He walked into the kitchen to find glass on the counter, splattered little droplets of bright red. Blood was dripping from the ball of her hand and she was still holding the top half and the broken parts of the stem. The rest was in shards.
For a moment he was thankful they had drank all the wine but then he rid himself of that selfishness with a hard blink of his eyes and focused on Sam.
“Sorry.” She said, as he pulled the rest of the wine glass from her grip. He could see tears in her eyes, the glassy, glossy look of grief on such a stubborn face.
She had squeezed the glass instead of bursting into tears.
He took her hand in both of his and encouraged her to open up her fist, prising at her fingers gently. When she did so, little bits of the stem fell onto the counter. With her hand still in his, he walked her a few steps to the right and leant over the sink, Sam complying readily as she continued to hold back her tears.
He ran the tap and placed her hand under it, holding onto it gently. The water ran red down the plug hole and she hissed, face scrunching up. He didn't apologise, and started to inspect the cuts there instead.
“Bad week huh.”
“Bad life.” She replied, watching him carefully check her hand.
“Don't be so melodramatic Carter.” She didn't respond, instead just letting him clean her hand. He raised it up to look right into the cuts. With his index finger he ran the pad of over her palm softly.
“I don't think there's any glass in it.” His voice was low, almost a whisper but not quite. He had the urge to kiss her hand, her fingers, now they were so close to his mouth, despite the blood still flowing from the cuts.
Melodramatic or not, neither of them seemed to be having a good run of luck, or love, just lately.
He held in a sigh, slowly breathing out silently and letting go of her hand with some reluctance.
“Wait there.” He told her. She nodded and he left her standing by the sink before disappearing out of the kitchen. She didn't move, standing with her hand over the sink, blood dripping from her hand, mind spinning. Bad week, bad life, good company, good care.
“Everything okay Jack?” Daniel asked as he passed through the little den, where Daniel and Teal'c were watching television.
“Fine, Sam broke a wine glass, cut her hand.”
“Is she alright?” Both he and Teal'c moved to stand.
“She's fine,” he said, “just a cut.” He contradicted himself with the urgency in his tone but didn't stop to reassure them further, continuing through the room instead. A few moments later he was walking back through, a small white box in his hands, not stopping.
He wasn't surprised to find Sam still standing with her hand over the sink.
“It's stopped bleeding.” She told him, looking at her palm.
“Good.” He put the first aid box on the counter and popped it open. He pulled out a few items, gauze, cream, a bandage, and reached out to Sam. On instinct he took the other hand, her good hand, and pulled her towards him. He dropped her hand and took the other, holding it palm up in his.
“Does it hurt?” She shook her head.
Would you tell me if it did?
He stayed silent and applied a thin layer of cream to the cuts and nicks, his pressure light so he wouldn't hurt her but she didn't move and if she felt any discomfort she didn't show it. He put a patch of gauze on and quickly wrapped a short bandage around her hand, pinning it securely. When he was done he turned her hand over a few times to check it was in place.
“Better?” He asked.
She hesitated, then reached out and cupped his cheek with her bandaged hand, holding it there for a few seconds and rubbing her thumb over his skin lightly.
“Thank you.” She said, the glassy, glossy eyes were back but she smiled. She let go of him and went to walk away, to rejoin Daniel and Teal'c in the den, when he quickly grabbed the tips of her fingers and pulled her back. He lifted her hand up and placed a light kiss on the palm of her bandaged hand.
He smiled and let go, let her go, turning to clean up the broken glass when she walked out of the kitchen door and back into the den. She quickly wiped her eyes at the door, and curled up on the couch next to Daniel, settling into the crook of his body and relaxing.
“Everything alright?”
"Just fine Daniel.” She said, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.
Story Notes: I couldn't get this idea out of my head. It's only a short scene.
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 ]