Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters created by L.M. Montgomery and Moira Walley-Beckett. I do not claim any ownership over them and offer my writing to the world as a homage of appreciation to their creations as well as an outlet of imagination to imagine an infinity of alternate storylines. This is just one of them!

Author's note: So sorry for the long delay—I promise a lot more chapters coming ahead with better pacing. I got a little stuck and admittedly distracted with writing other stories to share in the future, but I have worked through it. Thank you for your patience!

X.

Cole's eyes were filled with tears of relief from the moment he first saw Anne open her eyes. The lack of sleep, the tumultuous journey to Avonlea and back, all of it had been worth it—to see his dear friend awaken after two days of unconsciousness. At first, it appeared that she was fine, as if she'd just awakened from a long slumber. Then it dawned on everyone in the room that Anne's injury, aside from the bandage on her head, involved far more.

Cole looked around and saw that everyone appeared to feel as helpless to assist Anne as he did. Everyone except Gilbert, who naturally took charge of the situation. He remembered that Anne had told him of Gilbert's ambition to become a doctor, and he could see just how much that role suited him. He saw how easily Gilbert was able to calm Anne as she got agitated. "I don't understand…"

But moments later, Anne again lost consciousness. Cole watched Gilbert as he tried in vain to reawaken her. Then Gilbert gently removed one of the pillows to help her rest comfortably.

"Now we wait for the doctor," said Aunt Jo. She looked at Gilbert with concern before addressing him. "I'm sure she's fine."

Gilbert nodded, but Cole could see that he looked shaken, more so than anyone else in the room. Everyone's eyes were on Anne, as if they were all willing her to reopen her eyes. Matthew, Marilla, and Diana approached her, speaking gently to her, as Gilbert stepped back to give them more space. The next moment, Gilbert excused himself and left the room.

"Cole, would you please just make sure he is all right?" Aunt Jo spoke softly so only Cole could hear her. "Remind him that Dr. Holmes is on his way, and that he should not be worried."

"Yes, of course." Even if Aunt Jo hadn't prompted him to do so, Cole felt he would have gone anyway to talk to Gilbert. After all, Gilbert wouldn't have been there at all if Cole hadn't run into him that morning in Bright River.

Cole left the guest room and found Gilbert at the end of the hallway at a window, looking wretched as he fought back tears.

"Gilbert, I—" Cole's brain suddenly froze, as he wasn't sure what exactly to say to him at first. They had always been acquaintances, but Cole felt their individual ties to Anne had bonded them in less than a day. Even so, he felt slightly awkward about asking how he was faring. "I just wanted to come and reassure you that Dr. Holmes will be here soon. I know you did your best to help—and you did help!"

Gilbert nodded once as he quickly wiped his eyes, but he still looked miserable. "Why did I have to say anything? I'm afraid it's my fault she lost consciousness again."

"You told her the truth, which is what she'd need to know sooner or later. You didn't know how she'd take the news." Cole paused and saw Gilbert turn back toward the window, his arms crossed. "Besides, you helped her calm down…"

"Yes, I calmed her all the way back to unconsciousness," said Gilbert, shaking his head.

"Everyone in that room knows you did your best. No one but a doctor could have done more." Cole saw that Gilbert still looked dejected, but he recognized that same tendency in himself. To dwell on the bad rather than focus on the good. Anne and Aunt Jo had slowly but surely helped him focus more on the good. "And wasn't it wonderful to see Anne's eyes open?"

Gilbert nodded and smiled slightly. "Yes. When I first saw her today, so still and quiet, it unnerved me. And I don't think I've ever seen her sick in all the time I've known her. Anne's usually a force of nature to be reckoned with."

Cole nodded, but didn't respond, letting Gilbert continue.

"So yes, seeing her eyes open felt so momentous." Gilbert's eyes brightened for an instant. "As if she'd been away somewhere else and returned to us."

"Returned, yes," said Cole. "But not the same. Now we know she's lost her memory of the last few months."

