Joanne yawned as she opened her eyes, giving her body a good stretch before she realized that something was missing. Maureen wasn't in bed. She frowned and looked at the alarm clock, shocked to see it was already after ten. No wonder the diva was up. She had slept half the day away already.

She climbed out of bed, stretching again as she made her way out of the room and down the hallway toward the living room. "Maureen?" She grinned when she saw her standing at the window, looking out at the city. She stopped, drinking in her beauty for a moment before going to join her. "Good morning."

Maureen leaned back against her as she wrapped an arm around her waist. "Morning."

"What are you doing?" Joanne trailed tender kisses up her neck.

"Nothing much. But I know what we could both be doing right now if I wasn't being forced to wear this stupid sling."

Joanne raised her eyebrows, resisting the urge to ask if her lover got up on the wrong side of the bed. "Did you eat?"

"No."

"Want me to fix you something?"

Maureen shook her head. "I'm really not hungry."

"Is your arm hurting?" She felt her lover sigh. "Hey, you're the one who told me to ask you again this morning."

"It's all right."

"Maureen?"

"Fine, it hurts." Maureen winced as she pulled away from her and slowly made her way over to the couch to sit down. "Actually I hurt all over. Does that make you feel better?"

"Of course not." Joanne followed her. "But if you're hurting that bad maybe you should take some of the pain medicine the doctor sent home with you."

"So I can have a nightmare about your mother coming after me with a machete and you getting hacked to pieces?" Maureen shook her head. "No thanks."

"Hey." Joanne sat down next to her. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"Obviously that's not true."

"What do you mean 'obviously?' Are you telling me I've never woken up grumpy before?" Maureen sighed and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm being such a bitch."

"I think you do."

"There you go again." Maureen looked at her. "Stop being so cryptic and just say what's on your mind."

"All right." Joanne turned to face her. "Something's been bothering you lately and I let it slide because I didn't want to push the issue. But we have an agreement. We said we would talk to each other. So I'm calling you out." She looked into Maureen's eyes. "Talk to me." The panic she saw in those brown orbs caught her off guard. "Mo?"

The diva tried to avoid her gaze for a moment before blurting out, "I've been having dreams," like it was something to be ashamed of.

"You mean like the one you had last night?"

"Kind of but not exactly."

Joanne frowned. "What does that mean?"

"I…" Maureen fidgeted. "I think I've been remembering things when I'm asleep."

"What?!" Joanne looked at her in disbelief. "For how long?"

"About a week. And before you ask, I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure what was going on."

"That would explain calling me Pookie and the making up comment."

It was Maureen's turn to frown. "What?"

"I can't believe you, Maureen." Joanne ignored her as she rocketed off the couch. "We're supposed to be getting through this together, remember? How am I supposed to help you if you don't tell me what's going on?" She stopped pacing to look at her again. "Unless you don't trust me enough to share. Is that it?" Tears threatened to fill her eyes. "You didn't think you could tell me?"

"That's not it at all!" Maureen glowered.

"Then why did you keep me in the dark?" She waited for a response but none came. "Why, Maureen?!"

"Because I can't stand what I've been seeing!" She clinched her jaw. "They're not even complete. It's just these bits and pieces and snippets of us yelling and screaming and you crying and me walking away and…" She shook her head. "Is that how our relationship was? Am I remembering? You'd know better than me."

Joanne was at a complete loss for words.

Maureen half heartedly chuckled at her silence. "So your mom was right."

That got the lawyer's attention. "What?"

"I really shouldn't blame her you know. She just confirmed some things for me."

Joanne's heart sank, remembering how her mother gloated about pointing out Maureen's less charming personality traits the day before. "Like what?"

"How I used to stay out half the night without telling you where I was. Coming home stinking drunk and looking for a fight. Flirting with anything that walked. You know, basically making your life a living hell."

"Maureen…"

"You said it yourself. Or rather your silence a minute ago said it for you. Those are memories."

"No." Joanne shook her head. "It's not that cut and dry."

"Isn't it?" Maureen swallowed hard. "Are you telling me we weren't really through? At our commitment party. When we walked away from each other, our relationship wasn't over? Because that's how it played out to me."

Joanne opened her mouth to answer but no words would come out. How could she have been so blind to what Maureen was going through? How could her lover have been suffering such turmoil right under her nose? How could Mo have remembered the worst moment in their relationship without her knowing?

"Oh God, we were, weren't we? We were through!" Maureen drew in a shaky breath.

"Maureen…" Joanne's voice trailed off when she saw how pale the diva was. "Are you all right?"

"I…" Maureen tried to draw in another breath. "I can't…" She continued to struggle. "Breathe."

By the time Joanne got to her it sounded like she was hyperventilating. "Calm down, baby." She rubbed her back. "You're going to make yourself pass out."

"We…"

"We fought. Just like we'd fought a thousand times before."

"It… It wasn't… the same…"

"Stop talking and listen to me." Joanne pulled her into her arms, hoping the contact would somehow help calm the diva. "Yes we said some pretty awful things to each other that day. Things I know we both regretted. But that's par for the course with us." She felt Maureen start to relax. "We're both independent, strong willed, pig headed women who find it morally offensive to lose a fight. So we pull out the big guns, blast away at each other and, at the time, damn the consequences. Then, when we realize what we've done, we get together, apologize and do some of that making up you were talking about last night."

