Chapter 4
"It's looking good, Captain," Janet said as she taped the bandage in place over the stitched gash. "With any luck, there should be little to no scarring." She pulled the t-shirt back down over Carter's stomach.
"Thank you." Sam kept her head down and her eyes on the floor. It must have been recently cleaned; there were no little balls of dust rolling around for her to watch. She sighed.
"Hopefully next week those stitches will be ready to come out too."
"Great," Sam said unenthusiastically. She let her legs swing in a decidedly bored manner and waited to be dismissed.
"What's wrong, Sam?" Sam's head snapped up at the sound of her first name and she met Janet's eyes.
"I, uh, nothing. I'm just tired." She stumbled over the words and tried to find someplace else to direct her gaze. The doctor had never called her by her first name. It had always been rank.
"Then I suggest rest. All of SG-1 has been run ragged lately. I'll talk to General Hammond about getting you some downtime."
"You really don't have to, Dr. Fraiser. I'll be. . ."
"Janet."
"Excuse me?"
"Call me Janet. There's no point in keeping with formalities in a place like this." She took a chance on how Sam would react. If she could get them on a first-name basis, maybe the captain would open up a little more.
"Uh, okay." Sam seemed completely out of her element. Janet smiled at having thrown her for a loop. Sam was adorable when she was confused.
"So, I was saying, you're all due some downtime after last week." Janet paused and Sam just nodded her head. A few strands of hair fell in her face and Janet flinched, barely resisting the urge to return the strays to their former position. "I was wondering if you had any plans for tomorrow night?"
Sam stared at her, dumbfounded, head cocked to the side as she thought. 'Tomorrow night? What is tomorrow anyway? It's Thursday. Am I busy? Yes, there is that new toy SG-3 brought back from. . . wait a second. Janet practically told me no working. Isn't that what downtime means?' Sam's mind was racing; she was at a complete loss of what to say.
"Iumyeauhno," was what came out. Janet blinked and smiled at the indecisiveness of the woman sitting before her. She had never heard such an answer to a yes or no question. Sam Carter certainly had a way with words.
"Beg your pardon?" Janet wanted a more direct answer from Sam.
"No," Sam said, looking back down.
"Good, you do now," Janet said as she flipped Sam's folder closed.
"I. . . what?" Sam looked back up, confusion once again covering her features. 'I could get used to this,' Janet thought.
"Tomorrow night, you and I are having a girl's night out, in, whatever you want, but we're getting away from the base and the boys for a while."
"Um, okay," Sam agreed. She was starting to feel stupid for not carrying her end of the conversation. Sam was rarely at a loss for words, but around this woman she had no idea what to say so she kept quiet. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a little voice told her that it was because she liked listening to Janet talk, liked watching Janet work, hell, just liked her. Sam tried to ignore the voice, but lately that had been harder to do.
"Well then, follow me to my place after work tomorrow and we'll play it by ear. We can relax and talk the night away. That is, if you can find your voice by then," Janet teased. She felt a little wave of something when the blonde blushed. Janet didn't give her patient a chance to answer and sauntered back to her office.
...
Sam never made it to the girl's night. The very next day all hell broke loose and SG-1, seemingly forgetting that their downtime started that weekend, was off-world again. This time, they went to rescue SG-9 from a deranged comrade. Janet found herself catching up on files and trying not to worry too much about SG-1, and the woman who, she could no longer deny, had stolen her heart. Her only patient was Sergeant Siler, who managed to knock himself out on the door to the gate's fuse box. It wasn't too serious, but it was enough to get her mind off SG-1 for a while.
When the flagship team returned a couple of days later, Janet was tasked with caring for their sunburned hands and faces. She caught Hammond while he was in the infirmary checking on his people to discuss SG-1's downtime.
"Sir?"
"Yes, doctor?"
"Given that SG-1 has been running at a nonstop pace, and that they are now medically unfit for duty, I believe that some downtime is due." Janet waited for Hammond to dispute her judgment and insist that his people get back in the field.
"Awe, Doc, is that really necessary?" O'Neill, not Hammond, was the one to start the argument with her. She expected no less from that man.
"I don't care how much you whine, Colonel. Those burns are going to get worse before they get better. Your skin is just as vital an organ as your heart, and it needs time to heal." Janet was putting her foot down on this one, and there was no way she was going to budge. Part of her knew it had to do with getting to spend a little time with a certain captain also.
"I think that Doctor Fraiser is correct, here, Colonel. You should take a break from work for a few days," Hammond said to back up his CMO.
"But General. . ."
"No 'buts,' Colonel. Take a week off, and that's final." Hammond nodded to Janet and left the infirmary.
"Come on, Doc. . ." O'Neill was cut off again.
"You can argue till you're blue in the face, Colonel, but it won't help. Now get out of here and I don't want to see you for a week." O'Neill grumbled and hopped down off the bed on which he had been seated.
"Come on, kids," he mumbled and headed towards the door. Daniel, Sam, and Teal'c followed, each looking a little sadder than they should have been for having been given a week off with pay and no leave deduction.
"Ah, Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?" Janet piped up before the team had a chance to leave.
"Oooh, you're in trouble now," O'Neill said and chuckled at her.
"Careful, Sir, or I'll keep you behind too." Janet raised an eyebrow and looked at O'Neill.
"Okay, okay, bye." He walked out the door quickly, not giving Janet a chance to change her mind. The other two vacated the infirmary and only Sam and Janet were left.
"So, you still want to get together for that girl's night?" Janet asked with a hopeful air to her voice.
"Yeah, I guess." Sam still didn't sound too excited at the whole prospect of spending a lot of time with the woman that was making her feel and think all kinds of things that were not allowed in the military.
"Great! Do you know where Oscar's Pub is down on E Street?" Janet asked.
"Uh, yeah." Sam was once again letting Janet lead the conversation.
"Okay, I get off at eighteen hundred. Meet me there at nineteen hundred." Janet smiled and waited for confirmation.
"Isn't that a bar?" Sam finally found her tongue.
"Well, she can speak complete sentences!" Janet grinned like an idiot when Sam blushed. There was no way she was going to let the blonde go quiet again though. "I'm kidding, Sam. Yes, it is a bar, but the shrimp cocktails and cheese-stuffed mushrooms are to die for! I promise, you'll love them."
"Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt anything. I just -" Sam paused.
"What?" Janet was suddenly concerned.
"I just haven't been out in a while. Like, to a bar, or club, or anywhere really." Sam looked down, a little embarrassed at her lack of social life.
"Sam." Janet put her hand on the taller woman's arm to get her attention. "I haven't been out in a while either. It'll be good for us. Besides, I'd like to get to know you better. As few ladies as there are on base, we have to stick together!" Janet smiled warmly and Sam sighed.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's do it. Seven o'clock?"
"Yep. I'll be there," Janet said. They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other in silence. Janet suddenly realized that she was still touching Sam's arm and moved her hand nonchalantly to scratch her ear.
"Well, I guess I should let you get back to work," Sam said quickly. She turned and left the infirmary without giving Janet a chance to speak. Janet watched her lean frame disappear through the door, not missing a brief opportunity to sneak a glance at her rear end. Janet mentally whistled, then chastised herself for being so immature. A look at the clock told her that she still had another four hours until her shift was over. 'Plenty of time to get myself all worked up over nothing,' she thought. 'Then again, the way Sam is acting, who knows?' Janet picked up SG-1's files and returned them to the filing cabinet. She had a feeling that those four would end up with their own drawer before long.