A/N: Sorry it took so long for an update! I actually had no idea how I wanted to end the story and had to get inspired first! Hope you enjoy!

As soon as he stepped into the bright light, his eyes flew open.

Derek Morgan stared at the ceiling in momentary confusion. He felt like he was waking up from a long sleep, and he could barely process a single thought. It seemed his entire brain was stuck on the phrase find her, find her, find her.

He tried to sit up but found the movement to be too much. He felt dizzy and there was quite a bit of gauze taped to the back of his head. As much as he needed to find Penelope, he probably should wait for a doctor to stop by first. After all, he had a head injury.

Derek found the button to bring himself to the sitting position. Once he was upright, he quickly reflected on his thoughts. He had to figure some stuff out before he saw Penelope. For starters, what was he going to tell her? Just that he loved her more than anything? Or was he going to include the epiphany details with their marriage and three kids? What if she freaked out? What if she thought he was crazy?

He was surprised he remembered as much as he did. Shouldn't the dream be hazy and hard to decipher like most of them were?

He could still hear his father's voice in his head too, as if he remembered it all along. It was deep and raspy and nothing like he had imagined it to be. Still, though, Derek was happy to have escaped with that memory in perfect condition. He would always be grateful for that.

He still remembered how much he loved Penelope and how much pain losing her had put him through. He couldn't recall exactly how he lost her, but the pain was just as raw as if he did.

Shooing the unpleasant thought away, he thought of their house with the gravel driveway to distract himself. He needed to suggest that as soon as he convinced her that they belonged together. Gravel driveways sounded like something straight out of a fairytale novel and was perfect for the two of them. He was almost entirely certain that Penelope would love the idea…

He heard a throat clear then and turned to see a nurse at his bedside. "Look who's finally awake," she said cheerfully. "Are you in any pain, Mr. Morgan?"

He shook his head. "No," he answered in a hoarse voice. "Not really. I just get sort of dizzy when I move too quickly, but I'm fine other than that."

The nurse quickly checked his vitals and readjusted the IV. "We've been giving you some pain medication to help keep the headache at bay. You took quite a blow to the head. Do you remember it, Derek?"

He was surprised to realize that he didn't. He didn't actually recall being hit or losing consciousness. He didn't remember anything past talking to Jeremy Walkman in the basement. He just shook his head, surprised by the blank space. Don't freak out Derek, he told himself. You still need to find Penelope and get that worked out first. You can worry about the memory loss later.

"Is my team here?" Derek asked. "Do I have any visitors?"

"I think they are still out chasing the unsub," the nurse explained. "A woman is here for you though. Shall I send her in? I believe she stepped out into the hallway for a moment."

"Yeah, send her in," he said.

Even if it was Savannah instead of Penelope, he still needed to talk to her too. Now that he had fessed up to his feelings, they seemed to be seeping in at every corner. He was definitely losing control of the way he felt about her. It was best to resolve things quickly and get everything on the table.

A minute later, a familiar blonde made her way into his hospital room.

He thought his heart was going to stop. This was the first time he'd seen her since his epiphany and conversations with his dad. It was the first time he had seen her since he knew. It was like seeing the sun for the first time in a long while. He instantly felt warm all over and like his heart was going to helicopter out of his chest.

"Penelope," he heard himself saying. "Baby Girl, I'm so glad you're here."

She smiled at him. "I'm happy to see you too, Angelfish," she replied smoothly. "How's the head?"

"They've got me on quite a bit of pain medication apparently," he said. "I can't feel a thing. If it weren't for the gauze and all the hookup, I wouldn't even know I was injured."

"You don't remember getting hit?" Penelope asked, mouth agape. "Do you remember coming to at all?"

"Not really," Derek asked, feeling uneasy at the alarm in her voice. "Why? Haven't I been out the entire time?"

She sat down in a nearby chair, holding on to one of his hands the entire time. "Not exactly. You came to while they were running a test to see how swollen your brain was. You were yelling my name and were pretty hysterical. They had to knock you back out because they couldn't sedate you."

"Really?" Derek asked, avoiding her eyes. He knew it was best not to elaborate on the details of the epiphany or talk in detail about it. Besides, he had a bad feeling that his yelling had to do with losing her in the dream. "That's crazy. Did I say anything else?"

She was on to him immediately. She could tell whenever Derek had something to hide. "You better be telling me everything," Penelope said. "I can tell when you're hiding something from me, Morgs. You know that."

He was glad she'd given him an opening. If he had to fess up to the dream, he at least wanted the conversation to naturally lead to it. "All right woman. You caught me. There is a little something I haven't told you."

"What is it?"

"I had a dream," Derek said. "A really vivid dream about the two of us. We were…well, we were married and really happy in it. Part of it anyway. It was so real though. I wish you could've been there with me. You would've loved it.

He should've known Penelope wouldn't be weirded out. "Really?" she asked. "What was it like?"

"We had three kids," he said. "We were all one big happy family. We lived in this fairytale house with a gravel driveway and decorations that matched your style perfectly. And our kids, well, they were nothing short of perfect. We had two girls and one boy."

Penelope smiled a little. "I think the medication made you a little loopy," she said. "The nurses warned that it would cause vivid dreams."

He realized then that she wasn't taking him seriously. Penelope thought he was just recounting the dream to her in a humorous way. Like, can you believe we were married? Isn't it crazy that we had three kids that looked and acted just like us?

"Pen, it wasn't just a dream," Derek said. "It was an epiphany. My father was there showing me things and telling me that I needed to man up and face the truth. Otherwise my life was going to be anything but happy."

She still didn't understand. "Your father was there?" she asked in confusion. "Why was he showing you that we were married then?"

"Because he was trying to help me see that I was in love with you," Derek said quickly. "That I still am and always have been. I couldn't realize it on my own because I didn't want to hurt your relationship with Sam."

Penelope started to speak but Derek held his hands up. "You have to admit that my father had a point. We really do belong together."

A/N: A cliffhanger! Last chapter will be posted soon! Now that his feelings are on the table, what will happen next? *cue suspenseful music*