THE BIONIC WOMAN
"GOODBYE"
by bionic4ever
The four men gathered at her bedside stood silently, staring at the floor, the walls, and out the window; anywhere but at each other. From time to time, each man gazed lovingly at the woman's pale, still figure, willing her to move, blink or make some kind of sound - anything that would tell them she was still somewhere inside the shell lying in the hospital bed. They all knew, though, that such hopes were futile. Jaime Sommers had shrapnel from a terrorist's bomb lodged deeply throughout her brain; there was no chance of recovery.
No one spoke. In the last few years, for various reasons, the four men had become estranged. One person had kept them all connected and she was about to be gone forever.
Doctor Rudy Wells was the first of the four to know that her condition was irreversible. It made his heart ache, but he knew that Jaime, as they had all known and loved her, was already gone. The respirator kept oxygen flowing through her system, and her heart still beat on its own, but her real, true 'heart' - her soul - had already moved on.
Rudy and his team had worked valiantly trying to save her, long after any other team would've given up, but the amount and positioning of the shrapnel made it an impossible task. The others were taking longer to accept the truth, and Rudy knew why. The bomb had exploded behind her, sending its deadly mini-missiles into the back of Jaime's skull. Her face was virtually unscathed. She was lying on her back in the bed, so she appeared to be merely sleeping and not lying on her deathbed. The extreme pallor of her skin and the whoosh of the respirator were the only clues to her true condition.
Rudy expected that his life would now become very silent and empty. He had given her a new life when he made her bionic. Since he had no children of his own and Jaime's parents had died when she was young, they had grown into a surrogate father/daughter relationship. The thought of life without her made him feel suddenly, achingly old.
He snuck a fast glance at his ex-associate and protege, Doctor Michael Marchetti. Michael was a young doctor with great talent, filled with new ideas, when Rudy had hand-picked him for the team. He'd even brought Jaime back from death once with his experimental cryogenic therapy. Unfortunately, Michael had also fallen in love with her. Rudy, concerned with ethics and trying to save Michael's career, pulled him off of Jaime's case and transferred him to a new facility. Michael was forced to forget his feelings for Jaime, but the way he felt about Rudy at that point was crystal clear. The two doctors had not spoken since Michael boarded the plane that took him to his new assignment.
Rudy also glanced across the room at Oscar Goldman, Jaime's fiance and director of the OSI. It had been said more than once that oscar would probably still be at his desk, working, on the day he died. And yet, last year he had begun hinting that it might be time for Rudy to retire. Rudy had declined the suggestion as politely as it had been offered, and Oscar had then ceased to be so courteous. A committee was formed to determine if the elderly doctor should be forced to retire. Fortunately, they had decided in Rudy's favor, but the friendship between the two men - many, many years long - had not survived the battle.
Colonel Steve Austin; it hurt Rudy to look at him because of everyone in the room he seemed the most bereft. Although he and Jaime were no longer a couple, he had known her the longest - since she was five years old. Steve and Rudy had no grudge toward each other, but Rudy barely saw him anymore. He came once or twice a year for tests on his bionics and other than that, they had no contact.
Rudy's thoughts (and his eyes) drifted back to the woman on the bed. Oh, Jaime, he thought, I wish I'd told you more often how much you meant to me. You were more than a surrogate daughter. You were a very special friend and a confidante, and you were also my greatest triumph.