Note: Thanks again for the reviews. And for those of you concerned that Jack & Mac's birthdays don't match up and other reasons why they couldn't be twins, well...that's why this is an AU.

Three

The accident scene had been chaotic. Mac remembered looking around at the wreckage in shock as soon as he'd been able to get halfway out the window to summon help. There were rescue crews attending to the enormous number of injured passengers everywhere. He had some vague recollections of one of the firefighters telling him they'd get them out soon, so he'd crawled back down into the tipped train car to sit and wait with his brother.

Jack had been unconscious, and as Mac struggled to get to him, his headache reached a crescendo and he'd passed out cold half way there.

He awoke sometime later to a gentle beeping sound, a surrounding warmth, and the antiseptic smells of a hospital room. Mac felt like someone had stuffed cotton in his mouth, and though his head didn't hurt nearly as much as before, it still felt as though someone had rammed a nail straight into his brain. He was foggy and sluggish.

"MacGyver?" a gentle, desperate voice spoke softly to his left.

Turning his head carefully, Mac blinked several time to let his blurry sight come together until there was only one set of teary eyes looking at him in concern. "Ni—Nikki?" he croaked with confusion.

"Mac, you scared me half to death!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry." He winced, grimacing and weakly lifting his right hand. "Not…not so…loud."

Nikki reached out and gently stroked the side of his face. "We almost lost you," she murmured with a depth of emotion she normally didn't show. "Both of you."

Both of—? Jack! Mac struggled to sit up and look around, but Nikki pressed her hand firmly against his chest. "Where…wh-where's Jack?"

"Take it easy," Nikki instructed gently, her eyes soft and sympathetic. "He's in the next room over. Sam is there with him."

Mac lay back, somewhat mollified. He blew out a breath and closed his eyes briefly. "Good." His brows furrowed. "Is he…okay?"

Nikki had her lips pursed when he opened his eyes again. "They just brought him out of surgery about an hour or so ago. They had to clean up his…ah…his leg."

Mac just nodded, trying to stave off the threat of tears for his brother. "But…but he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah." She smiled thinly at him and took his hand. "No better than you, no worse."

His brows furrowed with confusion. What was she talking about? He wasn't even that bad. All he had was a concussion and a broken arm, right? It was hardly life threatening like Jack's injury.

"MacGyver, you have a skull fracture," Nikki explained gently, her brows quivering with worry. "You passed out on the scene and the paramedics couldn't wake you. I—I was afraid you wouldn't wake up again."

Surprised at the tears now spilling freely down her cheeks, Mac clutched Nikki's hand to his chest. "It's okay. I'm…gonna be okay now. When can I see Jack?"

She sent him a warm, loving smile and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I'll ask the doctor, alright?"

He nodded gingerly, trying not to upset the ache in his head. "Thanks."

.

Jack had been out since the surgery. The doctor told her that he'd done well, but he lost a lot of blood and they weren't really expecting him to wake up tonight. The hospital closest to the site of the train wreck had been an hour away, and as soon as she'd gotten word, Sam had taken off out of the mountain like a bat out of hell, not caring what anyone would think of her behavior. He was her husband and she was damned well going to be there for him. Daniel and Teal'c would've joined her for sure if they hadn't been off-world with SG-13 when the call came in.

Janet had wanted to know as soon as Jack got out of surgery, so Sam had called her and Janet promised she'd be on her way as soon as she was able to leave the base so Sam could have a friend at her side. Right now, though, she was just glad to have this time alone with Jack. They could get through this, she was sure of it.

A sound at the door caught Sam's attention and she turned, swiping at her cheeks when she noticed the moisture on her face. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"Sam?"

Sniffling, she wiped at her eyes again and got to her feet. "Nikki, hey. Come in."

Nikki quietly slipped into the room in deference to the unconscious patient in the bed. She glanced at Jack briefly, then smiled warmly at Sam. "MacGyver woke up."

