74
Jack opens his eyes in a torture chamber. Severe distress suffuses his body—his throat and mouth are filled with something that is choking him, a pulsing light above him sears his eyeballs, an unearthly shriek assaults his ears, and he can't seem to move any part of his body at all! Recognition dawns!
Oh, crap! I've died and gone to the infirmary!
He shuts his eyes tight, blocking out the orange light—that being the only one of the torments he can control—and at the same instant realizes that the pulse has gone away, as whoever is holding it lowers the source quickly. Thank you, he thinks—but he is still choking, and being deafened by the noise!
Suddenly the room is filled with people, and he can hear voices, muddled in the cacophony of alarms, but all he can see is a blur of white and blue lab coats, sleeves and hands reaching toward him. His view is restricted to the space directly above him. Not much actually happens on the ceiling!
Someone immediately unhooks the ventilator so that he can breathe through the tube on his own. A few moments later the abrupt cessation of the alarms brings a moment of welcome silence. Then one voice—Fraiser's—quickly resumes snapping out orders, and gentle hands are on his face. She appears above him. "Colonel, can you hear me?"
He blinks his eyes three or four times, and her features break into a smile. "We're going to take care of you, Colonel. Just relax." She turns and says something to someone out of sight, and another face comes into his view.
"I'm going to remove the breathing tube, Colonel," Nurse Tyler says calmly, as she bends over him, and Jack looks up at her and tries to nod. She smiles at him. "Take a breath," she instructs, gripping the tube. He obeys, and she pulls steadily.
"Arghh!" He gags as the thing comes free, then sucks in a deep breath.
"You're okay, Colonel," Tyler says, laying a steadying hand on his chest. "I'll get you some water."
He still can't move; his head, arms, his entire body, seem to be held in a vise. He swivels his eyes around, looking for faces—around his bed he sees Janet, two more nurses, and he thinks he glimpses the top of Teal'c's head over by the door! He tries to speak.
"Not yet, Colonel," the doctor commands. She is still smiling! That's good, isn't it?! He sees her turn that smile toward the far side of the room for an instant.
A drinking straw touches the corner of his mouth, and Tyler appears again. "Just a little at a time, Colonel. It may be awkward to swallow lying flat."
He sips and feels the welcome coolness soothing his raw throat. He sips again—three, four times. "Doc..." His voice comes out in a papery rasp.
She turns, leans toward him. "Yes, Colonel?"
"Sam..." he mouths.
"She's right here." Janet beckons, and a moment later, Sam's face, streaming tears, appears on his other side.
"I'm here, Jack."
He feels her hand grasp his, and curls his fingers into hers.
He smiles. "You were right," he whispers. I'm still alive.
She gives him a watery smile. "Of course I was."
He stares at her face, drinks in the sight of her and feels himself fading. "Sleepy..."
"Yes, I know, Colonel," Janet says. "I've reattached your IVs, including a mild sedative. Can you stay awake for a few minutes and answer some questions for me?"
He tries to nod. "Why can't I move?"
"We have you immobilized because of spinal cord swelling," Janet explains. "We need to run some scans to see how that's doing. Are you in any pain, Colonel?"
He thinks for a minute. "Yeah. Backache. Lower back."
"That would probably be the incision. Anything else?"
"Sore," he says. "My whole back. Everywhere."
"Can you move your fingers for me? Right hand." He does so. She smiles. "Good," she says. "How about your toes?" She reaches down and pulls the sheet away from his feet, smiles again when she sees the toes wiggle. "Excellent."
His eyes don't want to stay open.
"Colonel," Fraiser says forcefully, and he focuses on her again. "We're going to take you for some new scans. You can relax and rest. Just wanted you to know we'll be moving you around."
"Okay," he says. Then; "Sam?"
"Here," she squeezes his hand. "I'll be here when you get back."
"Okay." The room fades away around him.
75
Jack's grip on Sam's hand relaxes as he falls asleep, and after a few moments she reluctantly lets him go and moves back against the wall to stand with Jacob and her teammates, and allow the medical team better access. She feels her father's arm go around her, and Daniel and Teal'c close ranks on either side of them.
After several more minutes of examination, Janet seems satisfied and steps away from Jack's bed, giving instructions to prepare him to be moved out for the scans and tests. She crosses to where Sam and the others are standing.
"I'm going to do an MRI and several other tests on the Colonel now. It'll take a while. Sam, I want you back in bed—no, don't give me any trouble," she says as Sam opens her mouth. "I haven't discharged you yet. I will let you know the results as soon as I get them."
"All right." Sam nods
Janet smiles and squeezes Sam's hand, then turns to Jacob. "You'll see that she actually gets into bed?"
"We will."
Janet nods and goes back to her patient.
