Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Gossip Girl. It belongs to The CW and author Cecily von Ziegesar. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon.

SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers for the episodes "There Might Be Blood," "The Magnificent Archibalds," and "It's a Wonderful Lie" are in this fic.

Summary: AU Crossover – A different take on the end of "There Might Be Blood."

Pairings: Jenny/Nate, Chuck/Blair, Serena/Dan, Eric/Jonathan, Rufus/Lily/Bart, Vanessa/Aaron (from the book not the show – he was totally not cute on the show and didn't have any personality), Willow/Kennedy, Buffy/Angel, Xander/Cordelia (he and Willow never cheated, they never broke up, she and Angel never had a thing, and she didn't die – sorry but I hated Anya and Xander together and I can't see him with Vanessa. Also, he doesn't lose his eye – I like my Xander whole.)

**Author's Note: In this fic Jenny is only a year younger than Dan, which means she and Eric are juniors at Constance Billiard and St. Jude's when Dan, Serena, Blair, Chuck, Vanessa, and Nate are all seniors. Also, she got the internship with Eleanor Waldorf the summer between her sophomore and junior years of high school. In the Buffyverse, season 7 is coinciding with season 2 of Gossip Girl. I know in the series Chuck only has a personal suite, but a personal penthouse just works out better for the storyline. Also, Chuck actually raped Jenny at the Kiss on the Lips party, but nobody knows, not even Chuck himself. And yeah, I'm borrowing some names and job titles from Grey's Anatomy, but they aren't the actual Grey's characters, so technically I'm not stealing anything that is owned by anyone else. They may have the same jobs as their namesakes but they are still my creations. Also, by now, Eric has found Bart Bass' files on him, Lily, and Serena. Lily has discovered that Bart didn't really fire the private investigator and is planning on leaving him like in "It's a Wonderful Lie." I'm switching things that happened in that episode around though to suit my own purposes just in case anyone gets confused.

Rating: K+ for now, M later

The Taste of Bittersweet Exile

Chapter 9 – One by One

"The CT and MRI scans showed signs of bruising I didn't see on the ones we took before the surgery," Dr. Shepherd told Rufus and Dan, and basically everyone else in the room, which included Serena, Blair, Chuck, Nate, Vanessa, Lily and Eric. "It could be the cause of her amnesia and her inability to communicate effectively. It's really up to you, Mr. Humphrey, but I'd like to induce a coma so she can heal uninhibited for a while."

"Do it," Rufus intoned, immediately, "I don't care what you have to do, as long as it helps my baby girl, just do it," he pleaded.

"Our baby girl," Alison, Dan and Jenny's mother and Rufus' former wife, said, walking into the waiting room. Rufus looked to Dan, who returned his gaze with confusion.

"I called her," Vanessa spoke up, receiving a glare from both Dan and Rufus. "What? I thought she had a right to know that Jenny had finally been found!"

"Do what needs to be done, doctor," Alison relayed to the surprised Dr. Shepherd. "Just like my ex-husband said."

"Okay," Dr. Shepherd answered, a bit awkwardly. Jenny's mother was in the company of a tall, blond haired man with whom she was holding hands. "I have to tell you, all of you that none of you will be able to see her, with the exception of Mr. Archibald, while she's in the coma. When I feel she has recovered enough to bring her out of the coma, the only people I will allow to visit her on a regular basis are Mr. Archibald and Mr. Bass," Dr. Shepherd informed them, shocking everyone in the room.

"What?" Rufus demanded. "I'm her father; you can't keep me away from her!"

"And I'm her mother!" Alison argued, "You're going to let two teenaged boysvisit her and not her own mother?"

"If you had been here," Dr. Shepherd told the angry woman who was now in his face, taking her by the shoulders and physically moving her out of his personal bubble of space and speaking to her as though she were unfit, "and had seen her response to her father and brother, you would understand why I'm only allowing two teenaged boys visit your daughter, Mrs. Humphrey. I'll let your ex-husband explain the details," he spat, "I have a patient to attend to."

Dr. Shepherd released her and left the room bristling, Chuck on his heels.

"Dr. Shepherd," Chuck called out, stopping the doctor in his tracks.

"Yes, Mr. Bass," Dr. Shepherd sighed, still angry with Mrs. Humphrey.

"I didn't know her mother would be coming, she's usually . . . absent," Chuck explained. "Why, out of everyone, are you allowing me to be a regular visitor when you bring her out of her coma?"

"Because she remembers you," Dr. Shepherd explained simply, "and like you pointed out before, she was calling out to you for help when she was still conscious."

"How bad is it really, doctor?" Chuck asked, trying to get a grip.

"Ms. Humphrey may never regain her memory, Mr. Bass," Dr. Shepherd told him honestly. "You and Mr. Archibald may end up being all she has left, but Mr. Archibald needs you right now, Mr. Bass. He's particularly attached to Ms. Humphrey and I'd suggest you return to him and stay with him, at least during the day, when he's transferred back into an in-patient room. Since I'll be putting Ms. Humphrey back into a coma, there's no need for him to wait for her to wake up."

Chuck nodded, not quite sure how to take the information the reluctant doctor had shared with him, but he did as he was told, a rare thing. He returned to the waiting room, taking a seat next to Nate's cot and listening as Rufus informed Alison about Jenny's condition.

"She's been in some sort of accident, Alison and . . ." Rufus trailed off, looking to the man his ex-wife was holding hands with.

"Alex," Alison provided, paling like Dan had when the receptionist had called him 'the brother of that poor girl' in the lobby, at the word accident. "What kind of accident? And why didn't I receive a phone call from you, instead of having to hear it second hand from Dan's friend?"

"Truth be told, Alison, we're all hearing it second hand," Rufus revealed, getting to his feet and storming toward his ex, "and it's not like I didn't call you to let you know she'd run away," he bristled. "You should have shown your face then, instead of waiting until now and showing up with your new boyfriend without calling first. I could have used some warning!"

"He's not my new boyfriend, Rufus, which is totally beside the point," Alison argued, marching up to him and getting in his face like she had with Dr. Shepherd, "he's the same man I was with before we divorced, and you really don't have any right to throw that in my face since you're sitting here with Lily van der Woodsen! Oh wait," Alison slapped her forehead as though she'd forgotten something important, "It's Lily Bass now, isn't it? Honestly Rufus, I don't know how you keep track of all her love lives, especially considering you aren't one of them."

Dan couldn't stand it anymore. He shot to his feet, still clutching Serena and Vanessa's hands, "Shut up! The both of you just shut up! We're here because of Jenny, not to compare relationship score cards!" He shouted, yanking his hands out of the two girls'. Dan pointed at his mother first, "You, shut up and sit down!" he commanded, and, surprisingly, she obeyed, opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. Then he pointed to his father, "And you, shut up and sit down too!" Rufus obeyed his son as well with much the same reaction as his ex. Dan took one look at Alex, shouting, "You're not a part of this, so make yourself useful and get all of us some coffee, and I mean everysingle person in this room! Make the guy on the stretcher's with a triple-shot of espresso since he's not allowed to sleep for the next several hours."

Alex glowered at Dan, but had nothing to contribute verbally, accepting that he really didn't have a place there except to comfort Alison. He didn't really know her kids, he hadn't taken a chance to get to know them because he hadn't been sure if he and Alison were the real thing or if he was just the rebound guy she slept with to get over her strained marriage. Now that he was certain that that wasn't the case, which he'd known for several months now, he really should have made an effort to connect with her children but he hadn't, which made Dan right, he really didn't deserve to be there, so he did the only thing he could do and followed the teenager's instructions to get everyone coffee.

