Mitchell began fussing slightly just as Carolyn finished pulling the blanket up over Cameron's bare chest; she lay a hand on his forehead, finding a slight fever there. The surgery had gone fine, Carolyn had insisted on performing it herself; she knew everyone was worried about her, and although her staff was more than competent, she needed to take care of this one herself.

"Did you get checked out?"

Lam whirled to see her father standing in the doorway, looking on her with a concerned smile. "Yeah, just a couple bruises, nothing broken." She saw the worry linger in his eyes and knew had hadn't been asking about only her physical health. "I'm relieved that it's all over; I know things could have turned out a lot worse, but they didn't. I won't let this affect me, except maybe how I turn down a date in the future." She gave her father a small grin.

Landry tentatively put an arm around her shoulders and was relieved when she didn't shrug it off; he'd figured that she'd only allowed the hug back in the cabin because she'd been running on pure adrenaline at that point. "That's good to hear Carolyn, and how about Col Mitchell? When can I expect him to come knocking on my door with a little box?" The General, along with just about everyone else on base, would have to have been blind not to notice what was going on between the pilot and his daughter.

Everyone except Carolyn and Cameron, that is.

Lam looked at her father in confusion. "Well, he should be out of here in about a week," she answered slowly.

Landry didn't dare tell her what he'd actually meant; Carolyn was just stubborn enough that if he even hinted at Mitchell as a son-in-law, she would never speak to the man again. "Right, I'll leave you to it then; I'm sure the rest of the team will be here in short order."

Carolyn turned back to the man in the bed as he mumbled incoherently again; it'd been eight hours since the surgery, so it was bout time for him to wake up. "Good morning, sunshine," Carolyn knew it was a sure way to bring him around. She smiled as those blue eyes met hers, "Welcome back. How are you feeling?"

Cameron gave her a sardonic look, "never better." They lapsed into silence as Lam ran through a quick exam now that he was awake and coherent; Cameron could help it when her close proximity brought back memories of their kiss. He hadn't had much time to think about it since it'd happened, and now he couldn't get it out of his head. He kept coming back to the feeling that it had been nothing more than the stress of the situation for her, and he knew the issue had to be addressed.

"So, about how Wilks found us last night…" Apparently Carolyn was a mind reader as well as a phenomenal doctor.

Cam looked up at her through his thick lashes, "look Carolyn, I know nothing can come of that. I- I understand that you were under a lot of stress, and I was just offering comfort."

Lam considered herself the consummate professional, but Cameron looked so far beyond adorable and earnest that all her training and decorum went straight out the window. She grabbed the collar of his scrub shirt, ever mindful of what he'd been through in the last few days, and planted a passionate kiss on his stunned lips. She deepened the kiss as his lips parted slightly and a hand came up to cup the back of her neck; she'd been dreaming about this moment for weeks and she wasn't about to rush it.

"Well, it's about damn time."

Cameron and Carolyn reluctantly pulled away from each other and turned to the team standing in the doorway.

Sam was grinning like an idiot, "I win the pool!"

"I believe that you will have to split the proceeds with Sgt Harriman and Sgt Siler as they also placed a wager on this particular week."

Mitchell sputtered indignation, "you guys have been betting on us?!"

Carolyn couldn't resist the urge to kiss away his cute pout; if she got this urge every time he looked adorable she would never get anything done. "Is that what you really want to focus on right now?"

Cameron glanced up at her and made an instant decision, "thanks for the rescue guys, I'm fine, and visiting hours are now over." He wrapped an arm around Carolyn's shoulders and disappeared into another kiss without further comment.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Jackson grinned at Carter and Teal'c as they watched the new couple for a minute before heading toward the mess hall.

Yeah, I love it when a story finally comes together. Thanks so much for your patience and reviews.