Jacob guides Sam to the door and out into the hall. When Sina arrived with the healing device, Janet had Jack moved into one of the isolation rooms. The IC cubicle where Sam was staying with Jack is some distance away.
Once they are out of the room and down the hall, beyond where Jack might hear her, Sam stops, leans against the wall, covers her face with her good hand and sobs. Jacob puts his arms around her and pulls her to him. He simply holds her, stroking her hair, until she begins to calm down. Daniel is hovering, his expression caught between relief and concern, and Teal'c stands solidly nearby. Finally Sam pulls back and wipes her face, and looks up at Jacob.
"I'm sorry. Got your shoulder wet."
He swipes at the Tok'ra style leather jerkin. "This old thing? Can't do it much harm." He is smiling. "You okay?"
"Yes," she says. "I was just so scared..."
Daniel envelops Sam in a hug, carefully avoiding her injured shoulder, and she reaches over for Teal'c, too, and the three of them stand there supporting one another for a few moments.
As she straightens, Jacob sees Sam looking back toward Jack's room. "They took him away for the scans while you were watering my weskit. I saw them headed down the hall."
"Where's Sina? I want to thank her," Sam says, after a moment, looking around.
"She's probably resting," Jacob says. "Using the healing device takes a lot out of you. I'll find her and bring her to your room if she's up to it. But first you have to get back to bed."
"Jack can move, Dad!" Sam says, ecstatic, as she allows him to lead her down the hall. "And he can breathe without the ventilator. He's not paralyzed!" She wipes at her wet cheeks.
"I talked to Janet for a minute," Daniel says. "She said they won't know for sure where he stands until they run all the tests—but it looks good. It's pretty obvious the spinal cord is better. He's sedated now, though, and she won't let him out of the restraints until she's done the spinal scans."
One of the nurses comes up to them, smiling. "Major Carter, Dr. Fraiser sent me to help you get settled back in bed." Her name tag reads Lt. V. Meyer, RN. Jacob recognizes her as the same nurse who was taking care of Sam when they first returned.
Back in the IC cubicle, Sam sits on the side of the bed while Lt. Meyer checks her vitals. Jacob has gone to locate Sina, as he promised. Daniel and Teal'c have gone with him, thinking Sam might like a bit of privacy, and to express their gratitude.
"Would you be more comfortable in a johnny, Major?" Meyer asks. Sam is wearing PT pants and a T-shirt.
"Are you kidding? Those things are awful!" Sam objects. "I'd like to get a shower, though. And get some clean clothes from my locker."
"We can manage that a little later," the lieutenant assures her. "Let me know when you're ready." She helps Sam lie down and checks her shoulder and collarbone. "Your vital signs all look good, Major. Dr. Fraiser wants you to rest, and not put any more stress than necessary on the shoulder. She told me to give you a...uh...mild sedative if you resisted."
"Of course she did," Sam smiles. "It won't be necessary. I'll stay put. All of a sudden I'm tired."
"I'm not surprised," Meyer says. "Close your eyes and rest for a while. I'll be back in a little while."
"Wake me when they bring the Colonel back from the scans?"
Meyer nods. "I'll make sure you know."
Sam closes her eyes, and soon drifts off to sleep.
76
"I've been waiting for you," Jack says, taking her hand from behind.
Sam turns, startled to find she is once more in the meadow beneath the runaway star. Before she can say anything, he pulls her to him and kisses her; in response she throws her arms around his neck and returns the kiss passionately.
"Not that I want to stop you," he says when they come up for air. "But what was that for?"
"You're alive!" she declares, teary-eyed. "And you woke up!"
"Yeah, I guess I did. It was a bit of a shock, actually! Who'd you say the lady with the bright light was?" He bends his head and nibbles at her earlobe and jawline.
"That was Sina. She came to the SGC with Fradeen a few days ago... Mmmm. Don't stop. That feels good!" She closes her eyes and slides a hand up his chest.
"Oh yes, I remember her. Her host was pretty sympathetic—for a Tok'ra." His lips make their way back to her mouth and cut off conversation again for a while.
"You were able to move when you woke up," Sam says. She knows she sounds like a broken record, but she's still trying to convince herself it's real, that he's really better. "I'm pretty sure that means the swelling in your spine has gone down. Janet is doing tests now to find out how much." She reaches up and strokes his face. "I was so scared, Jack."
"I know. I'm sorry you had to go through that." He gathers her in and holds her close, her head tucked under his chin, and his face buried in her hair. For what seems like a long time they simply stand there, holding each other.
The dream ends much too soon. Sam is awakened by Jacob's hand on her shoulder.
XxXxXxX
Happy now? He's not dead. I never had any intention of killing him ;-)