Dan turned back to his parents, an angry scowl plastered on his face. Lily Bass got up and went to leave as well, but Dan had different plans, "Lily stay. You've been more of a mother to Jenny than her own has been for a long time now and I want you here; plus, you're good with my Dad. He's hiding how he's really feeling to protect me and Jenny like he always does and he needs your support."

"Alright, Daniel," Lily agreed, blushing slightly underneath Alison's calloused gaze, "I'll stay, but I need to make a phone call to my husband. Charles, darling, I need to speak with you out in the hallway," she requested, and Chuck got up for the second time in the span of a few minutes to leave the waiting room.

"Blair, Serena, get Nate whatever he wants until I come back," Chuck instructed. "Dr. Shepherd has put me in charge of his well-being until he's cleared of his concussion since his father is in Federal custody and his mother is at their house in the Hamptons trying to survive the embarrassment of the whole ordeal. She won't be making an appearance any time soon."

They walked out into the hallway and Lily turned to face Chuck.

"Charles," Lily began, "I wanted you to be the first to know that I plan on leaving your father. He lied to me about firing his private investigator and I simply cannot live with a man who doesn't trust me or my children enough to let us live our lives without someone watching our every move."

Chuck looked down, actually a little sad, "I can't say I'm surprised, but I wasn't expecting to be disappointed. You've been a better mother to me . . . well, the only mother actually and he doesn't seem to give a shit if I make an effort either way. You're the only mother I've ever known," he repeated, " . . . the only person linked to my father I've ever actually considered family, but I've noticed how hard he's tried to make it work between the two of you. You owe him a conversation," Chuck concluded, a little embarrassed at having revealed some of his most secret feelings to her. "Rufus doesn't know yet?"

"I plan on having one with your father when he gets home from his latest business trip, and no, I haven't told Rufus yet. I want to clear the air with your father before I tell him," Lily told Chuck. "I'll be sorry to lose you as a son. If it's alright, I'd like to stay apart of your life."

"That would be . . . nice," Chuck admitted, showing his human side. "I have to get back to Nate."

"Alright, dear," Lily said, pulling her Blackberry out of her purse.

"I don't hold your connection with Rufus against you," Chuck revealed to her before she dialed his father. "I just recently figured out what it's like to be in love with someone and it doesn't just go away when you want it to. . . I understand that now . . . This whole ordeal with Jenny has shown me just how important love is, and if Rufus is the one you love, then my father will live to see another wife," he told her, meaning every word.

"Thank you, Charles," Lily smiled bravely at her step-son before he returned to look after his friend.

She pressed the 'dial' button that led to Bart's direct line. He answered after five rings, "Hello, Lily."

"Bart," Lily acknowledged, her tone neutral. "I wanted to let you know I'm at the hospital with Rufus Humphrey . . . his missing daughter has been found and she's in critical condition."

Bart paused before giving an answer to her statement, "I'm sorry to hear that . . . Give Rufus my consolation."

"I will but that's not the only reason I called," Lily continued, taking a deep breath before announcing, "I know you didn't fire your private investigator. We need to have a longtalk when you come home."

"I'll be home in two days," Bart informed her. "We can talk then. Until then I hope you'll give me the benefit of the doubt."

"Alright . . . I'll do my best," Lily agreed, hanging up and returning to the waiting room.

~*~

Meanwhile in the Waiting Room

"Any questions anyone has," Dan said sternly, looking mostly between his mother and father before extending the look to everyone else, "will be directed at me, and me alone, since the two of you can't seem to communicate civilly on your own. Dad, I think I have a good handle on Dr. Shepherd's motives, so, since you've been here the whole time biting your nails with the rest of us, you get to ask first," he told his parents, unrepentant. When Rufus looked like he was about to speak, Dan help up a hand, not quite ready to answer his question as he had his own question to ask of Vanessa.

"Why didn't you tell us you called my mother?" Dan demanded, angrily.

Vanessa shrugged abashedly, "I didn't realize it would be such a big deal. I thought things were amiable between everyone, and honestly I forgot about the whole thing after the scene with Jenny."

"Next time tell me about stuff like that okay?" Dan asked, pleading with her with his eyes. "Especially since you stopped visiting and calling the loft after Nate moved in; thereby making whatever knowledge you had about how things were between us and my mom null and void."

Vanessa nodded her head, apologetic, "I'm sorry, Dan."

"Apology accepted," Dan returned the nod, turning back to his father and waving his hand at him to let him know he could ask his question now.

"Why wouldn't he let her own father and brother visit her, even when she's in a coma?" Rufus asked his son, forlornly.

"Dad, you saw how she reacted to us," Dan pointed out, hating the memory of the look of terror on her face, "Jenny was scared senseless and she has no idea who we are . . . We're complete strangers to her and I think I remember reading somewhere that sometimes patients can hear people talking to them while they're in a coma, whether it's been induced or not," Dan explained. "Dr. Shepherd doesn't want to risk any more injury to her brain by having people around that might stress her out. She only remembers Nate and Chuck, and since we have no way of knowing whether her feelings for Chuck are positive or negative, he's only allowing Nate to visit her because we know for sure her feelings for him are positive. Dr. Shepherd is only doing what his knowledge and expertise tell him is best for his patient, and unfortunately, you and I are not a part of that yet."

Rufus sighed heavily, hanging his head in his hands as his son had done after taking his unresolved emotions out on Nate, "You're right. I was so worked up over the whole scene with Jenny my sense of logic got skewed," the older man admitted, his face still hidden by his hands.

"Mom, it's your turn," Dan informed her, his voice less than welcoming.

"What happened?" Alison asked, wringing her hands in the exact same way Dan had when he'd first arrived to The Shepherd-Sloane Private Practice with Chuck and Serena, before he'd let the receptionist know who he was and why he was there.

"Eric, are you capable of explaining your part in this?" Dan asked, shooting a concerned look at the younger boy.

"I suppose so," Eric agreed, turning in his seat to face Dan and Jenny's mother. "I was the one who found Jenny," he explained. "Certain circumstances, which are unimportant to Jenny's condition, led me to the steps in front of The Met very late on Saturday night, or really early Sunday morning, depending on how you look at it . . .Anyway, I was upset and didn't want to go home . . . but eventually it got so cold out I had to bite the bullet and just do it. When I got up I noticed a body lying in a strange position on the stairs a few feet in front of me . . . It was Jenny and she wasn't breathing . . . so I called Dr. Shepherd's private ambulance and got her here . . . they rushed her into surgery and about twelve hours later, Dr. Shepherd came out and told me that she was recovering in the I.C.U., which is when I finally called Serena, who put me on the phone with Dan . . . I told him I'd found Jenny and gave him Dr. Shepherd's name . . . it was all I could say at the time because my phone was dying, but I knew that Serena would know where she was once Dan told her what I'd told him . . . so, eventually, everyone showed up here and waited for her to wake up after her surgery," Eric finished.

"Do you have any other questions, Mom?" Dan asked, his tone toward her slightly deprecating.

"You're father said she was in some sort of accident?" Alison murmured as Chuck re-entered the waiting room.

"Actually," Dan started, "the other Dr. Shepherd," he stopped, realizing that his mother had no way of knowing the difference, "there're two Dr. Shepherds; one is the male neurosurgeon you've already talked to and the other is a female pediatrician and neo-natal surgeon. They're husband and wife," Dan clarified as Lily Bass quietly re-took her seat next to Rufus and put her hand comfortingly on his back.

"Bart sends his regards," she whispered, beginning to move her hand in the same comforting circles Serena had used to help calm Dan when he'd cried over Jenny.

