Changes (Parts 3 and 4 of 16)
Title: Changes (Parts 3 and 4 of 16)
Summary: Sam returns after a long undercover mission with the Tok'ra and is shocked to discover what's happened to Jack in her absence.
Timeframe: Takes place approximately around Season Three, goes AU from there.
Pairings: Sam/Jack, Daniel/Janet
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Angst, Romance, Friendship
Rating: PG13
Changes
Chapter Three: Accidents
It turned out that SG-11 actually did need another team to come through the gate with more supplies, and after speaking with Hammond, he'd allowed her to go. Sam was still worried about leaving Jack, but bringing supplies through wasn't going to take any longer than a day at most. She joined SG-6 to deliver the packed FRED, and was somewhat disappointed not to have seen Jack at all before she went through the gate. In fact, she hadn't seen him around since breakfast.
Once they'd delivered the supplies to the village, SG-6 got permission from Hammond to stay and help SG-11 rebuild. Sam decided not to stay as long and spoke briefly with Teal'c before returning to the gate.
When she'd gotten back to Earth, it was nearly 1900. Sam showered and changed into her civilian clothes, preparing to leave, but she still hadn't seen Jack. Stepping out of the locker room, she ran into Daniel. "Hey," she smiled at him, causing him to stop in the hallway. Thinking about it briefly, she hadn't seen Daniel since she left either.
"Oh, hi Sam," He smiled faintly. "How's the rebuild project going?"
"Good," Sam nodded. "They've made a lot of progress. SG-6 is staying to help, but I decided to come back." She looked past Daniel as though she expected to see Jack standing behind him and had somehow missed seeing him there a second ago. "Where's Jack? I haven't see him."
Daniel ducked his head a bit. "He's in the infirmary."
Sam's brows creased slightly. "I thought he already had his appointment with Janet this morning?"
"Ah, he did," Daniel looked to the side distractedly for a brief second. "Jack's not there because of an appointment." Seeing Sam's suddenly concerned expression, he was quick to explain. "He hurt his knee on the stairs earlier. I picked Cassie up from school so she's keeping him busy right now while Janet gets some work done. I had to help Dr. Lee and a couple of the other scientists for a few hours, so I couldn't stay and look after him. I was just there to visit a couple minutes ago."
With a slight nod, Sam immediately changed directions and headed for the elevators. "I'm gonna go say hi before I head home," she called back to the archaeologist with a wave. "See you tomorrow, Daniel."
-
Sam stepped into the infirmary, immediately noticing that the lights had been dimmed for the night. She took a quick look around until she spotted the only occupied bed at the far left corner of the room near the entrance to Janet's office. Making her way over, she saw Jack laying on the bed, sitting up with his right leg slightly elevated by a pillow. Cassie was sitting beside him, cross-legged on the edge of the bed and playing a Game Boy while Jack watched over her shoulder.
"Hey guys," Sam greeted softly with a wave as she got closer.
"Sam!" Cassie grinned and unfolded her legs with ease, setting the Game Boy down as she went to hug her surrogate big sister. She stopped when Jack shifted on the bed and tried to get up as well. "Jack, no," Cassie said quickly, turning and holding a hand on his left leg. "Stay on the bed," she commanded gently, not wanting him to hurt his already-injured right knee.
"It's okay," Sam assured the young teenager, coming closer still. "I'll come to you." She smiled and pulled Cassie into a hug. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Cassie shrugged a little and sat down on the bed once more, by Jack's feet this time to give Sam room to sit. "I'm just waiting for my mom to finish her work so we can go home."
Sam perched herself on the bed in the space Cassie left her by Jack's left hip. She smiled when Jack took her hand and held it, his deep brown eyes fixed on her. "And what happened to you?" she asked him gently, not expecting an answer.
Jack's eyes shifted from Sam's eyes to his own knee, which was currently in a brace under the sweats he was wearing. He continued to stare blankly at his knee, then touched it lightly with his right hand and cocked his head to the side. "I fell," he murmured barely audibly, sounding somewhat uncertain about that answer.
Sam was surprised that he'd spoken, actually answered her even, but Cassie was positively grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't heard him say a thing since their re-introduction when he'd actually addressed her by name. Daniel warned her that he hadn't said much since his accident, so this was a bit of a shock. Her grin soon matched Cassie's, and then she and the teen were staring toward the doorway that lead to Janet's office when the doctor arrived in time to hear Jack's reply as well.
"That's right Jack, you fell going up the stairs to the control room earlier today," Janet added, trying not to overreact to Jack's response. She was excited, there was no doubt about that, she just didn't want to make a big deal out of it and possibly cause him to shy away from further reactions in the near future. Janet turned to Sam with a brief smile. "He was pretty anxious to see you before you went off-world, and when I explained that you'd already gone he took off. I haven't seen him move that fast in...well, awhile." She paused briefly in thought, then shook her head a bit and continued with a small smile. "Sgt. Siler was sitting with him on the floor of the control room by the time I'd gotten there because Jack had tripped running up the stairs and twisted his knee." She turned to her patient and lightly patted his shoulder. "Didn't you Jack?"
Jack didn't answer, but Janet hadn't expected him to. Normally the instances where he actually spoke were very few and far between.
Sam's eyes lowered, feeling instantly guilty about how Jack hurt himself trying to see her off, even though she'd already been gone. She cursed herself for not seeking him out before leaving to at least say goodbye and let him know she wouldn't be away for very long. Damn, she thought to herself with sudden realization. I bet that's why Daniel didn't really explain anything when he told me about Jack. He just said that Jack had hurt his knee. Dammit, again she mentally cursed herself, frowning slightly.
"Hey," Janet nudged Sam lightly with her elbow. "Don't worry, it's not your fault," she smiled gently, then gestured toward Jack. "He's fine. He just stretched out his LCL a bit. It's a mild sprain,"
Sighing, Sam sent Janet a grateful look before the doctor turned to her daughter.
"Cassie, I'm just going to get Jack's medicine and then we can go home," Janet started to leave, going around the bed when Sam stopped her.
"Is Jack staying here tonight?" She asked with slightly furrowed brows.
Janet shook her head. "No, he doesn't like staying in the infirmary. He can spend the night at our house and come back in the morning with Daniel while I drop Cassie off at school."
Sam just nodded and stayed sitting on the edge of the bed with Jack while Janet went into her office for a minute. When he let go of her hand, she watched him shift carefully on the bed with a slight wince and sit so that his legs hung over the side between herself and Cassie.
Holding a little plastic container of pills, Janet came back towards the bed and stood at the end by Cassie. She looked between her daughter and her patient. "Come on Jack, it's time to go. You're going to stay overnight at my house, okay?"
Cassie hopped off the bed and started for the door, but Jack hadn't moved. "Come on," the teen turned and waved him over. "We're going home now."
"Jack?" Janet moved to stand in front of him, staring with concern. "We're leaving now, you coming?" she coaxed with a gentle smile.
