Chapter Five

"Great work, today," Oscar affirmed, joining Steve outside Jaime's cubicle.

Steve nodded. "Thanks. I have a feeling there's a whole lot more to the story, though."

"Our methods may not be as refined as the NSB's, but we'll get him to talk somehow," Oscar said confidently. He noticed that Steve's eyes still hadn't left Chris and Jaime. "How are they? Have you talked to Rudy?"

"Jaime's still stable – no better, but no worse either. Parr dislocated Chris' shoulder, but Rudy popped it back in and put some ice on his lip – says he'll be fine."

"How are you doing?" Oscar asked quietly.

"I'm...alright," Steve said, not even convincing himself. "I spent some time with her while Chris was getting patched up."

"Talk to me, Pal?" Oscar suggested, a paternal arm across Steve's shoulder.

"Seeing her in there like that and not being the one by her side...it's so hard! I wanna hold her hand, be the face she sees when she wakes up, try and comfort her – and I can't. God help me, I still love her!"

Oscar patted his shoulder, but anything he might have said in response was drowned out by the softest sound imaginable...a low, quiet moan from inside the cubicle. It was the first sign of life from Jaime since she'd been brought in, more than 48 hours earlier, and Oscar and Steve stepped anxiously into the cubicle doorway.

Chris had risen from his chair and was hovering close to Jaime's bed as she began to

thrash restlessly, small, plaintive cries of pain coming from deep within her body before she'd even opened her eyes.

"I'll get Rudy," Oscar said quickly, turning to find that Rudy, alerted by the remote monitors, was already halfway down the hall.

Steve had to physically force himself to remain in the hallway and not rush to Jaime's side. "I feel so helpless," he whispered to Oscar.

Chris, too, was feeling helpless. All he could do was stand by and hold Jaime's hand; brushing the hair from her eyes or even kissing her was likely to cause her more pain. Rudy gently tried to keep her head from flailing about and, very slowly, Jaime opened her eyes.

"No-o-o..." she cried, real tears now burning on her injured face. She began trying to sit up, and Rudy and Chris eased her back down with careful, gentle hands.

"Take it easy, Honey," Rudy said soothingly. "Just rest. I'm giving you something for the pain." He injected the contents of a syringe directly into Jaime's IV line, and soon she fell back onto her pillow, sighing deeply. Steve focused in on her face, and he watched as her eyes darted frantically around; she was terror-stricken, and his heart ached for her.

"I'm...not...dead?" she whispered, her voice growing weaker.

"You'll be just fine, Baby," Chris told her. "Rudy's taking good care of you, and I'm right here -"

"Where's...Steve...?"

Steve's every nerve fiber stood on edge; had she really just said that? Tentatively, he took a single step into the cubicle. "I'm here, too, Jaime. I'm right here."

"Steve..." Jaime took the hand Chris had been holding and extended it toward Steve. Rudy stepped to the side to allow Steve to approach the bed.

"Hi there," Steve said softly, very mindful of Chris' questioning gaze. "Welcome back."

"What...happened?" Jaime mumbled, refusing to give in to the sedative just yet. Her eyes sought out only Steve's, pulling him in and holding him with her gaze.

"You had an accident -" he began.

Jaime nodded weakly. "My 'chute..."

Steve frowned, glancing quickly at Rudy. The doctor leaned in closer. "Honey, I think you need to rest now. We'll all talk more later, ok?"

"My chute...tore..." Jaime murmured, reaching across the bed for Steve's hand as her eyelids began to flutter. "I thought...thought I...was dead."

The three men surrounding her stared at each other with wide-eyed alarm as Jaime's eyes closed. "She's out," Rudy whispered a few moments later, motioning the others into the hallway.

"What the hell just happened?" Chris asked as they all sank into chairs. His face was an awful mix of bewilderment and pain. Jaime had seemed to look right past him, searching only for Steve.

"I'm not sure," the doctor admitted.

"She was talking about skydiving," Steve said, shocked to his core, "about her accident..."

"I don't understand," Chris added.

Rudy considered his words carefully. "Jaime's consciousness never had a chance to register the crash that put her here, and her mind is grasping for the only source of severe injury it can come up with. Maybe."

"You mean – her memory's back?" Chris asked, shooting a fast glance at Steve.

"Possibly. Or it could be that Jaime believes she's just been skydiving and had a terrible accident," Rudy allowed, very reluctantly.

"And the rest is just...gone?" Chris was horrified. "She didn't look like she even knew who I was!"

Rudy shook his head slowly. "I wish I could tell you for sure – but I just don't know."

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