Chapter Fourteen
With Steve's help, Rudy and Michael compiled a small scrapbook of photos from Jaime's childhood. They were careful to include only those of Jaime and her parents; nothing that could trigger memories she might not be ready for. 'One Step at a Time' was their new motto, even though Jaime's steps had become giant leaps.
She was still retaining even the tiniest detail that was allowed to her...and eagerly begging for more. Left unspoken, though, was her desire to find out who – if anyone – she might have left behind. The way everyone had seemed to hedge around that subject, she sensed that it might be too touchy to discuss. Whatever the reason for their silence, Jaime was determined to unravel any and all secrets that her past might hold. For her, every tidbit was a new clue...a new piece to the puzzle, and she threw herself wholeheartedly into finding out more.
The trouble was, the puzzle pieces didn't always fit together. Too much was still missing – and she knew it. Why was everyone so stingy in what they were willing to tell her? If she dwelled on that for too long, it almost seemed sinister. She wondered, too, about Oscar. If she didn't work for him, why was he so concerned with her progress and her recovery? Sometimes she wondered if he was the love she'd left behind! Was that what they all were hiding? He was always so kind to her, visiting nearly every day – and on the days that he didn't stop in her room, she usually still saw him somewhere on the grounds. He didn't look at her the way Michael did, though...or even the way Steve did.
What was everybody hiding?
* * *
She didn't need Michael's arm to steady her anymore when they took their daily walk together, but when he offered it, she leaned into him contentedly.
"It's so beautiful here," she sighed. "I'm gonna miss it."
"Miss it?" Michael was puzzled. "Are you going somewhere I don't know about?"
"Well...someday. I mean, I can't stay here forever. I'm not sick anymore, you know."
"And you're getting even better, every single day," he told her.
"So I can't really stay in a place for sick people...can I? Michael, what's gonna happen to me? I still don't know where I'm supposed to go – or what I'll do with myself when I get there!"
Michael turned her to face him and brushed the hair from her eyes. She looked so vulnerable and alone at that moment that he wanted to pull her close and never let go...but he took a deep breath and reined himself in. "That's why you're still here, so we can help you figure that out," he answered gently.
"How long will that be?"
"As long as it takes...and not one minute longer," he said.
Jaime seemed satisfied with that, and turned to continue on their walk, then impulsively stopped, swung back into Michael's arms...and kissed him. Mentally, Michael temporarily removed his stethoscope and his 'doctor' persona – and this time, he let his emotions take over, if only for the moment.
* * *
"You've been spending a lot of time with Jaime lately," Rudy noted when Michael returned to the lab.
Michael busied himself with Jaime's file and answered in as professional a tone as he could manage. "She's starting to open up to me, so I think the extra attention has really been beneficial for her."
"Good," Rudy said, wondering just what his young assistant wasn't saying. He was well aware that their patient had developed quite a crush on Michael (he'd have had to be blind not to notice) but so far it seemed Michael was handling things as well as could be expected. "Any new spontaneous memories?" he asked.
"Not yet. But I think it's time to stop mollycoddling her and really step up her therapy. There hasn't been any evidence of more pain, and she's getting impatient – and bored. We also need to consider telling her about her ear...and tuning it back up again."
"Do you really think that's wise?" Rudy asked, frowning. "There are still a lot of things she doesn't need to overhear..."
"True, but we can start meeting down here, instead of in your office. The lab is soundproof for a reason, you know. Besides, it'll give her a new challenge to concentrate on."
"Maybe you're right," Rudy allowed. "learning to focus her ear probably should be the next step...as long as we're very careful what we talk about outside of this lab..."
* * *
"My ear is bionic too?" Jaime exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me before now?"
"We're taking one step at a time, Honey," Rudy told her. "Things aren't as overwhelming that way."
"And this is the next step," Michael added, "which means you're making progress."
Jaime beamed at him, admiring his deep, brown eyes and his very kiss-able lips as she also absorbed his words. If only they were alone...
"So I have to have more surgery?" she finally asked.
"Very minor surgery," Rudy explained. "You could even stay awake for this one -"
"I'd rather not," Jaime said. To her, surgery was surgery and she'd rather stay unaware of what they were doing to her...especially when it was something she didn't understand, something that still frightened her just a little bit.
"Afterward," Michael continued, "things may be very confusing at first, until you learn to focus. But I'll be here to help you – and so will Rudy. You'll be just fine."
"I trust you," Jaime allowed. "Let's do this."
A few hours later, Jaime surfaced from the light anesthetic and opened her eyes. The first face she saw was (of course) Michael's, with his familiar, reassuring smile.
"How do you feel?" he asked.
Jaime frowned. Was this what it was supposed to be like? Michael was talking to her...but there were so many other voices, as well. A nurse (somewhere down the hall) was talking about wanting Half and Half in her coffee instead of the powdered creamer in the break room. Someone else was mumbling to himself that what he really needed was a good, long nap. She heard dozens of different footsteps and odd noises coming from every direction...and could even hear the birds chirping outside the window! Everything was rushing together in one huge cacophony of unintelligible sound, so none of it made much sense. Jaime turned and tilted her head from one side to the other, trying to sort it all out.
Michael saw that she was struggling. "Focus on my voice," he told her gently. "Let the rest of the sounds just fade away; you don't need them right now. Just listen to my voice..."
"I'm trying," Jaime said. "I don't like this!"
"Choose one sound – for now, my voice – and focus your whole mind on only that. Shut the rest out and they'll all go away. Just keep trying; you can do it." She was still struggling; Michael wished he could wrap his arms around, reassure her that everything would be alright – that her world wouldn't sound like this forever – but for now she needed Doctor Marchetti far more than she needed Michael, the man. "Maybe closing your eyes would help," he suggested.
Jaime closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could. She thought about how much she loved the sound of Michael's voice...and slowly it grew in her mind until it was the only thing she heard. "Keep talking," she told him. "I think it's working." Then she giggled as her ear picked up yet another random sound. "Your stomach is growling," she said, her spirits lifting.
"Guess I shouldn't have skipped lunch," he laughed.
Jaime opened her eyes. "I think I can really do this," she said happily. "It's still weird, though."
* * *
"Do you have a bionic ear, too?" Jaime asked Steve as they headed to the court for their morning tennis game.
"Nope; it's my eye."
"Really?" She stopped in her tracks and stared at him. "I couldn't even tell!" Then Steve saw her blush. (She was always so cute when she blushed!) "Um..." she began, "just how well can you see with it, anyway?"
Steve chuckled. "Relax. I can't see through your clothes or anything like that."
"Okay," Jaime sighed. "That's good. So...what does it do?"
"Well, I can see into the distance, I can magnify things too small for a regular eye to see...and I can see in the dark."
"Cool! C'mon – it's time for you to get your butt kicked!" Jaime skipped her way onto the tennis court and was good to her word, beating him 6-3, 6-love.
* * * * *