He still didn't make a move to get off the bed. Instead, Jack turned his head to his left where Sam sat and hooked an arm around hers, holding on tightly.
Janet sighed softly and looked over at her daughter, still standing patiently by the door. "Cass, why don't you head to the surface and I'll meet you at the car alright? One of the SFs will swipe their card so you can get through. This might take a little while."
The teen nodded, waved at Sam with a smile and left.
Sam looked down at the arm wound tightly around hers. She didn't know what to say, just shrugged slightly and shared a look with Janet.
"Jack," Janet tried again, touching his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She eyed their interlocking arms and suppressed a slightly amused smile. "You don't want to leave Sam?"
Shaking his head vehemently, Jack clutched Sam's arm tighter with both arms now and scooted closer on the bed.
Sam made a helpless face and sighed softly. He obviously didn't want to leave her, and her arm was beginning to go numb. "Uh, Janet, couldn't I just take him back to his house? I'll stay, I don't mind. He hasn't been home in a few days now."
Janet seemed thoughtful for a moment. She tilted her head and eyed Sam with concern. "Are you sure you're up to this? I mean, looking after him on base for a night is one thing..." she trailed off and gauged Sam's expression.
Nodding, all Sam could do was look at Jack beside her, his arms so tightly wrapped around her own, and the decision was made for her. "I'm up for it," she smiled reassuringly at Janet.
"Okay," Janet nodded, seeing this as something that Sam had to do. She smiled gently and handed the pills over. "These ones are for his knee. Now he probably won't let you know if he needs them or not, so I want you to give him about one every four hours and before bed."
Sam nodded, taking all the information in.
"At home there's two more pill bottles by the refrigerator. One is for nausea, and the other is a stronger pain reliever for his headaches. They're both clearly labeled. Make sure he takes one of the anti-nausea pills before going to bed, otherwise if he has one of his spells in the night, he probably won't get up on his own and..." she trailed off as Sam made a face. "Well, you get the idea."
Brows creasing, Sam cocked her head thoughtfully. "How come I didn't have to give Jack any pills last night when I stayed with him on base?"
Janet smiled knowingly. "That's because I had already given them to him before I was called off to the Academy Hospital for that emergency."
"Ah," Sam smiled with a slight nod. She noticed Jack had relaxed his hold on her arm, and guessed that he understood that he was going home with her. She looked to him with a gentleness in her eyes. "Alright, so I suppose we'll be leaving now." Her gaze shifted to Janet for approval.
"Oh, just one more thing," Janet held up a finger briefly as Sam slid off the bed. "He's going to need a shave in the morning, and he can't do that on his own," she gestured toward the generous amount of stubble now coating Jack's face. "If you're not comfortable doing it, or don't have time, Daniel or I might have some spare time in the morning if you're coming in early."
"I don't mind, I can take care of it," Sam assured her friend quickly. "Besides, I don't have anything scheduled in the morning, and I've just got some lab work that can be done whenever tomorrow. That way Jack can spend a little more time at home, if that's alright."
Janet nodded. "If everything goes okay then that's just fine. It'll do him some good to be off base for longer than one night." She smiled and lightly patted Jack's shoulder, then eyed Sam once more, fishing a set of keys out of her white coat pocket and handing them to Sam. "Here are the keys to his house. Oh, and he won't use crutches, so I want him to keep the knee brace on and make sure it's elevated while he's resting. There's already a few icepacks at the house if his knee starts to swell again. He can take some Tylenol for that too. Just try not to let him be on his feet much tonight, okay?"
"Got it," Sam pocketed the keys and smiled gently at Jack. "Ready to go?" He didn't answer, just simply slid off the bed, not putting much weight on his right leg. She hooked her arm around his and offered some support as she began walking from the infirmary with Jack limping alongside her.
-
Changes
Chapter Four: Watching Jack
Sam had thought about stopping by her house to pick up some things, but then remembered she had a bag with extra civilian clothes and some other stuff packed away in her locker and grabbed that before heading out. It was 2030 by the time they got to Jack's house, and Sam struggled to the front door with her bag slung over one shoulder, her other arm hooked around Jack's to help him hobble along the walkway.
Inside the house, Sam wasn't really surprised that not much was different. It still looked as she had remembered it, almost as though Jack hadn't changed at all, simply because the state of his home was familiar. When Jack had started in the direction of the long hallway, Sam moved with him since their arms were still linked. She allowed him to lead as he limped on and turned into his bedroom, then detached himself from her and limped further inside on his own.
Standing in Jack's doorway, Sam caught a glimpse of Teal'c's room across the hall, which had been the guest room when she'd last seen it. She noticed the many candles covering the elevated surfaces of the room, and a somewhat tribal-looking decor. Smiling to herself and thinking of how appropriate everything seemed for the Jaffa, Sam stepped more into Jack's room. She watched him sit on the bed, making a face as he held both hands over his right knee. A concerned look on her face, she knelt in front of him. "Does your leg hurt?"
Jack shook his head immediately.
The move was too quick to go unnoticed by Sam and she eyed him critically, inwardly excited that he'd responded to a question again. "Jack," she drew his name out. "Are you lying?"
This time he nodded.
Sam gave a triumphant smile from getting two responses in a row and stood, lightly clapping her hands against her thighs as she did so. "Okay, I'm going to get an icepack and bring your pills over," she told him, pausing for a moment and scratching the back of her head in thought as she continued to study him. Jack was wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, socks on his feet along with the infirmary slippers he'd left the base wearing. She decided he wouldn't need to change into any pajamas, since he was pretty much already wearing them. That would make things easier for her.
Momentarily chewing her bottom lip with indecision, Sam took a deep breath before holding out a halting hand as she moved to the door. "Stay here for a minute, okay? I'll be right back," Jack wasn't even really looking at her, he'd kind of started staring off into space, so she quickly left the room and hurried off to get his pills and some water.
When Sam got back she also had a throw pillow from the couch tucked under one arm to use for elevating his knee. Jack was sitting just where she'd left him, so she moved over to the other side of the bed, setting the pills and water on the side table. Tossing the pillow on the bed, she pulled back the blankets for Jack and waved him over when he turned his head toward her. "Come on over here and lay down,"
Jack moved slowly, using his arms to scoot backwards toward the spot where Sam had drawn the covers back. He sat up with his back against the headboard, pillows in place for a cushion.
Sam sat on the bed by Jack's feet, slowly tugging off his slippers and dropping them on the floor. Next she gently moved the throw pillow under his knee and laid the icepack over it before covering him with the blanket. Handing Jack the glass of water, she uncapped the pill bottles and palmed the ones for him to take before giving those to him as well. "Here you go, Jack. Swallow those and drink." When she was sure the pills were gone, she set the glass back down and gathered up the containers, getting up off the bed. "I'm just going to put these back in the kitchen and change now, alright?" She started to leave the room again, noting that he was watching her this time.
