1,229The rain ran down her face. Her hat had long since been discarded and lay on the grass. The cold from the ground beneath her knees bit into her, but compared to the iciness surrounding her soul it was nothing.
Her heart ached so much she'd thought she would die then and there…he shouldn't have left her…no leaving anyone behind…she needed him…time – so little time!
xoxoxoxoxoxo
– oh God… "Jack!" Sam struggled up screaming, fighting against the hands that held her.
"Sam, shush, it's okay."
"Jack," she wailed, the sobs heaving her chest as she fought to emerge from the nightmare that gripped her. "Oh God…is he…
"It's okay Sam, Jack's resting. Shushhh, he's okay."
Sam forced her eyes open, her heart thudding painfully as the remnants of sleep began to leave her exhausted body. There was no adrenalin here to keep her going as it did out in the field, only a deep nagging ache that wouldn't cease, an ache that held her insides tightly in a never ending knot of anxiety.
George Hammond gathered her into her arms and held her like one of his own children until the tremors and sobbing had subsided. Eventually he handed her a mass of tissue from the table and sat back whilst she gathered herself together.
"Damn, I'm sorry Gen…"
"It's okay. I'm just glad I'm here for you. Is Mark…"
Sam shook her head. "I called but…he's never approved of us…said Jack was too much like Dad. I don't feel I can handle him right now, so I said everything was okay."
"And it will be."
xoxoxoxoxoxo
The last few days had put Sam through the ringer. Jack was unable to sit up unaided and although his mobility was improving, the pain he was in was hard to watch, and he was beginning to ask questions. The barrage of tests the doctor was running was wearing his patience thin – very thin.
The medication couldn't help with the pain and the doctor insisted most of it was down to spinal shock, that and the bullet that remained inside of him.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Her most stalwart supporter, General Hammond, was once again sitting with her. She genuinely didn't know what on Earth she would have done without him. Daniel and Teal'c had called between their missions, but the situation at the SGC at the moment made their coming impossible. Sam was just thankful she hadn't been recalled, though she knew that if the situation warranted it, she would have to respond.
Although she wasn't sure just what the future would bring, Sam was so relieved that Jack was alive it cast the light she needed to continue. The vivid nightmares she'd been having at first were beginning to calm down and her soul wrenching fear of losing him was beginning to lessen.
They were waiting for Jack to come back from another series of scans. This time the doctor would be speaking to both of them, letting Jack, and herself know the full prognosis, something she was physically dreading.
"I never did thank you did I?" she asked George Hammond suddenly breaking the silence.
George gave her a puzzled look.
"For what?"
"For giving him that push," she said with a smile.
George grinned. He'd remembered the panic Jack was in when he was being pushed to accept his current promotion. And panic wasn't too strong a word, no … to say that he'd ever thought he'd see Jack O'Neill in such a state of indecision was as much an understatement as there could be.
"He dithered so much about what to do that I seriously thought he'd lost his marbles," chuckled George. "I know it took some serious thinking to accept the command of the SGC and then Homeworld… It didn't dawn on me at first just what was worrying him and it took a couple bottles of scotch to get it out of him."
Sam gave the General a long side on look. "You knew what…"
George nodded. "Hell, yes, I knew how you felt about each other. It was never a problem for the team though was it? You all did your jobs and he never gave me any reason to act on what I knew his feelings were. The closeness you all had was something that made the team what it was, and," he paused for a second and smiled slightly before continuing, "if it ain't broke why fix it? Anyway, it seemed that moving away from SG1 and then the SGC wasn't the crux of the matter for him, never was."
Sam blushed slightly.
"And at least I can accept those as valid reasons for his reluctance. You only get to live once Sam…" George paused again, his eyes twinkling as he took hold of her hand. "Well, most folk anyway, but it's hard to find love and for Jack, it's harder for him to give. I told him to go for it, threatened him in fact."
Sam nodded, her eyes half closing as she remembered the first time Jack had actually asked her out on a date, just after breaking the news that he was transferring. "After rambling on for longer than one of Daniel's briefings, he eventually told me that if he didn't ask me out before he upped sticks then he was doomed to be marooned on a planet with no fishing."
George laughed. "Something like that," he agreed.
"Thank you."
"The pleasure was mine. Hell it was worth the scotch, even if he did pass out after."
xoxoxoxoxoxo
Jack was returned to his room. He was a little drowsy from the extra medication they'd given him, although he clearly wasn't happy. Clearly, as in vocally ensuring the staff knew of his displeasure. Not even the sight of Sam could take the steam out of him for the moment.
"Where's the doc?" he growled.
"Doctor Hill is checking the results, General," replied one of the nurses patiently as they settled him into bed.
"Jack, she won't be long," admonished Sam as she settled her chair nearer to the bed and grabbed one of his hands.
Jack struggled to adjust his position and bit down an exclamation of pain as it erupted through him.
Sam held onto his hand tightly until the spasm passed. He was so worked up, even with the drugs, it made the pains worse.
"Try and get some rest," urged one of the nurses.
"You try resting with a rod of fire up your..."
"Jack!" barked out Sam, quelling the prone General far quicker than the General standing beside her could ever have done.
Jack's face softened as he looked up lovingly at his wife.
Jack's life had made him a hard man, and his service to his country and to the world had toughened him even further, but George knew there was nothing this man wouldn't try and do for Samantha Cart...O'Neill. In her hands, this man was mush.
George cleared his throat. "Well…I'd better go and..."
Sam gave her husband's hand a squeeze and he looked up at the General. "You wanna miss the unveiling George?" His quip hiding what George knew was a very real fear of just what news was waiting for him.
"You call it son, stay or go?"
"Stay," said Jack firmly.
George Hammond snagged another chair and sat to wait with his extended family.
xoxoxoxoxoxo
TBC