Everything was so grey. It was cold and murky, like nothing she's ever experienced before. Never ending nothingness with seemingly no way out. And then a voice. Familiar and comfortable, as though it were wrapping her entire existence in a warm blanket. She'd swim up through the fog, towards the voice, but she'd never surface, eventually falling again, sinking back into the dark sea. And all would be quiet.

But then, some an indeterminable amount of time later, the voice would return. And every day she'd get closer to the light. She'd begin to feel. First on her hand, announcing the voices presence. And then on her face. Feather light kisses on her forehead, the softest touch in her hair, a faint whisper in her ear, the gentlest stroke of a hand on her cheek- and then it would all stop.

But one day she continued to swim through the fog. She was closer than she'd ever been to the surface, she could sense light. She pushed and pushed, trying to break through and eventually she was at the surface. Her eyelids were heavy and uncooperative, but then came the voice in her ear. It whispered gentle I love you's and assured her it was okay to wake up now.

Gathering her strength she opened her eyes, straining a bit against the light. She felt the now familiar gentle sensation of his lips on her temple. She remained silent, unsure of, well, anything really.

He pulled away from her and their eyes met.

"Donna," he managed to choke out, instantly becoming emotional. "Donna?" He asked again when she didn't respond. He stared at her, willing her to speak, before turning his head over his shoulder and yelling for a nurse.

He turned back to her, kissing her forehead and clasping her frail hand in his. "Everything's going to be okay," he assured her. "I'm so glad to see you," he managed a smile.

Donna blinked for a few moments, staring at him. "It's you," she barely managed to choke out. She'd know his voice anywhere. It had soothed her in the darkness.

He exhaled slowly. "Yeah," he almost whispered. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Studying everything around her curiously, she furrowed her brow a bit. "But... who are you?"

Josh stood beside her, stunned. He couldn't bring himself to form a sentence. He ducked his face down, closer to her line of vision. "It's me... Josh."

She still wore a look of confusion on her face as Stacy, the on duty nurse, came in followed closely by Dr. Benson, Donna's neurologist.

Josh continued to hold her hand, and Donna didn't pull away.

"Donna, I'm going to ask you some questions now. Can you tell me your date of birth," Dr. Benson asked. "And your middle name?"

Donna spouted off the answers with no problem.

"Great," the doctor removed a small flashlight and looked into Donna's eyes, catching her somewhat off guard. "And Donna can you tell me who the current president is," the doctor smiled and winked at Josh, having become well accustomed to Donna's protective visitor.

"Lassiter," she responded confidently, causing Josh to freeze where he stood, panic rising inside of him.

"Donna," the nurse softly continued, trying for a more straightforward approach. "Can you tell me what year it is?"

"1997," Donna said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Josh dropped into the chair by her bed, stunned into silence.

Dr. Benson and Stacy looked at each other.

"We're at University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, right? What happened to me? Where's Mark?"

"Mark?" The nurse raised her eyebrows to Josh, who had put his head effectively between his knees in order to keep himself from literally throwing up.

Josh shook his head, "Oh god," he muttered, realizing Donna was asking for Dr. Freeride.

"Can you give us a minute," Josh requested, trying to catch his breath.

"A quick word, Mr. Lyman," Dr. Benson interjected, motioning him into the hall.

Josh stepped into the hallway, running his hands through his hair, trying to get a grasp on what was happening. "What's going on?" Josh looked longingly back towards the hospital room, watching Donna closely as the nurse took her blood pressure.

"All things considered she seems to be doing pretty well," Dr. Benson started with the positive. "When someone has been unconscious that long it can bring on a host of issues, but Donna seems to have her cognitive function from what I've seen."

"She thinks it's 1997 and she's living in Wisconsin with that asshole..." Josh didn't understand how the neurologist could think this was okay.

Dr. Benson held out her hand to silence her. "It may be very temporary, Mr. Lyman," she stated. "I'd like to run some additional tests and have another conversation with her, but not tonight. She needs to rest."

Josh nodded his understanding, scrubbing his hand over his face and trying to hold himself together.

"As her medical power of attorney I'll just need your signature to authorize the CT." Josh scribbled his consent on the form.

"What happens next?"

"Well, given her physical condition she can be discharged from our facility, probably by the end of the week. She'll be extremely weak for a while but she doesn't seem to have any other lingering injuries, other than the PT that will be needed for everything that's healed already. As for her memory- it's anyone's guess. Only time will tell."

Josh gulped, unsure of how to proceed.

"It's best not to force anything. Don't unload the last 5 years on her all at once, let her brain try to rest and figure out what it can on its own. If she asks you questions answer her truthfully but don't pry," he told Josh. "Why don't you stop by my office tomorrow when you visit. We can go over some more of the specifics of Donna's condition when I know more."

Josh nodded his agreement returning to Donna's room. She was nodding off again. Settling in to his standard seat next to her bed, he leaned back, content to just be near her. She was soon lost in a deep sleep, helped along by some painkillers given to her for her headache. Josh kissed her goodnight on the temple once again and gently closed the door to her room. He'd come back in the morning so they could finish their little talk.

Walking out of the rehabilitation center and into the cool night air, he paid no attention to the late hour. Though she may not remember everything, or anything, he would still take the overall victory of seeing her smile today.

He flipped open the phone and dialed, smiling from ear to ear. "Mom?" He questioned.

"Joshua? What's wrong. It's nearly 2 am!"

"She's awake!" He all but yelled. "Donna woke up."

XxxxxxxxxxX

Im back! (Or did I really ever leave?)

so, let me know what you think of this so far I realize it probably leaves you with more questions than it does answers but we'll get there Thur and out my writing is a lot more angst-y than I ever thought it would be, but here goes!

ill also be writing another story simultaneously... the other one was my original intent with smoke and mirrors but they morphed into two very different creatures it will be considerably more light hearted though. look for the first chapter of that to be up soon as well!