam looked up at Donna, "No. No. It's just...well, are you sure I'm ready for that?"
"You tell me." Said Donna, "I don't see you putting much weight on your hands. I think you're ready to try this without the bars." Donna could see Sam mulling it over, "Sam. It's ok if you don't feel ready yet. I know it can be scary." She put her hand on one of the bars, "These bars that once were such a huge hurdle for you have now become your safety net. They're your training wheels, if you will. If they're there, you can't fall"
Sam looked over at her, "But," said Donna, "If you don't let go of them, you'll never walk on your own. You have to take the risk. Maybe not today, but soon, ok?"
Sam nodded, "I know I need to try to walk without them. I really thought I would be psyched to get rid of them. But you're right. They're a safety net for me. One I'm going to have to get rid of." She took a deep breath and blew it out. "I want to try it."
"Ok, come on over to the end of the bars," Sam slowly walked her way down the bars to the end. "Alright now, hold my hands, not with any weight on them, just so you're steady. Once you start to move around on your own, you won't need me anymore."
Sam reached out and held Donna's hands in front of her. She was breathing faster now, and getting more nervous by the minute, "Ok, now what?"
"Look at me, Sam," Said Donna, "Don't look at your feet, look just at me."
Sam raised her head and met Donna's gaze, "Ok."
"Ok," said Donna, "Now, try and take that step forward with your right foot. But don't look down at your feet. That's gonna be hard, I know, but you have to remember you don't normally look at your feet when you walk, right?"
Sam nodded, "Right. Ok, take a step forward and don't look at my feet." Sam slowly moved her right leg forward and immediately looked down at her foot.
"Uh uh, look at me Sam, not the foot." Said Donna.
"Right, sorry." Sam again met Donna's gaze and slid her right foot forward.
"Ok, now the left foot. Put your weight on the right foot. C'mon Sam, I know you can do this."
Sam picked up her left foot and moved it forward, all the while putting her weight on her injured right foot. She stopped, a huge smile across her face, "I did it?"
Donna smiled back, "Yes ma'am you did it. You took two steps all by yourself. I don't even think you needed me there."
Sam hugged Donna, "Thank you."
"What for?" asked Donna.
"For this. For believing that I could do this, even when I didn't think I could."
Donna smiled at Sam, "That's one of the reasons I love my job."
Sam smiled back, "Can we do it again? I mean, I'm not going to push it to keep trying?"
"Not at all," said Donna as they began to slowly, step by step, make their way around the room. "Well, Jack will certainly be surprised."
"Oh, don't tell Jack," said Sam, "I want to surprise him."
Donna laughed, "Ok then, it's our little secret."
Jack came to pick Sam up, and they're normal routine continued. They had lunch and chit chatted with everyone and then went home. This time, Jack didn't have to wake Sam up when they got to her house.
Once Sam and Jack were inside, Sam got settled on the couch. "Hey Jack?"
"Yeah," Jack called from the guest room.
"I hate to be a pest, but I was wondering do we have any rocky road ice cream left?" Sam already knew that they were out, but she needed to get Jack out of the house for a little while. Long enough to get herself situated to surprise him.
"Lemme check," said Jack going into the kitchen, "Nope, looks like the well is dry. You want some now?" Sam smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "You just had lunch."
"Well, actually, I didn't really eat my lunch. Cameron was talking, and then Daniel and Vala and Teal'c and well, I really didn't eat much."
"And instead of some real food you'd prefer ice cream?" asked Jack incredulously.
"Look, if you don't want to run out for some, we can just get some later..." said Sam.
"Nope, if the lady wants rocky road, I will get rocky road." He picked up his keys and opened the door, "is there anything else I need to get?"
"Nope, just the ice cream. Thanks." Said Sam.
"Be right back," said Jack and he closed the door.
"And won't you be surprised," said Sam, wheeling into the bedroom.
Ten minutes later Sam heard Jack's truck in the driveway. She could hear him coming up the walk and opening the door.
"Sam? Ice cream man is here." He put down his keys and looked around, suddenly concerned, "Sam? Hey, this isn't funny. Where are you?"
"Just stay there." Said Sam, from her bedroom; "I've got a surprise for you."
Jack put down the ice cream and looked down the hall towards Sam's bedroom. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Sam was walking towards him. She was shaky, but she was walking, by herself. She had this huge smile on her face. Jack couldn't take his eyes off of her. At that moment, walking towards him, she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. As she got close to him she stopped.
"Surprise!" she said, tears in her eyes.
He took a step towards her and pulled her into an embrace, lifting her off the floor and spinning her around. They were both laughing as he put her down gently, "When?" He asked.
"Today," she said, tears of joy running down her face, "I took my first steps by myself in rehab today. I didn't want Donna to tell you. I wanted to surprise you myself."
He wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Well, that's one hell of a surprise." She smiled at him. "So, you never really wanted the ice cream did you?"
She nodded, "Oh yeah I did. I couldn't surprise you if you were in the house now could I. Besides I ate all the rocky road yesterday, and I need rocky road ice cream in the freezer at all times." He shook his head. "Really!"
He hugged her again and whispered in her ear, "I'm so proud of you, Sam."
She tightened her embrace and whispered back, "I wouldn't have gotten here without you, Jack. Thank you."
"So," he said releasing her, "This calls for a celebration. Cake? Party? Little bit of both?"
"How about dinner, out. Just us. We can celebrate with everyone else this weekend. I just want to celebrate quietly, just you and me." Sam said.
"Okay then, dinner, just us. Fancy or casual?" he asked.
"Well, I can't go dancing just yet, but there's this nice place right on Granger St. that's a little upscale. So let's say fancy. We're celebrating right?' she said.
"Right. Okay, so I'll make reservations for say 7ish and we'll go celebrate." Said Jack.
"I'd better find something to wear," said Sam, "I've been in sweats every day for the last 3 months."
"I've gotta get something to wear," said Jack, "I don't have a jacket and dress pants rolled up in my duffle bag ya know."
"Okay, then you go get what you need to and I'll get myself together. Meet you back here in a bit?" she asked.
"You got it." He said as he opened the front door.