Sandy watched Kirsten through the window as she dozed in and out of consciousness. He was trying to give her some space, since it was clear having him there made her uncomfortable. He'd phoned the boys last night to tell them what had happened; he'd just told them about the accident, and left out the part about her not recognizing him. He'd been hoping that she would wake up, and be fine. He'd managed to convince them not to come in last night because she needed sleep, but he knew they would be in any moment, and he had no idea how they were going to take this.

"Sandy." A voice spoke gently behind him. He turned to see Patrick; an old police officer friend of his from when he worked at the public defenders' office. It had been Patrick who was first on the scene at the crash; he'd recognized Kirsten, and had immediately phoned Sandy.
"I don't know what to tell you. She blew a .08. ...Look, maybe, maybe I read it wrong. Maybe it was a .07."
"I'm not asking you to do that."
"Just promise me you'll get her some help."
Sandy nodded, and watched his friend walk away. He knew he should feel guilty, but all he felt was relief; after all they both had enough to worry about. He went back to watching her through the window, in his mind running through all that had happened the night before.

The doctor had been paged as soon as she'd woken up, and had arrived before Sandy had a chance to react to her question. Sandy told him that he was worried about her; that she was confused, and didn't recognize him. The doctor had only nodded, and turned to Kirsten.
"I'm just going to ask you some questions Kirsten. OK?" She had nodded.
"Can you tell me your full name?"
"Kirsten Nichol."
"What about your husbands' name?"
"Husband?" She had laughed slightly. "My boyfriends' name is Jimmy Cooper."
"Can you tell me who the president is?"
"Of course, Ronald Regan."
"What year is it Kirsten?"
"It's 1983." The doctor and Sandy had shared a look, which she had immediately picked up on. "Will somebody please just tell me what's going on?"
"Just a moment." The doctor had told her. "Mr Cohen. Can I talk to you in the hall?" Sandy had been conflicted, he really hadn't wanted to leave her, but after a moment's debate with himself he had followed the doctor into the hall.

"Jimmy Cooper?"
"My wife's boyfriend when she was in high school. What's wrong with her?"
"I'm going to need to talk to her some more, but at the moment I would say she's developed retrograde amnesia; brought on by the crash, and the bump to her head. Now she could be over it when she wakes in the morning, or... well it could take longer. I'm afraid the only thing to do is wait." His pager had beeped and he'd looked at it quickly. "I'll be back later to go through things in more detail with you, and Kirsten. In the meantime, I can get a nurse to explain the situation to her." Sandy had shaken his head.
"No. I should be the one to do it." The doctor had smiled, in what Sandy was sure was meant to be a reassuring way, and then he'd rushed off down the corridor.

He'd come back into the room, and Kirsten had looked up at him. "They won't tell me what's going on," and she'd looked so scared, and vulnerable he couldn't bear it. He'd sat down on the chair beside her bed.
"I know. I'm going to tell you now. You've been in a car crash; you've got some minor injuries, nothing to worry about, but you also hit your head pretty hard...They think you have retrograde amnesia. You've forgotten twenty-two years of your life. But don't worry." He'd added quickly. "It'll come back. We just need to give it some time." He'd stopped to give her a moment to absorb that. "It's not 1983; it's 2005. I'm you're husband, and we have a child... well not really a child anymore... Seth. He's seventeen. We also have Ryan, who's the same age. We took him in nearly two years ago after he had some problems at home."
"I don't..." She'd tried, then stopped, and cleared her throat. "I don't understand."
"I know honey... Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have told you that all in one go." He'd clasped her hand in his, as she'd closed her eyes and shaken her head to clear it. When she'd opened them again she'd looked down at the hand holding hers, and pulled away from him. He'd done his best not to look hurt.

"Where's my mom? Is she here." Sandy was sure he'd flinched; she'd sounded so young. He'd really wished that he didn't have to do this, but he couldn't not tell her, not now she'd asked, and he couldn't lie.
"Oh honey... Your mom she... she had cancer. It was over ten years ago now... She died."

"No." She'd whispered, her eyes wide, and filling with tears.
"I'm so sorry."
"What about my dad?"
"He's fine. He's living in Newport. I'll phone him for you first thing in the morning."
"Why can't you phone him now?" She managed, trying desperately not to cry.
"Sweetheart; he may be the devil incarnate, but he's also an old man; I can't phone him in the middle of the night to tell him you've had a car accident."

He'd tried to comfort her but she hadn't wanted him. Once he'd convinced her she couldn't speak to either of her parents, she'd asked for Jimmy. He'd told her he didn't live round here anymore, but the nurse, who had been coming in and out of the room checking on her had overheard.
"Can you contact him? It might do her some good to be able to talk to someone she recognizes."
"I'll phone him for you." He'd told her. "It might take a few days for him to get there." He'd gone outside to make the call, but he couldn't get through to him. The mobile number he'd had was no longer in service. He'd promised her that he would try again in the morning.

"Hey, it's not so bad, is it?" He'd joked. "I mean you've still got me." She'd only looked at him blankly, and then turned over, and shut her eyes.

That was last night, and her attitude to him had hardly warmed. It was a real case of shooting the messenger, but he knew he wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he'd let her find out that stuff from a nurse.

He hears footsteps, and looks up to find Seth and Ryan walking towards him.
"How is she? Can we go in?"
"I need to talk to the both of you." He looks around, and then pulls them down to the relatives room. He tells them everything that has happened. "Now it's up to you. If you want to go into see her I'm not going to try and stop you, but what I want you to understand is her state of mind right now. As far as she's concerned she went to bed last night as a teenager, with her parents in the room down the hall, and she's woken up to find she has a husband she's never met, her mom's dead. You'll be adding a child that's older than she thinks she is to that list."
"OK." Seth agrees easily, when it's comes to his mother he'd trust his dad's judgment unreservedly. "So what I can I do to help her?"
"You can go pick up your grand-father. I haven't spoken to him yet, so be tactful..." Seth nods. "Maybe let Ryan tell him." Sandy jokes halfheartedly.
"What are you gonna do?"
"I am going to go outside, and phone Jimmy."
"Jimmy Cooper. Why are you phoning him?"
"As far as she's concerned she's sixteen, and that means Jimmy. Seeing him might be able to help her better than I can right now." He goes out of the hospital to use his mobile. He phones Marissa to see if she has a current number for her father, and eventually he gets through. He explains what as happened as briefly as he can, wanting to get back to Kirsten as quickly as possible.
"Yeah of course. Whatever she needs. I'll get the first plane back." Jimmy tells him straight-away.
"Thanks Jimmy. I appreciate it." He hangs up the phone, and goes back to the ward Kirsten is on; all the time thinking how much he hates having to ask for help for Kirsten from Jimmy of all people.

He almost makes it to the room before, "What on earth has happened to my daughter?" comes booming across the corridor. He shuts his eyes for a moment to gather some remnants of strength, and then he turns to his father-in-law.