Chapter Seven
The Medivac chopper was preparing to land in the road behind Bailey's car when Jaime re-opened her eyes. They were glassy, distant and filled with pain but also with determination: to fight and to live. Steve brushed the hair from her face, his fingertips lingering in an attempt to comfort her.
"Hi," he whispered softly. "Welcome back." She gazed up at him, and his love gave her strength. "You're safe now," he reaffirmed, and Jaime's eyes welled with the tears she hadn't allowed herself to shed during the two days she'd spent helplessly waiting to die.
The paramedics rushed toward them, led by a familiar but most unexpected face. "Rudy? Aren't you supposed to be in bed right now?" Steve asked, relieved to see him just the same.
"I'm fine," Rudy asserted. "No damage done. Besides, she's my patient." He looked to the medics. "Let's get her on the chopper."
Once they were airborne, Steve sat off to one side as Rudy began tending to his patient. After applying a pressure bandage to the bullet wound, the doctor leaned in toward the stretcher. "Jaime, can you open your eyes for me, Honey?" Silently, with great effort, she did. "Good job. Now, try to focus on my finger.," the doctor requested, moving it slowly across her line of vision. She did seem to see it, but could only manage very brief moments of true focus.
"Steve..."
"I'm right here, Sweetheart," he said, moving in closer and taking her hand in both of his.
"Hurts..." she mumbled, before fading away again.
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Steve waited in Rudy's office while Jaime was x-rayed, scanned and tested. Oscar arrived about an hour into the vigil. "How's she doing, Pal?" He asked.
"Rudy's still checking her over. Where's Bailey?"
"Having two broken ankles set."
"Here?"
"No - he's at County, under very heavy guard, and when he's done there, he'll go straight to solitary."
"He's lucky I didn't get my hands on him, or he'd have a lot more broken than just his ankles." Steve shook his head in bewilderment. "I can't imagine what happened to him. That wasn't the General Bailey I worked with."
"Whatever happened to him, it doesn't excuse what he did," Oscar seethed.
"When I picture him putting his hands on Jaime - hurting her - it makes me sick to my stomach."
The office door opened and Rudy stood on the threshold, wishing he had better news. "Jaime's lost a massive amount of blood," he said grimly. "The bullet missed her internal organs, but it's lodged just millimeters from her spine. With all the jostling around, it's amazing she isn't paralyzed, or worse. X-rays also show a very small hairline fracture, just behind her left ear. Steve, we have a difficult choice to make. I'd like to operate and get that bullet before it has a chance to shift, but - to be honest - Jaime may not be strong enough to survive the surgery. Or, we could choose to wait, hopefully letting her get a bit stronger first. We'd have to immobilize her as much as possible, but there's still a high probability of the bullet shifting."
"You're saying Jaime could die either way?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, but whichever way we choose to go, her chance for survival is very slim. I know this puts an awful weight on your shoulders - to still be newlyweds and have to make this kind of decision - but it's imperative that we move quickly."
Steve closed his eyes for a moment, asking himself What would Jaime want? The answer was instantly crystal clear. "Jaime's never been one to take the passive approach on anything. She's always been a fighter, and in the last two days she fought the hardest battle of her life. Now we have to fight for her. Go in and get the bullet, Rudy; I know that's what Jaime would want."
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Steve forced himself to stop pacing, and when Oscar returned from a phone call, he found him at the window, staring at the floor instead of out at the scenery.
"Is it me, or have they been in surgery forever?"
"She's in good hands, Pal."
"I know. That's what's keeping me from jumping out of this window."
"You made the right decision," Oscar told him. "A month ago, I'd have been in your shoes, signing the consent forms, and I would've done exactly what you did. More importantly, it's what Jaime -"
Rudy was coming toward them, and this time, he was smiling.
"She...made it?" Steve asked tremulously.
"With flying colors. She's an incredibly strong woman, to come within hours - probably minutes - of death and rebound to this extent...I've never seen anything like it."
"Is she awake?"
"No. It'll take at least a few more hours for the anesthetic to wear off, but you can see her in a few minutes, once they get her settled down in ICU."
"Intensive Care?"
"Jaime's not entirely out of the woods yet. We've still got that fracture and the possibility of rejection to deal with. She'll need at least seven to ten days of strict bed rest, probably under sedation, for her skull to begin to heal. Then we'll see how well she's coming along and make decisions about the rest of her treatment."
"You're gonna keep her asleep for a week?"
"Not necessarily. She may only need light sedation, but we'll know more once Jaime wakes up. Be prepared, though, Steve, when she does regain consciousness , she's likely to be in considerable - probably severe - pain. One of our primary objectives will be to keep her as comfortable as possible. C'mon; I'll take you down to see her."
Before he went into Jaime's cubicle, Steve turned to Rudy. "You've saved both of us today, Rudy," he said quietly. "Thank you doesn't even begin to cover it."
Rudy smiled. "You two are the kids I never got to have," he said simply. "There no way I'd ever let anything happen to either one of you without putting up one hell of a fight."
Steve's eyes misted over as he hugged the heroic doctor, then he opened the glass cubicle door, pulled up a chair next to Jaime's bed and sat down to wait.
Her face was extremely pale, her eyes a bit sunken and her skin pasty from dehydration, but to Steve, Jaime had never looked more beautiful. He'd never completely given up hope, but it had begun to seem more and more likely that he'd never see her again, never hold her in his arms or caress her skin. His heart finally resumed beating normally as he gazed at the face of the only woman he'd ever loved.
It had grown dark outside and the sun was beginning to rise again when Jaime soundlessly opened her eyes.
"Hi there, Beautiful," he said very softly, leaning over to give her a gentle, careful kiss.
Jaime's eyes darted around the cubicle, trying to make sense of what seemed to be a sudden change of scenery. "It's...over?"
"It's over, Sweetheart," he told her. "You're safe now."
"Safe..." she whispered, shifting position slightly and wincing in pain.
As though on cue, Rudy joined them and, after a very quick check of Jaime's condition, he injected a painkiller directly into her IV line. "That should work pretty quickly, Honey, and you'll be a lot more comfortable."
Jaime gave the doctor a wan smile and turned to her husband. "Do you think...could you...hold me?"
"Of course," he told her, taking her hand.
"No - I mean really hold me."
He'd been longing to do exactly that. Taking extreme care not to bump the bandage on her side or the back of her head, and watching out for the IV line, Steve tenderly enfolded Jaime in his arms. She sank into him easily and with a tiny sigh of contentment, she drifted off to sleep in the comfort of his warm, loving embrace.
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