Chapter 23

Michael wisely left the room without anyone having to request it. He stopped at the nurses' desk and ordered needed meds he wanted a nurse to administer immediately...then he stood watching the remote monitors until he knew that his orders had been followed and Corinth had answered his page and responded to Jaime's cubicle. He conscientiously made notes in Jaime's file of the critical drop in vitals and again once they began to stabilize. It was all he could do to help her from that position so he left her in Doctor Corinth's hands for now and headed down to his office...to find Mark waiting for him there.

''Jaime needs you right now,'' Michael told him.

''Corinth just sedated her; she's out. And she's stable.''

''I know; I was watching the monitors.''

''It's just you and me now,'' Mark said quietly. ''No Oscar - and no Steve. What are you thinking about the surgery, after this latest episode. Postponement?''

Michael shook his head. ''It should still be safe to operate. I'm under orders to proceed at the earliest safe date and time.''

''From Oscar?'' Mark gathered.

''And from Steve too.''

''He told you that?''

''No,'' Michael admitted, ''but I know he wants to see Jaime fully functional again - or at least on her way there. I could tell by the question he asked and by the way he looked at her.''

''He does,'' Mark confirmed, ''but the only one with any say in this - and the only one whose opinion truly matters - is you. Your first responsibility is to your patient...our patient...and her safety and well-being.''

''I know that!''

''Not to Oscar or Steve or even a Presidential Order if Oscar were to try and pull that one out of the hat next.''

''I want to give Jaime her life back - and I will - tomorrow,'' Michael vowed.

''Any other reason you won't entertain the thought of postponing?'' Mark probed quietly. Michael had no immediate answer, so Mark went on. ''You're having the same headaches that Russ is having - like the one that kept him from being aware when he tried to kill Jaime.''

''Well...yes. You already know that. And I'd like to operate before they get any worse...while I can still do this for her. She deserves it.''

Mark could take that statement two ways. Did Michael mean Jaime deserved to live a normal life again...or that he intended to kill her while she was completely in his hands and under his control? He had to believe the former...but couldn't let go of the latter. ''As long as you can know with a clear mind that she's ready and it's safe to proceed,'' he told the young surgeon.

''And I won't make a final decision until morning,'' Michael concluded. ''I'll see how she does overnight and then go - or postpone - from there.''

In the morning, it seemed like half the hospital was waiting on Michael's decision. He was again able to examine Jaime while she was fully conscious. Not having Becca in the cubicle seemed to make the difference for her, as if her daughter in the same room with him brought up emotions too intense to bear. She still gazed directly into Steve's eyes except when she had to follow Michael's finger and then his pencil - and she had a slight visible reaction to looking at him but kept silent and nothing abnormal appeared on the monitors. Nearly 90 degrees upright motion achieved, Michael wrote in her file. Slight dizziness and only residual surgical pain present. Reactions slow but completely present. Surgery is green-lighted. He set the arrangements (already in place) into motion, having an OR readied and his team assembled. Doctor Corinth and Rudy were notified and Michael himself arranged for Security to be beefed up surrounding the Operating Room...and the nursery. While everyone's attention was diverted with Jaime's surgery, he didn't want to take a chance of anything happening to Becca - and he knew it would make Steve and Jaime feel more secure.

As he sat in his office with a cup of coffee, mentally preparing himself for the hugely important task at hand, another headache stabbed through his brain like a giant, rusty icepick. He drank his coffee and looked out the window, picturing Jaime's smile in his mind as successfully fought off the raging pain. Helping her to truly smile again by returning what had been so brutally taken away from her with a single bullet was his primary goal; he would focus on that...and he would do it!

The same pain coursed through Russ' head at almost the same time but he did nothing to try and fight it off. He had nothing to focus on in The Hole except bewilderment...and now anger. He pounded on the door, demanding to speak to the guard and then started on a diatribe about his attorney...before punching the guard in the stomach. Back-up guards were immediately upon him, throwing him back onto the bench and handcuffing him there. Hansen and Oscar would need to be notified...again.

It was time. Michael looked down at Jaime who was lying on the operating table, fully anesthetized and awaiting his calm, practiced hands. He would give her back what she deserved and then some - hopefully, he thought, atoning at least somewhat for his past behavior once the therapy was a success. Jaime's vital signs were exactly where they should be - and stable. Under more watchful eyes than he'd ever had surrounding him before, Michael made the first cuts and began.

He had finally reached the target area and was just about to begin the actual regeneration when he suddenly left the operating room...

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