Sebastian and his men showed up in his car as Forrest was being driven away. The showdown was over once Ellie's innocent blood had been spilled. Jack and Howard had killed Special Deputy Rakes in the tunnel and the deputies held fire. Sebastian kneeled down to lift Ellie's body from the ground. He walked back to his car and all the men who were wearing hats placed them to their hearts. Howard came out of the tunnel with Jack's arm swung over his shoulders for support. Jack's face was splattered with blood and his eyes filled with tears. Before Sebastian placed Ellie in the trunk of the vehicle, Jack pulled her hand up and kissed it.

"I'm taking her far from here…make sure them government people never find her body." Sebastian said.

Howard nodded but Jack didn't want them to take her away.

"No! You can't take her! She needs to stay here. We were a family to'er!" he tried to fight with him after he set her in the trunk.

"C'mon Jack. You need to get your wound treated. Settle down!" Howard pulled him away.

"I'll be sure to spread her ashes in nice places." Sebastian fought back his tears.

Jack yelled at Sebastian as he and his men drove away.

"She's gone Jack. Ain't nothing we can do." Howard tried calming Jack.

Sebastian drove out of Virginia for 9 hours before pulling off road into isolated woods. Sebastian popped the trunk open and pulled Ellie out and laid her on the ground.

"Gather some wood and fetch the gas cans." He told his men.

Sebastian started digging a shallow grave to place her body in to burn up. He double glanced over at Ellie on the leafy ground as she was starting to move around. He ran over to see her opening and closing her eyes.

"Thomas! Joel!" he shouted for them to come back. He picked her up and put her back in the car.

The men came back and Sebastian sped off in search of the nearest hospital. Ellie was dozing in and out of consciousness. Sebastian drove a few miles before finding one. He pulled her into his arms and ran inside.

"Help! She's been shot in the head but I think she is still alive."

"Follow me!" a nurse said leading him to a room.

"Put her down easy!" she helped him put her on the bed.

A doctor came rushing in to have a look. He felt for a pulse, then checked for a pulse using his stethoscope.
"Yup she's alive. Let's get her to the operating table. How long ago was she shot?" He asked Sebastian.

"About 9 or so hours...we thought she was dead." He started to tear up.

"Ok, wait outside. We will come get you soon."

The doctors were with her for a few more hours before coming out for Sebastian.

"Sir? You're with the young lady with the head wound?" a nurse had asked.

"Yes. Is she okay? Can I see her?"

"Are you her husband?"

"No I am not."

"Well do you know how to get in contact with her family?"

"She doesn't have any family…but I'm not her husband yet. I'm um her fiancé." Sebastian lied.

"Well I suppose that'll do. We had to remove several bullet fragments that were fortunately near the surface of the wound. Any further and we wouldn't be able to pull them out without causing more trauma to the brain. She is still heavily sedated and we won't know just how much damage has been caused to her 'til she wakes up. She may not be able to speak or understand many things. Go on home and come back tomorrow to see if we have any luck." The nurse patted him on the back and Sebastian nodded.

Sebastian went out to where Thomas and Joel were waiting.

"She gonna make it?" Thomas asked.

Sebastian nodded.

"She may not wake up knowing much, though."

"Should we go on back and tell the Bondurant's?" Joel questioned.

Sebastian stayed in silence for a minute contemplating what Joel had asked.

"No. They just gon' keep putting her in danger. Think it's best they think she's dead, and if she asks for them we gon' tell her that them Bondurant's are dead." Sebastian said walking to his car.

When Sebastian returned the next day, he walked in to nurses rushing into her room. He ran in to see Ellie was in the corner fighting off the doctor and nurses.

"Get off of me! Let me go!" she was kicking and screaming.

"What's going on?!" he asked a nearby nurse filling a large syringe with medicine.

"She just woke up. She's suffering from memory loss and lashing out."

