Chapter 2

"Can you follow the li—Daryl? Daryl, would you hold still?" One of the interns, Glenn Rhee, was attempting to give Daryl an exam, but Daryl wouldn't sit still.

"You forget who you're talkin' to, kid?"

"No…sir. Dr. Dixon." Glenn swallowed nervously. "But you know I have to check you out before I give you over to Neuro."

"M'fine," Daryl muttered.

"Yeah, you're fine, but when they EMTs hauled you in, you were reminding me to check on Katie Grey."

"So?"

"Katie Grey was a patient we had six months ago," he pointed out.

"What?" Daryl asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Daryl, what month is it?"

"March," Daryl pointed out. "Now let me up." Daryl grabbed for his neck restraint, and he pulled it off.

"Doctors make the worst patients," Glenn groaned. "If you're not going to…just let me clear your C-Spine already, alright?" Daryl begrudgingly let Glenn continue with his exam, and when the younger doctor seemed to be finished, Daryl got up from the gurney. "It's September, by the way."

"What?"

"It's September. You're…a little confused." Daryl glared at the younger doctor for a second before pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket. Sure enough, the date on the phone said September 19, 2015. Six months. How the hell had he lost six months? "Look, man, we've gotta get you down for a CT."

"M'fine."

"Well, too bad for you, you're my patient, so unless you want to sign an AMA, you need to calm down and lay back down."

"That woman and her kid? They're ok?"

"You know I can't discuss their cases with…"

"Cut the shit, Rhee. I held that woman's hand, and she was terrified. I just gotta know they're ok." Glenn sighed and looked over his shoulder briefly before turning back to Daryl.

"Little girl's got a broken arm, and the mom's bruised up. Some of that bruising is old though, not from the crash. Looks like the husband put his hands on her. Guess maybe it's a blessing he didn't make it." At Daryl's glance, Glenn shrugged. "Sorry."

"Fuck," Daryl grumbled. "Head's killin' me."

"Which is why we need to get you down for a CT. You could have a bleed. We need to make sure it's nothing life threatening. You really need to lie down." Daryl sighed heavily and moved back to the gurney, pulling himself up and leaning back against the backboard. Swallowing hard, he began to scroll through his messages, finding all sorts of missed calls from a woman named Rose.

"You wanna tell me somethin'?"

"Hmm?"

"You know who Rose is?"

"Rose? Uh…no. Why?"

"No reason," Daryl muttered, rubbing his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. Judging by the amount of calls he'd gotten, Rose clearly had wanted to talk to him the past few days. The last call had come in earlier that day. He checked the texts, but there was nothing from her at all.

"You going to lie still so I can go get these tests ordered, or do I have to restrain you?"

"Go on. Just…hurry up. Got six months of my life to try and get back."

"Just hang in there. The sooner we get these tests done, the sooner we figure out what's up. Might have to do an x-ray on those ribs, too. You're pretty banged up." Daryl grumbled something, but Glenn was already out the door. With a sigh, Daryl turned back to his phone. He called his voicemail, but there were no messages.

He thought about calling this number, this Rose, but as he was about to dial, he heard a gentle tap at the metal frame of the exam room. He glanced over to see Carol standing there with her arm in a sling. She was bruised up, but she looked like she was alright.

"Hey," he murmured, starting to sit up.

"You shouldn't," she said quietly. "You should…lie down. Just rest. I, um, I wanted to thank you for everything you did for me and for my little girl. She said you were kind to her, and for that, I'm grateful."

"Don't gotta thank me for that," he murmured.

"Are you ok? Are you…"

"Think so," he said with a nod. "'Cept, I'm missin' a big chunk of the last six months. Ain't that a bitch, huh?" He glanced at her and saw her lower lip tremble.

"Oh," she said quietly. "God, I'm so sorry."

"Wasn't your fault. They're gonna run some tests. Stuff like this is usually temporary. Accidents happen. I know that more'n anybody. Don't know how many people come through this ER every day 'cause of a car accident. It ain't your fault."

"It was. I…I was arguing with my husband. We'd been arguing, and…and he was just…I made him angry."