"The other Dr. Shepherd," Dan continued, grateful that Lily was back in the room, "told us that because of the way Jenny was found and the nature of her wounds suggest foul play, but none of the tests she performed came up with any result, including a negative on her rape kit."

"Oh, thank God," Alison breathed, holding a hand to her chest, tears springing to her eyes. "What kinds of wounds?"

"The male Dr. Shepherd said that she was hit over the head multiple times with a heavy, blunt object to the front and right side of her head," Dan explained, impressed at how steady his voice sounded and nearly laughing with hilarity at the fact that he was being the parent instead of the child. "The blows caused bleeds in the frontal and temporal lobes of Jenny's brain. The blood killed some of the tissue in those regions of Jenny's brain which Dr. Shepherd removed after he repaired the tears that caused the bleeding in the first place," Dan went on, Serena grabbing his hand, knowing that even though he sounded fine, he really wasn't, and having to explain everything to his mother wasn't helping, ". . . the blows also caused Jenny's brain to swell, so Dr. Shepherd had to remove a piece of her cranium to relieve the pressure the swelling was putting on her already damaged brain . . . we all waited for hours for her to wake up after her surgery and she finally did about five hours later," Dan revealed to his mother's shaking frame, ". . . but when Dr. Shepherd asked her what her name was all she could say was J and when he presented her with Dad and me to welcome her back, she totally freaked out . . . she has amnesia, Mom," Dan clarified. "She has no idea who Dad and I are, and what's worse is she's terrified of us. When we tried to tell her who we were all she did was stare at us blankly like she'd never seen us before . . . then she got really agitated and pulled out her I.V. and all the cords that connected her to her bed and made a run for it, screaming out for Nate and Chuck, the two teenaged boys Dr. Shepherd is allowing to see her. They are the only two people she remembers and can actually speak their names without any trouble."

"Oh my God," Alison trembled, tears making unattractive tracks in her make-up as they coursed down her attractive face. "So you're telling me that she has no memory of anyone, just the two boys?"

"Yes," Dan stated, matter-of-factly.

Dan was relieved that Alex had returned with everyone's coffee then so he could comfort his mother. He was angry with her for not showing up when his father had called to tell her Jenny had run away in the first place, the same as Rufus was, too angry to even consider what it would be like to try and comfort her himself. After all, she hadn't made any moves to comfort him.

The waiting room door opened then and Nurses Badgley and Szohr came in carrying a stretcher to put Nate on to transfer him to an in-patient room. They used the blankets on the cot to make a quick trade to the stretcher and Chuck got up to follow them to Nate's room along with Blair and Eric.

"He'll be in room 317 on the third floor," Chuck told Dan as he and the two nurses passed, "if you want to pay him a visit. I know he'd like to see you."

"I really would," Nate intoned from his place on the stretcher, still out of it. His hearing was apparently fine though, "I missed having you as a friend, Dan . . . and I really do love her, I swear," he swore to the other young man, sounding truly stoned from the double dose of pain medication he'd taken before his arrival to the hospital and the extra hits he'd taken to the head on Dan's account.

"I know you love her, Nate . . . I'll be there as soon as I can manage," Dan promised, ". . . drink your coffee. It'll help you stay awake." He watched as the six of them disappeared from the waiting room before returning his gaze to his mother and Alex, who she was filling in on the details she'd discovered about Jenny's condition. "Do you have any other questions, Mom?"

"Is that everything?" Alison asked, jogging Dan's memory about the other things the male Dr. Shepherd had told him and his dad.

"She has two broken and three bruised ribs, and her right cheekbone is completely shattered but the plastic surgeon can't fix that until the swelling in her brain has gone down significantly," Dan added to the list of injuries.

"Oh Rufus," Alison cried, looking to her ex-husband, "how are we going to pay for all this?"

"All questions are directed at me Mom, remember?" Dan waved his free hand in front of his mother's face so that she would return her gaze to him, even angrier with her for even wondering about hospital bills when she'd just discovered her daughter might not make it. She nodded and Lily handed her some tissue from her handbag, which the other woman took without a word or even a dirty look. In fact, she almost looked grateful to the other woman she'd always hated for being Rufus' first love.

"Right," Alison nodded, blowing her nose and looking to her son.

"Dr. Shepherd, the brain surgeon, took Jenny on as a pro bono case because they didn't have a positive identification of her when she first got here and they needed to get her into surgery right away . . .," Dan paused, not certain if he should include the next bit, but decided to be a little cruel to make up for the fact that their mother had not done so much as lift a finger to aid in the search for her youngest child, ". . . she was dead when she got here, Mom."

"Oh God," Alison wailed, her shoulders heaving hugely as she cried for her daughter. It felt oddly satisfying watching her be miserable for both Rufus and Dan. Alex took Alison in his arms and patted at her awkwardly.

"It helps if you look her in the eyes, get her to take deep breaths, and kiss her on the cheek if you want to calm her down," Rufus advised condescendingly, his tone unfriendly toward the man his wife had cheated on him with.

"Dad, I thinkthat you should go home and try to rest," Dan suggested. "I'm going to stay here and hang with Nate for awhile . . . make sure he's okay, but I won't be out late."

"I'll go home with your father, Dan," Lily reassured him, squeezing his shoulder. "I'll be there for him until you're ready . . . and please tell Charles he's welcome to stay at the family penthouse while his father is gone."

"Thankyou, Lily," Dan enthused as he watched his girlfriend's mother leave with his father.

All the teens' phones buzzed at exactly the same moment, and they all looked at each other, knowing this could mean only one thing: a Gossip Girl blast.

"Greetings Upper East Siders! It looks like all our favorite members of the Constance Billiard Academy for Girls and St. Jude's Academy for Boys royalty are rallying for parts on General Hospital! That's right, kiddies, all those seemingly perfect classmates we love to hate have gathered at the same spot and it's not Barney's or Bendel's . . . in fact, it's not even a place a group of people would gather unless there's been some sort of tragedy . . .

Sightings

Lonely boy being offered a ride in a limousine belonging to a certain purple-suit wearing male socialite with girlfriend S outside her and C's family penthouse. Their ultimate destination . . . The Shepherd-Sloane Private Practice, the Upper East Side's elite home away from home for everything from pediatrics and lollipops to face lifts and lipo with the occasional brain surgery thrown in just for kicks. That's right my lovelies, C, D, & S arrived at the acclaimed private practice not long after departing from C & S's family penthouse. Just minutes after the trio's arrival, D's dad R showed up in a cab with none other than S's mom L, who were spotted out together the night before getting drunk and wild at an old band's concert and ending up at D and Little J's loft in Brooklyn, lending further evidence to one of my source's theory that they are secretly having an affair. Two minutes later, B showed her face at the prestigious medical practice looking in fine health but with a dramatic worried look on her face that matched everyone else's. Twenty minutes later, N & V joined the party . . . Which begs the question . . . Why are eight people in perfectly good health gathering at a top notch medical practice? A source places S's little brother E prodding a mysterious body on the steps in front of The Met late last night and climbing into an ambulance heading in the direction of that very same renowned medical practice. The only common denominator . . . Little J. Could it be that Little J has finally shown her face after over a week of hiding it? And what could have happened to her that required E to call an ambulance, especially such an exclusive and private one? You're just as clueless as I am, my dears. A special prize goes to the person who can figure this mystery out first! Until next time Upper East Siders . . .

