A/N: I do not own Forever. This idea was nagging and nagging at me, begging to be written. So here I am writing it. I hope you guys enjoy. :)
Forget Me Not
Footsteps pounded on the pavement in pursuit of a killer. The suspect in question was a good twenty feet in front of the two people hot on the trail. The closest was Doctor Henry Morgan and not far behind him was his partner Detective Jo Martinez.
"Henry!" Jo called after the medical examiner, "Henry! Stop! I got him!"
Henry didn't seem to hear her. He was gaining on their suspect and tackled him to the ground. Jo finally caught up to them. She gave her partner a slight glare before she took over and started to handcuff the man and read him his rights.
She turned to Henry, "I'll meet you back at the car, Henry. I'm gonna call this in."
"Yes," Henry breathed. He was still slightly out of breath from running. Henry started off to cross the street in the direction of Jo's car. Letting the handcuffed man up, they followed Henry as Jo dialed Hanson to tell him they apprehended their guy.
The next moment came in a flash: a blaring horn and screeching of tires. Jo saw the car a millisecond too late. Henry's name formed on her lips, ready to warn her best friend of the oncoming car, but the car collided with the medical examiner. His head smacked the pavement. Worry for her best friend outweighed everything. She let go of the suspect and ran to Henry's side. The handcuffed man stayed still right behind them, too shocked to move.
"Henry?! Henry! Can you hear me?!" Jo was on the pavement by his side at once. She grabbed his head, picking it up and placing it in her lap. His eyes were closed and he had a gash on his forehead. She felt for a pulse and she let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding when she found one.
Jo got out her phone and dialed 911. It felt like eternity until the ambulance arrived. Luckily Hanson arrived on the scene at the same time and took their suspect away with a promise to meet them at the hospital as soon as he was done. Jo numbly nodded and got in back of the ambulance with Henry.
Click. Click. Click.
The only sound heard in the waiting room was the clicking of Jo's heels against the floor as she paced.
Hanson sat in one of the chairs, watching her, "Sit down, Jo. Worrying yourself sick isn't going to help the doc any."
"I know, but it makes me feel better," Jo argued. She looked at her watch, "He's been in there forever."
"It's only been a few hours," Hanson assured her, "We got the guy that was driving drunk who hit him too. You called Henry's roommate right away and he should be here any time now. Just relax."
"I should've done something. Should've done more," Jo was fighting with herself as she took a seat next to Hanson.
"It was a freak thing, Jo," Hanson put a hand on her shoulder, "Something like that could've happened even if he wasn't out in the field with you. Don't go beating yourself up. You can't control Henry and you can't control the world."
"Jo?" Abe came in the waiting room.
"Abe," Jo got up and gave the older man a hug.
"What happened? What happened to Henry?" Abe kept a hand on Jo's arm as they came out of the hug.
"We were in pursuit of a suspect. Henry caught him and we were on our way back to my car. Henry was crossing the street and this car came out of nowhere. It hit him and he was knocked unconscious," Jo explained.
"What do the doctors say?" Abe's brow furrowed. If Henry's secret was in danger, it would've come to light already. It sounded to him like Henry just got a good whack.
"They haven't come out to tell us anything yet," Hanson came up to join them.
A second later, a doctor came up to the trio. She cleared her throat, "Are one of you here for Doctor Morgan?"
"Yes, all of us," Jo rushed to answer.
"Are any of you family?" the doctor asked.
"Uh, I am," Abe stepped up, "Or at least the closest thing he's got to it here… we all are family, really."
"What's wrong with Henry?" Jo kept her voice from breaking.
"He's awake," the doctor told them with a small smile. Everyone let out a breath of relief as she continued, "But he seems to be suffering from memory loss."
"Memory loss?" Abe suddenly feared the worst. Did he think it was the 1950s or something? Anything was possible with his father.
"Yes," the doctor nodded, "When he awoke we asked him basic questions like his name, age, et cetera, but he couldn't answer them."
"Does he remember anything at all?" Hanson was concerned.
"Well, the brain is a funny thing," the doctor responded, "He didn't know his name, but he was able to tell us how to treat his mild injuries. I think that man is innately a doctor."
"Injuries?" Jo asked.