-
Dressed in some light blue pajama bottoms and a darker blue t-shirt, Sam returned with a book in hand, having changed as quickly as she could. Jack was exactly where she'd left him once more, though his eyes seemed a bit droopy like he was fighting off sleep. She smiled gently, coming into the room and just noticing a TV set sitting on the bureau against the wall in front of his bed. There had never been one there in the past. As she moved over to the tv, Jack's head seemed to jerk up slightly in attention. It was still fairly early, around 2115 now. "Do you want me to turn it on?"
Shifting slightly, Jack just slumped down so that he wasn't sitting up so straight any longer.
Sam turned the tv on anyways, lowering the volume to a soft whisper and finding the remote so she could flip through the channels. She stopped on a re-run of The Simpsons when Jack made a noise as she paused on the channel. Turning to look at him, she smiled at the semi-interested look on his face.
Taking the remote with her, Sam sat down on the other side of the bed over the blankets, taking some extra pillows from the floor and setting them against the headboard to lean against. She reached down by the floor where she'd dropped her book, then sat back again. Sam glanced at Jack, saw that he was mesmerized by the tv, and began to read. She planned on waiting until he fell asleep before going to the couch in the lounge.
-
Sam's eyes jerked open with a start and she looked around the darkened room, taking in her surroundings and remembering where she was. Sitting up, she held a hand to her forehead for a moment before running it through her short hair. She cursed herself for having fallen asleep, but relaxed when she noticed Jack was still in bed, his eyes closed in sleep, mouth hanging open slightly as soft snoring sounds escaped. The soft sound and the faint glow from the tv reminded Sam that it was still on. Rolling off the bed carefully, she padded across the floor to the television and turned it off. Going back toward the bed, she picked up her forgotten book, marked her place with a neatly folded page and checked the digital clock by Jack's side of the bed. Seeing that it was 0128, Sam blinked her bleary eyes, casting one more glance at Jack before sneaking toward the door.
On her way out, Sam noticed something with a softly glowing little green light behind the digital clock on the nightstand. Getting a closer look, she realized that it was a baby monitor. Figuring that Teal'c must have used it in case Jack woke and needed something during the night, she headed for the room across the hall to find the receiver, deciding it would be a good idea if she kept it with her.
Feeling a little uncomfortable as though she were snooping around Teal'c's room, Sam was thankful to find the monitor sitting on the bureau near the door in a space not surrounded by candles. Following the wire behind the bureau, she traced it back to the outlet and unplugged it from the wall. Bunching up the cord so it didn't drag on the floor, Sam took the monitor and headed toward the lounge quietly.
After plugging the monitor in and leaving it on the side table, Sam settled down on the couch with some extra pillows and blankets she'd found in the linen closet. Closing her eyes, she quickly drifted back off to sleep, listening to the quiet snores coming from the speaker.
-
A strange sound was the next thing that Sam woke to, a few hours later. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she sat up groggily and ran a hand through her messy hair, now blinking with confusion at the source of the sound. The monitor on the lamp table beside the couch was shrieking at her. It was a raw, strained cry that made Sam shudder involuntarily.
"Saaaaaammmmm!" the monitor shrieked hoarsely in that strangled voice. "Saaammm!!!"
"Jack," Sam gasped with sudden realization, completely awake and alert now. She jumped to her feet, stumbling slightly as she shook off the blankets wrapped around her ankles on the floor. Blue eyes wide and anxious, Sam dashed into the bedroom and quickly knelt on the bed where Jack was sitting up and screaming her name hoarsely with his hands on either side of his head.
"Whoa, Jack, take it easy. It's okay," Sam tried to calm him, grasping his wrists gently and trying to pull his hands down from his head. He kept shrieking her name, his voice becoming more raw and crackly with each strangled yell. "Jack, look at me!" She pleaded in a soft, comforting tone. "Look at me Jack! I'm right here, everything's okay."
He stopped suddenly, his watery brown eyes locking onto her wide, concerned blue ones. There was such hurt in his eyes, sadness and longing as though he were experiencing emotions from a long ago memory. Sam was still holding his wrists loosely, and he slowly stretched his hands out to gently hold her face between them. Jack continued to stare into her eyes, his heavy breathing slowing, eyelids soon fluttering drowsily before he slumped into her, unconscious.
Panicking at the unexpected change, Sam carefully pulled back from the bed and laid him there on his side so that his upper half was no longer slumped against her. She checked his pulse with concern, then fumbled for the telephone on the night table with a shaking hand. It was 0507, and she didn't want to wake anybody, but she was scared and didn't know what to do. Jack's pulse was just a little fast, but she wasn't entirely sure what had just happened and didn't know if she should be even more concerned than she already was.
Hearing a sleepy, familiar voice coming from the phone in her hand, Sam realized she must have dialed Janet's number without even thinking about it.
"Hello? Is someone there? At five in the morning there had damn well better be a reason for this call!"
Sam had to giggle softly. Janet sure sounded menacing when she'd been woken from a deep sleep. Focusing on the seriousness of the situation, she quickly responded to the increasingly angry voice as her friend threatened to hang up. "Janet, wait! Sorry, it's me, Sam."
"Sam?" Janet sounded more awake now, and less pissed off. "What's wrong?"
Her friend was whispering into the phone now, and Sam realized with a slight blush that it was probably because she didn't want to wake Daniel. "I-" Sam began, chewing her bottom lip hesitantly. "It's just..." she paused again, silently thankful how patient Janet was being with her. Even though she'd been gone a year, it hadn't seemed to create any sense of awkwardness in their close friendship since her return. For that, Sam was eternally grateful. With everything that had changed, she was glad there were still some things that didn't.
"Sam, what happened with Jack?" Janet rephrased coaxingly, hoping to make it easier for Sam to answer. She took a calming breath herself, knowing that if it was something dire then Sam wouldn't hesitate telling her what was wrong.
Sighing into the phone, Sam gathered her thoughts, her eyes flitting over to the inert form on the bed. "I'm not really sure, Janet. I found the baby monitor, so I took the receiver from Teal'c's room and brought it to the lounge when I went to sleep on the couch. I woke up maybe ten minutes ago to the sound of this strangled, hoarse screaming coming from the monitor," Sam forced herself to shake off the memory of Jack's awful shrieking as he called out her name. "Quite frankly, the noise scared the hell outta me. I ran to Jack's room when I came to my senses and realized it was him."
"It sounds to me like he was having a nightmare," Janet said softly. "Sometimes he yells in his sleep. I should have warned you about it," her tone softened more, and even sounded a little sad. "As his doctor, I knew that he'd suffered some pretty bad nightmares before his accident, but he used to be able to prevent himself from screaming in the night and letting them really affect him. Now..." Janet trailed off briefly, "He just isn't able to suppress the emotions assaulting him from the nightmares. Occasionally he screams out, usually nothing coherent, but sometimes he'll get very distraught and it takes a little while to calm him down. Just be careful if you go to wake him. There's still a Special Forces trained soldier lurking in that mind of his."
Sam was quiet as she took in what Janet was telling her. She was unable to prevent the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Sam? Is that what happened? Are you having trouble trying to get him to calm down?" Janet asked, trying to help.
