Songbook Series 22: Somebody Must Be Praying For Me
Somebody Must Be Praying For Me
by Jez
TITLE: Songbook Series 22: Somebody Must Be Praying For Me
AUTHOR: Jez
EMAIL: jez80@ozemail.com.au
CATEGORY: Romance, Angst
PAIRING: Sam/Jack
SPOILERS: None
SEASON / SEQUEL: Future
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: Sam's promise of a boring pregnancy is broken.
STATUS: Complete
ARCHIVE: Heliopolis
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. The song ‘Somebody Must Be Praying For Me’ is performed by Tim McGraw, no infringement intended.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: A huge thanks to my two beta gal's, Kes and Jenn, and to Sue, for all her medical help. Thanks!
DEDICATION: To doctors and nurses everywhere. Thank you for doing what you do. To Abby and Justin, you may have only been in this world for five hours, but you’ll be in our hearts forever.
Sam awoke with a groan, rolling over and realizing that her husband was already up. Getting to her feet and heading to the bathroom, Sam winced as she felt an ache in her lower back. “Geez, little one,” she groused, rubbing a hand over her stomach. “If you’re gonna make mom’s back hurt now, what are you gonna do to me at nine months?” She decided to take a shower in the hope that the warm water would ease her back.
She stood in the shower stall, leaning against the tiles so that the spray massaged her back. Enjoying the sensation, she didn’t hear Jack walk into the bathroom.
“Hey, baby. You look like you’re really enjoying that,” he said, watching as she jumped slightly. He grinned, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She smiled. “That’s okay, I was miles away.”
“You feeling okay?”
“Fine,” she replied. She didn’t tell him about her back ache, knowing that he would insist on staying at home. She had been looking forward to going on the picnic in the mountains for a week, and there was no way she was going to miss it. She was looking forward to the fresh mountain air and the exercise, as well as seeing Janet, Daniel and Cassie. She felt like she hardly saw Daniel since she’d been lab bound. The only down point was that Teal’c had gone to visit his family and wouldn’t be joining them.
Jack continued to smile as he watched her, enjoying the view before him. “I made us some breakfast. You’re going to have to eat something substantial if you’re gonna go hiking.” He walked towards the shower, pulling his T-shirt off as he went. “Do you want me to wash your back for you?”
Sam grinned. “You read my mind,” she said, handing him the soap and wash cloth. If anything could make her back feel better, it would be Jack. He always gave her a massage as he washed her, and that may be just what she needed.
Jack lovingly washed his wife’s back, before wrapping her in a towel and drying every inch of her body. If Sam were a cat, she was sure she would be purring. “You spoil me,” she chastised, her smile telling Jack she really didn’t mind.
“You’re worth spoiling,” he returned, finishing his task and moving to wrap the towel around her torso. “Now go and get dressed while I finish breakfast.” He led her back into the bedroom, leaving her there while he went and set the table in the kitchen.
The dull ache in Sam’s lower back returned as she sat, eating breakfast. She sighed to herself, still not daring to tell Jack about it. ‘I’ve been sitting around far too much lately,’ she thought to herself. ‘That’s probably half the problem.’ She reminded herself to talk to Hammond about a more comfortable stool for the lab and finished her breakfast.
Daniel arrived just as Jack had started cleaning up. Sam let him in and apologized for the fact that they were running late. “Where’s Janet and Cassie?” she asked, looking out the door behind him.
“Janet got tied up in the infirmary, and won’t be able to make it. We’re going to pick Cassie up from her friend’s place on the way.”
Sam nodded her agreement, leading him into the kitchen. “Do you want a cup of coffee?”
Jack snorted. “Stupid question.”
“Come on, I’m not that bad!” Daniel protested.
“Yes, you are,” both Jack and Sam immediately shot back. They all laughed.
“I’ll get it, Sam. You better take your vitamins before you forget,” Jack reminded her.
Sam rolled her eyes. “Yes, sir.”
Daniel grinned at their banter, enjoying seeing his friends so happy. “So, have you guys thought of any names for the baby yet?” he asked.
