Sg-5 - Convalescence [Cochraine/Sawyer]

[Rob Underwood]

Ki awoke with a start, and a grunt at the jolt of pain that threatened
to lift his scalp away from his skull. The dreams - nightmares,
really- were disjointed, blurred images and slurred sounds that
bothered him far, far worse than normal flashbacks or dreams would.
He blinked his eyes blearily, trying to make sense of his
surroundings.

With a concerned look on her face Aidan laid aside the book she'd been
reading and reached over to take Ki's hand gently. "Sshh it's okay,
you're safe."

He grasped the hand reflexively, then realized what he was doing and
released the hand-crushing pressure to something less painful.
"Aidan? Sorry... What are you doing here? Thought you were in
D.C..."

Aidan smiled and squeezed his hand gently again, mostly to try and
work some of the feeling back in to hers from his bone-crushing grip.
"I'm back here now, I thought I'd come and see you and keep you
company for a bit."

"That was nice of you - you really didn't need to come all the way to
Colorado.." He coughed, winced, and coughed again before grabbing a
pillow to hold against his ribs as the fit hit him hard.. "I'm going
to be getting out of here anyways. I'm going a
bit stir-crazy in here..."

She winced right along with him but attempted to be cheerful; after
all, it was the least she could do for her friends who had been
through the hell of the attack. She still couldn't believe the sheer
chaos the base was in, nor the ridiculous amount of extra security
that had sprung up since she'd been away. "Silly boy, I'm back
because I work here, I'm back for good. And I thought you'd be going
crazy so I brought my trusty bag of tricks along to amuse you."

Aidan reached down and pulled up a small bag before gently laying out
the contents for him to see. "Hand held video game, magazines,
chocolates, tiny MP3 player pre-loaded with audio books and music and
a set of earbuds to go with it. And I can get anything else you need,
including some pyjamas because, no offence sweetheart, that gown
simply does you no favours at all."

"You are a goddess among all women, and I shall utterly - ouch!" He
growled wordlessly as he bumped himself against his bed. "I'm looking
forward to getting out of this stupid wrapper - would you be willing
to help me?"

"I...what?" Aidan looked at him and glanced him over, "I think this is a
language difference thing again, what's a 'wrapper'?"

He threw back the covers to show the patient gown which had twisted
all around his body, practically immobilizing him. "Wrapper. I feel
like a candy bar."

"Oh... Oh!" Aidan grinned, "right, I get it now. You'd like me to
loosen it so you're more comfortable?"

Ki chuckled. "I'm wearing my underwear, dear. And it's not as if you
haven't seen it before. Just a little more...decorative than
usual..."

"I wasn't worried about that," Aidan said with a laugh and tucked the
sheets down at the bottom of the bed so she could help him up. "Just
worried Ellie would come visit while we're looking a little... compromised."

He snorted derisively. "Wouldn't be the first time. But no - I
meant, could you help me out of this gown and into something else? I
would be eternally grateful..."

Aidan sighed and stopped short of patronisingly patting him on the
head but her tone covered that well enough. "Dear, I said I could get
you pyjamas, I didn't say I actually had them." She shot him a look
and smiled, holding out a hand, "give me your keys to your on base
quarters, I'll go and get you a set. And some clean underwear but I
am certainly not helping you in to that, you're on your own there."

"Actually, I've been a good boy and behaved myself for the past four
days, per Major Montalvo's orders. So I'm being released today.
Could I trouble you for a new set of fatigues and sundries instead of
pajamas? I've got a briefing with General O'Neill soon enough, and I
*don't* want to show up looking like an invalid."

"Awww," Aidan grinned, "I would pay good money to see you turning up for a
briefing wearing your PJs." She smiled warmly, "I'm so glad you're doing
better. Are you fully cleared for active duty?"

"I've healed up well enough - I don't think I'll be cleared to jump
out of a plane into Iran, but I'm good enough to get back up and into
all the paperwork that has no doubt piled up over the past weeks."

"You know I'm rather glad you're not going to be jumping into Iran, I almost
lost you here, I don't want to almost lose you again. Or worse" Aidan
reached to squeeze his hand. "And if you think the paperwork will end you,
feel free to pass some over to me to do."

He squeezed her hand back, smiling. "I really do appreciate that!
As soon as I have an idea of what I *have* to do, I'll probably shove
a bit of 'doesn't have to be you' paperwork your way. Thank you."

"It's what friends are for," Aidan said with a warm smile and a soft
shrug, "I know you'd do the same for me. Now, let's not talk about
gloomy things otherwise we'll both get upset. So, how's Ellie?"

Ki's face clouded up. "Actually, haven't seen her. I suppose she's
busy with the clean up and stuff..." He shrugged, trying to be
non-committal.

"Oh." Internally, she smacked herself for depressing him further, but
also made a note to herself to seek out Ellie and make sure the girl
was okay. "She's probably swamped with the lab clean-up, I haven't
seen the damage but I guess they must have been trashed. And she's so
hyper about her lab she probably doesn't even know what day it is, or
when she last ate, you know what she's like."

"Not as well as I'd like..." he muttered soto voce, but nodded at her
comment. "You're probably right. I'll have to see when I can catch
her, and see how she is doing." He paused as a thought gripped him.
"She *is* all right, isn't she?"

"She's not been injured, if that's what you mean," Aidan replied
soothingly. She wouldn't go as far as to say 'all right' about anyone
who'd been involved in the chaos on Base but as far as she was aware
through their text messages, Ellie was coping as well as anyone."

"Oh. Good." He paused, then nodded. "I am very grateful to you,
though. You're an absolute blessing, you know?"

"Several men used to tell me that all the time when I was a stripper,"
Aidan said with a laugh and patted his arm as she stood. The slight
blush on her cheeks though showed she appreciated the sentiment. "All
right, I'll go and get you something to wear for your briefing. You
behave until I get back."

"Yes, ma'am." He grinned back, and gave her hand a squeeze before she
headed out. He laid his head back on the pillow and smiled. From
team mate to romance to best friend now... he was more grateful than
ever to have good people in his life.

Capt. Malachi Cochraine
CO/Combat Spec.
SG-5

Ms Aidan Sawyer
Diplomat
SG5