"Uh, no," Sam answered once she'd shook herself from her daze. "That's...not exactly what happened. He..um..he was screaming my name Janet," she murmured tearfully. "When I went to him, he was holding his head with both hands and still screaming. I tried to get him to snap out of it, and after a moment or so he stopped and then passed out." She left out the part where they stared at each other for a long while and Jack held her face in his hands.
Janet was surprised to hear that Jack had been yelling for Sam, but didn't mention it. "Okay, it's more likely he got one of his headaches then, rather than had a nightmare. They're usually pretty bad. Sometimes he blacks out from them."
Sam nodded to herself, relaxing slightly and still staring at Jack where he lay on the bed, unconscious. "Okay, so...what do I do?"
"You'll need to wake him up and give him the pills I told you about, the ones for his headaches. Make sure he takes them, otherwise he might wake up from the residual pain later," Janet instructed gently.
"Okay, thank you Janet," Sam said, feeling a little embarrassed for being so nervous. "I'm sorry I woke you,"
"Don't worry about it," Janet whispered with a lightness to her voice. "Now get some sleep."
"I will, thanks again," Hanging up the phone quietly, Sam left to fetch Jack's medicine from the kitchen.
-
Jack was still unconscious when Sam stepped back in the room. The blankets had been thrown off him to the other side of the bed from his movements earlier, and she bent to retrieve the now-warm icepack that had fallen on the floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed with his pills in her closed palm, Sam reached out to gently lay her hand on his head. "Jack," she began stroking the side of his head with her thumb where her hand lay.
Groggily opening his eyes with a low groan, Jack blinked blearily at Sam. He didn't attempt to raise his head, and seemed to enjoy the comforting feel of her hand there, lightly caressing the close-cropped hair.
Sam smiled at him gently and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand from earlier. She handed him the pills, and when he stuck them in his mouth, she lifted his head slightly and placed the water glass to his lips. After Jack sipped the tepid water to wash down the tablets, Sam put the glass out of the way. As she reached over his body to pull the blankets back over him, Sam heard a soft groan as he shivered briefly and sleepily snuggled into the warmth surrounding him once more.
Exhaustion from having been woken from her peaceful sleep was soon creeping up on her, and Sam found herself crawling on the bed beside Jack instead of shuffling back to the living room. She reached for an extra blanket that had been tossed to the floor and pulled it over herself sleepily before curling up on her side and laying her head on the soft pillow just about where she'd drifted off reading earlier. Her movements had been unthinking and automatic, and Sam thought nothing of it as she allowed her consciousness to fade as sleep took over.
-
When the bright light of the sun filtered through the big window in Jack's room, the curtains not pulled closed enough, Sam opened her eyes slowly before squinting with a quiet groan that revealed how much she really didn't want to be awake just then. Yawning loudly, she slowly sat up and untangled herself from the warm blanket firmly snuggled around her. Smiling in realization at how well she'd slept, Sam's bright blue eyes scanned the other side of the bed, widening in silent alarm when she noticed the rumpled blankets and an absent Jack. Scrambling quickly to her feet, Sam hurried into the adjoining bathroom to check for him there. Coming back into the bedroom with no luck, she felt her heart beating quicker as she raced out into the hall, her bare feet slapping noisily against the wooden floor.
Sam literally skidded to a halt when she caught sight of Jack in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, staring blankly at the smooth wooded surface, hands resting in his lap. Breathing a sigh of relief, she padded over to him calmly. It was certainly a surprise to her that Jack had gotten up and left the room without need of prompting or an escort, since he'd only moved when someone was with him while at the base, but Sam reasoned that he was probably more comfortable in his home and was able to move about more freely. She also figured that while he was on base, Jack wasn't allowed anywhere on his own accord. Another thing Sam guessed, was that he was just going through the motions of a routine he had developed with Teal'c every morning when at home. A routine she was not yet accustomed to.
"Morning," Sam greeted softly with a warm smile as she stood by the opposite side of the table where Jack was staring. She was pleased when he slowly rose his head and his deep brown eyes lazily met her bright blue ones. "Hungry?" He didn't move, so she just went toward the cupboards and looked through a few before finding a box of cereal and some bowls.
Jack had been staring at the table's surface in front of him again when Sam set the bowl of Fruit Loops down.
"Here you go," Sam slid a spoon toward him and smiled encouragingly. "Eat," When he began to do so, she sat down across the table and contemplatively munched on the toast she'd made for herself.
-
After breakfast, Sam sent Jack to the bathroom, unsure if he'd gone when he'd gotten up. Hell, she didn't even know how long he had been up. She'd just found him there in the kitchen, and knew that he wouldn't turn to her and say something like, "Morning Sleeping Beauty," with a lopsided grin, like she'd almost expected him to do. Sam shook her head to clear her thoughts, somewhat embarrassed as she realized that it had been almost a fantasy of hers, if she could have had what she wanted years ago. To wake up in his house, saunter out to the kitchen and find Jack making breakfast as he waited for her to wake up. Feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she recognized the daydream as something she may have missed out on and could never have now, Sam quickly wiped the evidence of her emotion away as the door opened and Jack emerged from the bathroom.
Sam studied his face for a moment as he stood there, his expression blank, eyes unfocused to a spot somewhere above her left shoulder. The thick stubble coating his face was really noticeable now, and she remembered Janet saying that Jack would need help shaving. Touching his elbow, she turned him back to the bathroom and helped him limp over to sit on the edge of the bathtub. She easily found the razor and shaving cream behind the medicine cabinet and began filling the sink with warm water before turning back to Jack. Lightly, she brushed her fingertips against the stubble on his cheek. "I'm gonna give you a shave okay?"
Jack sat somewhat stiffly, his eyes shifting rapidly from the plastic disposable razor in Sam's hand, to her face.
"Hey," Sam said softly, noticing the wild look in his dark eyes, the nervous quickening of his breathing. She reached behind her and set the razor down on the countertop, then brought her hand back and held it up to him slowly. "Jack, it's okay, I wouldn't hurt you," she assured him in a gentle voice, feeling a little put out that he might think that.
His breathing slowed back to a normal rhythm, and his eyes settled with a glazed sort of focus on Sam.
Seeing that he appeared calm once more, Sam dabbed at his face with a damp towel, then turned and picked up the can of shaving cream, squirting a glob onto her palm before bending slightly and gently applying it to Jack's face. He didn't move, and his gaze never came off her. After lathering the shaving cream over his generous amount of stubble, Sam reached for the razor again and paused, gauging his reaction before she even dared bringing it to his face. The last thing she needed was for him to react badly and slice his chin open or something, trying to jerk away.
Sam carefully began gliding the razor across his face using careful, deliberate strokes and occasionally reaching back to rinse the blade in the water-filled sink. Jack continued to sit very still, his gaze now totally vacant and no longer focusing anywhere but straight ahead. She began talking to him softly, not wanting him to become startled at any point, and unsure if he even would.