“I have, but Sam doesn’t like them,” Jack pouted, looking for all the world like a little boy who hadn’t got his way.
“Jack, we are not calling our daughter Tabatha.”
Daniel chuckled. “Tabatha? As in...”
“Yes, as in Samantha and Tabatha from the TV show ‘Bewitched’. I like the boy’s name you suggested though,” she told Jack.
“What was that?” Daniel asked, trying not to laugh at the look on Jack’s face.
“Adam,” Sam said with a smile.
“Isn’t that...” Daniel started, remembering there was a little boy in ‘Bewitched’.
Jack shook his head, cutting him off. “That’s not why I like it. It means ‘the earth’,” he told his friend.
Daniel nodded his approval. “That’s fitting for the child of two interplanetary explorers.”
Sam smiled. “We actually wanted to talk to you about a girl’s name, Daniel.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “We were wondering how you’d feel if we called the baby Shau’re if it’s a girl?”
Jack smiled at his friend, seeing the emotion clearly on his face. “Then she could grow up to be as strong as her namesake,” he added.
“Guys, I... I don’t know what to say.” Daniel’s voice was thick with emotion. “I think Shau’re would be honored to have your child named after her.”
Sam grinned and headed for the door. “Great. Now that’s decided, nature calls.”
A further twenty minutes later, they still hadn’t left and Daniel was getting impatient. Jack was the worst offender. He wanted to make sure they had everything Sam could possibly need, checking and double checking his pack.
“Okay, let’s go,” Daniel said, as he once again tried to usher the couple out the door.
“Hang on, I’ve gotta go to the bathroom,” Sam said as she turned back around. She rubbed her lower back absently, which was still hurting.
“But you went not that long ago,” Daniel protested.
“Hey, I’m pregnant. I can’t help it!” She smiled and walked up the stairs.
Jack grinned after her, before turning to give Daniel a shrug. “Never disagree with a pregnant woman, Daniel. You’ll always lose.”
Daniel laughed. “I’ll have to remember that.” He looked towards the stairs, where Sam had disappeared. “She looks great, Jack. This pregnancy must be agreeing with her.”
Jack nodded. “I think it is,” he agreed. “I know she still finds it hard not going offworld with us...” He was interrupted by Sam calling for him. There was something in her voice that scared him, causing him to run up the stairs. He raced into the bedroom to see her bent over, clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her face and fear in her eyes. “Sam, what’s wrong?!” he asked, alarmed.
“It hurts,” she sobbed.
It took a second for her words to register before he scooped her up and raced back down the stairs. “Daniel! Get the car started! We’ve gotta go to the hospital, now!”
Daniel looked at Sam, crying in Jack’s arms, and raced outside. He helped Jack get her into the car before jumping in the driver’s seat and peeling out of the driveway.
Daniel tried to concentrate on the road, but he couldn’t help but glance in the rear-view mirror every few seconds. Jack was cradling his wife, trying to get her to calm down. “Shh, baby, just take some deep breaths for me.”
“I don’t want to lose my baby,” she sobbed.
“Come on, angel. Just stay calm. Keep breathing for me.”
Jack kept stroking Sam’s hair, whispering words of comfort to her, but shying away from telling her it would be all right. He didn’t know that, and he refused to lie to her. He finally got her to calm down enough to talk to her. “Does it still hurt?” he asked, stroking the hair from her forehead. She shook her head and he saw her lip quivering. “Come on, stay calm,” he soothed.
“I’m scared,” she admitted.
“I know, baby. Me too. Let’s just stay calm and wait until we get to the hospital, okay?” Jack closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his own emotions under control for the sake of his wife. ‘Please don’t take this one too,’ he silently prayed as another contraction gripped Sam’s body.
Daniel had phoned ahead on his cell phone and there were people waiting for them when they arrived. They placed her on a gurney and took her inside. The attending was firing questions at Jack as they went. “How many weeks is she?”
“Ah, eighteen,” Jack replied, trying to get his brain to work.
