She tried to open her eyes, but they felt so heavy that she found it difficult. She had no idea where she was but her senses were being assaulted by a barrage of noises and smells that she recognised. The beeping and the sickly clean smell that surrounded her made her want to curl into a ball until they went away.

She tried to piece together anything that could help her comprehend where she was or what had happened to her. Everything inside her mind seemed to be a blur but she forced herself to stop thinking, take a breath and relax. Her years of military training had taught her to try and assess the situation when awaking before actually letting anyone know you were awake.

She slowly managed to open her eyes and the brightness that greeted her made her want to close them again, but she forced herself to keep them open and gradually they adjusted. She scanned the room without moving her head and her eyes fell on the sleeping form in the chair beside her.

'Daniel?'

She was about to speak, call out to him when her mind came together and a vision of Jack's lifeless body and his blood on her hands came rushing at her.

"Jack" she choked out a sob so quiet it was barely audible.

She didn't know where she drew the strength from but she pulled her body upright and bent forwards, placing her head on the bed in between her knees, running her hands through her hair. She felt something sharp tug at her hand and looked to see a drip stuck to it. She grasped at it with her free hand and yanked it away from her skin.

She looked down and pulled the heart beat monitors from her chest causing the heart monitor to flat line and swung her legs out from under the sheets that covered her, placing her feet to the ground.

Daniel had been roused by the sudden and dejectedly all too familiar noise of a flat lining heart monitor. He saw Sam sitting on the edge of the bed trying to stand and as she did so her legs buckled and Daniel was out of the chair in a flash.

She pushed herself up off the bed and just as she did so she felt her legs give way but instead of meeting the floor she was grasped in a strong embrace.

"Easy Sam, easy"

"No, Jack… I have to… where is he" Sam gasped.

Daniel moved her backwards and placed her back onto the bed as two nurses rushed into the room having been alerted by the flat line.

"It's okay. Can you give us a minute." He asked them.

The nurses nodded and left the room.

"Where's Jack?" Sam asked.

Sam couldn't bear the way Daniel was looking at her, the emotions she could see in his eyes were more than she could handle. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again.

"no… please… don't say it…" Sam's voice broke as a sob escaped from her.

"He's in a coma Sam… the doctor's say…" Daniel paused, taking in a breath. "…they say he won't last the night."

Another sob managed to choke its way from her throat.

"I'm so sorry Sam." Daniel moved forwards and enveloped her and she clung to him, sobbing her heart out.

She managed to get her crying under some semblance of control and pulled back.

"I need to see him."

Daniel simply nodded and walked over to the door where a wheelchair was waiting.

"No… I'll… I'll walk. I just need a hand."

Daniel didn't speak as he walked over to her and placed his arm around her waist. She placed her feet on the floor but with Daniel's support she felt steadier.

As they walked along the corridor Sam spoke quietly.

"Why aren't we at the SGC?"

"When I saw Jack's car I called 911. The EMT arrived a few minutes after Jack had been shot. I asked them if they could transport him to Cheyenne Mountain but they said he needed a hospital fast and that Colorado Medical Centre was only five minutes away."

Sam simply nodded. When they stopped outside a door to a private room Sam saw Teal'c, Dr Frasier and General Hammond all seated outside. None of them spoke… they didn't need to.

Daniel took a breath. "Do you want me to come in with you?"

Sam shook her head, her gaze transfixed on the door.

"I need to do this alone."

She stepped forward and placed her hand on the door knob bracing herself. She didn't know if she could face this… but she knew she had to… for Jack. He had saved her… and now it was her turn to save him.

She leant back against the door, her weight clicking it shut. She let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding.

There he was… lying on the bed… so deathly still it made her want to close her eyes and not open them again until he awoke and spoke to her telling her to open her eyes… but if the doctor's were right… that would never happen again.

But what did the doctor's know? She wasn't going to let this happen. They were stronger than this… everything they had gone through over the past couple of days, hell over the past seven years, made their love stronger than anything…and she knew that if she could reach him they way he had reached her when she was so lost inside of herself that she could bring him back to her, back into her arms where she could hold him and never let go.

She walked over to the bed and her breath caught in her throat. He was so pale, so lifeless. She placed her hand to his face, cupping his cheek. He was colder than she remembered, she closed her eyes at the memories that assaulted her, the feel of Jack's body against hers, the way his skin felt so warm when their bodies were entwined.

For some reason a verse from a poem she had studied in high school came to her,

'But, though kind Time may many joy's renew,

There is one greatest joy I shall not know

Again, because my heart for loss of You

Was broken, long ago'

God, if someone had told her back then that the poem she had been studying would be fitting to her later in life… that she would be sitting my the bedside of her very own soldier, a man who she had shared so much with, had seen so much with, had travelled to other planet's with… a man she loved so much but whose life was slowly fading before her…

She sat on the edge of the bed and pulled one leg up underneath her, leaving her other leg dangling off the side of the bed and leant over him.

"Jack…"

Nothing

She took a breath knowing that if ever there was a time she was going to really let herself go, one moment to pour out all the emotions inside of her, one single moment in time to reveal everything she felt for him, this was it.

"Jack… I need you to wake up… I can't go on without you… you're everything to me. You're my heart, my soul… if you die, I'll die with you. Every time you walk into a room, every time you look at me my heart skips a beat. Every time you touched me, even if it were a fleeting brush of your hand on mine or… god… whenever you held me in your arms… I never felt safer than when you held me… I knew that you were always there for me. When I got lost, you found me… I can't go on, knowing I'm never going to see you again, never going to feel your gaze upon me, never going to feel the touch of your lips, your fingers, your body, your breath on my skin."

