Chapter Six

Oscar stopped in Rudy's office for an update before visiting his fallen friends. "Steve should be ready to go home in two or three days," Rudy told him, "although it'll be tough to pry him away from Jaime's side."

"And Jaime - how is she?"
"Her condition is still pretty serious, but considering how long she'd been without her power source, it's a miracle she pulled through. Of course, that was thanks to Steve."

"How'd he do it?" Oscar asked.

"Somehow, probably through sheer determination, he took out his own power cell and was apparently sharing it with Jaime, switching it between them to keep them both going."

"Amazing."

"Love's an amazing thing," the doctor agreed.

"What room is she in?"

"Twelve; right next to the nurse's desk."

"And Steve?"

"Twelve." Rudy noted Oscar's raised eyebrows and answered the unspoken question. "After finding Steve next to her bed for the third time, and practically dragging him back to his own room, we realized that the only way to keep him in bed and resting was to move a second bed in next to Jaime's. Problem solved. C'mon - I'll walk down there with you."

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The problem was partially solved. Steve was still out of his bed, but at least he was now in his own room. He sat close to Jaime's side, holding her hand. It had been over 24 hours since they'd both been admitted, and Rudy had said she'd be waking up soon, so the staff knew it was useless to try and make him lie down. He smoothed the hair from Jaime's face, tenderly kissed her forehead and was rewarded by the fluttering of her eyelids, which soon allowed him to look into the eyes he'd risked his own life to be able to gaze into once again.

"Hi, Sweetheart. Welcome back."

"Hi." She was still extremely weak, but had something she desperately needed to tell him. "Steve..."

"Shh-hh-hh," Steve said soothingly. "You need to rest. We can talk later."

"Steve," she said, a little more insistently. "Right before we passed out, I said something to you..."

"Jaime, we both thought we were dying; people have been known to say all sorts of things at times like that. I understand -"

"No, you don't," she said, her voice growing stronger instead of weaker. "I meant it. I - love - you. I guess I've known that for awhile, but I didn't want either of us to die before I could tell you."

Steve manuevered around the IV tube and the various wires to take Jaime gently in his arms, hoping that this time he'd never have to let her go. The two men at the door, who had silently witnessed the scene, turned and went back down the hall to give the couple some privacy.

"Like I said," Rudy remarked, "Love is definitely an amazing thing."

END