“Page Doctor Dalley!” the attending yelled as they wheeled her into a room. “Okay, when did the contractions start?” he asked Jack.
Jack looked at his watch. “About fifteen minutes ago.”
“How far apart are they?”
Jack shook his head, not having thought to time them. “Around five minutes, I think.”
Nodding, the doctor turned to Sam. “Mrs. O’Neill, I need you to calm down for me, okay? Now can you tell me when the last time you felt the baby was?”
Sam shook her head, trying not to burst into tears again. “I haven’t felt it yet.”
“That’s okay, don’t worry about it,” the attending reassured her.
It was then that Chris hurried into the room, and she saw who her patient was. “I thought we agreed you were going to have a nice boring pregnancy, Sam?”
Sam was about to reply when she groaned as another contraction gripped her body. “Please make it stop,” she begged.
“I’ll try, Sam,” Chris promised, turning to one of the nurses. “Give her ten micrograms per minute of Terbutaline by IV, and hook her up to a heart monitor.” Knowing her orders would be followed to the letter, she turned back to her patient. “Sam, I need you to calm down. Take a deep breath in for me.” Chris breathed in with her. “That’s it, now breath out slowly.” Sam did as she was told.
She motioned to Jack, who was trying to stay out of everyone’s way. “Good girl. Jack, whenever she gets tense or upset, I want you to get her to breath deeply, okay?” She watched as Jack nodded before donning a pair of gloves. After a quick exam, Chris was relieved that there was no bleeding.
“That’s a good sign,” she assured them. “Now, you are about twenty five percent effaced, but it’s what we call dimpled, not dilated. That means we’ve got a good chance of controlling it.” She smiled at them. “I’m just going to go and organize for you to be transferred up to the Labor Unit.”
Sam’s heart leaped in her throat.. “Labor unit? Does that mean you can’t stop it?” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“No!” Chris immediately replied. “They’re better equipped up there and the nurses are experienced in this. Try not to worry, okay?”
Jack wondered how they were supposed to do that, but didn’t comment on it. “Thanks, Chris,” he said, grasping his wife’s hand.
Janet walked down the corridor of the hospital, tired. SG-5 had brought back over fifty natives in serious need of medical attention. She’d had to transfer them to the Academy Hospital and had spent the last eight hours in the ER tending to them. She was surprised to see her boyfriend in the waiting room as she walked past. “Daniel? What are you doing here? Is Cassie okay?”
Daniel nodded. “She’s fine. She’s still at Debbie’s house. It’s Sam,” he replied, pointing to the room that she was taken to.
At that moment Chris walked out the door and almost ran into Janet.
“Chris, what’s happening?” Janet asked.
Chris patted her colleague’s shoulder, knowing that Janet was a good friend of her patient. “Sam’s had some contractions. Her waters haven’t broken and there’s no bleeding. We’re giving her Terbutaline to try and stop it.”
“Oh, God,” she murmured, knowing Sam would be devastated if she lost her baby. “Are you transferring her to the Labor Unit?”
“Labor Unit?” Daniel gasped. “She can’t have the baby yet! You have to do something!”
“It’s okay, Daniel,” Janet assured him. “The people up there are trained to deal with this kind of situation. They’ve got all the machines they’ll need to help Sam.”
“Janet’s right. Just because she’s going to the Labor Unit, doesn’t mean that she’s going to deliver. We’re doing everything in our power to stop that happening.”
“And if you can’t?”
Neither Janet nor Chris answered that and Daniel felt his throat constrict as he realized what that meant.
Clearing her throat, Janet looked at Chris. “Do you mind if I go in?”
Chris smiled. “Go ahead. You might be able to help keep her calm. She’s pretty upset.”
Janet nodded and pushed the door open to her friend’s room.
Sam looked across to the door and saw her friend. “Janet,” she croaked, trying to hold back another sob.
“Hey, Sam,” Janet replied. “How’re you doing?”