-
Chapters Five and Six
Summary: Sam returns after a long undercover mission with the Tok'ra and is shocked to discover what's happened to Jack in her absence.
Timeframe: Takes place approximately around Season Three, goes AU from there.
Pairings: Sam/Jack, Daniel/Janet
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Angst, Romance, Friendship
Rating: PG13
Changes
Chapter Three: Accidents
It turned out that SG-11 actually did need another team to come through the gate with more supplies, and after speaking with Hammond, he'd allowed her to go. Sam was still worried about leaving Jack, but bringing supplies through wasn't going to take any longer than a day at most. She joined SG-6 to deliver the packed FRED, and was somewhat disappointed not to have seen Jack at all before she went through the gate. In fact, she hadn't seen him around since breakfast.
Once they'd delivered the supplies to the village, SG-6 got permission from Hammond to stay and help SG-11 rebuild. Sam decided not to stay as long and spoke briefly with Teal'c before returning to the gate.
When she'd gotten back to Earth, it was nearly 1900. Sam showered and changed into her civilian clothes, preparing to leave, but she still hadn't seen Jack. Stepping out of the locker room, she ran into Daniel. "Hey," she smiled at him, causing him to stop in the hallway. Thinking about it briefly, she hadn't seen Daniel since she left either.
"Oh, hi Sam," He smiled faintly. "How's the rebuild project going?"
"Good," Sam nodded. "They've made a lot of progress. SG-6 is staying to help, but I decided to come back." She looked past Daniel as though she expected to see Jack standing behind him and had somehow missed seeing him there a second ago. "Where's Jack? I haven't see him."
Daniel ducked his head a bit. "He's in the infirmary."
Sam's brows creased slightly. "I thought he already had his appointment with Janet this morning?"
"Ah, he did," Daniel looked to the side distractedly for a brief second. "Jack's not there because of an appointment." Seeing Sam's suddenly concerned expression, he was quick to explain. "He hurt his knee on the stairs earlier. I picked Cassie up from school so she's keeping him busy right now while Janet gets some work done. I had to help Dr. Lee and a couple of the other scientists for a few hours, so I couldn't stay and look after him. I was just there to visit a couple minutes ago."
With a slight nod, Sam immediately changed directions and headed for the elevators. "I'm gonna go say hi before I head home," she called back to the archaeologist with a wave. "See you tomorrow, Daniel."
-
Sam stepped into the infirmary, immediately noticing that the lights had been dimmed for the night. She took a quick look around until she spotted the only occupied bed at the far left corner of the room near the entrance to Janet's office. Making her way over, she saw Jack laying on the bed, sitting up with his right leg slightly elevated by a pillow. Cassie was sitting beside him, cross-legged on the edge of the bed and playing a Game Boy while Jack watched over her shoulder.
"Hey guys," Sam greeted softly with a wave as she got closer.
"Sam!" Cassie grinned and unfolded her legs with ease, setting the Game Boy down as she went to hug her surrogate big sister. She stopped when Jack shifted on the bed and tried to get up as well. "Jack, no," Cassie said quickly, turning and holding a hand on his left leg. "Stay on the bed," she commanded gently, not wanting him to hurt his already-injured right knee.
"It's okay," Sam assured the young teenager, coming closer still. "I'll come to you." She smiled and pulled Cassie into a hug. "What are you up to?"
"Nothing," Cassie shrugged a little and sat down on the bed once more, by Jack's feet this time to give Sam room to sit. "I'm just waiting for my mom to finish her work so we can go home."
Sam perched herself on the bed in the space Cassie left her by Jack's left hip. She smiled when Jack took her hand and held it, his deep brown eyes fixed on her. "And what happened to you?" she asked him gently, not expecting an answer.
Jack's eyes shifted from Sam's eyes to his own knee, which was currently in a brace under the sweats he was wearing. He continued to stare blankly at his knee, then touched it lightly with his right hand and cocked his head to the side. "I fell," he murmured barely audibly, sounding somewhat uncertain about that answer.
Sam was surprised that he'd spoken, actually answered her even, but Cassie was positively grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't heard him say a thing since their re-introduction when he'd actually addressed her by name. Daniel warned her that he hadn't said much since his accident, so this was a bit of a shock. Her grin soon matched Cassie's, and then she and the teen were staring toward the doorway that lead to Janet's office when the doctor arrived in time to hear Jack's reply as well.
"That's right Jack, you fell going up the stairs to the control room earlier today," Janet added, trying not to overreact to Jack's response. She was excited, there was no doubt about that, she just didn't want to make a big deal out of it and possibly cause him to shy away from further reactions in the near future. Janet turned to Sam with a brief smile. "He was pretty anxious to see you before you went off-world, and when I explained that you'd already gone he took off. I haven't seen him move that fast in...well, awhile." She paused briefly in thought, then shook her head a bit and continued with a small smile. "Sgt. Siler was sitting with him on the floor of the control room by the time I'd gotten there because Jack had tripped running up the stairs and twisted his knee." She turned to her patient and lightly patted his shoulder. "Didn't you Jack?"
Jack didn't answer, but Janet hadn't expected him to. Normally the instances where he actually spoke were very few and far between.
Sam's eyes lowered, feeling instantly guilty about how Jack hurt himself trying to see her off, even though she'd already been gone. She cursed herself for not seeking him out before leaving to at least say goodbye and let him know she wouldn't be away for very long. Damn, she thought to herself with sudden realization. I bet that's why Daniel didn't really explain anything when he told me about Jack. He just said that Jack had hurt his knee. Dammit, again she mentally cursed herself, frowning slightly.
"Hey," Janet nudged Sam lightly with her elbow. "Don't worry, it's not your fault," she smiled gently, then gestured toward Jack. "He's fine. He just stretched out his LCL a bit. It's a mild sprain,"
Sighing, Sam sent Janet a grateful look before the doctor turned to her daughter.
"Cassie, I'm just going to get Jack's medicine and then we can go home," Janet started to leave, going around the bed when Sam stopped her.
"Is Jack staying here tonight?" She asked with slightly furrowed brows.
Janet shook her head. "No, he doesn't like staying in the infirmary. He can spend the night at our house and come back in the morning with Daniel while I drop Cassie off at school."
Sam just nodded and stayed sitting on the edge of the bed with Jack while Janet went into her office for a minute. When he let go of her hand, she watched him shift carefully on the bed with a slight wince and sit so that his legs hung over the side between herself and Cassie.
Holding a little plastic container of pills, Janet came back towards the bed and stood at the end by Cassie. She looked between her daughter and her patient. "Come on Jack, it's time to go. You're going to stay overnight at my house, okay?"
Cassie hopped off the bed and started for the door, but Jack hadn't moved. "Come on," the teen turned and waved him over. "We're going home now."
"Jack?" Janet moved to stand in front of him, staring with concern. "We're leaving now, you coming?" she coaxed with a gentle smile.
He still didn't make a move to get off the bed. Instead, Jack turned his head to his left where Sam sat and hooked an arm around hers, holding on tightly.