"Oh, yes," the doctor collected herself, "Aside from the head trauma leading to memory loss, Doctor Morgan has a couple of bruised ribs, but not much damage aside from that. He was very lucky. His brain scans all came back normal."
"Can we see him?" Abe asked.
"Yes, I'll show you in," the doctor started to lead the way with Hanson, Jo, and Abe in step. The doctor continued talking, "His memory will return in time. He just needs to be surrounded by familiar faces and things."
They all were now standing outside Henry's room. Before she let them in, she turned to everyone, "Does he have any one he can stay with while he recovers?"
"He lives with me," Abe spoke up, "We're roommates."
"Oh good," the doctor smiled, "Like I was saying, just surround him with familiar things and his memory should return. It will take time though… it could be days, weeks, or even months."
Abe let out a long sigh. This was going to be interesting. With no memory meant without a doubt his father didn't know he was his father… or that he was immortal.
"You can go in now," the doctor opened the door, "Let us know when you're ready and we'll get his discharge papers ready."
One by one, Abe, Jo, and Hanson entered Henry's room. As they approached Henry, he turned his head toward them, nodding a greeting to the trio. No recognition in his eyes. He had a bandage on his head where the gash was and he was shirtless with bandages wrapped around his torso for his bruised ribs.
The silence was too much for Henry, "Hello."
"Hi," Abe let out an awkward greeting and wave, "H-How are you feeling, Henry?"
"Bit of a headache, but nothing too serious," Henry waved it off, "I'm terribly sorry, but who are you?"
Abe tried not to show the bit of hurt he felt, "I'm Abe…"
Jo continued off Abe's trail to introduce herself to her best friend. God this was weird, "And I'm Jo and this is Hanson."
"I'd like to say nice to meet you, but I have a feeling we already know each other," Henry tried to make light of the situation.
Jo came up closer to the bed, "Yes, uh, you're our medical examiner down at the eleventh precinct. You and I are partners. I'm a homicide detective and so is Hanson. We all work together on cases."
"Medical examiner," Henry looked like he was taking it all in, "Well that explains all this medical knowledge. Funny how I know all that but I didn't even know my name…"
He turned to look at Abe who was now at the foot of his bed, "And how do we know each other?"
"Huh?" Abe was caught off-guard.
"You and I," Henry repeated himself, "How do you and I know each other?"
Abe audibly swallowed, looking clearly uncomfortable, "We're, uh, we're roommates. I own an antique shop and you live there with me. I can explain more when we get home."
Henry furrowed his brows at Abe's answer, but let it go for now, "All right. I should be out of here soon. I thought I heard my doctor say something about discharge papers."
"Yeah, I'll go get her for you, doc," Hanson volunteered.
"I'll go help," Jo offered, sensing the need for the two men to be alone for a moment.
Once Jo and Hanson left the room, Abe pulled up a chair next to Henry's bedside, "You really don't remember anything, Henry?"
"I wish I could, but I can't," Henry looked apologetic. Abe took a moment to take in his father's appearance. Aside from the bandages, he looked like himself. There was a difference in him though. He looked like the weight of the world no longer rested on his shoulders and there was a bit more life in his eyes than Abe had seen in a very long time.
"Well, we'll get you out of here and back to the shop," Abe patted his father's leg, standing up, "There's a lot to talk about."
"Yes, I'm sure there is," Henry smiled.
"I just hope he's not going to think I'm insane when I tell him the truth… or should I even tell him anything? Damn, Henry. Right when I could use your advice, you go and get amnesia on me. I never thought something like this would happen to you." Abe thought.
The sun rose in the sky signaling the start to a new day. Henry set himself to make a cup of coffee in the kitchen. He was dressed in his usual attire and yet still felt out of place. When he and Abe (his name was Abe, right?) came home the night previously, it was spent mostly in silence. He sensed that his amnesia was hard on the older man, but he just couldn't figure out why it seemed to be more of a big deal to Abe than him.
"Did you sleep well?" Abe came into the kitchen.
"As well as can be expected," Henry replied.
"Listen, Henry, I'm sorry for the awkwardness last night," Abe apologized, "It's just you not knowing things… it just is gonna take a little bit of time to get used to."
"You and me both," Henry gave him a small smile. Gesturing to the freshly-brewed pot of coffee, Henry held it up, "Can I get you a cup of coffee?"
"That'd be great, thanks," Abe took the offered cup.
