Chapter Eight

With a feather-light touch, Steve tenderly brushed the tears from Jaime's eyes, attempting to comfort her in the only way he could. He longed to wrap her in his arms and hold her close but he didn't dare jostle or move her. Jaime's body shuddered, and as Steve watched helplessly her gaze shifted and he could see her withdrawing, her eyes staring blankly into nothingness.

"Jaime," he said softly, "it's gonna be alright. Please don't give up, Sweetheart; Rudy's coming, and you'll feel a lot better once you've had the chance to rest." He clasped her hand in both of his own, willing her to hang on and trying to keep her from fading. "I know you're scared, but I'm right here and I won't let anyone hurt you – I promise." Rudy rushed in, and Steve kept whispering words of comfort and love until the doctor's sedative took control and Jaime's eyes closed. Her frantic, ragged gasps slowed to a regular rhythm and the two men breathed silent sighs of relief as they moved into the hallway.

"What happened in here?" Rudy demanded.

"Williams is an idiot." Steve heard the conference room door close firmly and knew without looking that Oscar was holding Chris in there. "He tried to force Jaime to remember him."

"Oh, no..." Rudy cringed. "Doesn't he realize how much harm that could do?"

"He's lucky I only hit him with a left."

"You hit him?" Rudy nodded, appreciating the restraint it must have taken for Steve not to knock Chris into the next universe.

"Thing is, I know how he feels," Steve sympathized. "I know what's it's like to have the woman you love not even know who you are – it's the most painful, haunting, frustrating feeling you can imagine -"

"But when it happened to you, you loved Jaime enough to do what was best for her. You walked away."

"He does love her, Rudy. I can see that," Steve admitted.

The doctor bristled. "Do you know what could've happened? He not only jeopardized her emotionally...he endangered her life!"

"Will she...be ok?" Steve asked tentatively, his heart pounding.

"I don't know. She's still at high risk for further brain swelling, breathing problems and internal bleeding, not to mention the emotional trauma this little stunt may have caused. If he can't control himself, I'll ban him from the hospital."

"Maybe it won't have to come to that."

"I don't trust him, Steve. How hard did you hit him?"

"Not half as hard as I wanted to. The look on Jaime's face..." Steve glanced down the hall at the still-closed conference room door. "I'd better check and see what Oscar's doing to him."

Rudy nodded and returned to his patient.

Steve found Oscar standing, arms folded, glaring at Chris who was slumped down in his chair with his head in his hands. "Is she...alright?" Chris asked when he noticed Steve.

"You should've thought of that fifteen minutes ago," Steve seethed. "You could have killed her!"

"I didn't...mean...to hurt her. It's just so hard -"

Steve quietly closed the door and then pulled a chair up very close to where Chris sat, attempting to stare directly into his eyes. "I have to ask you this, and I'll only ask once. You said you didn't mean to hurt her. Did you have anything to do with Jaime's accident?"

"Of course not!"

"Do you know who did?" Steve persisted.

"No!" Chris pounded his hands down onto the table and slowly raised his head. "Look, I know I did a stupid thing today -"

"A dangerously stupid thing..." Steve interjected.

"But I never meant to hurt her! I'll do anything I can to make up for it – anything that'll help..."

"Chris, Jaime may need both of us to help her adjust to everything that's happened to her. She may never be back to the Jaime you knew, or the Jaime I knew, either, but we have to love her enough to know that her needs come first now. Three years ago, I had to love her enough to let her go and you just might have to do the same thing. Can you handle that?"

"I...think...so."

Steve stood up and leaned back against the table, eying his rival closely. "That's not good enough. I know you're hurting too, but what you did today can't ever happen again."

"I know that," Chris said, thoroughly humbled.

"Make sure it doesn't," Steve concluded, "or next time you'll be meeting my other fist." Without waiting for a reply, Steve left Chris alone with Oscar, closing the door behind him.

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