Carter had spent a good seven hours digging in the dirt, which couldn't have been easy on her back. Which was obviously why she sat on the log by the fire in a deep hunch again. He hoped. Jack settled beside her. "How you feelin'?"
"Uh..."
At least she'd eaten. "The correct answer is 'better,' Captain."
A wan smile crossed her face. "Better, Captain."
"Not better, huh?"
She shook her head. "I really thought I'd kicked it earlier, but I guess I got my hopes up."
"How long does this usually last?"
"A day or two. It'll be better tomorrow. When we get back to the SGC, sir, I'll deal with it. I promise this won't happen again."
He blinked, eyeing her as she nibbled her protein bar. "How the hell can you promise that? Last I checked, this was a monthly thing."
"It's... not quite that simple," she told the ground in front of her feet. "There are... medications that can help. Birth control," she confessed. "I had it all handled."
Boy, he was learning more about her than he ever needed to know. "And what changed?"
"I started going off world. We got captured on our very first mission. And Doctor Fraiser and I decided the pill might not be the best thing, in case something happens and I have to miss doses."
"Is it that big a deal?"
She didn't move her head, though her eyes slid up and over toward him. "It would be a bigger deal in captivity, sir. You know the Air Force recommends birth control for all women in the field, right? For their own protection."
Protection? He glanced up at her in confusion. And a millisecond later he remembered what happened to female POWs – what could happen to her – and his stomach turned.
"The different formulations all do the same thing, but in slightly different ways and with slightly different side effects. There's an injection," she continued. "It's good for ninety days. It would have been perfect, but..." One hand gestured vaguely at her hunched-over body.
"Not workin' for ya."
"Not so much."
"You gonna be able to ride it out?"
Her smile was wry. "Wouldn't be the first time."
