One Iron pill half an hour before lunch, plus vitamin C. Rich, healthy meal: pasta, soy burger, green salad, an apple, decaffeinated espresso. Two Folic Acid pills an hour after lunch, better if taken with vitamin C as well. A lot of water, with some lemon in case of sickness.

Standing by the window in the hospital room, Sara read through the eating plan she had just written down and frowned. There were definitely going to be problems in following that at work. Figures, there would be even if she would stop working.

At least, she reasoned, the baby was fine. According to the doctor, she could keep working until she would be able to, unless anything unforeseen would occur. Sara thought it was a good thing, because she couldn't really see herself spending the next five months in bed.

"Fifty bucks that you'll cuff me there as soon as you find out about this." She told Nick, who was still asleep and motionless, as she trailed a hand across her abdomen. She sighed to herself. "I swear I really have no idea of how to tell you… Maybe I should just let my belly grow until you find out yourself, uh?"

She couldn't stifle a smile. Truth was that she was actually a little excited about their little secret, as she liked to call it. She had never been very motherly, in her own opinion, but Nick had a natural skill with kids, and she had often found herself fantasising about him holding a baby in his arms, the biggest grin ever on his lips. He was born to be a father, and she was secretly proud to be the one who would give him this joy. If only it didn't scare her so much.

"Sara."

Her heart sunk as she heard his voice. Weak and throaty, but definitely his voice. Her look dropped on him at once, to find him fluttering his eyes open.

"Nicky!" she flung herself toward him and quickly pressed the emergency button, then cupped his face with one hand, placing the other on his. To be completely honest, he did not look good, not even far from it, but he was finally awake, and Sara was wise enough to recognise it was something she had to be glad for.

Nick blinked several times before slowly turning to her, looking utterly confused.

"Where are we?" he asked feebly.

"At the hospital, honey." Sara explained, beaming in relief as her fingers brushed his hair back. "Don't worry, it's alright. Everything's alright." She was telling it more to herself than to him, though.

He gave her a small smile, making her heart warm up instantly. She hadn't realised before how much she had missed that smile.

Before he could say anything else, doctor Thompson and a nurse rushed into the room, and questions started raining down.

"Mr Stokes, do you know where you are?"

Nick glanced at Sara before answering.

"Hospital."

"Do you know why?"

"I remember the ambulance," he said, blinking in the effort of recollecting the events. Sara squeezed his hand. "And a loud noise, before…"

Doctor Thompson scribbled something on a paper, his forehead furrowed.

"Anything else?"

Sara watched Nick stare in concentration at the ceiling and shake his head no.

"Never mind," the doctor said with a reassuring smile addressed to Sara, whose face was showing pretty high levels of concern. "It is normal to have little lacunas after psychophysical traumas. Everything will clear out, eventually."

Sara nodded, though not completely convinced. While the doctor kept writing, she set her free hand atop of Nick's head and smiled inwardly. He was okay, that was all that counted.

"How are you feeling?"

Nick breathed hard through the pipe in his nose, attempting a nonchalant grin.

"I've been better." He quipped weakly, eliciting a little laugh from Sara. "But no more mysterious insides cases for me."

Sara's face went white. Her heart jumped drumming in her throat as a ominous shiver crossed her spine.

"Nick," She nibbled at her trembling lower lip. "What year are we in?"

The doctor and the nurse approached, eyeing his hesitancy significantly. Nick's look lingered on each of them quizzically.

"Answer her question, Mr Stokes." Said Thompson gently.

"Two thousand and five."

Sara spun her head alarmingly to the doctor, who scowled visibly. She felt her blood pressure increase dangerously as he muttered something to the young nurse, who hurried out of the room, carrying Nick's folder with her.

"Ms Sidle, would you please wait outside while I visit Mr Stokes?"

"Whatever you have to say or do, you can do it in front of me," she said impassionately. "I'm his-"

The words died in her mouth as she felt like losing the ground under her feet. If Nick's brain was two years behind, she was nothing more than a dear friend to him, maybe not even that.

She felt her head spin furiously. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Not now.

"Oh, god."

"Ms Sidle," doctor Thompson offered her his hand to help her standing on her feet. "I promise to update you as soon as I'm done. Till then I have to beg you to wait outside. Nurse Samuels will take care of you."

Sara had to strive to force herself to leave Nick. She brushed her lips on his cheek and promised him she would be back soon, then left in silence, her heart heavy and sore.

When the door closed behind her back, she pressed a hand on her mouth and screwed her eyes shut, trying – in vain – to keep herself from sobbing.

She had done her best to just be glad Nick was alive and none of his physical damages would be permanent, but she wasn't sure she could deal with an amnesia, especially if that meant he wouldn't be able to remember of what he and her had built together.

But what hurt most was that she couldn't even tell him of their baby.

A hand lay warily on her shoulder, startling her.

"Miss Sidle…" The young nurse, whose badge read Irene, was scrutinising her worriedly, holding a glass of water in her hand. "Doctor Thompson asked me to stay with you while he's with your fiancé."

Sara hastily wiped a couple of tears from her eyes and faked a smile. The girl didn't seem to be older than twenty, with big shiny amber eyes and long blond hair. She had a cute anxious expression Sara couldn't help appreciating.

"I'm… Fine, I think." She mumbled, as the nurse led her sitting down on a chair. "Hormones rule my body, by now."

She let out a low, shaky laugh, receiving a sympathetic look from Irene.

"Don't worry, Thompson is an excellent neurosurgeon," said the girl encouragingly. "He'll be able to help Mr Stokes."

Sara nodded her head, hoping with all herself that she was right. A short pause followed, during which Sara tried to imagine how things would be if Nick wouldn't recover his memory.

Raising a child on her own was not an option. Her maternity skills barely included singing a lullaby, and she didn't even want to think about dealing with wails and untranslatable requests all night through, not to mention the amount of stress she would reach between her job and maternity.

Besides, she couldn't see any of that without Nick.

He was the one with parently instinct, he was the one who was good with kids. She was the failure that only his presence could make worth something.

On the other hand, Sara would never give up his child.

She loved that baby for the mere fact that it was a part f him, and whether Nick would remember or not how it had been conceived, she wanted him to meet his son or daughter. She knew he would want to.

"Have you decided a name for the baby yet?" Irene asked. Sara cast her a lopsided glance, and she turned red. "Sorry, none of my business."

"No, it's okay." Sara grinned indulgently. "It's just that…"

"He doesn't know."

"Yeah."

Irene hummed thoughtfully.

"Isabel." She sad brightly after a moment. "If it's a girl. Izzy Stokes. Oh, maybe it sounds too Grey's Anatomy…"

Sara giggled, mentally thanking the girl for distracting her and making her feel a little better.

"Isabel Izzy Stokes…" Sara mused. "It doesn't sound bad."

"Really?" exclaimed Irene excited. "It's the first name that popped into my mind when I saw you and Mr Stokes together. I'm sure yours will be a gorgeous baby… Looking at the two of you…" Sara laughed gingerly, and Irene blushed again. "Sorry, I'm being inappropriate."

"Don't worry," Sara told her, a sweet hint to her tone. "I actually think it will be a good-looking baby, too."

If it would take after Nick, it would obviously be very beautiful.

As Irene went on rambling about babies and names, Sara smiled at the small bump in her tummy, sighing sadly.

Izzy. Izzy Stokes.

She was sure Nick would love it.

TBC...