Sam took a breath and paused for a moment blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"I know it sounds weird, but whenever I was with you, I felt like I did when I was alone. When I was alone, I felt like I wasn't trying to prove myself to anyone, I could be myself… and that's how I felt when I was with you… you are the only man I could ever be myself with. The only man I could ever love so completely it scared me. You're with me every moment of every day; you're in my dreams at night, my fantasies… I can't imagine a future without you. Last night, when I remembered who I was… I didn't see images of my life before the SGC… I remembered you… everything that we had shared… because you're my life… my love…"

She bent forwards, her lips a mere few millimetres away from his, tears fell from her eyes onto his face.

"I need you to wake up Jack, to come back to me…because I can't go on without you… I love you."

Sam closed the distance between them with a soft, tender lingering kiss.

Across the room a figure stood in the shadows, tears running down his cheeks.

"God Sam… my Sam."

He took in a shaky breath.

"I can't leave her… I need her too much…I love her… so much."

"Then go back to her."

"How?"

"Just close your eyes, and let yourself feel her."

He turned to the figure beside him.

"Thanks Oma."

"Your journey is not yet over Jack O'Neill… together you will be the strongest warriors of mankind this galaxy has ever seen… together… you can defeat the Goa'uld.'

He looked at her with a small grin. "What, no cryptic 'if you immediately know the candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago' kinda speech?"

Oma smiled. "I will tell you this. Your journey is just beginning."

Jack tilted his head, still smiling. "That sounds familiar."

Oma simply ducked her head smiling as Jack looked back to the scene on the bed.

He closed his eyes and felt himself fading.

She didn't want to break the kiss, wanted to cling onto this moment for all of eternity.

She could taste the salt from her tears as they trickled down her cheeks and a few slipped to where her lips met his.

She gasped softly as she felt a hand wind into her hair and Jack's mouth suddenly but oh so softly capture her bottom lip in-between his own.

She pulled back only a fraction to see Jack's deep brown eyes staring up at her.

"Hey" he whispered.

Who knew that a word so simple, so innocent could the most beautiful sound in the world?

"Oh god, Jack" Sam sobbed.

She captured his lips again, Jack holding her there while he ran his tongue across her lips, parting them and delving his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues caressed and stroked each other and Jack pulled back so he could brush his lips back and forth across her parted ones in a caress so soft and slick it made her moan in pleasure.

Sam placed her hand on the side of his face, her thumb in front of his ear and the rest of her hand in his hair she sought a deeper caress of his mouth, her tongue mating with his.

Jack pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

"God I love you Sam, so much. You brought me back… I could hear you and I knew I needed to get back to you… I love you." Jack whispered breathlessly.

"I love you Jack."

She sat up and as she did so Jack spoke.

"Help me up here."

Sam smiled as she helped him sit up in the bed and immediately Jack wrapped her in a one armed embrace and Sam clung to him like a life raft, somehow in amongst the emotions and desperation managing not to crush his injured arm that now resided in a sling. Jack's lips were in the crook of her neck and he ran his hand through her hair.

Breathing out a contented sigh he spoke "I love you."

He reached for her hand which was languidly stroking his neck. He took her hand in his and interlaced their fingers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm. Her other hand continued to caress his neck.

Sam leant forwards and kissed his hairline where a cut had been stitched up and then moved to place a kiss on the scar over his right eyebrow, the top of his cheek bone, the corner of his mouth and finally his lips.

Their kisses were passionate, desperate and all consuming and left them breathless.

"Just wait until I get you home." Sam grinned.

"Hey… injured man here… you'll have to be gentle with me." Jack smiled.

They kissed once more before Sam rose from the bed and walked over to the door.

Sam reached the door and opened it, walking out into the corridor.

All her friends stood up and feared the worst when they saw her tear streaked and flushed cheeks.

She looked at them and smiled, taking a breath.

"He's awake"

The sighs of relief were intermingled with the thanks sent to any god that may actually exist. Daniel swept her up into a hug whispering, "Are you okay?"

She pulled back and nodded. Everyone took it in turns to embrace Sam before filing into Jack's room. After a minute or so of warm embraces she was alone in the corridor feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She turned around and stood in the door way. Jack was sitting up with the others surrounding him asking if he was okay and how he felt. Sam leant against the door frame, a soft smile on her lips.

Jack turned to look at her and smiled warmly.

The others fell silent, inwardly elated about not only how Jack had survived but that he and Sam had finally come to their senses. It's a shame that all it took was a kidnapping, a car crash and a near death experience to make them realise it. The thing was, these things had all happened over the past seven years on numerous occasions… so what was it that had finally made their resolve snap, finally made them realise how much they needed each other?

Janet cleared her throat.

"Okay, I think we should leave these patients to get their rest."

The others were in silent agreement and all wished them both well telling them they'd be back tomorrow to check up on them. Janet was the last to leave the room and whispered to Sam as she left,

"and I mean i rest /i "

The doctor winked at Sam who laughed softly before the door was closed and she and Jack were alone once again.

"C'mere" Jack spoke softly and Sam walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed on so Jack could wrap his uninjured arm around her. It wasn't soon before they succumbed to the inevitable sleep they both needed and that was how the nurse found them 10 minutes later after being informed by Janet that the Colonel was awake. She wanted to wake him to check his vitals but decided that could wait an hour and she left the room silently, leaving the couple wrapped in each others embrace, deep asleep, oblivious to the outside world… but together none the less.