You know you love me,

Gossip Girl"

"I really, really hate her," Dan steamed, his face turning scarlet with repressed anger. Serena and Vanessa both nodded in agreement. The last thing Jenny needed was for kids of all ages showing up and trying to find out if what Gossip Girl presumed had happened was true so they could be the first one to break the news to the whole of the Upper East Side in order to get whatever prize the infamous web-blogger was offering for the truth.

~*~

Later That Afternoon

When Dan, Serena, Chuck and Blair decided to go and let Nate rest, Vanessa stayed behind, promising Dan she'd swing by the loft later. She sat quietly in one of the blue plush chairs, the silence between her and Nate awkward.

"So," Vanessa started, uncomfortably, ". . . you and Jenny, huh? I didn't see that one coming."

"I didn't either," Nate admitted, honestly. "I didn't mean to fall for her Vanessa . . . It just happened."

"So I guess that means there's absolutely no chance of anything ever happening between you and me again . . ."

"I wish I could give you another answer . . . one that wouldn't hurt you . . . but anything I felt for you has been long gone," he told her, continuing with honesty, figuring it was better that way, ". . . way before any of the feelings I developed for Jenny . . . and I can tell you that she's sorry," Nate said, ". . . she went after you when you saw us kissing because she really cared that you were hurting . . . neither one of us planned this."

"I know," Vanessa admitted, figuring honesty was the best policy as well. "I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't sorry she was gone . . . that's how hurt I was . . . I expected more out of her and I let my disappointment keep me from worrying about how lost and scared she must have been . . . just goes to show how awful a person I am . . . first I don't get involved when you had no place to stay and then I condemn a girl who's like a little sisterto me to a life on the streets, thinking she deserved what she got for hurting me."

"You're not a bad person, Vanessa," Nate insisted, genuinely. "You're human."

"Thank you for saying that," Vanessa told him, ". . . it doesn't really make me feel any better."

"Jenny wouldn't want you to be down on yourself, Vanessa," Nate assured her. "She'd want you to move on and create more of your brilliant films . . . There's someone out there for you . . . just because I'm not the one for you doesn't mean there isn't someone else even better. We had some good times . . . let's just remember those and be friends."

Vanessa nodded, "I'd like that . . . and I don't hold anything against you if I didn't make that clear already . . . you don't choose who you love . . . love just kind of picks you . . . I mean, take a look at Chuck and Blair."

Nate laughed, "An excellent point . . . I can't think of a more dysfunctional functional couple."

"So it's really love, isn't it?" Vanessa asked, just making sure. "Between you and Jenny . . . You love each other?"

"I can'ttell you how Jenny feels," Nate said, trying to word things in the least hurtful way, "but on my end . . . I'm in love with her . . . I've never felt anything close to how I feel about her."

Vanessa looked down at her folded hands, "I think it's pretty safe to say she's in love with you too, Nate . . . she wouldn't remember you if she wasn't . . . why she remembers Chuck, I have no idea."

"I think everyone's pretty clueless about that one," Nate shared, knowing it was the truth. "I'm not even sure Chuck knows."

"I guess I'd better be on my way," Vanessa told him, feeling it was her cue to exit, ". . . you need your rest and I promised my sister, Ruby, that I'd help her set up for her gig tonight at The Five and Dime . . . SugarDaddy's playing there again . . . plus, I want to finish up early so I can be there for Dan . . . I've really been neglecting our friendship and I know he has Serena, but he needs everyone he can get to support him through this mess."

"I would be there for him if I could," Nate murmured.

"The best thingyou can do for Dan right now is be there for Jenny," Vanessa told him, seriously. "They've always been really close, and knowing him as long as I have, I knowhow much it's killing him that she doesn't remember him . . . It doesn't even sound like she remembers herself."

"We'll all be waiting in suspense until Dr. Shepherd brings her out of her coma . . . until then we're all in the same boat," Nate said honestly. "Just because I get to see her doesn't mean she'll still remember me when she wakes up."

Vanessa nodded, "Take care, Nate."

"See you around, Vanessa," Nate felt like they were saying goodbye, but not to each other, to the relationship they had once shared.

~*~

Later That Night

Nate was all alone now. Chuck, Blair, Serena, Dan, and Vanessa had all been gone for hours with promises to return the next day. Blair had practically had to drag Chuck out of his hospital room kicking and screaming until Dr. Shepherd insisted that Chuck go home and get some proper rest. Nate still wasn't allowed to go to sleep and there was only one person on his mind . . . Jenny. He pushed the nurse call button and waited patiently for someone to respond. A male nurse came in a after a minute.

"Dr. Shepherd, the neurosurgeon, has given me exclusive permission to visit Jennifer Humphrey, the current patient in the I.C.U.. I'd like to visit her now if that's possible," Nate requested, politely.

"I'll get a wheelchair," the unknown nurse told him, returning just a minute later.

"I can get myself into the wheelchair . . . I'm feeling muchbetter now aside from the nasty headache and the itchy stitches," Nate told the male nurse when he attempted to help Nate up.

Nate made it successfully into the wheelchair and the nurse pushed him to the elevator, pressing the up button. It was a quiet journey to the seventh floor, to Jenny's room. The nurse pushed Nate to the left side of the bed and dragged a comfortable plush chair there for him to sit in as opposed to the uncomfortable wheelchair.

"Hit her call button when you're ready to go back to your room," the nurse instructed, leaving the two alone.

Nate gazed at the now bald Jenny and hissed in anger when he noticed the bruises on her face. She was still the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen.

"Hey baby," Nate whispered reverently, "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you to protect you earlier . . . I tried . . . This is allmy fault . . . that plan I came up with . . . I never should have taken you out of Dr. Crawford's clinic."

"It isn't your fault, Nate," Dr. Shepherd's voice came out of the darkness as the man appeared in the room to check on his patient, "Everything that's happened . . . it wouldhave happened whether you had a plan or not . . . she's alive because of you . . . and her brother still gets a shot at a decent college . . . I haven't met many young men like you, Nate. Most of my clientele don't give a shit about their friends . . . not the way you do. Keep at it and you'll end up a great man someday . . . you're already an honorable young man with a good head on his shoulders. It takes a real man to stay when things get tough and that's what you're doing. I can't tell you how many patients I've had over the years that just couldn't weather the storm . . . but you're here and you're dealing with it and, if anything, Jenny's situation has only made you love her more . . . You can't see it now because you're so young, but what you have is really rare. The fact that you can feel the kind of love you feel for Jenny at such a young age is rare . . . you are rare. One day you'll come to appreciate that . . . and I know a certain blonde girl that's going to appreciate that too once she's all better."

"Thanks, Dr. Shepherd," Nate said, not really knowing anything else he could say.

"You're very welcome," Dr. Shepherd said, smiling at the teenager. "You'll be fine in a couple of days . . . you've already improved tremendously. I'll probably release you the day after tomorrow just so I know you've gotten in a good night's sleep . . . I'll let you alone with her now."

"Do you really think she'll come back from this?" Nate asked, desperate for a shred of hope.

"Sometimes I just get feelings about certain patients in my gut," Dr. Shepherd admitted, "and my gut tells me that Jenny Humphrey is going to come out of this just fine. It'll take some work, but from what I've seen of her so far, she's got what it takes."

Nate nodded as the doctor left, "I know you probably can't hear me right now Jenny, but I'm promising you that I'm going to be a real man, like the kind Dr. Shepherd was just talking about if you heard, and I'll never leave you . . . I'll always be here to help you fight even when it gets hard . . . even when it feels impossible . . . I'll always be here . . . I'll always love you."

Dr. Shepherd smiled as he heard the words Nate muttered to Jenny from his place at the nurse's station. It was so quiet in the hospital it was impossible not to hear what the young man whispered to his love.

