Jaime was relaxing in Steve's room the next day. She had a few hours to kill until the next bionic test with Rudy. She sat in a chair next to Steve's bed and watched him sleep…watched the steady movement of his chest. He looked so peaceful.
She thought back to when she first woke up a year and a half ago. It had been a frightening time in her life…to suddenly exist with no memory of the past. She had desperately needed something or someone to cling to and that someone had been Dr. Michael Marchetti, the doctor who had brought her back to life through the use of his groundbreaking cryogenic therapy. Jaime had fond memories of Michael. He was kind, intelligent, and cute in a nerdy sort of way. And while their relationship never developed into anything serious, they kept in touch and were still friends, although she sensed that he would have liked their relationship to have gone further.
But Jaime had to wonder what the heck she been thinking back then. She had developed a crush on Michael while putting Steve in the friend zone? She had to laugh at herself. She certainly had more in common with Steve than with Michael. They were both bionic and both loved sports. Steve was also patient, self-sacrificing, and definitely cuter than Michael. She remembered poor Steve listening patiently to her go on and on about Michael this and Michael that. It must have been so hard for him to have to listen to that.
She remembered the day four months later when Jim and Helen broke the news to her about her engagement to Steve. She was shocked when she found out. Tiny fleeting memories she had been having about Steve then started to make sense. And while the operation to restore her memory had brought back a great deal of her memory, her memories about her engagement to Steve were mostly gone.
Jaime would never forget the look on Steve's face when she told him that she couldn't remember what it was like to be in love with him. He had told her that he understood and had tried to put on a brave face, but she could see the disappointment in his face. She had tried to make things better by saying that it could be a new beginning for both of them and with time perhaps they could be close again, but she knew that wasn't enough to make him feel better.
She had felt awful about that conversation but she knew she couldn't pretend to have feelings for a man that she couldn't remember loving. It wouldn't have been fair to either one of them. She needed time. Time to establish a life of her own. Time to sort out her feelings. Time to get to know him again.
It had been fourteen months since she had that difficult conversation with Steve. She had seen him off and on since then but, with their busy schedules, it wasn't near enough time to really form a romantic relationship, although they had become good friends. They had been through a lot during that time. There were a couple of times she had almost lost him for good – such as the time the missile was headed straight to the M.E.W.S. facility where Steve was located and she had barely stopped it in time, or the time Steve almost died from radiation poisoning but Gillian was able to save him with the Neotraxin.
She remembered finding out from Oscar during the Miss United States Beauty Pageant that Steve always asked about her…how she was feeling and if she was seeing anyone. That had surprised her, but considering her former relationship with Michael, she realized that he was asking a very valid question. It had made her wonder if Steve was seeing anyone; and Oscar's reply about nothing serious because of how Steve felt about her made her feel good. But she also had admitted to Oscar how confused she was about her feelings for Steve.
Most of the time, Steve was charming and attentive to her; and she could see the longing in his eyes. But there had been a few times when Steve seemed withdrawn and that had really perplexed her. She had begun to wonder if Steve had given up on her and was moving on. If he was, she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Jaime looked at that handsome face sleeping tranquilly. She could see how she could have been attracted to him. Steve was undeniably good looking. She thought about those piercing blue eyes hidden under those soft lashes and wished she could see them right now. She thought about Steve's smile. Steve had a smile that would transform his face into a little boy's face when he smiled broadly. It was the most amazing transformation she had ever seen and it always took her by surprise when she saw it. Steve himself must have been aware of it too because his smiles were usually tight lipped or half smiles. Maybe he thought that it wouldn't help his image as an Air Force Colonel to show that full smile. But every once in a while that boyish grin would come out and it was totally disarming.
Steve was also a hunk. Jaime reached up and held Steve's hand; she noted how large and powerful his hands were, just like the rest of him. Steve was a big guy at six feet tall and 175 pounds. He had broad shoulders and a wide chest liberally covered in dark hair. Looking at him it would not surprise anyone that he played football in college. He had the body of a quarterback. But even though he rarely played football anymore, he kept himself in excellent shape. And as Jaime unexpectedly found out yesterday, he had a cute butt.
But what Jaime kept coming back to was that she had loved this man once. She had loved him enough to want to marry him. It frustrated her that she couldn't remember what it felt like to be in love with Steve Austin.
Jaime looked at the clock and saw that it was time to leave for her next testing session with Rudy. She got up from the chair and looked down at the sleeping man. She couldn't resist the temptation of running her fingers through his soft chest hair. She then gave him a gentle kiss and left.