CHAPTER NINE

The sun was streaming through the third floor window of Carter's hospital room when Jack O'Neill knocked softly on the open door to signal his presence. Teal'c got up from the stiff plastic chair he had been using to keep his vigil by the bed to allow O'Neill to begin his time.

"Colonel Carter is sleeping well at this time, O'Neill."

With a nod, the Jaffa quietly exited the room. As always, little needed to be said between the two men.

Jack watched Sam sleep for a while, then got up to walk around the room a bit. When he returned to the bed, Carter was awake and watching him. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke quietly.

"You don't have to stay, sir."

Jack sat down in the chair and looked the blonde patient square in the eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, Carter."

"There's nothing for you to do here, sir. No reason for you to stay."

Gently, assuredly, Jack repeated his statement. "I'm not going anywhere, Carter."

Brown and blue eyes held on one another for a solid minute. Then Carter's filled slightly with tears, and dropped away from O'Neill's. Wondering what he had done, Jack questioned his former 2IC gently.

"What?"

"It's nothing, sir," replied Carter.

"No, there's no nothing now. What is it?" Jack's eyes and voice were full of so much care that Sam could hardly stand it. She looked away even further and her chest began to tremble ever so slightly. It unnerved O'Neill, who was used to seeing a strong Sam Carter, and he didn't quite know what to do. Jack waited as long as he could before finally barely whispering a question.

"Carter?"

Sam seemed to come back around with that. She drew a large breath and sighed, then looked directly at the General. Her next words were not unexpected to him, but not something he ever wanted to hear, either.

"They'll have to discharge me."

Jack went into full denial mode. He couldn't help it. "Carter, it's too soon to be thinking like that. We don't know what's going to happen here. You could be back to normal in a few weeks. We just don't know. I mean, stranger things have happened, right?" He tried to smile at her and cheer her up a bit, but he knew it was just a façade. He knew Carter was going to be discharged for medical reasons. Her fractures alone meant she would never face field duty again. She would be lucky to walk normally again. Add to that the potentially permanent (although Jack refused to think of it that way) neurologic damage, and there was no way Carter would remain on active duty.

Jack knew that, and so did Carter. "I know what you're trying to do here, sir, and I appreciate it, but we both know I'm out."

Jack didn't argue this time. He couldn't. He tried to apologize with his expression as best he could, but he abstained from making unfair false impressions. Carter knew the score the same as he did.

"What am I going to do, sir?"

Jack's mind reeled with possibilities. His first thoughts were that Carter could do civilian consulting, work at area 51, do labwork, and think up contraptions no one else could. Ideas ran through his mind like water from a tap. There were so many things she could do. Each one was rejected from whatever part of Jack's mind had thought of it, though, as the rest of his brain knew that Carter wouldn't be happy in those jobs. She needed action. She needed to be in the thick of things. As much as she enjoyed her tinkering, there was no way she could do it full time. Her short stint at Area 51 had already proven as much.

The complete despair in Sam's voice had taken Jack off guard. He had no idea what to say, so he went with the honest answer that seemed most fair. He didn't want to lie to her, and he didn't want to start listing off things she could do with no legs. He hadn't given up, and didn't want her to do so, either. His reply was barely a whisper.

"I don't know, Carter."

The two officers were quiet for a while after that, each lost in his or her own head, but the stillness didn't last too long. The reverie was broken suddenly, when O'Neill jumped up and went over to the small table in the room, where he had left his jacket. When Carter looked at him questioningly, he explained.

"I brought you a little something."

Jack removed a single, oblong package from the inside pocket of his coat.

"Sir, you didn't have to. You bring me something every day."

"That I do, and I have no intention of stopping."

Sam laughed. "You're incorrigible."

"Thanks, I think," Jack replied with a grin and wink.

Today, his small gift was a Caramello candy bar. He figured a small piece of the real world, and a break from hospital snacks, would do Carter some good. Besides, he knew they were her favorite, and he aimed to please.

"Sir, you shouldn't have. You keep bringing me things like this and I'll weigh three hundred pounds when I get out of here."

Jack's head snapped up like a puppet suddenly handled by a master when she said that. "Damn right, Carter. Then we can diet together. When you WALK out of here. Hang in there."

"Sir…"

He cut her off and wouldn't let her argue. "It could still just be neuropraxia…you never know…it is improving slowly...you can beat this. Fight it hard, Carter. I believe in you."

Sam laughed right in Jack's face. At first, the General was insulted by this response, but as Sam explained her humor through her giggles, Jack puffed out his chest and smiled with mock pride. "You just used a five syllable word, sir. And correctly, I might add. Better be careful, or people will start to expect you to use that brain of yours a little more."

"Well, hanging around with you and these docs all day must have worn off on me."

"Uh-huh. Whatever you say, sir." Sam had stopped laughing, but she was grinning ear to ear.

"Shut up, Carter."

Sam did as she was told, but the smile remained. Jack was smiling, too, and the mood in the room was one of moments shared and friendships strengthened. Jack thought that he couldn't be happier, despite the circumstances. He and Sam had each other back. Friends. Like it was supposed to be. Jack vowed in that moment to never let time nor distance come between them again, regardless of the path their friendship took. This was too good to lose a second time.