~*~

Two Days Later

Lily Bass sat on the comfortable couch in her finely furnished penthouse awaiting her husband's arrival home from his most recent business trip. He was due to show his face any minute, and they had the house all to themselves since all the children were at the hospital visiting Nathaniel Archibald, who was still an in-patient at The Shepherd-Sloane Private Practice. She suspected they were also there just so they could be close to Jenny, but that went unspoken.

The doorman huffed through the door just then carrying Bart's suitcase, officially announcing his arrival home. Lily set her hands in her lap a number of different ways as she awaited the actual appearance of her husband, but in the end she chose to fold them in her lap like a proper lady and adopted a dignified air to complete the appearance she wanted her husband to see the second he set foot in their home. She'd poured them each a glass of red wine to consume during their 'talk.'

"Hello, Lily," Bart greeted as he stepped off their private elevator.

"Bart," Lily acknowledged, nodding as she took in her husband's appearance, and not making a move to get up to greet him.

"I guess you want to get straight down to business," Bart said, formally. "I've always admired that in people . . . it's a wonder I didn't marry you sooner," he continued, taking a seat in front of the glass of red wine that Lily wasn't drinking.

"I really wanted to make this work, Bart," Lily told him, sipping at her wine, "but I can't be married to a man that has me and my children followed around like some sort of paranoid delusional."

"I know," Bart acquiesced, admitting his fault, "but I swear I have fired Andrew Tyler, that private investigator who gathered all those files."

"You told me that once before, Bart . . . how can I be sure this time?" Lily argued, arching her eyebrows.

"I don't expect you to trust me right away after what I did . . . It's uh . . . It's been a long time since I've been a husband, Lily," Bart admitted, and it was clear that this was very hard for him to say, ". . . but I promise, no more snooping . . . no more trying to control you and the kids . . . it's done and I'm sorry . . . for everything," he said genuinely.

"Thank you . . . but um . . . I don't think that that's enough," Lily proclaimed, her heart aching as she thought of Rufus.

"Well, then tell me what is and I'll do it," Bart insisted, eager to fix their marriage. "I can change, Lily, you know I can . . . if you'll let me."

Lily thought long and hard about the repercussions her decision would make for all the kids and sighed, putting her heart on the back burner yet again, "Alright . . . I'll give you another chance . . . but I need you to know that regardless of the state our marriage is in I plan on remaining friends with Rufus Humphrey . . . Jenny's not doing so well, Bart, and he needs someone to be there for him . . . I'm going to be that person . . . and if our marriage is going to work I need you to be okay with that."

"I'll do my best to accept it," Bart conceded, he couldn't really tell her that she couldn't after he'd told her he'd do anything to make their marriage work, ". . . just don't expect me to like the man."

"I'm not asking that of you," Lily told him, "I just thought you should know."

"I appreciate that," Bart revealed, still not happy with her choice of friends, but unwilling to say so after his proclamation. "I should be back from my Miami trip in time for things to settle down between us . . . I hope that you'll remain serious about giving me a second chance."

"I wouldn't have offered one if I wasn't serious about it," she said, not quite believing that he was already leaving for another business trip just as they had reconciled, ". . . but I'll warn you, Bart . . . the business trips . . . they have to stop being so regular. We can't very well have a marriage if you're never here to participate in it . . . or a cohesive family for that matter. You leave me alone all the time and I'm only human, Bart . . . I get so lonely when you're gone. There are only so many school events I can bury myself in and they don't keep me warm at night when I'm lying in bed by myself . . . Also, I'd like you to give your son more of a chance. I've gotten to see a different side of Charles while you've been away so often . . . he's not the young man you think him to be . . . he's got good in him and he deserves to have you recognize that. There's only so many times you can beat someone down before they become what you label them, and I believe that that is Charles' problem. When he tries to please you, you shut him down and I'm not a teenaged boy but I do have experience with inattentive mothers . . . the kind that say they only want what's best for you without bothering to actually listen to what it is you really want or need . . . right now you don't even have that with Charles. He needs his father . . . he needs to know you love him and right now he thinks you couldn't care less. Why should he keep trying if you're not willing to meet him half way?"

"I'll give that some genuine consideration while I'm away," Bart promised. If Lily could see good in Chuck then maybe he wasn't trying to be the best father he could be, maybe he wasn't payingattentionto the right things. "I trust he's recovering well from the mugging and his surgery?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself," Lily suggested. "The only way to get to know your son is to talk to him . . . and I'll be the first to admit that talking to your children isn't always the easiest thing to do, but, in the end, it's worth it . . . and it's the only way to be a good parent. I'm not saying that I've got the whole parenting thing right, but I'm getting there. Instead of assuming Charles is out to embarrass or ruin you why don't you ask him what's going on in his life? I've found that children rarely act out just to be the bane of your existence . . . it usually has something to do with something they can't handle but are too afraid to come to you to ask for help."

Bart nodded, trying to take in everything his wife was saying. He hadn't a clue she was so wise.

"When do you leave for Miami?" Lily asked, not really caring. She cared for Bart, but she'd done her soul-searching and knew that Rufus was her true love. "And when will you be returning?"

"I leave in three hours," Bart told his wife, "and I'll be gone for three weeks."

"I hate to cut our time together short," Lily cut to the chase, a little hurt and offended that Bart obviously didn't mind since he was leaving so soon after he'd just gotten home, "but I promised Rufus I'd be there with him during a meeting with Jenny's doctor."

"Of course," Bart pretended to support her, he wanted to support her for real but he just couldn't manage it when Rufus Humphrey was involved, "I wouldn't want you to keep him and Jenny's doctor waiting. Give your husband a kiss before you leave?"

Lily smiled at him as she got up and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I'll look forward to seeing you again . . . now that we're back on track absence is bound to make the heart grow fonder."

Lily left the penthouse and caught a cab to Brooklyn, having made up Rufus' appointment with Dr. Shepherd out of the hurt she felt at her husband's abrupt departure.

When Bart was sure she was really gone, he dialed Andrew Tyler.

"Andrew! Bart Bass . . . I know I told you not to look into why my wife was in that sanitarium but I've changed my mind . . . I'd really like to know . . . I'd like to know everything," Bart said into the phone. Bart would not have resorted to this if Lily had refused to stay friends with Rufus Humphrey, he really did want to save his marriage, but he had to know everything about the woman he loved, especially if any of it involved Rufus Humphrey in any way.

~*~

As Lily drove away, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Chuck.

"Lily," Chuck greeted, cautiously, "I take it you had your conversation with my father . . . How'd he handle the news?"

"I'm not leaving your father, Charles," Lily told the young man, "I decided to give him another chance . . . I just thought you should know."

"I don't understand," Chuck said, "I know you're fond of my father, but you're in love with Rufus Humphrey . . . you should be with the man you love."

"Please don't take this the wrong way, Charles," Lily warned, her voice thick with tears, ". . . but one of the reasons I am giving your father another chance is for you."

"For me? Why?" Chuck asked, he didn't comprehend what was going on at all.

"I've noticed the way he treats you, Charles, and, for once in your life, you deserve to have someone to advocate for you . . . you aren't who he thinks you are and he needs someone to open his eyes to the truth . . . I'd like for that person to be me . . . but only if you don't mind."

"You're sacrificing your happiness for me?" Chuck breathed, not yet able to comprehend what she was saying.

"There're more than one type of love, Charles," Lily explained, ". . . you've only experienced one type . . . I've been fortunate enough to experience the love a mother has for her children . . . and you are one of my children. I'm simply sacrificing one love for another. I will continue to be there for Rufus as he deals with what's going on with Jenny, but I'm choosing to be your mother . . . ifyou'll have me."