She walked over and stuck the needle in Ellie's thigh as the nurses and the doctor held her as still as they could. She almost immediately stopped yelling and fighting with them and became sluggish. They set her back on the bed.

"What did you do?" Sebastian asked.

"Gave her some muscle relaxers so we can examine what kind of condition she is in without hurting herself or others."

"I'm Doctor Eugene Linden. Can you tell me your name?" The doctor asked as he shined a light into her eyes.

She shook her head.

"Because you don't want to or because you don't know your name?"

"I don't know my name." she managed to speak through the drug.

"Can you count to 10 for me?"

"1,2,3,4…5,6,7,8…9,10." She mumbled holding up her hands counting with her fingers.

"Very good. Your fiancé is here. Do you recognize him?" Dr. Linden waved for Sebastian to come closer.

Ellie looked to Sebastian but her eyes fell heavy and she fell asleep before she could answer.

"She gonna regain her memory doc?" Sebastian asked.

"Hard to say. Some people do and some people don't. What I can tell you is, she is very lucky to be alive and able to jump out of bed fighting us, speaking correctly, and understanding me is miraculous. The bullet missed her brain's ventricles coming nearly clean out through her frontal lobe. She definitely shows a promising recovery minus the memory loss. Only time will answer that."

….

Forrest and Jack were brought to the hospital and had the bullet fragments removed and their wounds sutured up. Howard came to visit Forrest as he was in worse shape than Jack.

"You one tough sonuvabitch, Forrest, you know that?" Howard sat at his bedside.

"Jack?"

"Jack is fine he is resting in the room next door."

"E-Ellie?" Forrest stuttered.

"She's gone, Forrest. Sebastian and his men took her body to be burned in an unknown location."

Forrest's face grew tight with anger. He tried getting out of his bed.

"Forrest you go and lay back down. Ain't nothing gonna bring her back…Only reason I let them take her is they worried them government people that are after her gonna find her body and test it for her daddies cure." Howard eased him back into bed.

"We can giv'er a grave marker next to Cricket's and say our peace."

Forrest stared blankly at the white ceiling as he began to feel numb and emotionless.

Maggie came in shortly after.

"Can we have a minute, Howard?" she asked politely.

Howard nodded and walked out.

"I heard about Ellie." She wiped a tear away.

"I'm sorry Forrest... You loved her, didn't you?"

Forrest kept his eyes to the ceiling not saying anything.

"Well I did too. Not in the same way as you of course but she was kind to me. Even when she should've yelled at me and told me to back off from you, Forrest." She slightly giggled.

"I'll let you rest…I'll come visit you tomorrow." She kissed his head and walked out.

Forrest looked around the room realizing it was the same room he had been placed in when he got his throat cut. He looked over to the window and the chair was in the same place. He imagined Ellie sitting in it, gazing out the window as he stared at her. How he could see her amber eyes reflecting in the window. He closed his eyes and imagined her presence in the room.

Sebastian waited for Ellie to wake up again. A few hours had passed before she finally did.

"Hey there." He whispered taking her hand up for a kiss.

Ellie pulled her hand away before it reached his lips.

"Who are you? I don't know you! NURSE! NURSE!" she yelled.

"Ellie, it's me Sebastian. You're fiancé remember?"

The nurse ran in.

"Everything alright in here?"

"I don't know this man. Remove him from my room immediately." She demanded.

"Why Miss, this here is your husband to be…he means well."

Ellie looked at Sebastian more calmly.

"Very well, he can stay." The nurse smiled and left the room.

"Who am I?" she asked him

"Ellie…"

"You're my fiancé and you don't know my full name?" her brows furrowed.

"I know it sounds ridiculous but uh truth is you never told me."

"And just how long have we been together?"

"Uh…several months."

"I never once told you in all that time?"

"I'm afraid not." He put his head down.

"Hmm…well what else can you tell about me?"

"You're from Oregon, you're 23, and you like to uh cook…"

"That's it? Where is my family? Do I have brothers or sisters?"

