AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback! You guys really made my day :-)

I basically have the whole story written to the end. There are just a few bits and pieces missing in between. So I can tell you that there definitely will be several more chapters and I should be able to update regularly (unless I get stuck with one of those bits and pieces...).

Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

The next day brought on a series of tests, more questions, more lights in her eyes, and a lot of time to think in between. About the night before, for example. In light of all the tests they did, she wasn't sure if she was maybe going crazy, but something certainly was up with her head. So maybe, it was just a dream. A hallucination. Maybe. But she could have sworn that every time she woke up during the night, she saw the brunette sleeping in the chair in the corner of her room. In the morning, though, she was gone.

Due to the long day she'd had, she wasn't allowed any visitors in the evening, except for Holly. Doctor Stewart. Who had been there all night. She also couldn't stop thinking about what her brother said. That she was her wife. It made no sense. No sense at all. But what if it was true? Even for her brother, that would be a weird joke to make. And seeing Nick certainly didn't live up to her expectations. So. Probably, she was going crazy.

As if on cue, Holly walked into her room. Slowly, tentatively. She rounded her bed and went to stand by the window, leaning against the window sill and eying Gail with worry. Her wife? Really?

"Hey?" Gail was the first to speak.

"Hey. I just... I wanted to see how you were doing." It wasn't a question, so Gail didn't answer, and there were a few long moments of silence.

"Well, you saw." Gail finally said, pointing up and down herself and Holly nodded, approaching the foot and of Gail's bed.

"Do you need anything?"

"Yeah. For people to fucking stop asking me questions!" She was frustrated. And she knew that the brunette wasn't the one to blame, but she kind of embodied everything that frustrated her right now.

"Ok. Well, if you do need anything, just ask the nurses and they'll let me know." Her voice was still friendly and she finished with a smile. "Try and get some rest, Gail." The brunette briefly touched Gail's shin before starting towards the door.

"Wait!" Gail stopped her and the brunette turned around, as Gail sat up.

"Nobody seems to want to tell me anything around here. So... If I ask you a few questions, do you promise to give me an honest answer?"

Holly nodded and came to sit on the edge of Gail's bed. Just like Nick did. Just that the brunette didn't sit all that close, didn't encroach upon the blonde's personal space, didn't trap her hand in hers. "What do you want to know?"

"What's wrong with me? Am I going crazy?" Compared to just a few seconds ago, Gail seemed so small and vulnerable all of a sudden, that it broke Holly's heart a little.

"No! No. You're not going crazy Gail. Of course not." She briefly took her hand to comfort the blonde, but released it right away when she noticed Gail flinch just a little.

"Then what's going on?" She enquired further.

"We... We're not supposed to tell you. Yet. The doctors want to..." She saw Gail's death glare again and fell silent. She sighed and spoke again.

"It's... The doctors say, it's a form of amnesia. Caused by head trauma." Gail took a deep breath. She didn't really know whether she should be alarmed or relieved. At least she was not going crazy.

"How long... How much time am I missing?" Her question was tentative, almost as if she didn't want to know.

"Gail, I really shouldn't..."

"How much?!" She interrupted the brunette fiercely.

"From what we know so far, about..." Holly breathed deeply before continuing. "About five years."

Gail froze and stared at Holly, mouth agape. As the information sunk in, her eyes were flooded with tears and she couldn't help but let them fall.

"I'm sorry." Holly whispered, at a loss for what else to say or do.

After a few minutes, Gail collected herself and wiped the tears from her face. Now that they were here already, she had to ask the next question, too.

"So. Who are you?" The brunette knitted her eyebrows together.

"I'm Holly."

"Yeah yeah, that I know." Gail gestured back and forth between the two of them. "Who are we... to each other?"

Holly eyed Gail for a long while before answering. "We... We're married. I'm your wife."

Gail nodded contemplatively. "I'm not wearing a ring." She held up her hand.

