CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Forty-eight hours later, Jack was released from the infirmary. He was still confined to base, but at least he could move around, much to his relief. He'd been getting restless in bed, especially when everyone around him was disappearing. Reynolds had gone first, then Siler. Finally, even Sam had been released, leaving Jack alone in the large room. Jack suspected his extended stay had more to do with folks wanting to keep an eye on him than his injuries, but he really didn't care. He wasn't as young as he used to be, and as much as he was loathe to admit it, the rest was nice.

O'Neill was sporting a nice black eye, and a new row of stitches on his brow, but he'd been cleared neurologically from his head wound, so he dressed and headed straight to the trauma ICU. He found a sleeping Daniel Jackson there, and the sight brought tears of relief to his eyes. Teal'c was sitting with Daniel, and after Jack assured himself that his friend was indeed alive and breathing on his own, O'Neill reluctantly left to take his first real shower in days, which was desperately needed. He felt refreshed afterwards, and started back to Daniel's room.

He just had one stop to make first.

XXX

O'Neill stood in the doorway for a full minute before slowly limping over to the bed. This patient was all alone in a single room, and Jack wondered a bit at the preferential treatment until he realized that it was a security precaution. The man in the bed had to be isolated from what was going on around him, as he wasn't SGC personnel.

As Jack neared the bed, the man's head slowly turned to look at him. A small nod greeted the General and then a sarcastic voice followed.

"Hey. Look who's finally up and around."

Jack grinned down at the man in the bed. "Look who's talking."

The patient snorted. "Good point."

Jack ran his eyes over the wounded man before asking the obvious question. "How bad's the damage?"

The slightly younger man shrugged. "Ah, not too bad. They say I should get out of here tomorrow."

"Sweet."

"Yeah, I'll live."

"They read you the riot act?"

"Ah, you know, the usual. Made me sign a confidentiality agreement and all that stuff. No biggie. Guess they checked me out and thought I wasn't a huge threat. I'm free to go once I'm out of here."

Jack repeated his one word approval. "Sweet."

A curtain of silence dropped down over the two men then, and lasted an uncomfortably long time. O'Neill began shifting his weight from side to side, tapping on the bed railing, and looking anywhere but at the man under the sheets.

Finally, neither man could take it anymore, and both spoke in the same instant.

"Jack."

"Burke."

Jack waved his hand lightly. "You go first."

"I was just going to say thanks."

Jack hadn't expected gratitude, and his voice echoed his confusion. "For what? Getting you shot?"

Burke snorted again and shook his head. "For making me feel useful again, and for trusting me. It means a lot, especially from you."

Jack was obviously uncomfortable with Burke's sentiments, and he nervously laughed before responding. "Think nothing of it. Funny thing is, I was actually going to thank you."

"Me?" Burke waved dismissively. "None needed. I was just helping a buddy out."

"Burke, I mean it. I wouldn't have made it out of there with Daniel without you, and Siler would be dead by now, too, if not all of us. I heard about your little stunt with the compound's fuel tanks and barracks. Nice work, to take out the troops before they had a chance to come after us."

Burke gave a little sideways nod and shrugged. "Hey, it was war."

"Yeah…well…still…smart move…it probably made a big difference…thanks."

"What'd I tell you before? Anytime, anywhere. Still applies."

Jack looked down on the balding man in the bed and smiled a tiny grin. "Back at ya, Burke."

"Whatever. Get out of here and go look after the geek."

Jack laughed out loud then. He hadn't heard Daniel called a geek in a long time, and certainly not by someone who'd only met him twice, both times in situations hardly worthy of the title. He wondered whether the archeologist was just that transparent, or if Burke had done a little 'research' on Daniel Jackson after Nicaragua. He decided it didn't matter, and that he needed to heed Burke's advice. Daniel needed him, and he needed to go. Jack nodded at good bye at the wounded man and turned to leave.

Burke called after Jack's retreating back.

"Hey, Jack!"

Jack turned, halfway to the door. "Yeah?"

"See you on the outside sometime?"

Jack nodded again, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Maybe so, Burke, maybe so."

With that, Jack turned and finished his journey out of the room, leaving a smiling patient behind.