Chapter Text
“We’ll take refuge here tonight. It seems like a big enough cave, so we can get further inside and not sleep at the entrance. Stay here, Carter, rest for a while. I’m going to check that there’s nothing life-threatening inside”.
“Yes, sir. Be careful”.
“Sure thing” Jack winked an eye at her and went inside.
Limping severely from the wound that bled through the makeshift bandages, Sam leaned over the rocky wall at the entrance of the cave gracelessly. She closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing and to ignore the stabbing pain that ran through her body.
A familiar voice interrupted her attempts at relaxing.
“Everything seems in order. Can you get up?”
“Yes, sir” With her voice, Sam tried to transmit more confidence than she felt.
She got up with difficulty, suppressing a groan of pain. Holding the hand her superior officer offered her, she moved forward with him towards what would be their refuge that night. Each step was a torture she tried to conceal, not wanting to show weakness in front of her CO.
They slowly made it to a defensible spot, surrounded by stones behind which to hide. Both soldiers leaned back, resting on each other, as they tried to recover some strength.
With her voice breaking by uneven breaths, Carter broke the silence:
“Sir, it was my fault”.
“Nonsense. Don’t worry. Rest. Reinforcements will arrive in the morning. We’ll carry you back to the SGC and you’ll be fine. I’ll make those damned snakeheads pay”.
The Colonel’s words calmed her. She closed her eyes, sinking into a deep sleep, wondering if she would wake up in the morning.