A/n's: glad you all liked the little background story. Abdul kinda grew on me, and there had to been something huge in the past for him to be so helpful and risk everything to save Jack...

Thanks for all your loyal reviews...

Fraiser immediately took control, as the Chief of the Army hospital reluctantly assigned a staff to this apparently important female doctor and her mysterious patient.

Ordering the first nurse that stepped beside her toward the bed to take blood samples and to send them off to the lab for evaluation, Fraiser inched O'Neill out of his clothes, using scissors to cut the material away after removing the immobilizer. Then she prepared her patient for an ultrasonic examination, still worried as she was about the blood in his urine caused by severe beatings on his back and in the abdomen. Studying the results on the monitor, she sighed out in relief. The image showed only minor free fluids in O'Neill's abdomen, confirming her hopes his kidneys and liver weren't too seriously damaged.

Next, Janet ordered X-rays. "I want a visual on his skull, thorax, arms and legs, and detailed ones from his left shoulder and elbow," she summarized, her hands slowly moving O'Neill's damaged left arm into the proper position for the first set of pictures.

The movement tore a groan from the dazed Colonel. Stepping closer to come within eyesight, she gently touched his cheek. "Sorry, Sir. We're taking a couple of photos, just try to relax..."

"Make sure to get my good side," O'Neill mumbled weakly, unaware of the grin that appeared on the doctor's face.

"I'll be right back, Sir," Janet said encouragingly and then stepped away while the machine did its job.

The monitor showed her photos one by one, revealing two cracked ribs, the already healing shoulder joint and the damaged elbow, which, although set, appeared to have a broken bone within the joint.

Fraiser walked back in to find the Colonel having dozed off again. She tiredly turned to the nurse. "Prep him for surgery. Dr. Westenberger can start removing most of the shrapnel out of his legs and arms now. I'm going to clean up and get some rest. Wake me when I'm needed."

Satisfied her patient was well taken care of and that there was nothing more she could do for him at the moment, Janet gave in to the fatigue. Using the hospital's facilities, she took a nice, long hot shower to scrub the dirt from her weary body before curling up on the bed to hopefully catch some sleep.

Carter, her arm expertly bandaged and in a sling in order to let it heal, walked over to the temporary quarters in the hospital where they were spending their time until they could go home. Bayfield had offered them a flight home, but in unison the three members of SG-1 had refused, unwilling to leave without their friend and team-leader.

Daniel and Teal'c were already present; all cleaned up and checked over by the medical personnel. The wound behind Daniel's ear was covered with some gauze, with tape to keep it in place. Daniel looked tired, Carter realized as she visually checked him over. Teal'c, on the other hand, looked like his usual self, his face stoic as ever.

"Any news on the Colonel?" Carter asked.

"Janet came by to tell us that he's in surgery," Daniel informed her.

"She was relieved that there was no major damage to Jack's kidneys and liver, and has handed him over to Dr. Westenberger to remove the shrapnel from his arms and legs. Janet is resting at the moment. That's all we know."

"So now we wait. You look tired, Daniel," Carter said worriedly. "Why don't you get some rest, too?"

The linguist stubbornly shook his head. "Not before I know how Jack is doing. Besides," he added, "you could use some rest as well. So?"

Carter sighed. "So we wait," she repeated. "I assume Colonel Bayfield has informed the General that we're safe?"

"Indeed, Major Carter," Teal'c acknowledged. "He has contacted General Hammond before he left."

"Your dad is at the SGC, waiting for you," Daniel said.

"My dad?" Sam asked in surprise.

"Yes. Apparently he wanted to spend some time with you. Talk about timing..." Daniel explained. "Colonel Bayfield has assured him that you are fine, and Jacob will wait for us to get back."

Carter's face lit up. "It will be good to see him again," she said. "It's been a while..."

"We'll be home soon, Sam," Daniel soothed. "How's the arm?"

"Oh. Fine. Healing. Sore, but fine." Carter sank down in a chair and grabbed a magazine to pass the time.

It was already evening when Dr. Westenberger came in. "The Colonel is in the ICU now," he explained. "We've removed a lot of shrapnel from his arms and thighs but I've decided to leave the rest. Digging those smaller pieces out would probably do more damage than leaving them in. Due to the wounds on the Colonel's arms we had to use an external fixation device to secure the elbow bones."

"Can we go and see him?" Daniel asked.

Dr. Westenberger nodded. "Yes, you can. He won't be awake, though. The Colonel was exhausted, so I expect him to sleep through the night. Follow me, please."

The trio followed the doctor to the ICU, where he showed them O'Neill's room before returning to his regular duties. Surprisingly, the trio found Janet Fraiser inside, checking the Colonel's chart. She briefly looked up to see her friends coming in before moving to check the monitors.

"Janet!" Carter said. "Weren't you supposed to be resting?"

"Couldn't sleep," the doctor brushed her off. "Besides, I needed to know how the Colonel was doing."

"As did we all, Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c agreed.

Daniel approached the bed and took a good look at his friend. Jack was sound asleep. He was hooked up to the monitors and two IV-lines pumped dark red and neutral fluids into his veins. His arms were heavily bandaged and there was a metal construction with pins entering his skin around his left arm, supporting the broken elbow-joint. "That looks scary," Daniel shuddered.

"I know. But it's nothing unusual, really," Janet reassured him. "External fixations are used on many occasions, and in this case, with the tissue damage from the shrapnel, it was the only possibility."

"Won't those entry wounds get infected?" Sam wondered, worriedly taking in the pins that were used to secure the bones.