Sam felt part of the weight lifted off her. "Good, I'm glad." She'd grown to know and love Jack's twin brother since they day they were first introduced, and she knew Mac would be the first thing on Jack's mind when he woke. "How is he?"

"He's good, amazingly." Nikki smiled. "Despite the skull fracture the doctors have determined that he hasn't suffered any significant brain damage and they expect him to make a full recovery. Barring any complications they're going to let him go after a few days of observation." She looked at the bed again and asked softly, "And Jack? Mac wanted to know when he could see him. I told him I'd ask the doctor."

Sam sighed softly. "He hasn't woken again since his surgery, but they didn't expect him to tonight."

Nikki nodded with understanding. "I'll let Mac know."

When the other woman turned to leave, Sam stopped her. "Nikki, wait. If…If the doctor says he's up to it, I don't see why Mac couldn't come in and see Jack for a few minutes. Maybe it'll help him at least."

"Alright." Nikki smiled with another nod. "I think Mac would like that."

Sam watched Nikki go and sat on the edge of Jack's bed, taking his hand between both of her own. She began gently massaging his bony knuckles, watching his face for any signs of waking, despite what the doctors had said. They didn't know Jack like she did. If he wanted to wake up earlier than they thought he would, well he'd damn well wake up. He was stubborn that way.

"C'mon, Jack," she whispered, keeping her hands moving against his. She kissed his knuckles and kept them pressed to her lips for a long moment, closing her eyes. "Wake up and tell me you'll be okay."

.

Jack didn't regain consciousness when his brother came to see him that night, but he did wake up early the next morning. Having snuck up on the bed during the night, carefully curling around him, Sam woke to the feeling of his arm coming up around her back and holding her closer. He murmured something sleepily, and she lifted her head from his chest to see his face. "Jack?"

His eyes began moving rapidly beneath the lids before slowly fluttering open. Struggling to focus, Jack's brows furrowed in confusion. "Sam?"

"I'm here, Jack." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before slowly swinging her legs over the side of the bed and sitting up, facing him. "Do you remember what—"

"Mac!" he gasped suddenly, his eyes darting around frantically. "Where—"

"It's alright, Jack, he's gonna be okay." Sam patted his chest soothingly with a gentle, disarming smile on her face. "He had a fractured skull along with the broken arm, but he's doing well and has been awake and talking since last night. The doctors even let him come and see you for a few minutes when you got out of surgery. He's just next door."

Unsure if Jack remembered the loss of his leg at this point in time, Sam was reluctant to say anymore and decided it was better to give him a few moments to gather his thoughts on his own. Her blue-eyed gaze flicked to the bag of blood hanging next to the saline above his bed, and she frowned slightly, thinking about how much blood he'd lost in the accident.

Jack's unfettered left hand groped for the bed controls and he grimaced as he let the bed sit him up. Once upright, he stared blankly at the empty space beneath the blanket where the rest of his right leg should have been.

Sam grew concerned about his reaction, noticing the minute twitches in his jaw as he grit his teeth. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it firmly. "It'll be alright. We can adjust."

He gave her a funny look, brows furrowed. "We?"

"That's right, Jack," she said firmly, confidently. "We. You don't have to do this alone. You're my husband. I love you and nothing is going to change that." Sam was almost afraid that he was going to shut down on her until she noticed the twitching at the corners of his mouth as he quirked a small grin.

"You love me, huh?" he teased, sounding amused all of a sudden and forgetting that he'd been dwelling on his newfound disability.

"Yes, Jack O'Neill," Sam said stubbornly. "I love you very, very much." Grabbing his face between her hands, she kissed him straight on the mouth, smiling against his lips as his hand came up to cup the back of her head, keeping her in place.

"I love you, too," Jack said a little breathlessly when they finally broke apart.

"Good." Still smiling brightly, Sam slid off the edge of the bed. "I'm going to go tell the nurse that you're awake so she can let the doctor know. Are you okay?"

"Yup." He nodded, resting his head back tiredly, though there was a contented look upon his face. "I'm okay."

.