"You love me?" Chuck asked, disbelief coloring his voice. It was hard enough to accept the fact that Blair loved him, but Lily . . . he'd never had a mother before.

"Yes, Charles, I do," Lily told him truthfully, "and I'm not going anywhere even if you try to get rid of me."

"I won't," Chuck revealed, honestly, still in shock that she wanted to be his mother . . . that she had chosen it.

"Good," Lily exhaled, not realizing she'd been holding her breath. She'd been worried that Chuck would say something unbelievably nasty to her proposition and she wasn't sure after denying her love for Rufus again that her heart could take it. "I'll expect you, Serena, and Eric home for dinner tonight. Feel free to bring any guests you'd like."

"Okay," Chuck said, a tiny smile cracking his forever smug lips, "I'll spread the invitation."

~*~

Two Weeks Later

Everyone was gathered at The Shepherd-Sloane Private Practice early on a Monday morning even though it was a school day for most of the occupants of the I.C.U. waiting room on the seventh floor of the building. The teenagers, Blair, Chuck, Eric, Jonathan, who had immediately called and apologized profusely to his boyfriend after receiving the Gossip Girl blast, Serena, and Vanessa were in a group together, while the adults, Alex, Alison, Lily, and Rufus with the addition of Dan, were similarly grouped. Today was the day that Dr. Shepherd was bringing Jenny out of her second induced coma. Nate was in the I.C.U. holding her hand as Dr. Shepherd discontinued the coma-inducing meds.

About a week earlier, Dr. Shepherd had allowed Dr. Sloane, the practice's plastic surgeon, to repair Jenny's shattered zygomatic (a.k.a. cheek) bone, reconstructing the pieces he could salvage while putting a metal plate over the whole thing to help it keep its shape. It was exactly symmetrical to the shape of her left cheek bone . . . Dr. Sloane was a perfectionist just like Dr. Shepherd, only in his particular field he was allowed to exercise more of this trait working on things like breast augmentation and glute implants as opposed to the more mysterious field in which Dr. Shepherd practiced.

Dr. Shepherd appeared in the waiting room, "It's done . . . I took her off all the coma-inducing meds. Almost all of the swelling in Jenny's brain has gone down, though not enough for me to reattach the section of skull I had to remove to relieve the pressure the swelling caused. The bruising is slightly better but nowhere near where it needs to be to be considered on the path to healing. Now all we have to do is wait for her to wake up, which could end up conversely, meaning it could take her several hours or only one, it all depends."

Everyone nodded as one, taking in the neurosurgeon's words. Most everybody took a seat in a plush blue chair, but Rufus and Dan chose to pace the room in a seeming effort to wear away the blue carpet to reveal the concrete floor beneath. Lily took a seat around the middle of Rufus' path, reaching out to squeeze his hand every now and again. Serena took a seat at the beginning of Dan's path while Vanessa took a seat at the end, alternately reaching out to give him some sort of comforting gesture as everyone settled in to wait.

One hour passed . . . Dr. Shepherd came to tell them there had been no change . . .

Two hours passed . . . nothing . . . Blair ordered a take-out breakfast from The Three Guys Coffee Shop . . .

Three hours passed . . . everyone had begun to become fidgety . . .

Four hours passed . . . now Alison was pacing too . . .

Five hours passed . . . it seemed that five hours was Jenny Humphrey's magic number because it had taken her exactly that amount of time to wake up from all her other drug-induced sleep-like states . . .

"She's awake," Dr. Shepherd informed all of the people who were anxiously awaiting the blonde teenager's alertness.

A communal sigh escaped the group gathered in the waiting room. A plethora of "Thank Gods" spurting out of everyone's mouths at different times, making a sort of echo effect.

~*~

The I.C.U.

Nate held Jenny's hand from the moment he took a seat by her bedside, when Dr. Shepherd had pulled the plug on her coma-inducing meds, to the second he felt her squeeze his hand gently five hours later. He squeezed her hand back just as gently before reaching for her nurse call button and squeezing it.

~*~

Jenny's P.O.V.

Jenny became innately aware of a comforting presence, a presence that happened to be holding her hand. She squeezed the hand holding hers as hard as she could at the moment, which was slight to say the least, and struggled to open her eyes, plural. For some reason she felt like the last few times her eyes were used, only one had been allowed to crack open. Sounds were starting to register with her . . . she could hear the steady beeping of machines, a whir indicating a power source, a buzzing sound that could only come from a fluorescent light, and the soft inhaling and exhaling of someone breathing. She knew who that someone was, instinctually, and bravely tried out her voice.

"Nate," she breathed, the sound coming out clearly even though her voice was eerily quiet and raspy from lack of use and the tube they'd removed from her throat when they'd taken her off the coma meds.

"Jenny?" Nate breathed just as softly, watching as her rosebud lips formed his name.

Her eyes started to flutter and she squeezed his hand again, a little more firmly this time, letting him know she'd heard him.

Both Dr. Shepherds, along with Dr. Sloane, and Nurses Badgley and Szohr appeared in the room half a minute later, crowding the small space that Jenny had inhabited. She'd become their favorite patient over the last couple weeks, learning all about her from Nate and all the other teenagers and adults who visited the I.C.U.'s waiting room as they shared stories about her and good memories they'd shared with her.

"She squeezed my hand twice," Nate smiled blissfully, his voice a happy twitter, "and she said my name . . . and look," he commanded cheerily, ". . . she's trying to open her eyes."

All present noted that her eyelids were indeed fluttering, so all the staff members she hadn't met scrambled to leave the room; they didn't want to scare her when her eyes finally opened. That left only Nate and Dr. Shepherd in the room when she finally popped open her clear, ocean-blue eyes. She took in her surroundings by actually moving her head, something she hadn't been able to do the first time around. She didn't give off the impression that she was scared of her surroundings, the blue walls much more soothing than the intimidating orange and green of her room at Dr. Crawford's.

"Hi," Dr. Shepherd greeted her, smiling. "It's nice to have you back with us. Do you remember me?"

"Yes," Jenny responded clearly, recognition plain in her eyes.

"Can you tell me what my name is?" Dr. Shepherd asked, his tone gentle.

"D-d . . . Dr. . . . S-she . . . S-shephe . . . S-shepherd," she said, still having trouble communicating, but not nearly as much as she had before her second coma.

"Excellent!" Dr. Shepherd clapped his hands together silently, just in case loud noises scared her. "Can you tell me your name?"

"J-J . . . J-jen," Jenny told him, not able to fully recall Jenny or Jennifer, but it was still better than just J.

"Wonderful! I'm going to tell you three things and I want you to remember those three things and when I ask you what those things are I want you to tell me what you remember, okay?"

"O-okay," Jenny responded.

"The things I want you to remember are red ball, times square, and east side. Repeat them back to me please," Dr. Shepherd ordered.

"R-red . . . b-ball . . . t-ti . . t-times . . . s-squa . . . s-square . . . e-ea . . . e-east . . . s-s . . . s-si . . . s-side," she repeated as instructed.

"Fantastic!" Dr. Shepherd crowed earnestly. "Can you tell me who's holding your hand?" Dr. Shepherd asked, with more confidence.

"Nate," she answered immediately, with absolutely no trouble as she looked at the beautiful young man standing at her bedside.

"Can you tell me who Nate is?"

"L-l . . l-lo . . . l-love . . . h-h . . . h-him," Jenny struggled, but again with less difficulty before.

Nate smiled extra wide when she said this, "Love you too, Jen."

