Sam's dreams of the next several few nights were filled with memories of the people she missed in her life, Janet, her father, and her mother. Surprisingly, she did not dream of Pete, and she was unsure what to make of that. Though not unpleasant, the nighttime visions still left her unsettled and feeling a bit lost and lonely. On Sunday she gladly surrounded herself with the easy camaraderie and friendly bickering of her teammates and Cassie to keep the sadness at bay. On Monday she was carted back into the SGC for a checkup, and spent the day sprawled on an infirmary bed with her laptop writing up her mission report for that disastrous last trip, and catching up on her e-mails. She had a lot of visitors and was actually glad when Teal'c came by to get her and take her via wheelchair back up to where the Colonel had his truck waiting.
On Tuesday it was time for her to suck it up and spend some time alone. Teal'c had spent the night and the Colonel had stopped by in the morning to get him and take him back to base. Sam had been ordered to stay home for another week, although she had been granted her laptop so she could get a bit caught up. After they got Cass off to school and made sure Sam was settled comfortably with her phone and crutches within easy reach, the house was suddenly quiet. At first she was relieved. After a bit though she was reaching for the remote and turning on the CD player to break the silence. It was going to be a very long day.
******
The rest of the week fell into a pattern. Sam was on her own from after breakfast until Cassie arrived home from school. At dinner time the male members of SG1 would show up with take out, and at first one of them would stay overnight on the couch, and then the next day would make sure that Sam was safely settled before departing for the base. The three men were on light duty while Hammond worked out what he was going to do for the duration. To everyone's surprise the General also used the fact that his 2IC was around to take a few days off.
Sam tried, but she was unable to throw off the slight melancholy that had she had fallen into. Cassie had interrogated her after Pete had left the previous Saturday and knew that they had broken up, so everyone attributed her listless air to her broken romance. In truth, that was quite far down on the list of items causing her blues. At the top of the list was a profound grief that she still hadn't worked through over Janet's death. She missed her friend every day.
Second on the list was concern for her father. Although it had only been a month since she'd seen him, somehow this separation seemed so much worse than normal. She couldn't shake the feeling that it was going to be a very long time before she saw him again, and that when she did they would need to rebuild their relationship one more time.
And finally there was the uncertainty over her recovery and the future of her career. She was surprised to find that she was less concerned about that than she was, but somehow there was a feeling of inevitable change in the air. The cliche did say that all things come in threes. Did her breakup with Pete count as the third change or was there one more major upheaval headed her way?
As her strength returned and her mobility improved so did her mood. She was glad when the weekend arrived and the house was once again filled with the racket of her adopted family. She'd had enough thinking, and concentrated on letting the presence of four people she loved sooth her weary heart. By Sunday afternoon she really felt like she was back to normal, or whatever qualified as normal for her. She wasn't surprised when Daniel cornered her to comment on her mood.
"You seem a lot happier. Did you make up with Pete?" he gently interrogated.
"No. Pete wasn't really the problem in the first place," Sam said with a shrug.
"You seemed pretty depressed. We just assumed you were upset over Pete and we wanted to give you some space. But if you are having other problems you can always talk to us Sam. You know that right?" he assured her.
"Not much you can do, Daniel, but thanks anyway," Sam replied gratefully. "I'll be fine once I get back to work."
"Ok, but burying yourself in your lab is not a solution," he advised.
Sam's good mood was starting to evaporate. "I'm surprised to hear you acknowledge that, seeing as you are such a devout practitioner of the practice Dr. Jackson," she retorted raising her voice enough that the others standing talking discretely in the kitchen all swiveled towards her.
She took a breath and let it out slowly, closing her eyes. When she felt calm she opened them with a sigh and apologized. "Daniel, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit cranky from being cooped up for two weeks without much to do. And as much as I love the science part of my job I'm not looking forward to sitting there and worrying while you all go off-world without me for the next several months," she confessed.
Silently she added 'or more' and wondered how she was going to stand it if that was the case. Then she caught O'Neill's eyes and saw similar thoughts race across them before he took a breath and strove to break the gloom that had settled over him at the thought of loosing Sam for good from SG1.
"We'll be good, Mom. We promise. No arguing or getting captured," he teased.
Sam smirked at that. "Care to wager on it Colonel?"
"Ok. $50 bucks says we can go the whole time you're laid up without getting ourselves hurt or into trouble," Jack bravely wagered.
"You are on. I'll be happy to pay up if you three all manage to stay safe. Somehow, though, I have a feeling this is going to be the easiest money I've ever made," Sam agreed, with a shake of her head.
Later as Daniel and Teal'c headed out, Jack purposefully held back by offering to take the garbage out. Once that task was done he turned to Sam, glad to see that Cassie had made herself scarce. He'd assumed like everyone else that Sam's unnatural quiet of the past week was the result of her nursing a broken heart. When she'd lashed out at Daniel he'd realized the truth and now was kicking himself for being so dense. He was crap at doing the cheering up thing if he couldn't make a joke, and was regretting not giving the task to Daniel or Teal'c. Now he struggled to find something to say that wouldn't sound trite.
"It *will* all work out in the end, Carter," he finally commented confidently.
Her eyes flew to his in surprise that he had so accurately read her thoughts. She nodded, not trusting her voice, eternally grateful that he hadn't told her everything 'would be fine'.
"Who knows? I might even get you on that fishing trip while you're laid up," he quipped.
"Threatening me is not going to make me heal faster, Sir," she replied with a small smile.
"Threatening? You know you really want to come with me, Carter," he argued. "Imagine it, sitting on the dock sipping a cold one, soaking up the sun while you wait to catch a nice big fish."
Suddenly she was imagining it, and she realized what he was saying. If the worst happened and she was medically discharged, there was something else to look forward to, something they'd been waiting for since that first fishing invitation almost four years ago
"Sounds like heaven, Sir," she acknowledged.
"Yes it does, Major," he agreed. For a moment their eyes locked and he had to forcefully tear his gaze from hers. "So I'll pick you up in the morning and drive you to base. Say 07:30?" he verified.
"Sure, see you then," Sam confirmed.
As she closed the door behind him she breathed a sigh of relief. She felt like the weight of the world had just lifted from her shoulders. Only time would tell if she would rejoin SG1 or not. She had to admit she was no longer sure which outcome she was hoping for.
End Week 2
Story Notes: Eight Weeks Series – Week two: Season: Season 7, immediately after Resurrection
Spoilers: Death Knell, Heroes II, Chimera
Spoilers: Death Knell, Heroes II, Chimera
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]