AN: Yes, it was very cruel. But it would also be just plain bad form if I didn't ;) However, I do realize the tension, and I'm not one to put such an evil cliffhanger and leave you hanging for very long. Now THAT would be bad form indeed!

Olivia froze when she heard the shout. It was blood curdling, and raw to the point where she almost couldn't quite tell what he had said. Close by- for she was already on her way to his position, as no doubt were the others - but still too far away. Jack's cry was punctuated heavily by the gun's discharge.

Olivia's mouth went dry.

"No," she said in a hoarse whisper. She couldn't believe it. Not like this, she thought desperately. Olivia ran as fast as her legs could move, following the sound of the gunshot that still rang in her ears.

She could have been no more than a hundred yards away, but the seconds felt interminable. Dark thoughts swam in her head, telling her that she was already too late. Olivia didn't notice that she had started crying.

As she darted around the trees Olivia finally saw them ahead. Jack was kneeling over Sam's prone figure.

"Damn it, Major, breathe!" Jack began chest compressions.

Blood. Spattered against the nearby trees, the ground. Olivia slid to a stop beside him on her knees. The blood covered the two in equal parts, staining face, clothes, and hands. Olivia's own hands trembled as she started to search Sam for the wound. She only got more frantic when she couldn't find anything.

"She wasn't hit," Jack said. Olivia didn't stop though, her brain not recognizing that she was being spoken to.

This time he grabbed her wrists, and Olivia looked up at him incredulously. His voice was more firm. "She wasn't hit."

She could only blink in confusion. There was blood everywhere, how could she not have been hit? Finally she saw it, the hole in his jacket, the blood still oozing out. It had entered by his right shoulder, just below the clavicle by the looks.

"But Sam..." Olivia stammered out the words and stopped there.

"She stopped breathing," Jack said by way of explanation. Ignoring his injured shoulder, he clasped his hands and continued CPR. When Olivia just continued to kneel there, he spoke again. "Detective, help me out here!"

Olivia shook out of her fugue, quickly skittering to Sam's head. She tilted her head back to open the airway, making sure it was clear. When Jack stopped his rounds of compressions, she gave the requisite breaths. In between Olivia desperately searched Sam for signs of life, proof she was breathing of her own accord, and a pulse. Her chest tightened further each time she could find neither.

"Jack!" Daniel called as he crashed through the brush.

Jack wasted no time with a preamble. "Get me an ETA on Fraiser."

Olivia saw the terror in his eyes, but Daniel wasted no time in calling her over the radio.

"Janet, how far out are you?" Daniel called into the radio.

Janet's response was in gasps, clearly not having stopped to answer. Olivia could hear the deep worry. "I'm almost there. What happened?"

"She didn't get hit, she just stopped breathing on me," Jack explained. Daniel relayed the information to the doctor.

They still performed CPR. How long had it been now, Olivia wondered?

"God, Jack, that looks bad," Daniel said, staring at his wound. "Let me take over."

Daniel started to lean down to take his position, but Jack edged him out. "I've got it."

She saw Daniel's protest die on his lips. He knew it was pointless to try.

Olivia leaned down again, placing her cheek next to Sam's mouth. She barely felt the tickle of air against her clammy skin. Adrenaline shot through her.

"I've got something," she told them as she began to search for a pulse. It took her several tries to find it, but she finally did. The faintest flutter against her trembling fingers. "Got a pulse."

"Oh thank God," Daniel sighed. Jack sagged back, sitting on his legs.

Olivia stroked Sam's cheek, unable to make herself break contact. She let out a short sob of utter relief.

"Colonel?" Janet called out. Olivia could hear her rapid strides nearby.

"Over here!" Daniel responded.

Both the doctor and Teal'c appeared at the same time. She eyed Jack as she came to a stop, focusing on the shoulder.

"I'm fine," he said.

She looked less than convinced. Teal'c stepped forward, helping Jack up by his good arm. "I shall attend to him."

Satisfied, Janet quickly dropped down next to Olivia. She quickly went about checking Sam's pulse and respiration for herself. Daniel gently pulled Olivia up, and she reluctantly let him. As much as she didn't want to move, she knew she was just in Janet's way. Standing now, Olivia watched the doctor's methodical movements, jaw set tight as she shoved aside all emotion and focused solely on her duty.

"How bad is it, doc?" Jack asked, wincing as Teal'c applied the compression bandage to his now exposed wound.

Janet pulled out the Ambu-bag. She placed the mask over Sam's face as she spoke. "She's not getting nearly enough oxygen on her own." Janet secured the mask and began to squeeze the bag. "I need someone."

Olivia stepped forward immediately. Janet gestured to the bag, which she was squeezing every few seconds. "Squeeze it like this, about every five seconds."

Doing as she was instructed, Olivia watched as Janet inserted an IV into Sam's arm. She raised the IV bag towards Daniel, who quickly grabbed it.

Janet unfolded the collapsible stretcher, the bulkiest piece of her arsenal. "Teal'c, take her shoulders."

The large man was crouching at Sam's head in a moment. Janet quickly positioned herself at Sam's legs after laying the stretcher beside her. Both took a secure hold.

"On three. One. Two. Three."

They placed Sam as gently as possible. Janet took the IV from Daniel, and he and Teal'c grabbed both ends of the stretcher. Olivia rose fluidly with them, still squeezing the bag.

Janet looked over at Jack, holding his bandage in place with his left hand. "I can't do anything else for her here. We need to get Sam to a hospital now."

Olivia didn't hear a word as Jack radioed the helicopter, apprising the pilot of the situation. Her entire focus was on Sam. Making sure the mask stayed secure, gazing intently at her face. Underneath the blood and grime she was now very pale. Their slow pace made her heart sink. But they just had to get to the road, where it was clear enough for the helicopter to land. They didn't actually have to backtrack all the way to where they started. Which would cut the time considerably. Olivia hoped it would be enough.

It was less than ten minutes before they cleared out of the forest. The helicopter hovered close by. Upon seeing them, it quickly set down. They set Sam inside, a tight squeeze. Olivia looked up as the doctor hesitated, barely inside.

Janet eyed Daniel and Teal'c sympathetically. "We don't have room for everyone."

Daniel frowned, but responded almost immediately. "Go."

Jack slid in the seat beside the pilot, and the helicopter took off.