After the Silence

Chapter One

Oscar had dreamed of this moment - about every single detail - since the day he'd met Jaime for the first time. Jaime had thought about it, too; more of an 'I wonder what it would be like' rather than an 'I wish' type of thought, but it had crossed her mind far more often than she'd admit, even to herself.

Now, the moment was reality. Rudy had, in a very subtle and gentle way, tricked them into revealing their true feelings for each other, changing both of their lives immeasurably. It had never been much of a secret at the OSI that Oscar harbored very deep feelings for Jaime. Probably the only person who remained unaware of it was Jaime herself. She definitely knew now, having heard Oscar practically shout at Rudy that, yes, he was in love with her. Jaime had joined them, and when Rudy had quietly slipped away, she looked into Oscar's kind, handsome face and felt herself melt as she saw and felt the love that radiated from his eyes. She knew at that moment that what she felt was more than professional respect, curiosity or even attraction. Jaime loved him, too, and told him so.

Their first kiss had been tentative, gentle - a testing of the waters - but as soon as their eyes met and they accepted each other's feelings, the kiss grew rapidly in intensity and passion until they were forced to stop to catch their breath. Now they stood together somewhat awkwardly, neither one sure what the next step would be, or if they should even take a 'next step' at all. Oscar reached out and ran his hand through Jaime's hair, something he'd always longed to do, and found it was even silkier than he'd imagined.

"How much longer is Rudy holding you hostage here?" he asked.

Jaime met his eyes with her own and smiled, daring to flirt just a little. "Just finished my last test. I am officially a free woman."

Oscar encircled her with his arms and pulled her close. "Is that a fact?" When Jaime leaned in to close the tiny gap still between them, he knew she was still on his wavelength and he kissed her again, harder and deeper, until she began to go limp in his arms.

"I can think of better places to be right now than on a hospital balcony," she told him breathlessly.

"Well, let's get you checked out of here. I've got a little bit of pull, you know. I'll bet I can nudge things along. Why don't you get your things together and meet me out front?"

"I'll miss you," Jaime teased, maintaining eye contact until the last possible moment.

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True to his word, Oscar got Jaime signed out and discharged (with a little help from a very self-satisfied Rudy) and was waiting outside with his car and driver when Jaime rejoined him just a few minutes later. He opened the limo's back door for her, then got in next to her, immediately drawing her back into his arms. "Where to, M'Lady?" he asked, grinning at her.

"I think my boss was expecting me back in the office as soon as I was finished here. I wouldn't wanna get on his bad side..." Noticing the dark-shaded glass separating them from the driver, she nestled up against Oscar, her head resting comfortably on his powerful shoulder.

"Pretty mean guy, your boss?" Oscar joked, one arm holding Jaime close and the other hand caressing her shoulders, neck, her face and her hair, wanting to touch every inch of her but willing to wait and take as much time as necessary.

"I hear he's mellowed - just a bit - lately," she told him. She was raising her head to smile at him, hoping for another kiss when - BANG - the world seemed to explode around them. The limo careened wildly to the right and stopped with a horrible, wrenching c-r-u-n-c-h.

Oscar hit the button to lower the glass between the front and back of the car, and immediately pushed it again to send it back up, hoping Jaime hadn't seen what he had. "Jaime?" She was slumped halfway over, into his lap, a large bump on her forehead, near the temple. She definitely hadn't seen the driver. At the moment, she was seeing nothing.

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