Sam couldn’t reply, she knew if she did she’d start crying again, and the last thing she wanted to do was endanger her baby more by becoming hysterical. She took a deep, steadying breath and looked across at her husband. “Will you go and call your mom, Jack? Just let her know what’s happened?”
“You sure you don’t want to wait until we know more?” He was reluctant to leave her, but looking at her pleading eyes, he realized she wanted some time with Janet. “Why don’t I go and tell Hammond we’ll need some personal time, huh? I’ll come back in a few minutes.”
Sam nodded, grateful. She knew Janet would be honest with her, but she wasn’t sure Jack was ready to hear what she may say. Sam wasn’t sure if she was ready to hear it herself.
“I’ll be just outside, okay?” he told her as he got to his feet. He bent down and kissed her forehead, before turning and heading out of the room.
Janet moved over and grasped one of Sam’s hands. “Why did you want to get rid of Jack?” she asked.
“Did you talk to Chris?”
Janet nodded. “Briefly. Why?”
“Tell me what she said. The truth.”
“Sam, Chris wouldn’t lie to you...”
“Please, Janet,” Sam interrupted. “What did she tell you?”
Janet sighed. “She told me that you’d had contractions and they’ve given you some medication which will hopefully stop them.”
“Hopefully?”
“There’s a chance that it won’t. But you have to think positive, Sam.”
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked in a small voice.
“God, no! This wasn’t your fault. These things just happen sometimes.”
“Please, Janet, tell me the truth. Am I going to lose it?”
Janet sighed. “I honestly don’t know.”
Sam nodded, then gasped as another contraction started. “No, not again.”
“It’s okay,” Janet assured her. “Just keep breathing.”
Sam’s lip trembled as she tried to regulate her breathing. Once the contraction had passed, she turned scared blue eyes to her friend. “Does this mean it didn’t work?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“No, sweetie. It just means that they might have to give you another round of Terbutaline,” Janet assured her.
“Another round?”
“Yeah, you can have more than one round. Sometimes it takes a larger dose to stop the contractions.”
Sam nodded, absorbing the information. She tried not to let her pessimistic side take over, telling herself she had to stay positive, but it was hard. “Can you get Jack for me?” she asked, needing him with her.
Janet gave her hand a squeeze. “Of course I can.”
She turned and headed for the door. She turned back to look at her friend when she reached it. Sam was running a hand over her abdomen, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t leave me, little baby,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion.
Tears welled in Janet’s eyes and with a sigh, she opened the door.
Jack hung up the phone just as she walked into the waiting room. His face paled as he took in his friend’s tears. “Janet? Please, don’t tell me...”
Janet held up a hand knowing where his thoughts were heading. “She’s had another contraction, but that doesn’t mean we give up hope.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “Sam wants you. Try and keep her calm and still.”
Jack nodded and headed into his wife’s room. “Hey, angel,” he said quietly as he walked over to her bed.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
“No, baby. Don’t apologize. This isn’t your fault.”
“I’m supposed to protect our baby.”
“Shh, Sam. Come on, you’ve got to stay calm. Take a deep breath for me.” He watched as she tried to compose herself. “That’s better. Now I want you to listen to me. You have done everything right, okay? You haven’t worked too hard, you stopped drinking alcohol, you’re eating all the right things. You have done everything that Chris told you to do.”
“What if it’s because of Jolinar?” she asked, not quite ready to give up the guilt.
“Then it *still* isn’t your fault, Sam. You didn’t ask for her to change your body, did you?” She shook her head. “Then it’s not your fault, okay?”
Sam nodded, reluctantly seeing that he was right. “Okay.”
The nurses came back in then and started preparing her for transfer.
“Why does she need that?” Jack asked, watching as they moved the heart monitor onto the gurney.
“It’s just a precaution, Colonel,” the nurse replied. “We want to make sure that the Terbutaline doesn’t cause any problems with your wife’s heart.”
Jack tried hard not to think about the implications of that. It was bad enough thinking that they might lose their baby, were they saying that the medication they were using could also harm his wife? He followed numbly, as they wheeled Sam out of the room and towards the elevator.
