Seed Stitch

by Ryuu

Post-In the Line of Duty

Sam woke up feeling disoriented, gasping, and fighting the intense urge to vomit. She barely managed to quell the sudden surge of panic, telling herself that this was the infirmary, she was alone in her head, and she was safe now. She concentrated on taking deep breaths and trying to slow her pulse.

“It’s okay, Carter,” a voice murmured off to her side. “I’ve got your six.”

She startled, jerking her head around to find her commanding officer ensconced in one of the really uncomfortable infirmary chairs. He smiled at her, setting his knitting aside, and leaned in to place a gentle hand on the curve of her shoulder.

“Sir?” she whispered, still feeling half-asleep.

“Hey, Carter.” The hand on her shoulder squeezed, lightly and briefly. “How do you feel?”

“Okay,” she said. “Tired.”

Amazingly, his smile became even warmer and he rubbed a small circle against her shoulder with his fingertips. “Get some sleep?” he suggested.

She shook her head. “Bad dreams.”

“I’ll keep them away.” He let her shoulder go and leaned back in his chair, picking up the knitting again. “Sleep, Carter.”

She shot him a puzzled frown. “Since when do you knit?”

He chuckled. “I don’t. You’re already dreaming, Carter.”

“Sir.” Her frown deepened as she watched him neatly and skillfully loop the yarn together. “Why do you have so many needles, anyway?”

He raised an eyebrow, but held up his needles anyway, letting her get a closer look at his half-finished sock. “Double-pointed needles. It’s the only way to knit a small tube.”

She blinked. “Always wondered how people did that,” she admitted.

“And now you know,” Jack replied, a hint of what Sam might be tempted to think of as affection in his voice.

She nodded, leaning back and looking extremely sleepy. “Kinda wanted to learn how.”

Jack reached over to pat her shoulder again. “Get some sleep and I might just show you how tomorrow.”

“I’d like that.” She gave him a drowsy smile, turned onto her side facing him, and closed her eyes. She thought she felt a fingertip brush against the side of her face and let out a contented sigh as she drifted off, feeling completely safe.

--

She awoke the next morning to Janet requesting a patient’s file from one of her nurses and immediately wondered if there was any possible way to bypass the “no caffeine” edict Janet had firmly in place. She suddenly grinned, realizing she might be spending a bit too much time around Daniel.

“Good morning.”

Sam looked up to find Janet smiling at her and managed a tired smile in return. “Hey.”

“How did you sleep?” Janet walked over and picked up Sam’s chart, making a careful notation.

She nodded. “Good. I feel a lot better.”

Janet nodded back, her expression satisfied. “Good. I think I may just be able to let you out of here tomorrow.”

“Really?”

“Yup.” Janet put the chart down, grinning. “Hungry? I'll see about rounding you up some breakfast.”

As Janet walked away, calling to an aide, Sam leaned back and went over the events of the previous night in her mind. She mentally shook her head and chuckled at the weird dream she’d had about the Colonel, figuring that she probably was just getting some drug or chemical out of her system.

She glanced around the infirmary, pausing as she caught sight of a tiny, coiled piece of bright blue string under a chair next her bed. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear it looked just like-

“Here we go!” came the overly perky voice of an aide as she set a tray across Sam’s lap. “Just let me know when you’re ready for me to take that away, Captain.”

Sam nodded. “Er…thanks.” She reached for the glass of orange juice, leaving the puzzling question of dreams about a disturbingly domestic Colonel O’Neill for a later time.