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He thanked God when Carolyn told him that she was going to be OK, and added an extra prayer when she told him the baby was fine too.
Sam was suffering from exhaustion. She had hardly slept when he had been injured, plus the damage she had suffered because of the naquadah drop, and she just had not taken the time to recover.
Carolyn recommended at least 2 days in the infirmary, and added that it could possibly be even more before she would allow her to leave.
Sam didn't actually wake properly until Sunday afternoon, she drifted in and out a couple of times but sank back into sleep quickly. Jack had to reluctantly leave her on Sunday morning to go pick up the AGs from the gulf.
He had a massive argument with the SF detail protecting him. In the end he ordered Hank Landry to stand them down… he needed the space in the jumper for others.
Hank reluctantly allowed him to travel on his own and less than 10 minutes from when he had originally planned to leave, he was flying solo over the Atlantic. The one hour, each way trip took less than 25 minutes there and back…including loading time… as he pushed the vehicle to the limit, cramming all 9 people into the one trip. Teal'c and Reynolds were waiting for the new recruits into the programme and settled them into their quarters while Jack sped down to the infirmary again.
Hank was waiting for him, a folder in his hands, and while Jack sat next to his wife the other General spoke.
"You remember Lt. Richards?" he said, Jack looked blank "The young SF with the broken wrist?" he nodded. "Well I put Dr Jackson onto looking into the event, and he has turned up some interesting things." Jack wasn't really interested, but to stop his thoughts churning on Sam he attempted to listen.
"It seems he was assigned to NORAD just 3 week ago, and he wasn't pleased when he was on ground level security to find that some people wouldn't tell him what they did in the mountain. He would ask everyone… quite a gossip is young Mr Richards it seems! Anyway the people who wouldn't tell him, he started to delay them at the sign in, making excuses about their passes not being clear and things." Jack was shocked, why the hell hadn't one of the scientists said something about the idiot?
"He never tried it with the military, only the civilians, and it seems he had decided that as the SG teams were all between 30 and 45 years of age (except Hailey) anyone over the age of 45 who came on base had to be a civilian and he was trying to stop you because he didn't know who you were. He thought you were just another scientist who would look down his nose at the lowly airman and so his attempt to stop you was in the nature of a pre emptive strike. He was recorded in the elevator screaming about how someone who looked like a harmless old man…sorry Jack, his words… had managed to break his wrist!"
Jack wished he had broken more than his wrist! "Anyway it turns out he won't be pressing charges for the incident, as his patrol leader has informed him if he does then he will be up on harassment charges brought by a team of scientists, led by Bill Lee, who heard all about it. Bill has told him that they will forget it happened as long as, one…they don't let it happen again, and two… General O'Neill is not charged" Hank closed the file.
Jack was astounded, Bill Lee had done that for HIM? Why fer cryin out loud? Ok he had gone down to Honduras and pulled Lee and Daniel out from that rebel camp, but this… Jack was overwhelmed. He was fine facing up for what he had done, but he was humbled that the SGC scientists would back him like that!
"I only hope that one day they come to believe I deserve half the loyalty they show you" Hank said, he stood and threw Jack a perfect salute before walking out the doors. Jack sat, astounded, unable to comprehend it all… geeks! Supporting him like this! He wasn't even NICE to most of them! He shook his head, it just proved how strange they all were.
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He felt her fingers smooth through his hair, she was always trying to get that stubborn bit at the back of his head to lay flat. And he smiled and moved his head, guiding her fingers to the nape, where he liked to feel her nails scratch. He heard a giggle.
He shot up! She was awake! His gaze met her laughing blue eyes, at last she no longer looked tired.
"How you feeling?" he asked as he smoothed his hand down her cheek, she leant into the touch and held his hand in position.
"Tired, more tired than I should be seeing as I have been asleep most of…" she looked at her watch "two days" she looked a lot brighter than she had for ages, and Jack put it down to the vitamins and glucose that Carolyn had told him she had been pumping into her.
"You really need to slow down though love, this has been another warning, you can't go on like this" he said, worried that she would want to be back in her lab within the hour.
"I know" she sighed "I thought I had accepted it when Carolyn told me to cut back, but it isn't easy" He propped himself on the bed and she moved over slightly to allow him room to lay down, he cuddled her body against his, her head rested on his chest.
"It isn't forever either" he reminded her. "You're 18 weeks along, only 5 more months and it will be over and everything will have been worth it"
"Sam, glad to see you're awake" Carolyn said from the end of the bed "Now you are going to have to slow down… and I mean it! If you need to put up curtains then get the General to climb the ladder!" Jack grinned at his wife… oh he could really see her asking him to do anything except cook!
"I'm giving you some supplements to take, and a food plan, you need more fruit and vitamins in your diet, and if anything like this happens again I'll have to sign you as unfit for duty altogether."
"But…" Sam said, her head lifting from his chest and her face reflecting her shock. She had never been signed unfit unless she was injured in the line of duty.
"But nothing Sam, do you want this baby or not?" Carolyn bluntly asked. Sam blanched, her fingers trembled and Jack tightened his grip on her. He wanted to say something to Carolyn about going too far, but maybe what Sam needed was someone to be blunt with her, she wasn't only putting herself in unnecessary danger. "Every day you work needs to be followed by a day of rest, and I mean rest. No working from home!" the woman looked at his wife, concern etched on her face.
"If I'm working at home at least I aren't tempted to decorate" she tried.
"Nope! No work, not at all, if it wasn't for the fact that the General has to keep in touch 24/7 I would suggest that the computers should be removed, I mean it Sam, you don't want to be in here for the next 22 weeks do you?" Even Jack shuddered at that threat. Neither he nor his wife enjoyed being in the infirmary, but the thought of being there for so long… horrendous.
"I would suggest a holiday, but I know you won't go without General O'Neill, and he won't go" Jack looked at her sharply, her tone had been derisive, but he had never argued with her about going on holiday… in fact he was the ONLY member of SG1 who had been happy to be put on down time in his day.
"That's not fair Carolyn" Sam said "Jack takes all his holidays when he can, we spent almost a month at the cabin last year"
"Yeah, I know… they aren't all the same" the two women discussed him as if he wasn't there, but Jack picked up that it was Hank Carolyn was digging at, not him.
"So can she get out of here?" Jack asked, eager to get her home before he had to be in work the next day.
"If you promise she will rest, then yes… but Sam don't come into work until Wednesday at the earliest" she wrote on a prescription pad and handed the paper to Jack. "the supplements she needs, I only have them in liquid form, any pharmacy will stock them" he nodded, he would collect them on the way home.
Sam soon got dressed and they left the mountain. Jack found another good use for the security detail when he sent the young driver into the pharmacy to fill the prescription, Sam was already slumping against him, it wouldn't be long before she was asleep again.
Once home he carried her from the car to the house, the Colonel in charge of the detail opened the door and let them in, he placed a radio on the side table near the door, to avoid another incident like the one with the ambulance.
Jack nodded his thanks and carried the still sleeping Sam into their room, no matter how much she said she felt better, she had to be exhausted to allow him to carry her in without waking.
He ordered a meal from the Chinese at 1900 and woke her to eat it, he could tell she was struggling to get it down and sighed, "I know you don't feel like eating Sam but you're going to end up in hospital if you don't" he said. She nodded, not lifting her eyes from the plate in front of her.
"I just feel so…" she let out a frustrated puff of air, Jack nodded… he 'felt so…' as well. They scraped the plates and put them in the machine and retired early. Jack lay awake a long time, even though he was shattered, he didn't want to lose either Sam or the baby, and he felt there should be something he could do… anything that would make things a bit easier for her.
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