“Can Janet come too?” Sam asked the nurse as she spotted her friend.
The nurse nodded reluctantly, not wanting to upset her. Janet started walking behind the gurney, giving her friend a reassuring smile.
“Jack?” Daniel called. “Is there anything I can do?”
Jack shook his head. “Just pray?” he asked, before following the gurney into the elevator.
Sam had only been in the Labor Ward for a couple of minutes when she had another contraction. Jack tried soothe her as she breathed through it. Once the pain had passed, he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. “I love you,” he reassured her. He could see the relief in her eyes and knew he’d said the right thing.
Dr. Dalley came bustling in then, pushing a machine. Janet, who had disappeared as soon as they’d arrived at the unit, walked in behind her. “Janet said you had another contraction?” Chris asked.
Sam nodded, noting that Chris didn’t seem overly worried about it.
“She just had another one then,” Jack added.
Chris looked at Sam. “Did they seem as strong as the first ones?”
Sam nodded. “Probably stronger, and they were closer together.”
Chris turned to one of the nurses. “We’ll have to increase the dose. Let’s go to twelve micrograms per minute.” She waited until the nurse nodded before she brought the ultrasound close to the bed. “Okay, Sam. Time to show off that gorgeous pregnant belly of yours.”
Despite the somber mood, Sam couldn’t help but laugh. “I wouldn’t call it gorgeous. Just looks like I need to do more sit-ups.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Chris continued, putting the cold gel on Sam’s stomach. “I’ve heard that pregnant women are a turn on. Am I right, Jack?”
Jack forced a grin, knowing that Chris was trying to get Sam to relax a bit. “Oh, yeah,” he agreed, waggling his eyebrows.
Everyone in the room relaxed visibly as they heard the fast, strong thud of the baby’s heart. Sam gripped Jack’s hand harder when their baby came into view on the screen.
“About time I got to meet the newest member of SG-1,” Janet said, her eyes sparkling as she watched the screen.
Chris smiled at her colleague and completed her exam. She let them look a little longer, knowing that seeing their child was reassuring for them. “Well, everything looks good here. The placenta is still attached to the uterus, which is a very good sign. The baby’s vitals are good.” She turned the machine off and wiped Sam’s stomach. “We’ll see how this dose of Terbutaline goes, okay?”
“If it doesn’t work?” Sam asked, feeling the need to be prepared.
Chris gave her arm a squeeze. “Then we try a larger dose. We’re certainly not running out of options yet,” she assured.
Feeling somewhat better, Sam nodded, watching as one of the nurses strapped machines to her. “This machine will measure and record your contractions,” the nurse told her. “And now we can monitor the baby’s heart constantly,” she continued.
Sam nodded, absorbing everything. She felt a little calmer now that she’d seen her child on the ultrasound monitor. She looked at Jack, realizing how this must have been affecting him. The thought of losing her baby was devastating. What must he be feeling at the thought of losing a second child? She reached a hand out to him, grasping his tightly and trying to offer him some support. He squeezed her hand back, letting her know he appreciated the offer.
“Okay, that’s it,” the nurse said, interrupting the moment. “I’ll be back regularly to check the readouts.” She gave them a smile. “I know it’s hard, but try to relax.” She gave them one last smile before heading out the door.
Sam turned to Jack. “How are you doing?”
The question surprised him, his eyebrows raising high. “Angel, don’t you worry about me. You concentrate on you and the baby, okay?”
“Jack...”
“No, Sam,” he interrupted. “You and the baby are all that matter.” The look he gave her told her that he wasn’t about to back down.
Sam nodded reluctantly, squeezing his hand tightly as she had another contraction.
Forty minutes later, the dose of Terbutaline had been increased two more times. Jack sat in a chair next to Sam’s bed, watching her lying there. Her eyes were closed and he could tell she was exhausted. He looked at his watch and was surprised to realize that Sam hadn’t had a contraction in the last ten minutes. He looked across at Janet who smiled at him, having seen him check his watch.