"You were an only child and your parent's are…well deceased."

Doctor Linden knocked on the door.

"Hello. How are you feeling…?" the doctor asked.

"Ellie."

"How are you feeling, Ellie?"

"Well I have a pretty bad headache…what happened to me? Did I bump my head really hard?" she asked.

"Why no, Ellie, I'm afraid it's much more severe than a bump…you were shot in the head."

"WHAT?! How did that happen?" she felt the gauze wrapped around her head.

"I've been meaning to ask that very question. Sebastian?" they looked over to him.

"We were out on the road and uh pulled over out in Virginia to stretch our legs and well next thing you know um rival gangs came speeding through in their cars, pulled over, got out and starting shooting. Ellie was caught in the crossfire." Sebastian lied again.

"Tragic." Dr. Linden said.

"Now let me see how that wound is doing. Will you lay back for me, dear?"

Ellie laid back and he uncovered her bandage. His eyes grew big.

"Remarkable! Incredibly astounding!" he shined a light to have a closer look.

"What is it Doctor?" she questioned.

"Seems your wound has sealed shut on its own. Never in my days have I seen such a thing and it happened so fast."

"Does that mean I can take her home soon?" Sebastian wondered.

"Soon, I'm sure of it, but I'd like to keep an eye on her progress and get some blood samples from her. Such a spectacular healing factor she possess'."

Sebastian took a big gulp. He was afraid of that happening.

The doctor wrapped a fresh gauze around her head and walked out.

"Ellie, I know this is gonna sound crazy to you right now but you need to trust me. You cannot let anyone ever take blood samples from you."

"What are you talkin' about?"

"Let's just focus on getting you out of here, okay?"

Sebastian grabbed a bag throwing gauze, pain pills, and whatever else he found in the cabinets. He peaked out the door and seen the doctor talking to someone on the phone.

"Okay we need to sneak out."

"But I don't want to go."

"Ellie, please. I know how confused and scared you must be, but I promise I will explain everything to you once we are out of here."

Ellie frowned and nodded in agreement.

Sebastian lifted up the window and went and helped Ellie from the bed.

"Wait we're leaving right now? I don't know where my clothes are Sebastian, and I don't have shoes on!" she pulled away.

"It's fine. I'll get you some new ones now let's go." He took off his coat putting it over her hospital gown.

Sebastian threw the bag out the window and jumped out after it.

"Come on, Elle. I got you. Just hop on out."

She hesitated on leaving but she heard footsteps headed to her door and hurled herself out. It was a short fall but fell onto Sebastian knocking him and herself to the ground. She stared into his eyes as her nose was touching his.

"Hey what are you doin' out there. Miss, you can't leave yet!" a nurse yelled from the window.

"No time for kissing, Ellie. We got to get a move on." He winked at her and helped her to her feet.

He grabbed her hand and ran around the building to his car.

"Hey! Get back here!" the nurse yelled.

They got in the car and sped away.

"Woo! Well that was easy. Now let's get you in some warmer clothes. You hungry?"

Ellie nodded her head.

"What's wrong? Why ain't you talking?"

"I just feel like somethin's missing. It sucks I can't remember certain things. People mainly…I mean I can't even remember my own fiancé…and this damn headache is killin me." She punched the dashboard hurting her hand.

"Ow! Damn it!" she shook her hand.

"Ease up, Ellie. You're gonna punch straight through the car… Maybe things will start to come back to you. Don't get too worked up, dear."

"So where we headed?" she asked.

"I'm gonna pick up Thomas and Joel and we are going to get the hell out of here."

"Who are they?"

"Well I never travel far without them."

"OH….so where are we?"

"We're in Cincinnati, Ohio."

"So where we gonna go?"

"I got friends in Chicago. We should stay there for a while 'til I can take you back on home."

"Why can't we just go home now?" she questioned.

"Round up some more funds for the long trip back…"

"Oh…so you gonna explain to me why I had to leave the hospital?" she looked over to him.