"When Anne asked me how I was, that was a shock." Gilbert looked up at Cole, his eyes wincing at the memory. "I knew right away something wasn't right, that her head injury caused amnesia." He paused for a moment to look out the window before facing Cole again. "She feels as if it's April but here we are in August." He sighed with eyes cast downward, betraying the worry brewing inside him. "I hope it may be temporary, this memory loss."

Cole nodded. "Well, the doctor did say that we wouldn't know more about her injury until she woke up."

"Yes, she did wake up," said Gilbert as he looked at Cole with a slight smile.

"That's right. Let's focus on the positive." Cole wanted very much to encourage Gilbert not to dwell on blaming himself. Now he wondered why Gilbert was looking at him in such a peculiar way, as if he wanted to ask Cole a question.

Before Cole could even ask, Gilbert took a deep breath and addressed him. "You're right, Cole, we need to focus on the positive. And she woke up, thanks to you."

Cole looked at Gilbert, surprised. "Thanks to me? What are you talking about? We were all talking to Anne, all of us helped—" He felt confused and couldn't understand why Gilbert was giving him all the credit.

"Well, Anne woke up right after she heard you speak." Gilbert looked into Cole's eyes, again, as if he wanted to ask him something he couldn't quite articulate.

"But I spoke right after you! I would argue that Anne woke up thanks to you! I saw her eyes move as you spoke. And that's what inspired me to say what I did. That she'd want to have her say and not just listen to each of us go on and on without replying."

Cole wanted to laugh. He thought that the very discussion they were having was absurd, but he held himself back, sensing that Gilbert was not speaking in jest. He had an inkling of what might be behind Gilbert's words, but wanted to make certain. "Gilbert, why are you so convinced that it was because of me that she woke up?"

"Well, I know you and Anne are close friends." Gilbert looked at him with a quick shrug.

Cole could hear a hint of jealousy in Gilbert's tone and realized his inkling had been correct: Gilbert suspected Anne and Cole of having an attachment to each other, an understanding! Cole was torn between the desire to laugh in hysterics and the impulse to correct him.

"Yes, we are friends, but that is all, I assure you." Cole sat down next to Gilbert and looked at him directly in the eyes. "Gilbert. Allow me to speak more plainly. I have never felt anything other than sisterly affection for Anne." His tone was so decisive and measured, that Cole could see Gilbert's eyes soften as he understood Cole's meaning.

"Oh." Gilbert's expression shifted, and Cole could see that his message did finally get through to him. The very notion that of all people, Gilbert Blythe saw him, Cole Mackenzie, as a romantic rival, absolutely tickled him! He was happy to see on Gilbert's face a look of relief and a flush of embarrassment to have presumed so much.

Cole now knew instinctively that Gilbert's heart belonged to Anne. Why else would Gilbert have read so deeply into Cole's friendship with Anne and been so wrong? He was seeing this sensitive, vulnerable side to Gilbert he didn't know existed. He then immediately thought about what Diana had told him on the train. Cole felt that he had been right about what he had told Diana, that they didn't know the full story. Without a doubt, Gilbert was still in the dark about Anne's feelings for him. But what were Anne's feelings for Gilbert now, with memories of the last few months vanished?

But before Cole could figure out what to say next, Gilbert smiled sheepishly and spoke up. "I'm sorry, Cole. It's just that you and Anne seem to share so much in common in creativity and imagination. Also, you helped her at the orphanage in Nova Scotia. I thought perhaps there was a chance she favored you."

"No need to apologize." Cole smiled at Gilbert and patted his shoulder. "Besides, there's no doubt in my mind who Anne favors. She—"

Gilbert looked up at him, his brow wrinkled inquisitively in anticipation.

"There you two are!" Diana came running up to them from Anne's room. She was out of breath and excited. "Anne's awake again...and the doctor's arrived. Thought you would...want to know."

Cole and Gilbert both nodded as they followed Diana back down the hallway. Gilbert gave Cole a look that their conversation would need to be continued.

Cole nodded back in return. He felt a little relief, because he honestly didn't know what to tell Gilbert. What good would it have done to tell Gilbert that Anne did love him back, when Anne's memories of this were currently lost?