“It’s looking promising,” she whispered. She saw him look across at Sam’s heart monitor. “I haven’t seen any changes, Jack,” she assured him.
“You don’t have to whisper,” they heard a soft voice say. “I’m not asleep.”
“Well you should be,” Jack told her, taking her hand.
“How are you feeling, Sam?” Janet asked, taking her other hand.
“Tired,” she replied. “I haven’t felt anything for a while. Is that good?”
“It’s certainly a step in the right direction.”
Sam nodded, knowing that Janet didn’t want to tell her everything would be okay unless she was a hundred percent sure. She looked to the door as Chris walked in.
“How are we doing in here?” Chris asked.
“You tell me,” Sam replied.
Chris checked the readouts and was positively beaming at the results. “This is very good news,” she told them after she’d reviewed all the data. “We’ll keep you at this dose for another four hours, just to make sure they’ve stopped.”
“Then what?” Jack asked.
“We’ll keep Sam on the fetal heart monitor for twenty four hours just to be on the safe side, then if all’s well, I’ll send her home for two weeks bed rest and I’ll put her on oral Terbutaline. I’ll review her then and we can take it from there.”
Sam nodded. “Thanks.”
“We’ll leave you here for a little longer, just to ensure they’ve really stopped, then we’ll transfer you to the OB unit,” Chris told them. She smiled at Jack. “I don’t know if we can get you a bed, but the chairs may be more comfortable.”
Sam looked across at her husband. “You should go home and get some rest, Jack.”
“Like hell I will,” he replied, his expression daring her to argue with him. “I’m staying here with you, and that’s final.”
Sam sighed, mumbling a “yes, sir” that made everyone smile.
Sam was moved half an hour later after there were no further contractions. She was given a private room in the obstetrics unit, where she could rest and they could continue to monitor both her and the baby. Jack had taken up residence in a chair next to her bed and refused to
budge for anyone.
He’d called his mother, at Sam’s insistence, and it had taken a great deal of talking to convince her not to jump on the first flight to Colorado Springs. She had finally agreed on the condition that he call her immediately if there was any change in Sam’s condition or if they needed anything.
Although she was exhausted, Sam couldn’t sleep. The day’s events had terrified her. She didn’t know what she would do if she lost her child, and the thought of Jack going through that again was just too much to bare. ‘Calm down, Sam,’ she chastised. ‘If you get yourself worked up, you’re going to endanger your baby.’ She took a deep, calming breath, looking across at Jack who was sleeping in the chair beside her. He didn’t look at all comfortable, but he’d been adamant about staying with her. She was grateful for his presence, and the warm hand that held hers. When he was with her, he always made her feel like everything would be okay.
Closing her eyes, Sam relaxed. She was almost asleep when she felt the fluttering in her stomach. Her eyes opened wide and her free hand went to her slightly rounded abdomen. She waited a few seconds before the feeling returned, stronger this time. She could feel the movement faintly under her hand. “Jack,” she gasped, tears welling in her eyes.
He jumped awake. “Sam? What’s wrong? Have the contractions started again?” he asked, alarmed.
She shook her head, unable to form the words. Taking his hand, she placed it on her stomach. “Can you feel it?” she asked, her voice a whisper.
Jack nodded, his own eyes tearing up as he moved his face close to Sam’s stomach. “We read you loud and clear, little one. How ‘bout you stay in there until your nine months is up, then your mom and I’ll be ready for you.” He grinned as he felt the answering flutter under his hand.
Sam smiled. “I think someone’s praying for us. Either that or we have guardian angels.”
“Maybe it’s your mom.”
“Maybe, or maybe it’s Charlie,” she replied, liking the idea that her child was being protected by it’s grandmother and big brother.
Jack leaned over and kissed her gently. “Go to sleep, angel.”
“Goodnight, Jack,” she replied, closing her eyes.
Jack smiled softly, as he allowed the tears to fall. “Thank you, Charlie,” he whispered. “I love you, buddy.”
Somebody must be praying for me
Somebody out there must be praying for me
Must be angels I can’t see
Somebody must be praying for me
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to Jez
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