Thursday, April 9, 2020

There was a rumble of thunder in the distance as Jack, armed with the proper gloves and mask, removed the linens from the bed and took them to the laundry. As if his life was a story written by Ralph Waldo Emerson, nature mirrored Jack's mood. Agitated. Sad. Gray.

It felt a bit too cliché for his liking; he might have enjoyed railing at the heavens if the sun were shining. Then again, that was cliché, too.

He hadn't slept at all last night. Just sat in his car outside the hospital, wishing that he only had a door between him and Sam, but when they hadn't managed to wake her for more than a few minutes, Dr. Butterfield had insisted on bringing her here. Then, when her COVID-19 test had come back positive, Jack had been informed to stay home for the next fourteen days, even though his test had come back negative.

It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't become essential at the Pentagon in the last three days. He wouldn't feel like he was letting everyone down.

He kicked the bottom of the washer, the loud clang of metal strangely cathartic. Even if he did dent the pedestal. Sam would ask him about it when she got home. If she—

He stopped himself. No need to go down that road just yet.

The minute they'd taken her to the ICU, he'd known there would be no way to use their alien technology to help her. No, the window to use alien tech had been when she was first showing symptoms, but they were so eager to contain the outbreak that they hadn't considered it.

He'd hoped she would be transferred to the SGC so Lam could help, but he understood why she wasn't. Even using beaming technology would expose a whole crew to COVID-19 while they were supposed to be fighting an enemy. Sam would have killed him if he'd suggested such a thing, even if he was certain that every member of her crew would be willing to take the risk.

If only they were still in Colorado. If only getting her to where she could get help wouldn't involve beaming technology or air lifts or a hundred other complicated, personnel-heavy maneuvers.

No, he had to trust that she would be okay. Trust that after all the things which kept trying to pull them apart, they would find each other again.

Aqua sat at the front door, and Jack wondered for a moment if this was what it would be like when Sam went back on the ship. Would he spend his days at the Pentagon only to come home to a dog who sat in front of a door, waiting for his wife to come home?

After the last few days, he wasn't sure he'd be able to endure that.

Maybe Sam had been right. As much as they loved this dog, maybe it wasn't great that she'd bonded so quickly with Sam.

He dropped the gloves and mask in the trash before he reached for his cell phone.

"Landry."

"Hank, it's me. What's going on up there?"

Landry sighed. "Nothing right now. Teal'c is in an al'kesh, following the ships gathering from the Lucian Alliance. For now, they're just gathering around Mars. Teal'c says that the Jaffa Nation is sending ships, but they won't be there for another day."

He'd been expecting that after reading the intelligence briefs he'd been given in the car outside the hospital at two this morning. "And the Hammond?"

"Carolyn approved sending an entirely new crew aboard, so we can remove the need for quarantine. Mitchell and Hailey have a good group of science and military officers to assist up there."

Jack caught sight of the dog's food bowl. Still full. His heart grew heavy. He knew the feeling. "SG-1?"

"Except for Teal'c, they're all with Mitchell."

They fell into silence for a moment, then Landry cleared his throat. "Jack, she's a strong woman. If anyone's going to beat this thing, it's going to be her."

How many times had he had this conversation with Hammond over the years? "I'm not going to insult you by asking you what you're talking about."

"Good, because you know it wouldn't work."

Jack managed a thin chuckle as he remembered beating Landry in several rounds of chess. "Maybe."

"Jack, you've got other things to worry about now. Let us handle this."

"What things, Hank? She's in the hospital. I can't see her. So, I can walk the dog ten times, and do the laundry, and clean the house, but that's not going to get my mind off anything."

"And waiting for the Lucian Alliance to attack will?"

Jack scratched at his forehead. "Hank, just ask yourself how you'd be feeling right now."

"I get it, Jack, I really do. Unfortunately, the President thinks you should sit this one out."

Jack gritted his teeth. "Great."


He was disinfecting the bathroom when the doorbell rang.

Once again, he dropped his new accessories in the trash as he walked down to the front door. Aqua stood, her tail wagging.

Jack patted the dog on the head, knowing that if this were Sam, she'd just walk in.

As he opened the door, there was a paper bag from one of the local restaurants. He searched for the delivery person. No one in sight.

Damn.

The receipt on the bag proclaimed his name anyway with a note saying that it was for Contactless Delivery.

Walter.

He didn't know why, but he knew the short, gray gate tech was behind this. The sergeant hadn't worked for him in over a decade, and still he was anticipating Jack's needs.

Jack brought the bag inside and closed the front door. The spicy, smoky scent of fajitas doing more to tempt his appetite than anything else today. That was, until he saw Sam's cello, sitting off to the side of the fireplace. Untouched for almost a week.

His appetite back to nothing, he set the bag on the counter and turned to Aqua, who had returned to her spot at the front door. She whined as she set a white and chocolate brown paw on the door.

Without a word, he sat beside the dog and scratched behind her ears. "Hi, girl. She'll be back. Don't know when, but she'll be back. Until then, you and I'll be waiting for her. What do you say?"

The dog yipped once before snuggling up beside him.

Maybe Sam had been right in getting the dog, after all. He couldn't imagine not having the comfort of the small creature in the middle of all this.

He ran his calloused hand across the dog's coarse fur. "What do you think, Aqua? You want this to be your forever home?"

The dog turned her sober grey eyes to him, and he offered her a grim smile. "I'll call the shelter later, and we'll make it official, okay?"

Aqua didn't answer, just rested her head on her paws as he continued petting her and they both waited.