"So, the doctor said I should be doing normal things," Henry started, "Is this normal? Do we have breakfast and coffee together in the mornings?"
"Yeah, usually," Abe took a seat across from Henry at the table, "Unless Jo calls with a body."
"A body?" Henry looked confused.
"You know, a case," Abe elaborated, "You're a medical examiner, remember? Sorry, I didn't mean 'remember,' uh, I just meant…"
"I knew what you meant, Abe, thank you," Henry put his hand up to stop Abe's rambling, "It is Abe, right?"
"Yes, but most of the time you call me Abraham," Abe answered.
"How did you say we know each other again? How did we come to be roommates?" Henry took a sip of his coffee.
Abe opened his mouth to answer, a thousand thoughts racing through his mind, but before he could form a word, the phone rang.
"Saved by the bell," Abe thought and got up to answer the phone.
After a brief conversion with the person on the other end, Abe held the phone out to Henry, "It's Jo… It's for you."
"Oh," Henry got up and took the phone, "Hello?"
"Hi, Henry," Jo's voice came from the other end, "I was just calling to see if you were up to coming into work today?"
"Yes, of course," Henry nodded, "The more familiar things, the better, right?"
"Right," Jo responded, "In fact, I'm downstairs outside the shop right now. I figured you'd need a ride."
"Good thinking, Detective," Henry agreed, "I'll see you in a minute."
"See you," Jo hung up.
"Jo's downstairs to give me a ride to work," Henry said, "I'll see you later? We can finish our conversation then."
"Yeah," Abe nodded, "See you later."
At his father's retreating back, Abe let out a sigh. He had all day to figure out what he'd tell him. Whether or not by the end of the conversation, his father would be searching for a psychiatric hospital for him was up for debate.
"Morning, Doc!" Lucas greeted as Henry and Jo came off the elevator.
"Good morning," Henry nodded.
"Looks like we don't have too busy of a morning," Lucas went in step with Jo and Henry. Jo looked like she wanted to say something, but Lucas kept going, "A few bodies here and there… unless the good detective has something for us?"
"No, Lucas," Jo shook her head. She put her hand on Henry's shoulder, "Your office is right over there, Henry… give us a minute."
"Thank you," Henry nodded and headed to his office.
Lucas furrowed his brows, "Why are you telling Henry where his office is?"
With all of the chaos the previous day, nobody had a chance to tell Lucas about Henry's amnesia. Lieutenant Reece knew from when Jo called in and Hanson had dropped off the killer to tie up their last case, but nobody had the chance to let the assistant ME know.
"Henry got into an accident yesterday, Lucas," Jo began to explain, "Believe it or not, he has amnesia."
"Oh my God," Lucas' eyes widened, "Is he okay?"
"Bump on the head and a few bruised ribs, but he lost his memory," Jo said.
Lucas lifted himself up on his tiptoes to peer into Henry's office. He was now sitting at his desk, looking through his things to see if he could spark some memories. Now Lucas noticed the small bandage on his boss' head and the slower movements from his tender ribs.
"He doesn't know anything?" Lucas brought his attention back to Jo.
"He knows he's a doctor," Jo supplied, "But he didn't even know his own name or who any of us were. His doctor said his memory will come back eventually, but to give it time. I brought him to work because he needs to be surrounded by familiar things. Luckily there haven't been any bodies dropped this morning and you said it was a slow day. Maybe it's just what he needs today."
"Yeah," Lucas nodded.
"You'll look out for him down here today?" Jo knew she didn't need to ask, but needed to reassure herself.
"Of course I'll look out for him," Lucas almost looked offended at the notion that he wouldn't, "He's Henry… he'll be back to his old self in no time."
"I hope so," Jo sighed and patted Lucas' shoulder, "See you later, Lucas."
"See you later," Lucas echoed as Jo headed back to the elevators and out of the morgue. Lucas steeled himself and headed for his boss' office. Knocking, he poked his head in, "Hey, Doc… Detective Martinez told me what happened."
"Yes," Henry stood up, "I'm sorry… I might not be a huge help today."
"You'll be awesome as always," Lucas assured him.
"It's nice to know that I have friends down here," Henry smiled, "Uh, I'm sorry… what was your name?"
"Lucas," Lucas stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Lucas," Henry shook his hand.
