Chapter 22

Oscar was startled by Rudy's sudden appearance - and by his pallid face. ''You need to be back in bed,'' he noted, immediately returning to the file he was reading on the Kingsley twins.

Rudy sank into a chair in what used to be (and hopefully would be again) his own office. ''The Security alarms,'' he began wearily, ''what were they for?''

Oscar never glanced up from what was new information. ''The first one...was an attempted shooting. Russ broke through the drugs they'd used to put him out - heavy drugs - and they caught him just outside Jaime's cubicle.'' Even while he was talking, he was also absorbing what he was reading. It rocked him, but he gave no indication and finally looked up at his dear friend. ''They're repairing the broken cubicle glass this afternoon, while Jaime is sleeping, so she doesn't have to have even more of a reminder the next time she wakes up.''

''And the second alarm?''

''False alarm. We couldn't find any reason for it to go off. I've got a technician inspecting the wiring to see if it's faulty.''

''I don't think it was...'' Rudy said slowly. ''That was when Michael came into my room.''

''Did he try to harm you in any way?'' Oscar probed.

''Not really; he just wanted to sedate me but after that...oh. Who knows what might've happened if I'd let him...''

''You don't trust him either.''

''No I don't. Not...anymore,'' Rudy told him. ''I want to - I need to - especially with Jaime scheduled for surgery. I'll be up in the theater but there's only a portion of what he'll be doing that I'm even remotely familiar with. Hopefully he'll be doing the right things and not trying to sabotage the strongest witness against him from that trial.''

''And he just finished turning Steve back up for me,'' Oscar explained.

''I'd like to check those circuits,'' Rudy announced. ''First, though, I'll need the change of clothing in the cupboard behind you.''

''From what I'm told - and from the way you look - you aren't even supposed to be out of bed.''

''Maybe not, but this won't be strenuous...and it'll go a long way toward telling me if we can trust him again.''

''There may be outside...ah...influences at work here,'' Oscar said quietly. ''It seems the Kingsley twins had a younger sister...''

Steve was also surprised by Rudy's appearance. He was dressed in scrubs and a lab coat but looked like he was halfway to death's door. ''I need to see you in the lab,'' he told Steve.

''I really don't wanna leave her, Doc,'' Steve said softly, looking at his wife's sleeping form in the bed beside him.

''I'll be here, Steve,'' Mark promised. ''And I won't let Michael in until you come back.''

In spite of his obvious weakness, Rudy's hands were sure as he slit the plasticine over Steve's power packs and began inspecting Michael's work. In the circuits of his left leg, he discovered a problem. Several wires had been crossed in the wrong directions when Michael had reopened the pack to its full power. Rudy corrected them silently, intending to let Oscar know. ''You're all set,'' he told his patient after he'd resealed the plasticine. ''Everything looks good.'' He reasoned that it could've been an innocent mistake by the younger doctor (who had never performed the procedure before) so there was no need to give Steve a reason to go after Michael, now that he was at full power. Rudy patted his patient warmly on the shoulder and headed back to his (Oscar's) office, after which he intended to become a patient again himself, at least for a little while. He was abnormally tired...

Rudy found Oscar thundering into the phone - and felt instantly sorry for whoever was on the other end. ''Why wasn't this information in the previous file?'' he was storming. ''I don't care if she defected to the Soviets - or to Timbuktu - or how many years ago! That makes her even more of a threat! And if the information was well-hidden it still should've been the first thing you dug up! Dammit, do you realize what this could mean?''

Rudy waited silently, grateful for the chance to rest in a chair for a bit before telling Oscar what he'd uncovered. Oscar hollered a few (even more choice) curse words at the unfortunate recipient on the other end of the line and then slammed the phone into its cradle. ''I hope you didn't find anything incriminating,'' he told Rudy (the veins in his neck still pulsing with anger). ''I don't need any more bad news today; I have a certain Soviet nationalist to find...and I need to do it fast! Thank to the ineptness of my very own teams, she could be just about anywhere on the globe...but I sense that's she's close. Dangerously close...''

On his way back to Jaime's side, Steve stopped off in the nursery to see his daughter. It was feeding time, so he sat in the rocking chair cradling her gently and giving her the bottle. Becca waved her arms and cooed at him...a new sound and one that Jaime needed to experience. Steve decided that the next time they woke her, he'd bring the child in for a little time with her mother. While Michael would also be in the room, Steve vowed to sit between the doctor and Becca, blocking his access as well as his view. He had to think of Michael as a doctor now and push away any past feelings that the sight of him might evoke...for Jaime's sake. Now that he was turned up, he didn't want to have it taken away due to another fit of temper. Steve needed to keep his strength to be better able to defend Jaime and Becca...if it ever came down to that.

Michael's eyes were riveted to what he could see of the infant in Steve's arms as Jaime slowly emerged to full consciousness. He had to force himself to look away and read her monitors. Everything appeared stable. Becca seemed to be angling herself toward her mother, wanting to feel Jaime's touch. Michael longed for that touch himself...but pushed the thoughts away. Becca...how he wished she was his! Why couldn't he stop thinking about that? She wasn't - and he needed to be alright (and even happy) about that to be able to continue. With his back to Steve while he still faced the monitors, Michael closed his eyes very briefly to try and push away the unwelcome thoughts before turning again toward his patient, who was awake now and reaching her left arm out to her daughter.

Steve placed the baby in the crook of Jaime's arm shoring her up with his hands to make both his wife and his daughter feel more secure. Jaime smiled when Becca (exactly as Steve had hoped) made the same lovely cooing noise, at her mother this time. Finally, everything seemed to be perfect with his family (if only for a few minutes). Steve took Becca back into his own arms when Michael stepped closer to the bed.

Jaime looked at the doctor, then at her daughter...and suddenly her emotions went wild. She couldn't stop the images that were pouring rapid-fire into her mind and she looked helplessly toward Mark, asking with her eyes for him to intercede. The therapist took the peppermint oil from his pocket (where he always carried it)...but this time, it didn't help. Jaime's eyes rolled back in her head and she began to flail in panic, her body angling to roll off the bed without the use of her legs or arm to help her. Mark and Michael pulled up the bed rails to keep her in place but one look at the monitors told the full story, as the 'critical vitals' alarm began to wail almost mournfully...

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