"Yeah, they... They probably took it off for your surgery. It should be in one of the drawers with the rest of your personal belongings." Holly pointed at the trolley next to Gail's bed while the blonde wondered how she could not have looked in there yet.

She opened the first drawer and found a plastic bag that held, among other things, a ring. One that looked like a wedding ring, just like the one Holly was wearing on her left hand. Gail nodded again and a long silence fell between them.

"Look, I'm sorry, but... I don't know you. So..." Gail let the conclusion hang in the air, but Holly understood.

"Yeah. Of course. I... I'll go." She stood up and straightened her jacket. "But... You know, Gail... I know you. And I care about you. A lot. So... I would like to come back. If that's ok with you."

Gail looked up at the brunette, surprised that she would put herself in that vulnerable position. "I... I don't know." And again, Gail sounded small and fragile, helpless. She really didn't know. She assumed it was supposed to be ok. But she honestly didn't know if it was. She could see the hurt in Holly's eyes, but the brunette put on a brave face, a weak smile, and whispered her ok as she nodded.

"Get some rest", she managed to squeeze out with an unsteady voice as she turned and exited.

She sat there for a while, unmoving, while her thoughts were racing. Amnesia. Holly. Wife. Five years. Nick. It all seemed surreal. It was something that happened in movies. The kind of movies Gail would only scoff at. Some far-fetched vehicle for drama.

She opened the plastic bag and fished for the ring. She weighed it in the palm of her hand, brushed her fingers across the cold metal. Slowly, she slid it on her ring finger. It fit perfectly. Now that she looked closely, she could see a slight indentation on her finger, right where the ring would normally sit, and she noticed that the skin there was a tiny bit whiter – if that was even possible... Plus one forever. 2016-05-30. The inscription read. What date was it today? November 11th, 2017, the nurse told her.

She emptied the rest of the bag's contents onto the blanket covering her legs. There was her badge and police ID. Detective Gail Peck. Detective. Well, looks like her mother has finally gotten her way. She checked behind the police ID and found a 20-dollar-bill. Her driver's license and her social security card. Abbygail Marianne Stewart Peck. She read it several times. Yes, it really said Stewart Peck. In the same pocket, she found a strip from one of those photo booths. She must have been carrying that around for quite some time, judging by the worn-off edges, but it seemed to have been treasured and was neatly folded. They were two pictures of herself and Holly. Posing like... well, like she supposed people in love would. She hardly recognized herself. She noticed that the bottom edge was not cleanly cut, but apparently ripped off the other half. Maybe that was with Holly? She checked the back of the strip. Kick ass and come home. I love you. xxx H. She turned it to look at the photo once more, ghosting over those strangers' faces with her finger. A phone, the display broken. She still tried to turn it on. Nothing. Maybe the battery was dead? She made a mental note to ask for the charger. Two crumbled up pieces of paper. One was a receipt. Two burgers, fries, donuts, milk shakes. Sounded about right. The other one seemed to be a shopping list, but she didn't recognize the handwriting.

Milk

Peanut butter

Toast

Oat flakes

Greek Yoghurt

Kale, Apples, Carrots (YUMMM! :P)

Cheese puffs (We're almost out! Oh noooo! Next to it, a drawing of a panicked emoticon.)

Beer (Dito! Two panicked emoticons.)

Bacon

Toothpaste

Whatever you want for dinner (NOT something that can be "cooked" in a microwave!)

Ice cream (You know which ones I like – surprise me )

Holly had obviously written that list and Gail realized that the comments and smiley faces inadvertently brought a smile to her face even though the domesticity reflected in the piece of paper seemed entirely strange to her.

She put down the list and stared at the items from the bag, realizing that – except for the burgers and donuts – basically everything seemed strange to her. The life that all the items documented seemed strange to her. Hell, even her own face seemed strange to her! She threw everything back into the bag and put it back in the drawer where she found it, letting her head fall into the pillow. It had been a long day.