Two days had passed and it was time to wake Steve up again. Jaime wasn't taken by surprise this time when Rudy and Vicky rolled Steve to his side; but she felt a bit guilty as she tilted her head to get a better look as Rudy administered the shot.

Twenty minutes later Steve started to stir. He opened his eyes and, after a few seconds of blurriness, looked at Rudy with clear eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Rudy asked as he checked Steve's eyes.

"Better," Steve replied groggily.

"Any blurry vision?"

"No. None." Steve searched the room and saw Jaime standing near the wall – she had kept her promise. He smiled that boyish grin at her. She melted a little inside and smiled back at him.

Rudy checked Steve's vitals and then did the finger test again. Steve passed it easily.

"Good. Good. You can handle slow head movement." Rudy was pleased. "Now I want you to try sitting up, Steve. Do you think you can do that?"

"Sure." Steve raised himself to a sitting position, grunting slightly with the effort. The sheet fell down below his waist. For a moment he squeezed his eyes shut tightly, fighting the sudden dizziness.

That didn't escape Rudy's notice. "Well, I can see definite improvement but the swelling hasn't completely subsided yet.

"You're not going to put me under again, are you, Doc?" Steve pleaded as he lowered himself back down and let his head sink into the pillow. He shut his eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of his nose as another wave of vertigo hit him.

"No, the swelling has gone down enough that you can stay awake, but you have to stay in bed. I mean it. No walking around or even going to the bathroom without assistance. You hear me?" Rudy replied sternly. "I know you. Don't try to push it."

"I gotcha."

Rudy removed the nasal cannula from Steve's nose and the electrodes from his forehead and then turned to Vicky. "Get him a hospital gown and let's keep the IV going. But go ahead and remove the urinary catheter."

"Yes, doctor," Vicky replied as she left the room.

"Let's take a look at that incision." Rudy gently pulled at the bandage on Steve's neck. "Any pain at the incision site?"

"It's a little sore."

"It's healing nicely," Rudy observed as he took the bandage off. He got a fresh bandage and tape from the drawer and replaced the old bandage with a new one. "There we go."

"Vicky will be back soon to remove the catheter and I'll check on you later." Rudy patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Rudy," Steve replied.

Rudy left the room and finally Jaime and Steve were alone.

Jaime stepped forward. "Well, I'm glad that I'll now be able to talk to you when I come and visit you. You know, you're quite boring when you're asleep."

"You've been here while I was asleep?" He self-consciously pulled up the sheet that had fallen down to his stomach.

"Yes, I've been worried about you."

"Well, it's kinda nice to be worried about," Steve smiled. "How long will you be here for?"

"Originally, four more days, but Rudy says he's keeping me here longer. He wants to upgrade my servomotors."

"Yeah, I had that done a few months ago. It's not that bad. It takes a couple of days but they'll knock you out so you'll just sleep through it. Then there are a few more days of testing and adjustments."

"Hmm…doesn't sound too terrible," Jaime replied. "So how long will you be here for?"

"At least five more days or whenever Rudy is convinced that I won't get dizzy pulling negative g's."

Vicky walked in through the door carrying a hospital gown. She handed it to Steve. "For you, Colonel Austin."

Vicky started putting on medical exam gloves. "I'll be removing your urinary catheter now."

"I think that's my cue to leave," Jaime said. "Bye." She gave Steve a quick kiss and headed out the door.

Steve looked longingly after her. "Bye."

Vicky pulled back the sheet, completely exposing Steve's body. "Now just relax, Colonel. This won't take long."

Steve stared uncomfortably at the ceiling as the nurse carefully removed the apparatus. "Easy now. Almost done," she assured him when he flinched at the pain. When she was finished, she removed her gloves. "A tiny bit of blood," she noted. "We'll have to keep an eye on that. I want you to let me know if you have any problems urinating or if there is blood in your urine," she said as she pulled the sheet back over him.

Steve nodded, relieved that was over. "Okay."

"Now, Doctor Wells' orders are that you are to have assistance getting to the bathroom." Vicky placed the call button near him. "If you need to go, press this call button and we'll have an orderly come and help you."

"Thanks," Steve replied as he put on the hospital gown.