Jenny smiled when she heard him say he loved her too. She remembered everything involving her and Nate, but they weren't clear memories. The ones that involved just her and Nate were crystal clear in her head, but those she assumed included other people were abstract, with the exception of Nate's part in them, like there were holes where other people should have been.

"W-wha . . . w-what . . . h-hap . . . h-happen . . . h-happened?" Jenny slurred.

Dr. Shepherd was happy at her response to the young man's words . . . it meant she could discern between speech and sound. He looked into Jenny's eyes and started to explain, "Somehow, something happened to you . . . something bad . . . that bad something left you hurt . . ."

"W-where?" Jenny interrupted, curious.

"Your head and your ribs . . . the damage to your head was so bad that I had to operate on your brain because that bad something that happened to you made your brain bleed and swell . . . do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Jenny said, quickly.

"Your brain was so swollen I had to remove a piece of your skull to relieve the pressure . . . while I was inside your head I had to fix tears . . . the tears that caused your brain to bleed . . . the blood that came out of those tears made some of your brain tissue die so I had to take the dead part of your brain out so it wouldn't do any more damage . . . Do you still understand me?"

"Yes," Jenny repeated.

"Your brain is also bruised from that very bad thing that happened to you . . . which is why you can't speak as well as you're used to . . . it's also why you're having trouble remembering," Dr. Shepherd told her.

Jenny felt a cool breeze on the part of her head that was uncovered and automatically reached up to mess with her hair, but, to her shock, her hair was gone, "W-what . . . h-hap . . . h-happened . . . t-to . . . m-my . . . h-ha . . . h-hair?"

"When we took into surgery, we had to shave it all off, but it will grow back, I promise," Dr. Shepherd assured her. "Tell me one of the things I told you to remember."

"R-red . . . b-ball," Jenny said.

"Great job! Do you remember anyone else?" Dr. Shepherd coaxed.

"Chuck," she said vehemently, but there was no fear in her eyes, just an intensity that neither man could understand.

"Would you like to see Chuck?" Dr. Shepherd asked, wondering if seeing the other teenager would shed some light on why she remembered him and explain the intensity in her eyes as she said his name just a second ago.

Jenny nodded. She wanted to speak as little as possible because it made her head feel funky and it hurt her throat.

~*~

The Waiting Room

"She's requested you, Mr. Bass," Dr. Shepherd informed him after he'd revealed to everyone that Jenny was awake.

"Really?" Chuck stuttered in shock. "She still remembers me?"

"She does indeed, Mr. Bass," Dr. Shepherd smiled, always happy to see a positive reaction from family members and friends.

"And she wants to see me? Seriously?" Chuck stuttered again, still unable to believe it.

"Yes, she does," Dr. Shepherd smiled again. He turned his attention specifically toward the group containing Jenny's family, "I'd like to see her reaction to Mr. Bass and perform a few cognitive tests before I give you my assessment of her current state."

All the adults plus Dan nodded their heads in understanding. Excited whispers were traveling like wildfire throughout the group of teenagers.

~*~

The I.C.U.

Jenny blinked as Chuck came into view from the clear glass walls. He was wearing his favorite purple suit for the occasion, and purple didn't seem to scare her either. He entered the room cautiously and smiled at Jenny. The last time he'd seen her the entire right side of her head as well as the top had been covered in bandages; now just the right and part of the top of her head were covered and a lone bandage was covering the stitches from the plastic surgery on her cheek bone. Her right eye was a disgusting shade of yellow-purple, but it was open and astonishingly blue against the nasty backdrop of her upper and lower eyelids and cheek.

"Chuck," she said clearly, her eyes showing the same intensity they had before.

"Hello, Jenny," Chuck greeted, his voice smooth as always, deeply contrasting with his stutters of surprise in the waiting room. It was smooth but lacked its usual smug quality. He sounded pleased, in a non-smarmy way, to see her awake, and relieved as well.

"Hi," Jenny greeted in return, her voice still clear as a bell.

Chuck smiled broadly, his face clear with nothing but joy, and at that he came closer to her, venturing as far as to take a place beside Nate, telling her enthusiastically, "You have no idea how fabulous it is to see you awake and talking!"

"T-thank y-you," she stated, the intensity in her eyes deepening as she met his brown ones.

Chuck's smile dampened a little when their eyes met . . . she remembered him . . . and she remembered that night on the roof top, the one he couldn't. The intensity in her ocean-blue eyes stated that clearly, but she still seemed happy to see him.

"Jen, tell me one of the other things I told you to remember," Dr. Shepherd encouraged, pleased with her reaction to the other young man, but still with no clue what the intensity his name and presence caused to show in her eyes.

"T-ti . . . t-times . . . s-squ . . . s-square," Jenny repeated, trying extra hard to get the order correct.

"Magnificent!" Dr. Shepherd crowed again. "Jen, is it okay if I perform some tests to see how your brain is functioning?"

"Yes," she agreed, and Dr. Shepherd performed the same tests he performed after she came out of her first coma, her results were still not great but they were better than they had been the first time. "One thing I didn't tell you earlier about your surgery is that afterward I put you into a coma so you could heal without any hindrance to your brain . . . Do you understand?"

"Yes," Jenny answered, slight shock registering on her face. "H-how . . . m-mu . . . m-much . . . t-ti . . . t-time . . . d-did . . . I-I . . . l-lo . . . l-lose?"

"Two weeks, give or take a few days," Dr. Shepherd informed her. "Tell me the other thing I told you to remember."

"E-ea . . . e-east . . . s-si . . . s-side," Jenny smiled, proud that she'd gotten the order correct.

"Extraordinary!" Dr. Shepherd crowed a third time. "Good news, gentleman and lady,"

he said, beaming, "you have a long road ahead of you to full recovery and you may still have some difficulty with some things for the rest of your life but you've improved beyond what I'd hoped for at this point, which is a positive indicator of what's to come and that is definitely good news!"

The trio of teenagers smiled, happy to hear things were finally on the up and up.

"There are people in the waiting room that have been here as often as they could while waiting for this moment, Jen. Do you remember anything or anyone besides me, Chuck and Nate and that your name is Jen?"

Jenny thought long and hard before shaking her head no.

"That's okay, Jen," Dr. Shepherd soothed as his patient started to show signs of fear, "don't be afraid . . . Can you remember anything about yourself besides your name?"

She thought long and hard again before shaking her head no.

"That is completely normal for what you've been through, Jen," Dr. Shepherd continued to soothe, "and I know that this is hard . . . more than hard . . . but I need you to be brave . . . can you be brave, Jen?"

Tears were sliding down Jenny's cheeks but she nodded, "I-I . . . r-rem . . . r-remem . . . r-remember . . . e-ever . . . e-every . . . e-everythi . . . e-everything . . . t-that . . . h-has . . . Nate . . . i-in . . . i-it."

"That's something, Jen," Dr. Shepherd enthused, "more than I could have ever hoped for at this stage in your recovery . . . what do you remember about Chuck?"

Chuck clenched his jaw . . . this was it . . . the moment she was going to reveal her secret about him, and he wasn't looking forward to it at all. He felt that if what he'd done was so terrible that even he couldn't remember it, then it should stay buried.

"F-face . . . f-facial . . . e-exp . . . e-express . . . e-expressions . . . m-mos . . . m-mostly," Jenny admitted, looking Chuck in the eyes again with that intensity, purposely telling him with that gaze that she had left certain things out, "a-and . . . h-his . . . v-vo . . . v-voice."

"That's all?" Dr. Shepherd asked, making sure.

Jenny nodded, saying, "Yes," as she did so.