"I think we should save that conversation for another day…when you're feeling better."

Sebastian picked up Thomas and Joel up and headed to Chicago. Sebastian had a friend who owned an apartment building and let him, Ellie, Thomas, and Joel stay for as long as they wanted. His name was Harold White and he grew up with Sebastian's father whom in the war gave his life up to save Harold's. He felt the need to repay Sebastian any way he could and started by supplying him shelter. Harold also gave Ellie his recently deceased daughter's clothing. Harold didn't have much money since the depression hit but he gave what he could to Sebastian and set him, Thomas, and Joel up with a jobs sawing lumber. A month had come and passed. Ellie opened up to Sebastian more and more, and enjoyed his company. Though at most times she felt emotionless towards him. She didn't know if she loved him or despised him. She would suck it up though at the thought of him kicking her out on the streets not knowing anyone. She'd have nowhere to go.

Sebastian and the boys came home from a day's work.

"Hey honey." He came through the door and kissed her cheek.

Ellie smiled faintly.

"Food's on the table, Seb. You boys dig in."

"You're not going to eat?"

"I've got to run a few errands, I ate a bit already. I'll be back shortly."

She put on her coat and he kissed her goodbye.

Ellie didn't want to leave Chicago. She was comfortable there and anytime she heard of leaving back to Oregon she had a pain in her stomach. She begged Sebastian to say a while longer so that they could least be married before leaving. Ellie roamed the busy streets of the big city searching for a dress shop. After walking a few blocks from where she parked. She finally found one. She walked in and was greeted by the owner.

"Evening Mam. You looking for a dress for a certain occasion?" the kind old lady asked.

"Uh… yes. A wedding dress in fact."

"Well right this way." The lady guided her to the back room for fitting.

The lady took her measurements and brought her some dresses to try on.

"My assistant will be in shortly and help you out."

Ellie smiled and proceeded to try on the first dress.

"Let me get that for you, hon." A lady from behind her said as she buttoned up the dress.

"Thank you." Ellie said and turned to the woman.

The woman gasped and held her hands over her mouth.

"Well that's the reaction I'm hoping for once I'm seen in this, I suppose." Ellie giggled.

"Ellie?" the red headed woman asked.

"Yes, do I know you?"

"Ellie, it's me…Maggie. Maggie Beauford! Don't you remember? Franklin County? Blackwater Station? The Bondurant's?!" Maggie pushed Ellie's bangs aside and seen a scar.

"Excuse you!" Ellie moved away moving her hair back over the scar.

"Ellie? Who are you here with? Do you live here now?"

"My fiancé, Sebastian…and for now yes. Why do you ask? Do you know who I am?" Ellie glowed.

Maggie paused for a moment.

"I beg your pardon, Miss. Seems I've mistaken you for someone else…" She lied. Wondering why Sebastian didn't tell Ellie about her and the Bondurant's.

"Well then how did you know my name?"

"Rather funny coincidence, the lady I've mistaken you for, has the same name."

"Yeah…that is pretty funny." Ellie turned back to look in the mirror.

"So tell me, how did your fiancé pop the question? If you don't mind my asking." Maggie pulled back the extra cloth on the dress and pinned it.

"Honestly…I don't know. I've had severe head trauma not long ago. I just woke up in a hospital and there he was. He told me about myself, my name, and a few other things. Said I was his fiancé. I guess it sounds strange when I think about it…but he's still here. Helping provide and keeping me sheltered, nice and safe. He's been nothing but a gentleman."

"He sounds pleasant." She grimaced.

Maggie pat the dress down and moved away to look at Ellie.

"Well what do you think? Is this the one?" Ellie looked to Maggie.

"You do look beautiful in it." Maggie smiled.

"When do you plan on marrying?" Maggie asked.

"In about a week or so…whenever the dress is ready for me."

"Well I'll be sure to have this altered in no time."

Ellie changed, left her address and went back to her apartment.