"How are you?" He asked and watched as her frown deepened; he was confused as to why she looked confused but he didn't care.
"I'm fine." She answered slowly and to her it seemed to relieve him. He opened his mouth to ask her another question but she quickly got in before him. "Do I know you?"
"Do you know me?" Casey asked, jaw dropped and eyes wide as he stared at her. She appeared to be studying him, head tilted to the side and eyes narrowed as she fiddled with the phone in her lap with both hands; he'd dropped her hand in shock. "Gabby, of course you know me!" She frowned and looked down at something tucked under her phone; her driver's licence.
"I thought my name was Gabriella." Casey was out of his chair now, pacing with hands in his hair.
"Your name is Gabriella."
"But you just-"
"I know what I called you. I called you Gabby, your name that we shortened. Your family." He walked over to her, leant on the side of her bed and looked into her eyes. "You don't remember me at all do you? Nothing is in that brain of yours at all." She looked back at him and he recognised the confusion and doubt in its depths.
"I'm sorry. I wish I could help but the doctor said that it was expected with the bump I experienced." Casey opened his mouth to respond but there was a knock at the door before it clicked open and Antonio wandered in, his arm around Shay before shutting the door behind him. Shay wandered over to Casey and dragged him to the side, explaining everything to him whilst Antonio looked at his sister.
"You should be asleep." Antonio remarked and she smiled.
"That's what the nurse said too but the doc said this was expected from Gabriella Dawson." He snorted before walking closer and tentatively reaching for her hand.
"I know you don't remember anything and I know you're confused and in pain but it will get better. I'm Antonio, you're brother and little miss smiles over there," he jerked his thumb in Shay's direction who was smiling at her. "Is Leslie Shay and lover boy next to her is Matt Casey." Gabriella, for she couldn't call herself Gabby yet, looked at them all and felt comfortable. With Antonio, she could see the similarities in their faces and could just sense the protectiveness oozing from his pores whilst with Leslie, she could feel as if they were best friends, with a raised eyebrow at Leslie, and a smirk returned her way, she figured they were just that.
Casey was different. With him she felt that protection that she felt with Antonio, and she felt the best friend feeling that she got just by looking at Shay but there was something… more. Something that she couldn't describe and something she couldn't put her finger on but she was sure she could trust this feeling.
Plus, he had a nice face.
The three faces, for she was still trying to remember their names, stayed with her for another ten minutes as they told her the things that she should know about herself. She was a paramedic who had just learnt to become a firefighter and would have been leaving her home, firehouse 51 to live out that career since she was in a relationship with Casey. That explained her feeling of more but when they spoke about their relationship – they only briefly touched on it – she felt like they were holding something back.
She owned a bar called Molly's with two of her friends, Otis and Herrmann. She thought they were weird names but she kept quiet about that.
They quickly spoke about other things before a knock on the door told them that she had more visitors and Shay and Antonio would have to leave.
"I'll be round soon sis." Antonio commented, kissing her on the forehead and awkwardly hugging her whlist Shay smiled and pulled her into a big hug, being careful of her injuries and ignoring the stiff board that was Gabby.
"I'll be round tomorrow. Chief said that he wants me to have a girly day." Gabby nodded and silently watched the two leave the room.
"Are you ready to meet more people?" Casey asked from beside her, his voice quiet and calm as if she was a nervous animal. She nodded, still shy of talking to a man who had seen all of her. He walked over to the door and let in the next couple of people – and from what she heard, there were a lot. "This is Otis and this is Herrmann."
It was two hours later when Gabby had a moment of peace. She'd fallen asleep halfway through meeting her family and friends, much to the delight of everyone waiting to re-introduce themselves to her. The doctor had chuckled, claiming that it was such a Dawson thing to do.
Gabby was getting annoyed with it all.
Everybody had commented on things that she would do or how certain actions so resembled her; but she wasn't her anymore, she was a blank slate and she hated being reminded of it.
"Do you want to sleep?" Casey asked, smiling softly at her as he brought her out of her thoughts.
"Er, yes please." She mumbled, tugging the duvet tighter around her as she settled down a bit. She watched through half closed eyes how he moved to the armchair in the corner of her room, the way his muscles moved and his movements were graceful. She'd seen him smiling a lot since she'd woke up and it wasn't hard for her to see how she could have feelings for him.
He really was attractive.
"You know," she started, half asleep. "I'm not going to remember the names of half the people that visited today." He chuckled from his place in the chair from across the room.
"As long as you remember me, that's all that matters."
Hey, i apologise for the long delay in updating and i'm sorry that i can't tell you when the next update is going to be. I've almost finished two of my other fics and then i'll be focusing on this and my other one so we should have regular updates soon. Also, there are going to be roughly twenty chapters in this fic, so you know in advance how long we've got to go, and i'd love to hear (read) your thoughts all the time so review please!