"God, this is so weird," Lucas blurted.
"Don't need to tell me twice," Henry agreed.
"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it," Lucas backpedaled, "I just meant…"
"No need to apologize, Lucas," Henry stopped him from rambling. He seemed to be doing that a lot since his memory loss. Were people that nervous around him? "Just show me what we do down here and we can get started on some work."
"Okay," Lucas smiled, "Come on, Doc, we only have a few bodies this morning."
"You think the doc is okay to be back at work so soon?" Hanson asked when Jo sat across from him at her desk.
"He'll be fine," Jo said, "His doctor said he needed to do normal things. As weird as it is, normal things for Henry is dead bodies."
"Two bodies down… one to go," Lucas announced jovially, "Told you we had a light load today, Doc."
"Yes," Henry smiled as he snapped on fresh gloves, "It's just like riding a bike."
"Yeah, I guess you never forget being a doctor, eh?" Lucas got the next body ready for Henry.
"I suppose it's in my DNA," Henry agreed. All of a sudden, Henry put a hand to his head. He shut his eyes as a memory came flooding back to him.
1915
"You're incredible, Henry," James shook his head in disbelief.
"Yes, I know," Henry grinned, "What for this time?"
"Your gift for instant diagnosis," James clarified, "Back there… I don't think you missed a single patient. You diagnosed what each of them had in under a minute."
"I've been a doctor for a while," Henry replied as they exited the hospital.
"Sometimes I think you must've been born a doctor," James shook his head.
"Perhaps it's in my bones," Henry surmised.
"Please teach me your ways," James patted his back with a laugh.
"If it's one thing I have, James, it's time," Henry remarked.
"Could you start now?" James was only half-teasing.
"Maybe tomorrow," Henry parted ways with his friend, "I'll see you later, James."
"Until tomorrow, Henry," James nodded a goodbye.
"Henry?" Lucas' voice came through, merging from James' in the past to the present, "Henry, are you okay?"
"I, uh," Henry didn't know what to make of what he just saw. That couldn't be a memory. His surroundings and his companion's clothes looked like something from the early twentieth century. That was impossible.
"You okay, Doc?" Lucas grew more concerned at Henry's silence.
"Would you mind terribly finishing up here, Lucas?" Henry composed himself, "I have a strong headache coming on."
"Yeah… sure, no problem," Lucas assured him as he watched Henry's retreating back heading to the elevators after he snapped off his gloves.
The elevator doors closed. Henry started to sweat. What could what he just saw mean? Perhaps him and his friend were reenacting something? But why would the world around him look like it was from another era too? Maybe Jo would know something.
"Henry?" Jo sat up in her chair when she saw him approach, "You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Might I have a word in private?" Henry's eyes practically pleaded with her. Hanson got the hint and excused himself. Jo led Henry to the break room.
"What's wrong?" Jo folded her arms, ready to listen.
"I think I might have just had a memory," Henry began.
"That's great!" Jo immediately perked up.
"But it doesn't make any sense," Henry shook his head.
"Henry, I might not be the best person to talk to about your memories," Jo told him, "We've only known each other for a couple of months."
"Months, years, I don't think this matters," Henry shook his head, "This memory just didn't make any sense… it looked like something from the early 1900s."
"What?" Jo furrowed her brows in confusion along with Henry, "Tell me about it."
"Lucas was just making conversation about how even with my memory loss, I'm a natural at being a doctor," Henry began, "And I don't know what happened, it's like all of a sudden, I started to remember a similar situation with someone else… but the buildings, our clothes… they all looked like we were in the early 1900s. If I had to wager a guess, I'd say somewhere around 1910 or 1915."
"Henry, that's impossible," Jo shook her head.
"I know," Henry looked scared, "So what does this mean?"
"I'll ask Reece if I can get a personal day," Jo led him out of the break room, "You wait by my desk and we'll get you home. Maybe Abe can shed some light on what's going on."
"I can't ask you to take a day off for me," Henry objected.
"Henry, you're my best friend," Jo stated, "This is non-negotiable."
So? What do you guys think? There aren't many 'amnesia' stories in this fandom yet. I figured I'd take a stab at it. There's just the second part to this left. I'll probably post it next weekend - give you guys time to soak this part in. ;) Let me know what you think! I hope you guys like it so far. :D