Janet sighed softly and looked over at her daughter, still standing patiently by the door. "Cass, why don't you head to the surface and I'll meet you at the car alright? One of the SFs will swipe their card so you can get through. This might take a little while."
The teen nodded, waved at Sam with a smile and left.
Sam looked down at the arm wound tightly around hers. She didn't know what to say, just shrugged slightly and shared a look with Janet.
"Jack," Janet tried again, touching his shoulder. "What's wrong?" She eyed their interlocking arms and suppressed a slightly amused smile. "You don't want to leave Sam?"
Shaking his head vehemently, Jack clutched Sam's arm tighter with both arms now and scooted closer on the bed.
Sam made a helpless face and sighed softly. He obviously didn't want to leave her, and her arm was beginning to go numb. "Uh, Janet, couldn't I just take him back to his house? I'll stay, I don't mind. He hasn't been home in a few days now."
Janet seemed thoughtful for a moment. She tilted her head and eyed Sam with concern. "Are you sure you're up to this? I mean, looking after him on base for a night is one thing..." she trailed off and gauged Sam's expression.
Nodding, all Sam could do was look at Jack beside her, his arms so tightly wrapped around her own, and the decision was made for her. "I'm up for it," she smiled reassuringly at Janet.
"Okay," Janet nodded, seeing this as something that Sam had to do. She smiled gently and handed the pills over. "These ones are for his knee. Now he probably won't let you know if he needs them or not, so I want you to give him about one every four hours and before bed."
Sam nodded, taking all the information in.
"At home there's two more pill bottles by the refrigerator. One is for nausea, and the other is a stronger pain reliever for his headaches. They're both clearly labeled. Make sure he takes one of the anti-nausea pills before going to bed, otherwise if he has one of his spells in the night, he probably won't get up on his own and..." she trailed off as Sam made a face. "Well, you get the idea."
Brows creasing, Sam cocked her head thoughtfully. "How come I didn't have to give Jack any pills last night when I stayed with him on base?"
Janet smiled knowingly. "That's because I had already given them to him before I was called off to the Academy Hospital for that emergency."
"Ah," Sam smiled with a slight nod. She noticed Jack had relaxed his hold on her arm, and guessed that he understood that he was going home with her. She looked to him with a gentleness in her eyes. "Alright, so I suppose we'll be leaving now." Her gaze shifted to Janet for approval.
"Oh, just one more thing," Janet held up a finger briefly as Sam slid off the bed. "He's going to need a shave in the morning, and he can't do that on his own," she gestured toward the generous amount of stubble now coating Jack's face. "If you're not comfortable doing it, or don't have time, Daniel or I might have some spare time in the morning if you're coming in early."
"I don't mind, I can take care of it," Sam assured her friend quickly. "Besides, I don't have anything scheduled in the morning, and I've just got some lab work that can be done whenever tomorrow. That way Jack can spend a little more time at home, if that's alright."
Janet nodded. "If everything goes okay then that's just fine. It'll do him some good to be off base for longer than one night." She smiled and lightly patted Jack's shoulder, then eyed Sam once more, fishing a set of keys out of her white coat pocket and handing them to Sam. "Here are the keys to his house. Oh, and he won't use crutches, so I want him to keep the knee brace on and make sure it's elevated while he's resting. There's already a few icepacks at the house if his knee starts to swell again. He can take some Tylenol for that too. Just try not to let him be on his feet much tonight, okay?"
"Got it," Sam pocketed the keys and smiled gently at Jack. "Ready to go?" He didn't answer, just simply slid off the bed, not putting much weight on his right leg. She hooked her arm around his and offered some support as she began walking from the infirmary with Jack limping alongside her.
-
Changes
Chapter Four: Watching Jack
Sam had thought about stopping by her house to pick up some things, but then remembered she had a bag with extra civilian clothes and some other stuff packed away in her locker and grabbed that before heading out. It was 2030 by the time they got to Jack's house, and Sam struggled to the front door with her bag slung over one shoulder, her other arm hooked around Jack's to help him hobble along the walkway.
Inside the house, Sam wasn't really surprised that not much was different. It still looked as she had remembered it, almost as though Jack hadn't changed at all, simply because the state of his home was familiar. When Jack had started in the direction of the long hallway, Sam moved with him since their arms were still linked. She allowed him to lead as he limped on and turned into his bedroom, then detached himself from her and limped further inside on his own.
Standing in Jack's doorway, Sam caught a glimpse of Teal'c's room across the hall, which had been the guest room when she'd last seen it. She noticed the many candles covering the elevated surfaces of the room, and a somewhat tribal-looking decor. Smiling to herself and thinking of how appropriate everything seemed for the Jaffa, Sam stepped more into Jack's room. She watched him sit on the bed, making a face as he held both hands over his right knee. A concerned look on her face, she knelt in front of him. "Does your leg hurt?"
Jack shook his head immediately.
The move was too quick to go unnoticed by Sam and she eyed him critically, inwardly excited that he'd responded to a question again. "Jack," she drew his name out. "Are you lying?"
This time he nodded.
Sam gave a triumphant smile from getting two responses in a row and stood, lightly clapping her hands against her thighs as she did so. "Okay, I'm going to get an icepack and bring your pills over," she told him, pausing for a moment and scratching the back of her head in thought as she continued to study him. Jack was wearing a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, socks on his feet along with the infirmary slippers he'd left the base wearing. She decided he wouldn't need to change into any pajamas, since he was pretty much already wearing them. That would make things easier for her.
Momentarily chewing her bottom lip with indecision, Sam took a deep breath before holding out a halting hand as she moved to the door. "Stay here for a minute, okay? I'll be right back," Jack wasn't even really looking at her, he'd kind of started staring off into space, so she quickly left the room and hurried off to get his pills and some water.
When Sam got back she also had a throw pillow from the couch tucked under one arm to use for elevating his knee. Jack was sitting just where she'd left him, so she moved over to the other side of the bed, setting the pills and water on the side table. Tossing the pillow on the bed, she pulled back the blankets for Jack and waved him over when he turned his head toward her. "Come on over here and lay down,"
Jack moved slowly, using his arms to scoot backwards toward the spot where Sam had drawn the covers back. He sat up with his back against the headboard, pillows in place for a cushion.
Sam sat on the bed by Jack's feet, slowly tugging off his slippers and dropping them on the floor. Next she gently moved the throw pillow under his knee and laid the icepack over it before covering him with the blanket. Handing Jack the glass of water, she uncapped the pill bottles and palmed the ones for him to take before giving those to him as well. "Here you go, Jack. Swallow those and drink." When she was sure the pills were gone, she set the glass back down and gathered up the containers, getting up off the bed. "I'm just going to put these back in the kitchen and change now, alright?" She started to leave the room again, noting that he was watching her this time.
