Chapter 17. Entity
Daniel smiled as he entered the infirmary, a bouquet of pastel pink camellias in his hand. They were her favourite.
"Hey. How are you feeling?"
Sam wriggled up the bed to a sitting position as he approached, smiling tiredly. He set the flowers down on the table by her head and took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"I'm okay. Still a little...fuzzy, but physically I feel fine. Well, except for this." She waved her bandaged hand at him, the white gauze concealing the bad burn she had received when the Entity first fried the systems.
Daniel winced in sympathy. "Does it hurt?" He took her wrist gently and turned it over to inspect the wrappings. "I can ask Janet to give you something?"
Sam shook her head, pulling her hand away. "No, it's fine. I already feel out of it as it is."
She rubbed at her temple with her good hand and Daniel frowned. "Headache?"
"No... not exactly. I feel... I don't know, misplaced kind of? I was...screaming for you to hear me. For you to recognise me. Jack wanted to blow me up. It was like a bad dream, and I'm still not sure that I'm awake."
Daniel found her leg under the white sheet and squeezed it gently, his thumb rubbing back and forth over her knee. "This is real, Sam. We got you out. And I'd never let him blow you up." He quirked an eyebrow, "Can you imagine? I'd never hear the end of it."
She laughed at his lame joke and it made Daniel grin.
He pat her knee and stood. "Get some sleep Sam. Janet said I can take you home in a few hours. I'll be back then."
He put some water in one of Janet's unused beakers and placed the flowers in it as Sam scooted down under the covers and settled on her side. With her eyes closed, he allowed himself to watch her for a moment; dark lashes on perfect, pale cheeks, soft, blonde hair tousled from bedrest. Daniel chewed on his lip, debating himself, before eventually giving in to the impulse to bend down and press a soft kiss to her forehead.
Her eyes still closed, she smiled.