"Hey," he murmured, sitting up a little. "I ain't blamin' you. You been through more'n enough tonight. You and your girl. Don't you go worryin' about me." He saw her blink back the tears, and that was when a little blonde girl poked her head into the room from around Carol's side. Carol pulled her arm across the girl's shoulders.

"Dr. Daryl?" the little girl asked softly.

"Hey, kid," he said with a little nod. "Heard you got yourself in the cast club."

"Not yet," Sophia pouted. "But I want a purple one."

"I'll let my friend Glenn know. He's good at puttin' on casts." Sophia grinned, revealing her two front teeth were missing.

"Sophia wanted to thank you for everything you've done tonight," Carol said quietly. She gently urged her daughter forward. "Go on, honey." Sophia hurried over to Daryl's side, and she stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you, Dr. Daryl." She grinned at him again before hurrying back over to her mother.

"Come on, honey," Carol urged. "Let's let the nice man rest, ok?" Sophia nodded, and Carol glanced back at Daryl.

"Would it be ok if I stopped by later? You know, to check on you? I feel so guilty." Daryl nodded then, and as Carol turned away, he called to her.

"Hey." She turned around. "I'm real sorry about what happened to your husband." Carol flinched.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "Can I get you anything?"

"Just go get yourself some rest."

"I'm fine," she said quietly. "Don't think I feel very much like sleeping, you know?" Daryl nodded a little in understanding. "I'll see you later." She headed off, and Daryl rested his head back against the pillow, unable to get the grief-stricken look on her face out of his head. He closed his eyes and hoped that when he woke, the last six months would be back, and he could get on with his life.

With a sigh, he took a look at his cell phone, and after a few minutes of debating, he called Rose. It rang six times before beeping. No message. No nothing.

"Uh, hey. This is Daryl Dixon. I know this is gonna sound strange, but I had this number on my phone, and I don't know who it belongs to? I've been in an accident, and my memory's real fuzzy. If you could call me back, let me know who you are, maybe it'll help me remember. Uh, thanks."

He put his phone down and closed his eyes, hoping that this was all just a bad dream.

...

"Mrs. Peletier?" a nurse asked, walking into the room. "Mrs. Peletier, I'm Jacqui. I'm your nurse. Looks like you're spending a night with us here, just for observation?"

"Yes, but…please. Don't call me Mrs. Peletier. I'm Carol."

"Carol. Ok. Carol, I'm very sorry for your loss. If you'd like to speak to a grief counselor, we can set that up for you and for your little girl."

"No thank you," Carol said a bit stiffly. "That won't be necessary." She was relieved when Jacqui didn't look shocked at her statement. "Have you seen Sophia? She's in with the doctor getting a cast right now."

"And she's sucking on a lollipop and giggling at his really bad jokes."

"Oh," Carol murmured with a sigh of relief. "Is that man going to be ok? The doctor from the wreck?"

"Honey, I'm sure he's going to be just fine. He's just a little banged up, is all."

"He said he can't remember the last six months," Carol said quietly.

"That happens sometimes. I'm sure it's only temporary."

"I hope you're right."

"Dr. Dixon's a good man. He's kind of a hero around these parts. I've seen him do some amazing things in the ER. See, he usually runs the traumas, gets patients stable before sending them up for surgery." She smiled a little. "I think he's been distracted lately. Probably by a girl. Those Dixon brothers couldn't be any more different if they tried, but the one thing they have in common is their love of the ladies." Jacqui chuckled and shook her head. "I'm sorry. That was inappropriate."

"It's alright," Carol said quietly. She felt dizzy again, and she put her hand to her forehead. "I could use something for this headache."

"Of course," Jacqui said quietly. "I'll put an order in for something. Don't worry. It won't hurt the baby." She turned toward the doorway, and Carol nodded as her mind slowly processed the words. Then her eyes widened.

"What baby?" Jacqui turned toward her with her file in her arms.

"You didn't…know?"

"Know what? What's there to know?"

"Honey, you're pregnant. You really didn't know?"

"No. I…"

"When you were brought in, you were out of it, but there was some bleeding. They did an ultrasound to make sure it wasn't internal, and there was a heartbeat. They measured the fetus at about ten weeks."

"Ten weeks," she murmured. "Oh God." Her eyes widened again. "I was bleeding? The baby? Am I gonna lose it?"

