Chapter Six
"You'll wear a path in the floor pretty soon, Pal," Oscar said as he came down the hospital hallway. Steve was doing exactly what he'd been doing nine hours earlier, when Oscar had left to go back and look for 'Sid'. He was still pacing. "She's in the best possible hands."
"I know," Steve said, finally sitting down. "They've been in there for over ten hours, though..."
"She'll be ok."
"Did you find Sid?" Steve asked his boss.
"Yep. Sid isn't a person; it's a machine."
"How could a machine be ready for us?"
Oscar took a deep breath. "SID stands for sub-atomic incendiary device."
"Oh." Steve leaned back in his chair, absorbing the information. "So they'd have fed us to that machine and...no messy clean-up, no incriminating evidence left behind."
"Right. Steve, I called Jim and Helen for you, and let them know what's going on. I told them you'd call either tonight or tomorrow, as soon as you know more about what's going on with Jaime."
"Thanks." The OR door opened and Steve was instantly on his feet. "How is she, Rudy?"
The doctor was not smiling. "Jaime has suffered quite a bit of tissue damage at the connection point in her shoulder. We had to remove the arm, of course, but I won't be able to use the spare that we already have; I'll have to craft a new one that covers the majority of her shoulder where she's lost tissue. I can make a new one in about a day and a half, so that's not a problem. We just can't seem to get her stabilized right now. Her vital signs are all over the place. It would be best if we keep her completely sedated until the new arm is ready; any further shock to her system could quite possibly kill her."
"How soon can I see her?"
"We're moving her up to ICU. Once she's settled in, maybe about in 15 minutes or so -" The OR doors opened again, and Rudy's team emerged, pushing Jaime on a stretcher. "Or, how about now?" Rudy added. "Just for a minute, though, since she's still not stable." The team backed away to allow Steve a private moment with his wife.
"Hi, Sweetheart," he said softly, leaning down to kiss her. She was so pale and so still that it frightened him. "I'm gonna call the kids in a little while," he told her unconscious form, "and I'll give them your love and tell them we'll both be seeing them soon. You'll be ok, Jaime - you just need to hang on, and you'll be fine." Steve kissed her once more and then stepped away from the stretcher, allowing the team to take over.
Rudy stopped and smiled reassuringly at Steve. "We'll take good care of her."
"I know. Thank you."
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Steve spoke with each of his children in turn, even laughing a bit when he heard them squabbling over who would be next. Finally, it was Lauren's turn. "How much longer will you be gone?" she asked, being careful not to use the word 'work' in front of his sisters.
"At least another week, Honey, maybe a little bit longer."
"I miss you so much," Lauren told him, sounding for just a moment like a ten-year-old-child instead of ten-going-on-thirty. "Can I talk to Mommy?"
"Lauren, Mommy...can't come to the phone right now. Everything will be ok, though, and we'll explain what we can to you when we get home, ok?"
"Daddy? The others just went outside. Is something wrong with Mommy?"
"She got hurt, Honey, but she'll be ok before we know it. Doctor Rudy's taking good care of her."
"Is she dead, and you're telling us a little at a time?"
"No, Lauren - definitely not. Are you sure you're only ten?"
"Daddy!"
"I've gotta go now, Honey, but trust me - everything will be ok. Mommy'll call you herself in a few days."
"I love you. Give Mommy a kiss."
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Rudy was waiting just outside the door of Jaime's glass ICU cubicle. He looked even more serious than he had after her surgery. "What is it, Rudy?" Steve asked nervously.
"Jaime's blood tests indicate a high level of rejection antibodies in her bloodstream. If there are antibodies, they've appeared to fight something off. Jaime's gone into bionic rejection."
"Oh no..."
"We've flooded her body with maximum doses of three different anti-rejection drugs," Rudy told him. "This explains why we can't get her stabilized. Her biggest problem isn't the injury now. I'm afraid Jaime is a very, very sick woman."
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Steve spent the night and most of the next day alternating between pacing the length of the cubicle and sitting quietly beside Jaime, holding her hand. There was no response, no change at all. Oscar found him there, about 36 hours after she'd been admitted.
"Why don't you grab something to eat, Pal? Maybe take a quick nap? I'll sit with Jaime."
"Thanks, but I don't wanna leave her. If she woke up or if...something happened and I wasn't here, I'd never forgive myself."
"Have you eaten anything since you got here?" Oscar asked.
"Don't think I could."
"Well, I'll bring you a sandwich anyway. Maybe you'll change your mind later. Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?"
"A cup of coffee would be great - strong and black."
"You got it."
Jaime tossed restlessly in her drug-induced sleep. The only thing that seemed to soothe her was the touch of her husband's hand, so Steve sat at his wife's bedside, not daring to sleep, for almost three days before she showed the slightest sign of improvement. She began to breathe normally again, and her heart rate and blood pressure started to stabilize as well. For the first time since she'd been admitted, Steve allowed himself to hope.
"We've eased her off of the sedatives," Rudy told Steve, "and as soon as she's awake, provided she remains stable, we'll schedule surgery to attach the new arm."
"How long before she wakes up?"
"Possibly an hour or two, maybe a little longer. If she goes more than 12 hours, then we start to worry."
He knew he'd have to tell the children it would be a little longer than expected before they returned home. He'd considered going home by himself for a day or two, but thought that might upset and frighten them even more, to see him return without their mother. So he continued to call them every day, sometimes twice a day, to stay as connected as he possibly could. That day, though, he postponed the phone call to stay glued to Jaime's side.
Rudy checked on her at least once an hour, and after the tenth hour, he shook his head. "She's no closer to surfacing now than she was this morning."
Steve continued to remain by her side, and at thirteen hours, he took her hand once again and began to 'scold' her a little bit, trying to rouse her from her sleep. "Ok, Jaime, you've rested long enough. It's time to wake up now and work on getting you back to our kids; they want you home." When he mentioned the kids, Steve's voice broke. They needed their mother. He needed their mother, too.
Maybe it was the break - the very slight sob - in Steve's voice, or maybe it was simply time, but when Steve bent down to kiss her again, she was silently looking back at him, a slight smile illuminating her face and lighting up Steve's entire world.
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