-
Dressed in some light blue pajama bottoms and a darker blue t-shirt, Sam returned with a book in hand, having changed as quickly as she could. Jack was exactly where she'd left him once more, though his eyes seemed a bit droopy like he was fighting off sleep. She smiled gently, coming into the room and just noticing a TV set sitting on the bureau against the wall in front of his bed. There had never been one there in the past. As she moved over to the tv, Jack's head seemed to jerk up slightly in attention. It was still fairly early, around 2115 now. "Do you want me to turn it on?"
Shifting slightly, Jack just slumped down so that he wasn't sitting up so straight any longer.
Sam turned the tv on anyways, lowering the volume to a soft whisper and finding the remote so she could flip through the channels. She stopped on a re-run of The Simpsons when Jack made a noise as she paused on the channel. Turning to look at him, she smiled at the semi-interested look on his face.
Taking the remote with her, Sam sat down on the other side of the bed over the blankets, taking some extra pillows from the floor and setting them against the headboard to lean against. She reached down by the floor where she'd dropped her book, then sat back again. Sam glanced at Jack, saw that he was mesmerized by the tv, and began to read. She planned on waiting until he fell asleep before going to the couch in the lounge.
-
Sam's eyes jerked open with a start and she looked around the darkened room, taking in her surroundings and remembering where she was. Sitting up, she held a hand to her forehead for a moment before running it through her short hair. She cursed herself for having fallen asleep, but relaxed when she noticed Jack was still in bed, his eyes closed in sleep, mouth hanging open slightly as soft snoring sounds escaped. The soft sound and the faint glow from the tv reminded Sam that it was still on. Rolling off the bed carefully, she padded across the floor to the television and turned it off. Going back toward the bed, she picked up her forgotten book, marked her place with a neatly folded page and checked the digital clock by Jack's side of the bed. Seeing that it was 0128, Sam blinked her bleary eyes, casting one more glance at Jack before sneaking toward the door.
On her way out, Sam noticed something with a softly glowing little green light behind the digital clock on the nightstand. Getting a closer look, she realized that it was a baby monitor. Figuring that Teal'c must have used it in case Jack woke and needed something during the night, she headed for the room across the hall to find the receiver, deciding it would be a good idea if she kept it with her.
Feeling a little uncomfortable as though she were snooping around Teal'c's room, Sam was thankful to find the monitor sitting on the bureau near the door in a space not surrounded by candles. Following the wire behind the bureau, she traced it back to the outlet and unplugged it from the wall. Bunching up the cord so it didn't drag on the floor, Sam took the monitor and headed toward the lounge quietly.
After plugging the monitor in and leaving it on the side table, Sam settled down on the couch with some extra pillows and blankets she'd found in the linen closet. Closing her eyes, she quickly drifted back off to sleep, listening to the quiet snores coming from the speaker.
-
A strange sound was the next thing that Sam woke to, a few hours later. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she sat up groggily and ran a hand through her messy hair, now blinking with confusion at the source of the sound. The monitor on the lamp table beside the couch was shrieking at her. It was a raw, strained cry that made Sam shudder involuntarily.
"Saaaaaammmmm!" the monitor shrieked hoarsely in that strangled voice. "Saaammm!!!"
"Jack," Sam gasped with sudden realization, completely awake and alert now. She jumped to her feet, stumbling slightly as she shook off the blankets wrapped around her ankles on the floor. Blue eyes wide and anxious, Sam dashed into the bedroom and quickly knelt on the bed where Jack was sitting up and screaming her name hoarsely with his hands on either side of his head.
"Whoa, Jack, take it easy. It's okay," Sam tried to calm him, grasping his wrists gently and trying to pull his hands down from his head. He kept shrieking her name, his voice becoming more raw and crackly with each strangled yell. "Jack, look at me!" She pleaded in a soft, comforting tone. "Look at me Jack! I'm right here, everything's okay."
He stopped suddenly, his watery brown eyes locking onto her wide, concerned blue ones. There was such hurt in his eyes, sadness and longing as though he were experiencing emotions from a long ago memory. Sam was still holding his wrists loosely, and he slowly stretched his hands out to gently hold her face between them. Jack continued to stare into her eyes, his heavy breathing slowing, eyelids soon fluttering drowsily before he slumped into her, unconscious.
Panicking at the unexpected change, Sam carefully pulled back from the bed and laid him there on his side so that his upper half was no longer slumped against her. She checked his pulse with concern, then fumbled for the telephone on the night table with a shaking hand. It was 0507, and she didn't want to wake anybody, but she was scared and didn't know what to do. Jack's pulse was just a little fast, but she wasn't entirely sure what had just happened and didn't know if she should be even more concerned than she already was.
Hearing a sleepy, familiar voice coming from the phone in her hand, Sam realized she must have dialed Janet's number without even thinking about it.
"Hello? Is someone there? At five in the morning there had damn well better be a reason for this call!"
Sam had to giggle softly. Janet sure sounded menacing when she'd been woken from a deep sleep. Focusing on the seriousness of the situation, she quickly responded to the increasingly angry voice as her friend threatened to hang up. "Janet, wait! Sorry, it's me, Sam."
"Sam?" Janet sounded more awake now, and less pissed off. "What's wrong?"
Her friend was whispering into the phone now, and Sam realized with a slight blush that it was probably because she didn't want to wake Daniel. "I-" Sam began, chewing her bottom lip hesitantly. "It's just..." she paused again, silently thankful how patient Janet was being with her. Even though she'd been gone a year, it hadn't seemed to create any sense of awkwardness in their close friendship since her return. For that, Sam was eternally grateful. With everything that had changed, she was glad there were still some things that didn't.
"Sam, what happened with Jack?" Janet rephrased coaxingly, hoping to make it easier for Sam to answer. She took a calming breath herself, knowing that if it was something dire then Sam wouldn't hesitate telling her what was wrong.
Sighing into the phone, Sam gathered her thoughts, her eyes flitting over to the inert form on the bed. "I'm not really sure, Janet. I found the baby monitor, so I took the receiver from Teal'c's room and brought it to the lounge when I went to sleep on the couch. I woke up maybe ten minutes ago to the sound of this strangled, hoarse screaming coming from the monitor," Sam forced herself to shake off the memory of Jack's awful shrieking as he called out her name. "Quite frankly, the noise scared the hell outta me. I ran to Jack's room when I came to my senses and realized it was him."
"It sounds to me like he was having a nightmare," Janet said softly. "Sometimes he yells in his sleep. I should have warned you about it," her tone softened more, and even sounded a little sad. "As his doctor, I knew that he'd suffered some pretty bad nightmares before his accident, but he used to be able to prevent himself from screaming in the night and letting them really affect him. Now..." Janet trailed off briefly, "He just isn't able to suppress the emotions assaulting him from the nightmares. Occasionally he screams out, usually nothing coherent, but sometimes he'll get very distraught and it takes a little while to calm him down. Just be careful if you go to wake him. There's still a Special Forces trained soldier lurking in that mind of his."
Sam was quiet as she took in what Janet was telling her. She was unable to prevent the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Sam? Is that what happened? Are you having trouble trying to get him to calm down?" Janet asked, trying to help.