"The bleeding stopped. You were having some cramping, and that stopped too. The doctor will probably be in later to run some tests, but I wouldn't worry right now. Just be glad you and your little girl are alright. Just…be thankful to God for that."

"God never did much for me," Carol said quietly. "But if he's out there, I could use a prayer or two right now." Jacqui gave her a sympathetic smile before nodding.

"I'll get you something to help with the pain."

"Thank you," Carol murmured numbly, putting her hand over her forehead. She leaned back against the pillow and replayed the events of the evening back and her head. The way Ed had looked at her like she was dirt, the way he'd slapped her around and dragged her out to the car, the way he'd carried a sleeping Sophia out there and put her in the back seat. God it was a wonder Sophia had made it out at all. Maybe she truly did have someone watching over them after all.

She felt sick then, and she swallowed hard to will the nausea away.

"This isn't happening," she whispered. "This isn't real. It's not real."

...

"Good news and bad news, man," Glenn said, pointing to the images on the computer screen. "Good news is, Briggs in Neuro didn't see any permanent damage. Bad news is, you've got a concussion. You'll live."

"And my memory?"

"Well, the good news is, you still know who you are, you know that you're a doctor. You've just lost some time."

"So it's like the world's worst blackout hangover?" Daryl asked.

"Something like that," Glenn said with a nod. "You might get your memories back, you might not. But at least you're alive."

"Shit," Daryl murmured, rubbing his head.

"Careful. That glue only holds so long as you don't pick at it."

"You glued me?"

"You really want a big Frankenstein scar on your forehead? Yeah, I glued you." Daryl glared at him for a minute before settling back down.

"Alright," Daryl murmured. "So you saw me around, right, Rhee? Anything important happen I should know about?"

"Uh, you saved like a hundred people. Uh…"

"Not here. I mean, yeah, here, but not work stuff."

"Oh. Well, you got a new tattoo."

"Where?"

"Shoulder." Daryl pulled up the gown sleeve on his right shoulder. Nothing. On his left shoulder was a small and simple tattoo of a flower. Daryl narrowed his yes. "A flower? What the hell was I thinkin'?"

"Heard you telling somebody it was a Cherokee Rose. Oh! Rose!" Daryl narrowed his eyes again and looked down at his cell phone. "Ah, the mystery deepens."

"So you ain't got no idea who Rose is?"

"No. I remember seeing you come to work with a stupid grin on your face more than once, so I figured you were getting laid, but you never said a word." Daryl sighed heavily. "See? Bad things happen when you don't share gossip." Daryl glared at Glenn, who swallowed hard and backed away. "Look, the good news is, a lot of people who lose time start to remember. I'd start with calling Rose if I was you."

"I tried. No answer."

"Well, try again," Glenn said with a shrug. "Whoever she is, she must be important to you."

"Must be," Daryl murmured, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You can go home in the morning. We just want to monitor you tonight, make sure you're out of the woods, you know?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Oh, and your ribs aren't broken. Just bruised. I wouldn't suggest any heavy lifting or, you know, uh, strenuous activity for the next couple weeks."

"Yeah, got it," Daryl grumbled. "Ain't you got patients to tend to?"

"Anybody ever tell you that you don't talk like a doctor?"

"Every damned day," Daryl snorted, as Glenn turned away. "Hey, Rhee?" The intern turned back toward him.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, man."

"Hey, that's what we do," Glenn said with a nod. "Get some rest." Daryl nodded and settled back down in the bed, grabbing for his cell phone again. With a sigh, he tried Rose's number again.

...

Carol rolled to her side in her bed, tears flooding her eyes as she listened to her cell phone buzzing away in the bag of her personal belongings. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, rolling away from the sound, trying desperately to ignore it.

"Oh, honey," came a soft voice from behind her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, I know it must be hard." Carol rolled slightly to see a young woman with long, dark hair. Her name badge said Lori Grimes, RN. "I heard what happened. I know he's gone, but you still have your little girl and your own life. I'm so sorry for your loss." Carol began to sob then, and she turned back onto her side and covered her face with her hands as her cell phone continued to buzz, hanging in the bag off of the back of the bedside chair.