Chapter 4

''What do I tell her, Doc?'' Steve puzzled. ''About Michael, I mean. I don't really know a lot about what happened between the two of them. I did my best back then not to know! First I lost Jaime to death...and then lost her all over again, right before my eyes!''

''It must have been incredibly painful,'' Mark acknowledged.

''The worst part was the way she talked about him - to me! I was happy to be her friend...happy that she was alive, after all...and that I could be a part of her life. But hearing that...''

''I can't imagine what that felt like,'' Mark told him. ''And you recently came close to losing her again, at Kingsley's hand. Do you think that might have made you a little more sensitive to the thought of another man in Jaime's life, even if they are solely in the past like Chris or Michael?''

''Chris, you could definitely be right about,'' Steve admitted. ''But with Michael...I just wish I could be sure it really is in the past. I guess...I'm not comfortable talking to Jaime about this. Not yet, anyway. I need to know what happened between them - and Jaime just can't fill in those blanks. I need to know,'' Steve repeated, ''but I'm not sure I want to know. Does that make me a 'macho jerk'?''

''It makes you human. You could always go straight to the source and ask Michael himself,'' Mark suggested, ''but I'm not sure you could be calm and non-accusatory about it - and I'm not saying I blame you for that.''

''And I'm not sure he'd tell me the real story anyhow...at least, not all of it.''

''I don't know Michael well as a person, but I worked closely with him while you and Jaime were hospitalized. He's an impeccable physician - amazingly talented and focused. While I know that doesn't speak to his character, I doubt he'd do anything to jeopardize what's been such an exemplary career.''

''Men have been known to renounce the throne over entire countries for the love of a woman,'' Steve said quietly. ''But I think I know someone else who can tell me the whole story...or enough of it, anyhow...first thing tomorrow.''

The trouble was...Jaime didn't wait until morning. When Steve heard her stirring, beginning to wake from the pill Mark had given her, he headed into the bedroom with a mug of hot cocoa and a plate of brownies. ''Peace offering?'' he said tentatively from the doorway (unsure what her frame of mind might be). Jaime flashing him a weak but welcoming smile. ''Sweetheart, I'm really sorry. I was so far out of line that I wasn't even on the playing field.''

Jaime nodded, gazing into Steve's eyes (where she hoped to find an answer). ''Where did that come from, Steve? Was there...something between Michael and me?''

''Yeah; there was,'' Steve finally told her (as gently as possible). ''But it's been over for a long time.''

''Oh.'' Then what her mind's eye had shown her hadn't been her imagination, after all. ''Was it...serious?''

''I don't know. I guess I didn't want to know. Jaime...did he hurt you this morning? Did he...uh...try anything?''

''Of course not! He really was just catching me when I fell. Steve, I would never -''

''I know.'' But I'm not so sure about Michael...

''I need to ask you something,'' Steve told the doctor the next morning, while Jaime was back in the x-ray lab. ''And I really need an honest answer - regardless of what that means.''

''I've never been anything but honest with you,'' Rudy answered slowly. ''You know that. What's on your mind?''

''Tell me about Jaime and Michael. How close were they?''

''I'm not sure what you're asking me,'' Rudy hedged.

''Exactly what it sounds like. Please, Rudy!''

''Alright.'' Rudy got up from his desk and began to pace. Looking the other way while his young protege had formed a relationship with his patient - any patient, but especially that one- was not his proudest moment. ''I'm not sure exactly when it started, but I noticed in the weeks leading up to her brain cell regeneration surgery that Jaime was leaning on Michael more and more. At first, I let myself believe it was just because she depended on him so completely. They were taking a lot of long walks together and I believed at the time that Michael was helping her cope with everything that had happened to her - with her 'death' and her amnesia - and preparing her for more surgery. Then I looked out the office window one day and saw him kissing her. I should've put a stop to it, then and there...but I didn't.''

''Why didn't you?'' Steve asked.

''It still looked casual. And I thought it would help Jaime to have someone she trusted, that she could lean on. When I realized things were getting...inappropriate...I spoke to Michael. But it was too late. He'd developed feelings for her that he admitted to me he knew he shouldn't have. He offered to withdraw from her case - but his regeneration surgery was Jaime's best hope for a normal future.''

''Did he...love her?''

''I think he could have.''

''And did Jaime...love him?'' Steve braced himself for the answer.

''In as much as she was emotionally capable of it then...yes, I think she did,'' Rudy answered honestly.

Steve nodded. ''How serious did it get?''

Rudy understood what he meant. ''You're asking if they slept together...aren't you?''

''Well...yeah.''

''I don't think so. I'd like to believe Michael's sense of ethics was too strong to allow that to happen.''

So would I, Steve thought to himself.