"I don't think so." Fraiser pointed at the IV-bags, continuing her report. "We're giving him some extra blood, extra fluids and pain medication, too. His shoulder appears to be healing just fine, he's got two cracked but not broken ribs, his liver and his left kidney are bruised from the beatings and kicking... but it will all heal in time. Now we just have to wait for the infections to clear, as the antibiotics kick in. Then, his fever will come down and we can go home."

"What about the shrapnel they haven't been able to remove?" Carter wanted to know.

Fraiser shrugged. "We'll see. It doesn't need to bother him in the future. When we're back at home, and I've stitched the wounds up, the Colonel will have to go through some intensive therapy to get some strength and movement back into his arms and legs. If some pieces appear to be problematic, we can still try to remove them."

"When will he wake up?" Daniel inquired, dragging a chair closer to the bed to sit on.

"Hard to tell. He really needs the rest in order for his body to heal. He hasn't had a proper night's sleep for the last couple of weeks..."

"What about the nightmares?" Carter asked.

Janet looked up. "We'll just have to wait and see. I really don't want him to make any sudden moves... I suggest we take turns staying with the Colonel and make sure to wake him up properly if he starts having bad dreams."

"I will remain here now, Doctor Fraiser," Teal'c said simply.

"Thank you, Teal'c. Why don't you two get some rest," Fraiser then said to Carter and Daniel. "I'll call you in the morning."

That night and the next day the team took turns in staying with their friend. O'Neill was out of it most of the time and managed to stay awake for only short periods. Each time he woke up, he hardly remembered where he was and what had happened, sipped some of the proffered water and drifted off again. The nightmares had been back, but his friends had managed to calm him down; although once, his movements had been so sudden that Teal'c barely had been able to keep him from falling out of bed.

The second day Janet was pleased to find her patient's temperature slowly falling, and the moments that he was awake and lucid became longer. O'Neill seemed to remember everything now, but was mostly quiet and refrained from talking about what had happened. Resigned, he endured all of Janet's ministrations and tests and didn't even complain when she had to draw another blood sample.

That afternoon, Janet stepped back inside his room. While Carter and Daniel were in the middle of a game of chess, Teal'c was nowhere to be seen. Janet assumed he had found a private spot to withdraw to do his meditations.

Colonel O'Neill was awake, the head of the bed elevated allowing him to sit up a bit. His eyesight was much clearer than the day before, but he still looked pale and exhausted.

"I've got some good news, Colonel," Janet said with a smile as she approached the bed. "You're making enough progress for us to go home first thing in the morning. The arrangements have been made; our flight leaves at ten thirty."

He briefly looked at her then faintly nodded. "That's good."

"Hey, that's great," Daniel responded, looking up from the chess board. Carter just smiled happily.

Fraiser checked the monitor, the IV-lines and chart before grabbing a chair to sit beside the bed. "I've talked to Colonel Bayfield, Sir. He said..." she hesitated for a while, trying to make eye-contact with O'Neill. "He said that they're waiting with the memorial service for Major Crook until you're doing better, Sir. I thought you'd want to know..."

He swallowed and closed his eyes. Grimacing, he struggled to move his right hand and managed to bring it to his face. Rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hand, he sighed. "Yeah..."

Janet watched how O'Neill slowly lowered his hand, clenching and un- clenching it. His eyes opened, blinking a couple of times, but his gaze was dark and distant, aimed at the wall. "Sir?" she asked softly, trying to get through to him, but unsure of how to handle this.

"It should have been me..." he whispered.

Janet closed her eyes for a second before moving her hand to touch him, gently rubbing his leg. "I'm sure there was nothing you could have done, Sir."

"Hmmm." O'Neill closed his eyes and refrained from opening them again.

Fraiser waited a long time and watched how his breathing slowly returned to a normal rhythm, knowing that this was all she was going to get from him at the moment.

The flight home took twelve hours. O'Neill slept through until they were about half way and, after waking up from another nightmare, refused to go back to sleep. Unaware of the worried glances from his friends he sat, supported by pillows and covered by a blanket, staring silently out of the window.

Janet, respecting his need for privacy, checked his vitals and changed his bandages without talking. She held out his medications for him and he took them, along with the canteen, swallowing the pills without making objections at all.

Carter exchanged looks with the female doctor, her brows questioningly lifted.

Fraiser shrugged. "Give him time," she mouthed silently and took her seat, grabbed a magazine and tried to concentrate on some articles.

It was already evening when they finally arrived at Cheyenne Mountain. Two medics stood waiting with a gurney and Fraiser and the rest of SG-1 walked behind them as they wheeled the Colonel directly to the infirmary.

The two Generals were waiting eagerly for the arrival of the small group. Hammond's face lit up as he spotted them, although he threw a worried glance at his Second spread out on the gurney. "Welcome home, SG-1, Doctor Fraiser. It's good to have you back. Well done."

"It's good to be back, Sir," Sam spoke for all of them before stepping closer to be enfolded in her father's embrace.

"Hi, kiddo," Carter said before letting her go to turn to the man lying on the gurney. "I heard you were in trouble, Jack. Glad you made it."

O'Neill blinked. "Yeah, a trouble magnet. That's me, Sir," he responded with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Okay," Hammond called it a day. "Doctor, I suggest you see to it that the Colonel gets settled in. Please report to my office afterwards. We'll debrief in the morning."

A/N's: I did it! I got them home! Finally... so, this is where I put the end, right?

No?

Okay, no, not yet, lol. But really, this story is getting closer to the finish with every post now, and I already checked, it will be done before Christmas. Just in time for Christmas, grin. Didn't I promise at the beginning of this story I would keep you busy until Christmas? I totally did, lol.

So stay with me for a little while longer... if you want that is.