The colonel couldn't stand still. They had been waiting in the infirmary for nearly an hour, and the rage was building in his gut, choking him. But worse than the rage was the fear that the Carter he had carried back to the SGC was not his Carter, and he was desperately afraid he might never get her back. The way she'd looked at him… It was like staring into the soul of a dead woman. He couldn't shake it.

"Son," General Hammond finally asked, interrupting his pacing, "What happened out there?"

Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Dunno, sir. She had already escaped when we got there. We found her heading upriver toward the gate. She was barely conscious."

"We ran into a couple of Lewen's goons," Daniel put in from his spot, hunched in a chair. "But not him. She had a knife, and they said she'd committed a capital crime – I suspect he's not in good shape. If he's even alive."

The general took a moment to absorb that. When next he spoke, he hoped his tone conveyed his concern: not as her commander, but as her friend. "How did she seem?"

Daniel stared at the floor, and the colonel just shook his head.

"She is not well, General Hammond," Teal'c spoke up finally. "Physical contact from any male causes severe anxiety. Major Carter was badly injured, but she would not allow assistance until she could no longer walk."

Jack flinched at the memory. She had known she couldn't go any further on her own, but when he'd told her he'd have to carry her, tears had run down her face. She'd cried at the thought of him touching her, and he would never get that image out of his head.

"Colonel Reynolds deserves much praise for his actions," Teal'c continued. "SG-3 conducted themselves with the utmost concern and respect for Major Carter's condition."

It was rare for Teal'c to commend someone like that, and the general nodded. "I'll tell him."

Janet emerged from the door down the hall and came to join them. "I want to kill that son of a bitch," she said softly.

"It sounds like Major Carter already did," the general assured her.

"Good."

Daniel's head shot up. In all the years he'd known her, all the things she'd seen, he had never, ever heard her extol violence.

She pinched her nose, taking a deep breath before speaking again. "He was really brutal," she said finally, not meeting their eyes. "And she's… there's a lot of swelling. She's in a lot of pain. But physically, she'll recover. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Jack asked.

"Scar tissue can…" She shook her head. "I'm not sure this is something Sam would really want me to discuss with you, sir. But General, I do need to speak to you in my office."

"Janet," Daniel protested. "Come on, this is Sam. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I can't."

Colonel O'Neill pushed himself off the wall and headed down the hall toward the observation rooms.

"Colonel," Janet called after him, bringing him to a halt. "She asked not to see anyone. Please."

He hung his head, tugging at his hair angrily, but he didn't go any further.

"She's gonna need time," Janet soothed, then gestured toward the door to her private sanctum. "General."

Jack was still standing by the door. "You gonna go anyway?" Daniel asked softly after they'd left, though he wasn't sure what answer he was hoping for.

"No. I'm gonna try my damndest not to make this worse than it already is."

~/~

Sam spent six days in isolation, interacting only with the female medical staff. Colonel O'Neill had gone to see her a thousand times, getting as far as the infirmary doors once or twice, but he'd never gone in. He didn't know how to help her, and it was killing him.

On day seven, she left the SGC, but SG-1 wasn't told until they were paged to Hammond's office later that afternoon. "Major Carter has decided to go see her brother," the general told them. "It might be good for her to get away from here for awhile."

"He barely knows her," Jack argued.

"Then maybe it will be good for them both." He took a deep breath. "Son, maybe it isn't the best idea. I don't know. I'm sure you can understand that – I don't know how best to help her. So it's difficult for me to refuse her something like this."

"She's running," Daniel said softly. "This is not good."

"Perhaps the absence of the SGC will aid in Major Carter's recovery," Teal'c suggested.

"Yeah," Jack said, not convinced. "Sometimes people need to run. And sometimes they run… hoping they'll be followed."

"How do we know which?" Daniel asked.

"We don't."