"Uh, no," Sam answered once she'd shook herself from her daze. "That's...not exactly what happened. He..um..he was screaming my name Janet," she murmured tearfully. "When I went to him, he was holding his head with both hands and still screaming. I tried to get him to snap out of it, and after a moment or so he stopped and then passed out." She left out the part where they stared at each other for a long while and Jack held her face in his hands.
Janet was surprised to hear that Jack had been yelling for Sam, but didn't mention it. "Okay, it's more likely he got one of his headaches then, rather than had a nightmare. They're usually pretty bad. Sometimes he blacks out from them."
Sam nodded to herself, relaxing slightly and still staring at Jack where he lay on the bed, unconscious. "Okay, so...what do I do?"
"You'll need to wake him up and give him the pills I told you about, the ones for his headaches. Make sure he takes them, otherwise he might wake up from the residual pain later," Janet instructed gently.
"Okay, thank you Janet," Sam said, feeling a little embarrassed for being so nervous. "I'm sorry I woke you,"
"Don't worry about it," Janet whispered with a lightness to her voice. "Now get some sleep."
"I will, thanks again," Hanging up the phone quietly, Sam left to fetch Jack's medicine from the kitchen.
-
Jack was still unconscious when Sam stepped back in the room. The blankets had been thrown off him to the other side of the bed from his movements earlier, and she bent to retrieve the now-warm icepack that had fallen on the floor. Sitting on the edge of the bed with his pills in her closed palm, Sam reached out to gently lay her hand on his head. "Jack," she began stroking the side of his head with her thumb where her hand lay.
Groggily opening his eyes with a low groan, Jack blinked blearily at Sam. He didn't attempt to raise his head, and seemed to enjoy the comforting feel of her hand there, lightly caressing the close-cropped hair.
Sam smiled at him gently and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand from earlier. She handed him the pills, and when he stuck them in his mouth, she lifted his head slightly and placed the water glass to his lips. After Jack sipped the tepid water to wash down the tablets, Sam put the glass out of the way. As she reached over his body to pull the blankets back over him, Sam heard a soft groan as he shivered briefly and sleepily snuggled into the warmth surrounding him once more.
Exhaustion from having been woken from her peaceful sleep was soon creeping up on her, and Sam found herself crawling on the bed beside Jack instead of shuffling back to the living room. She reached for an extra blanket that had been tossed to the floor and pulled it over herself sleepily before curling up on her side and laying her head on the soft pillow just about where she'd drifted off reading earlier. Her movements had been unthinking and automatic, and Sam thought nothing of it as she allowed her consciousness to fade as sleep took over.
-
When the bright light of the sun filtered through the big window in Jack's room, the curtains not pulled closed enough, Sam opened her eyes slowly before squinting with a quiet groan that revealed how much she really didn't want to be awake just then. Yawning loudly, she slowly sat up and untangled herself from the warm blanket firmly snuggled around her. Smiling in realization at how well she'd slept, Sam's bright blue eyes scanned the other side of the bed, widening in silent alarm when she noticed the rumpled blankets and an absent Jack. Scrambling quickly to her feet, Sam hurried into the adjoining bathroom to check for him there. Coming back into the bedroom with no luck, she felt her heart beating quicker as she raced out into the hall, her bare feet slapping noisily against the wooden floor.
Sam literally skidded to a halt when she caught sight of Jack in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, staring blankly at the smooth wooded surface, hands resting in his lap. Breathing a sigh of relief, she padded over to him calmly. It was certainly a surprise to her that Jack had gotten up and left the room without need of prompting or an escort, since he'd only moved when someone was with him while at the base, but Sam reasoned that he was probably more comfortable in his home and was able to move about more freely. She also figured that while he was on base, Jack wasn't allowed anywhere on his own accord. Another thing Sam guessed, was that he was just going through the motions of a routine he had developed with Teal'c every morning when at home. A routine she was not yet accustomed to.
"Morning," Sam greeted softly with a warm smile as she stood by the opposite side of the table where Jack was staring. She was pleased when he slowly rose his head and his deep brown eyes lazily met her bright blue ones. "Hungry?" He didn't move, so she just went toward the cupboards and looked through a few before finding a box of cereal and some bowls.
Jack had been staring at the table's surface in front of him again when Sam set the bowl of Fruit Loops down.
"Here you go," Sam slid a spoon toward him and smiled encouragingly. "Eat," When he began to do so, she sat down across the table and contemplatively munched on the toast she'd made for herself.
-
After breakfast, Sam sent Jack to the bathroom, unsure if he'd gone when he'd gotten up. Hell, she didn't even know how long he had been up. She'd just found him there in the kitchen, and knew that he wouldn't turn to her and say something like, "Morning Sleeping Beauty," with a lopsided grin, like she'd almost expected him to do. Sam shook her head to clear her thoughts, somewhat embarrassed as she realized that it had been almost a fantasy of hers, if she could have had what she wanted years ago. To wake up in his house, saunter out to the kitchen and find Jack making breakfast as he waited for her to wake up. Feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she recognized the daydream as something she may have missed out on and could never have now, Sam quickly wiped the evidence of her emotion away as the door opened and Jack emerged from the bathroom.
Sam studied his face for a moment as he stood there, his expression blank, eyes unfocused to a spot somewhere above her left shoulder. The thick stubble coating his face was really noticeable now, and she remembered Janet saying that Jack would need help shaving. Touching his elbow, she turned him back to the bathroom and helped him limp over to sit on the edge of the bathtub. She easily found the razor and shaving cream behind the medicine cabinet and began filling the sink with warm water before turning back to Jack. Lightly, she brushed her fingertips against the stubble on his cheek. "I'm gonna give you a shave okay?"
Jack sat somewhat stiffly, his eyes shifting rapidly from the plastic disposable razor in Sam's hand, to her face.
"Hey," Sam said softly, noticing the wild look in his dark eyes, the nervous quickening of his breathing. She reached behind her and set the razor down on the countertop, then brought her hand back and held it up to him slowly. "Jack, it's okay, I wouldn't hurt you," she assured him in a gentle voice, feeling a little put out that he might think that.
His breathing slowed back to a normal rhythm, and his eyes settled with a glazed sort of focus on Sam.
Seeing that he appeared calm once more, Sam dabbed at his face with a damp towel, then turned and picked up the can of shaving cream, squirting a glob onto her palm before bending slightly and gently applying it to Jack's face. He didn't move, and his gaze never came off her. After lathering the shaving cream over his generous amount of stubble, Sam reached for the razor again and paused, gauging his reaction before she even dared bringing it to his face. The last thing she needed was for him to react badly and slice his chin open or something, trying to jerk away.
Sam carefully began gliding the razor across his face using careful, deliberate strokes and occasionally reaching back to rinse the blade in the water-filled sink. Jack continued to sit very still, his gaze now totally vacant and no longer focusing anywhere but straight ahead. She began talking to him softly, not wanting him to become startled at any point, and unsure if he even would.
-
Chapters Five and Six