"Tell me one of the things I told you to remember and it doesn't have to be in order okay?"

"T-ti . . . t-times . . . s-squa . . . s-square," Jenny told him dutifully.

"Excellent Jen! With everything you've told me, I can positively tell you that you are suffering from traumatic amnesia, Jen, which is excellent news," Dr. Shepherd shared with her. "It means that you have the possibility to regain your memory, and the fact that you are already showing improvement in your communication skills is a testament to the great possibility that you will, eventually, remember everything you have lost . . . it will just take time . . . the more your brain heals the more normal you'll feel and the more likely it will be that your memories will return to you . . . you just have to be very patient."

"T-thank y-you, D-dr. . . . S-shep . . . S-shepherd," Jenny said, not smiling. What was good news to Dr. Shepherd was very scary news to Jenny.

"I also have to warn you that you may be suffering from source amnesia, which is just a fancy way of saying that you can recall certain information, like Chuck's facial expressions and voice, but don't know where or how you obtained the information," Dr. Shepherd continued, his voice still encouraging.

Jenny nodded again, "T-that . . . s-so . . . s-soun . . . s-sounds . . . r-ri . . . r-right."

"Tell me another thing I told you to remember."

"R-red . . . b-ball," she said, smiling at the fact that she could at least remember the three things he'd asked her to.

"Good," Dr. Shepherd praised. "Do you remember those people I told you about? The ones that have been here so often while you were in a coma?"

"Yes," Jenny recalled for him.

"How would feel about meeting some of them?" Dr. Shepherd proposed. "Meeting them may help you remember."

Jenny looked down at her hands, "I-I'm . . . s-sca . . . s-scared."

"It's okay to be scared, Jen," Dr. Shepherd comforted his patient. "It would never be more than one person at a time and Nate or Chuck would be with you. Tell me the last thing I told you to remember."

"E-east . . . s-si . . . s-side," Jenny told him, confident.

Dr. Shepherd smiled affectionately at her, "Do you want to meet anybody? Any of the people I told you about?"

Jenny took in an enormous breath and blew it loudly out of her nostrils, which were dry and crusted, and closed her eyes for a prolonged period of time before opening them and saying, "O-okay . . . as l-long as Nate is . . . h-he . . . h-here."

"What about Chuck? Would you like him to stay as well?" Dr. Shepherd asked, gesturing to the other young man.

"N-not . . . r-ri . . . r-right . . . n-now . . . b-but . . . l-la . . . l-later . . . a-alo . . . a-alone," Jenny stammered, looking Chuck in the eyes and developing that same intensity in hers that she'd been developing all day when it came to Chuck.

"Alright," Dr. Shepherd nodded, smiling encouragingly at her again and motioning for Chuck to follow him back to the waiting room.

~*~

The Waiting Room

Dr. Shepherd returned to the waiting room with Chuck on his heels. Everyone turned to look at him as the door opened, something he was used to, and he strode toward the group of adults plus Dan, positioning himself so that he was half facing Jenny's family and half facing her friends, who seemed to be just like family.

"As I told you before, Jenny is awake," Dr. Shepherd began. "After running a few simple cognitive tests and asking her different questions, I can tell all of you to look on the bright side . . . I'm not going to stand here and tell you that she's doing well because she's not . . . she's just suffered a very traumatic brain injury that has had a tremendous affect on her and her life . . . but . . . there are early indicators that point in a positive direction. My diagnosis is dire, I won't lie to you . . . she is suffering from traumatic and source amnesia and the damage to her frontal and temporal lobes of her brain has caused a major problem with her communication skills . . . Also, from observation, she is prone to medial-temporal lobe seizures, which are a huge risk and responsibility to those she will go home to when she is released," Dr. Shepherd continued, ". . . Right now, Jenny is a terrified girl who can only remember two people . . . she remembers most of her name but not all of it and she doesn't have any idea who she is aside, it seems, from Mr. Archibald . . . I am willing to allow some of you to visit with her while in the company of Mr. Archibald but only because she has agreed to be brave and meet the people I've told her were in her life before . . . however, she may only be visited one by one . . . One person at a time . . . and I'll be observing . . . so if she even remotely seems agitated or scared of the person visiting, that person will promptly be dismissed from her room and it will be up to me to decide when that person can visit again . . . no exceptions . . . Rufus, Dan, Alison because of her violent reaction to your presence, you will not be allowed to visit her until I deem her ready . . . and for that I am truly sorry . . . I know it will be difficult for you to watch others get to see her while you must stay away . . . It is not a decision I made lightly."

"We know that, Dr. Shepherd," Rufus intoned, morosely. "I'm just happy that it looks as though she's on the mend."

"She is," Dr. Shepherd confirmed, "but her road to recovery is going to be a long and arduous one . . . her life will not be easy for her for a very long time . . . she's going to suffer as she heals . . . and there will be days when she'll want to give up . . . I've seen it before in patients with similar injuries . . . what I need from all of you is to staypositive when you're around her . . . the idea being that if you stay positive she will as well and that should help fight some of the depression that is bound to set in when she gets frustrated . . . Don't give up on her no matter what no matter how long it takes . . . if you do, she'll be able to sense it and that will tempt her to give up . . . and if she gives up she won't recover."

Dr. Shepherd waited for several minutes, allowing all the information he'd unleashed on the group of them sink in. Everybody looked downtrodden and helpless, almost as though he'd told them Jenny was dead, and to them she might as well have been because the Jenny Humphrey they knew and loved was gone. She was what he like to refer to as tabula rasa – a blank slate in Latin.

"So," Dr. Shepherd said, breaking the gloomy silence, "is there anyone in particular that would like to go in first? Or does anyone have a suggestion as to who would be best to go in first?"

"Serena," all the teenagers said more or less together with the exception of Serena herself.

She gave everyone a funny look, "Me? Why? I don't know what to say."

"Because you're Serena," Blair said, emphasizing her name, slightly exasperated, "the beautiful, blonde, perfect girl who makes everyone and everything shiny and happy and better no matter what you do."

"It's true, darling," Lily spoke up, trying to pump her daughter up, "you have this ability to make people feel light and care-free . . . it's a gift you've always had. Every room you walk into just brightens with your presence."

"It's true, baby," Dan agreed, giving her an honest look.

"Mom and Blair are right, sis," Eric told her, shrugging his shoulders.

"They are," Vanessa took her turn to agree.

"Chuck?" Serena turned to him selfishly, begging for someone to disagree.

Chuck shrugged at her, "Sorry Serena, it's the truth and if Nate were out here he'd agree."

"You're like you're mother, Serena," Rufus admitted, shrugging at her as well. "You light up a room. If anyone can make this easier on Jenny, it's you."

"But I don't know what to say," Serena insisted, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Dan came up to her and took her face in his hands, wiping away her tears and forcing her to look into his brown eyes, "Just be yourself."

She nodded, blinking quickly to get rid of the rest of her tears and looking to Dr. Shepherd, "Okay, I'll go."

"I'll give you a minute to collect yourself," Dr. Shepherd told her. "Just let me know when you're ready and don't forget that you won't be alone."

Serena breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, focusing on being calm and letting go . . . letting her find herself. She smiled one of her irresistible smiles, nodded her head sharply as she felt the confidence fill her up from her head to her toes, and became Serena van der Woodsen, the girl every girl wanted to be and the girl every guy wanted to be with.

Dan smiled at her, "There's my girl."

She smiled back at him, totally at ease, "I love you."

"I love you too," Dan continued to smile at her, confident that she was the right person to begin bringing Jenny back, "I'm ready."