"Sir?"

Jack shifted uncomfortably and slitted his eyes at the soft voice.

"Colonel?"

He straightened and winced at the stiffness in his neck. Suddenly remembering where he was and why, Jack shot an apprehensive glance at the bed. Relaxing slightly, he blew out a deep sigh at the sight of his friend, still alive and breathing. "Ah, yeah....what..." he looked up. "Carter?"

Sam smiled. "Daniel's doing better."

The colonel focused sleep bleary eyes on the still figure in the bed. Daniel did appear to have more color and his breathing was stronger, less ragged. "That's great Sam." He slowly pushed to his feet, letting the pillow fall to the floor. God, he was getting to old for nights like this. Stretching the kinks from his shoulders, O'Neill stepped closer to the bed. Daniel looked so peaceful, so young...so very young.

"I'd like to sit with him for awhile. I thought you might want to get some breakfast," Carter offered.

"M not hungry."

"I thought you might say that so I took the liberty of bringing you coffee."

Giving her a small smile, he accepted the cup, the strong, bitter aroma reviving him. Jack took a large swallow and actually felt it hit the bottom of his stomach, suddenly realizing he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. His stomach growled a lonely reminder.

His gaze moved to Daniel again. The young man did look better. In fact, Daniel actually looked alive. His skin had lost the waxy appearance and Jack could almost imagine his friend was only sleeping. "Well, maybe I should eat something solid," He admitted hesitantly moving for the door. "But you'll..."

"I'll have you paged the second there's any change, sir. Go....Enjoy your breakfast."

He nodded once and with a last glance at the scientist to assure himself Daniel was really doing better, hurried from the room before he could change his mind.

As the door closed behind him, Sam moved over to look down at the linguist. He did look better and Janet had upped his chances. She lightly brushed at his mussed hair before settling in the chair, the colonel had vacated. Making herself comfortable, Sam withdrew 'Flames of Desire' from her pocket and flipped to the book marked page. The colonel would have been surprised to note she was into trashy romance novels.

The sound of the door opening caught her off guard and Carter hastily marked her page, flipping the book over so the torrid cover wasn't visible. Noting it was only Janet, she smiled guiltily as the doctor reached over to check the book's cover.

"Oh, that's a good one!" The petite doctor smiled conspiratorially.

Carter frowned in surprise. "You've read this?"

"Hey a single girl needs to get her excitement where she can," Janet quipped as she checked the monitor readings. Her smile widened. "Our Dr. Jackson is improving. Look there's a two degree temperature drop from last hour."

"That's a good sign?" Carter questioned hopefully. "He's going to be all right?"

"He will be...He'll need a big chunk of recovery time, and his shoulder is going to require additional surgery. But, barring any unforseen complications, he'll be back translating his ancient culture stuff before you know it." Readjusting the IV drip, she looked around. "Where's the Colonel?"

"I talked him into breakfast."

"And did Teal'c have to drag him kicking and screaming from the room?" Janet asked, a teasing note in her voice.

"Actually, he gave in alot easier than I expected." Sam admitted with a frown.

"He's a strange man, Sam."

"Why do you say that?" Carter was intrigued by the doctor's observation.

Janet's expression softened. "He puts on this big macho front to actually scare people away, I think....Underneath all that bluff and bravado, I think he's more defenseless than Daniel here." Unbidden, she could still hear the muffled sobs from the night before echoing in her ears.

"The colonel?....Vulnerable?" Sam laughed. "Are we talking about the same Colonel Jack O'Neill?"

"One 'L' or two?" A smart-assed voice questioned. Jack flashed a small smile as both women turned, their expression guilty. "Am I interrupting something?"

Flustered, Carter quickly hid her novel in her pocket. "No sir. Nothing important. If you'll excuse me?" She hurried from the room.

Jack motioned toward the bed. "Doc, how's Daniel doing?"

"A helluva lot better than I ever dreamed. I was telling Sam he'll be up and around in no time."

"That's good to hear."

Janet appraised him with a doctor's eye, noting the haggard expression and the weary slump to his shoulders. "And how are you doing Colonel?"

O'Neill looked down at her and snorted. "Hey, I'm doin fine. He's..." he jerked his thumb toward the figure on the bed. "the one who got left behind."

Something in the remark, a vein of underlying guilt, registered with her. The doctor's eyes and voice softened slightly. "Well Daniel's going to be all right. That's the main thing isn't it Colonel?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Jack responded lowly, his gaze intent on his friend. Janet hesitated, knowing he needed something, but just what it was, she couldn't diagnose. As she studied the expression which settle on his weary, handsome features, she realized what it was and that it wasn't in her power to prescribe it. The doctor also understood Jack was too obstinate and headstrong to ask for it. 'It' was a little thing called forgiveness and it was something that could only come from Daniel.