"This was different."

At least she could talk again. "Was it?"

"Yes." Maureen nodded as she pulled away, still looking shaky. "I made a complete ass of myself in front of your family. They were nice enough to have that party for us and I ruined it. If I hadn't…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to compose herself. "If I hadn't been drunk and stupid and hit my head, would we have gotten back together? Would we have made up again?"

Joanne sighed. "I don't know." She realized how that must have sounded and quickly tried to clarify herself. "Because we never got the chance to find out, did we?"

"No. You felt sorry for me and took me back out of the goodness of your heart."

"Excuse me?"

"I said you felt sorry for me." Maureen pushed herself up off the couch, wincing at the movement. "First I was in a coma and when I woke up we found out I have amnesia. Someone as responsible as you couldn't just walk away from something like that."

Joanne was genuinely shocked by her words. "Is that what you really think?"

"Yes. Why else would you have stayed with someone like me? I wasn't exactly up for any girlfriend of the year awards, or do you need me to go over the laundry list of my inadequacies again?"

"Maureen…"

Her voice shook. "You deserve someone who loves and cares for you."

"But you…"

"Who puts you first no matter what. I never did that."

"Yes you…"

"I thought of myself… What I wanted or needed and said to hell with everyone else. I…" Tears filled her eyes. "How could you stand me?"

"That's enough!" Joanne yelled to make herself heard. "My God Maureen, what the hell did my mother do to you?"

"She pointed out the truth."

"No. She manipulated you into thinking like her. Your mouth is moving but her words are coming out." She held up a hand to keep the now crying diva quiet. "You had your say. Now it's my turn."

She started toward her girlfriend. "If you honestly think I'm with you because I feel sorry for you, you don't know me at all." She cupped Maureen's cheek to make her look at her. "You're here because I love you, Maureen. Having a fight in front of our family and friends could never change that. You getting hurt was a push from fate as far as I'm concerned. When you were…" She bit her lip, trying to keep her emotions under control. "I could feel you slipping further and further away and I realized that if I couldn't get you back, I wanted to go with you. You're my life, Maureen. I'm nothing without you."

Maureen threw her good arm around her. "I love you so much!"

Joanne finally let her own tears fall as she held her close. "I love you too, baby. And I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Her words were slightly muffled as she laid her head on the lawyer's shoulder.

"For not realizing what you were going through. For yelling at you when you told me about your dreams. For my mother making you doubt yourself."

"That's just it, she didn't. Not really anyway." Maureen pulled back to look at her. "I know you're not going to like it, but I was already wondering what kind of person I was before she paid her little visit. You can't dream… remember," she corrected herself, "the things I have without questioning who you were before."

"Maureen…"

"No, Joanne. I hurt you, I hurt our friends and in the end I hurt myself. I don't want to be that person anymore. Not if it means the possibility of losing you. You're everything to me."

Joanne sighed. "You've put a lot of thought into this."

"Yes I have. Just like I know I should have told you about my dreams sooner. I won't keep anything from you again." She ran the back of her fingers down Joanne's cheek. "I hate that I upset you."

"Can I just say one more thing and then I promise I'll drop the subject."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"You are the same person, Maureen. Whether you like it or not. Amnesia might take your memories, but it doesn't change who you are. And I wouldn't want it to." Joanne kissed her on the nose. "I like you just the way you are."

"You mean with amnesia."

"No, I mean as Maureen." She covered the diva's lips in a gentle but smoldering kiss. "My Maureen."

Maureen leaned against her. "It scares me how much I love you."

"Tell me about it." Joanne gave her one last squeeze before holding her at arm's length. "I have an idea."

Maureen grinned. "What might that be?"

"Not what you're thinking." Joanne returned her grin. "Since you won't take any of your pain medicine, how about if I draw you a nice hot bath. That should help with the soreness you're feeling this morning."

"But I can't get my arm wet."

"You can prop it up on the side of the tub."

"A bath does sound nice." She batted her eyelashes. "Will you join me?"

"No."

She pouted. "Why not?"

"Because there's not room for the both of us. Not for the kind of soak you need. Besides, I'll make us something for breakfast while you're in there. Then we can eat together and cuddle up on the couch."

"All day?"

Joanne nodded. "All day."

"Just the two of us?"

"Unless you want to invite the cop who arrested you. I think he liked you."

Maureen ignored the comment. "And we can watch a movie?"

"As long as it's a comedy. I think we've had enough emotional stuff for a little while."

"You've got yourself a deal."

Joanne smiled. "If you're a good girl I might even see if the others want to come over for pizza later."

"You're going to spoil me." Maureen gave her a lingering kiss.

"Come on." Joanne put her arm around Maureen's waist to lead her toward the bathroom. "Let's get you settled in the tub."

"Yes ma'am." Maureen leaned against her as they walked.

Joanne kissed her on top of the head, finding it hard to believe she had actually snuck something past the diva. Usually Maureen knew when she was trying to keep anything from her, but not this time. She had no idea there was an ulterior motive for inviting the others over that night.

No idea at all.