Chapter Four

In her search for an answer, Jaime had taken two more steps toward her parents and now stood midway across the bridge. "That's a horrible thing to say!" she exclaimed. "I chose to die, to leave Steve alone - again?"

"Not yet, you haven't," her father said, very softly.

"So far, Jaime," her mother continued, "you've chosen to come this far, to have the choice be yours to make, and not anyone else's. That decision has been granted to you."

"But I - I can't. I can't decide something like that!"

"This was what you wanted, Jaime. You felt that you had no control over your own life, that other people were pulling all of your strings and you were merely along for the ride. Now you have to choose. You...have...to...choose..."

------

"She's still not responding," the head nurse noted. "She's gone."

"The hell she is!" Michael said, tossing the paddles aside and pumping her chest forcefully by hand. "Come on, Jaime - fight!" Even Rudy was reluctantly ready to call it over. He placed a hand on Michael's shoulder, but that only caused the young doctor to pump more fiercely. "Damn it - breathe!"

Allison had left the door ajar and, unnoticed in the chaos, Steve moved silently to the head of the bed. As Michael was being pulled away from his heroic but futile efforts, Steve leaned over the bed to give Jaime one last kiss, and a single tear fell from his eye and splashed across her cheek. That lone tear was enough to do what medical science could not. As Michael reached over to shut off the monitor, the wail of the alarm morphed into a quiet, steady beep.

------

Jaime had taken the last few steps across the bridge and was just about to join her parents in the idyllic, emerald green meadow when her foot stopped in midair. The warmth of Steve's kiss and the love behind his tear on her face reached across the vast expanse between them and spoke directly to her heart.

"I'm - going back," Jaime said, her voice full of surprise.

"We know," Ann told her.

"You knew all along I'd choose to go back?"

"It had to be your own decision, Jaime; no one else's. That's the whole reason you came here today. When you had your accident, you were forced to go back to a body and a life that you no longer wanted. You were made bionic through the decisions of others, and other people decided you were to become an operative. You needed to make this journey today to reclaim control over your own life and destiny, to become well and whole again in spirit as well as in body. Your doctors will say it was due to your heart having a delayed reaction to the pentothal therapy, but the woman doctor - Allison? - she knows. She will believe you."

Jaime understood. Her vision of her parents was already beginning to fade. "I just wish I didn't have to leave you behind," she told them.

"It's not forever, Jaime," Ann reassured her. "We'll see you again."

"But as much as we love you, we don't want your face poking around here again for a good, long time," James said firmly. "Understand, Young Lady?"

"Yes. Thank you..."

------

Jaime's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the changes in light and scenery. "Jaime?" Steve wasn't sure if his mind was playing a cruel trick on him. Was she really back?

"Hi," she said, managing a weak smile.

Rudy and Michael stared at the monitor in shocked disbelief. To go from flat-lined directly to a strong, healthy rhythm was unheard of; impossible. Steve was holding the proof in his arms, though, and the doctors hurried to Jaime's side.

"Steve, we need to borrow Jaime for just a few minutes -"

"Get in line," he said happily, holding her close.

"I'm back," Jaime confirmed, to herself as well as everyone else. "This time, I'm really back."

END