AN: This is still Madison's friend. I'm so sorry for the long delay in updating the stories. My life has NEVER been more stressful. My Dad's Dementia has progressed so much. To try tp make up for the delay in updating. I'm going to post 2 chapters of every story I update today.
Chpt. 28: CPOV:
I wake up suddenly in the middle of the night and it takes me several minutes to realize where I am. I check Ana's vitals on the machine and they all look the same except her heart rate is slightly higher than it was when my mom checked on her a few hours ago. Suddenly I hear Ana moaning; I immediately stand up and turn a small light above her bed on hoping that this is a sign she is waking up. However as I see her face, I can immediately recognize that she is in the middle of a nightmare. Her face is contorted as if she is in pain as she whips her head back and forth mumbling something I can't understand.
"Ana? ANA? Can you hear me? Wake up baby!" I beg, fearing that she is going to hurt herself.
She doesn't reply; I try kissing her and gently shaking her arm but still not reply. She is beginning to move more rapidly, with more force and I am increasingly afraid that she is going to further injure her already frail body. Seeing that I can't seem to wake her, I hit the nurse button not knowing what else to do.
"Mr. Grey?" a nurse immediately walks in.
"She's having a nightmare…I'm afraid…." I stutter.
"I will be right back with her prn" the nurse says quickly reviewing her chart before leaving the room.
"What is it?" I ask the nurse who is now injecting something in Ana's arm.
"It's a mild sedative to help her sleep. Sometimes patients can further injure themselves while sleeping so most patients in her situation are prescribed a mild sedative for situations like this" she explains.
"Will it delay her waking up at all?" I ask quietly.
"No, it will wear off in a matter of hours. Hopefully just long enough for her to get some much needed rest" the nurse exits the room.
Unable to go back to sleep, I sit next to Ana watching her now sleeping peacefully. I check my emails on my laptop but there are no further updates on the car that hit Ana tonight. The hours pass by slowly with no change in Ana's condition; the sunrises over Seattle and a new day has begun. Nurses come in and out checking on Ana's vitals however no one seems to be able to answer my question as to when will she wake up.
"Sir?" Taylor enters the room.
"Yes Taylor?" I acknowledge without turning around.
"I would like you to meet Luke Sawyer, Ana's new security" Taylor introduces.
"Nice to meet your sir" Sawyer shakes my hand.
Luke Sawyer is likely who I would have chosen based on his physical presence alone to guard Ana. He is clearly former military based on his hair cut and overall demeanor. He stands well over six feet tall and can easily hold his own in any type of a physical combat situation.
"Did Taylor brief you on the situation?" I ask.
"Yes sir" Sawyer answers.
"You understand that you or another member of my security is to be outside Ana's door at all times?" I test.
"Yes sir" he answers. "Taylor has provided me a list of all authorized visitors along with a picture of them so that I can verify their identity before I allow them into the room. He has also provided me a list of individuals who under no circumstances are to be permitted to enter the room."
"Good" I sigh. "Additionally, at no time is a hospital security staff member to serve as a substitute for you. I don't care if you need to pee, only someone assigned to my security detail can take your place. I don't trust the hospital security staff here yet to know that no one is trying to harm Ana."
"Understood sir" Sawyer says.
"Sir, I have three members of your security team at the hospital at all times checking various points throughout the day. Everyone has contact information and can reach one another via their secure ear pieces when assistance is needed" Taylor explains.
"Thank you Taylor for piecing this together so quickly" I say as Sawyer exits the room to take his first shift outside the door.
"I wish there was something more I could do" Taylor looks sadly at Ana. "Is there anything I can get for you?"
"No" I sigh.
"Gail has sent some food for you sir" he hands me a heavy basket.
"Tell her I appreciate it" I say as he exits the room.
The clock on the wall barely moves as the day slowly drags on with no change in Ana's condition. As tired as I am, I cannot close my eyes for more than a few minutes. The moment I close my eyes, I instantly replay my last phone call with Ana, the loud thud, the screaming and the chaos from that night. I force myself to remember how happy she was before she left for work yesterday; we spent a wonderful morning together in which we were both very happy. She seems to really like the new library I had built; I of course did not tell her that I had it built specifically for her. If it were up to me the room likely would have just sat empty or have been turned into another spare bedroom. When I asked Elliot to design the library, I did it with Ana in mind. I wanted her to have a place to feel safe and comfortable when she spent time with me. I hoped that she would one day agree to move in with me, I could see her easily spending hours in this room every day getting lost in the books. We were both looking forward to our weekend away; I couldn't wait to show her my house in Aspen. No one except my immediately family has ever been in that house; I wanted to share it with her.
"Christian?" Kate wakes me from my day dream entering the room.
"Hey Kate" I sit up, stretching my sore back.
"Any change?" she asks.
"No" I sigh. "They gave her a mild sedative last night-"
"What? Why? Did something happen?" she asks.
"She was having a nightmare and they were afraid she was going to injure herself further" I explain.
"Her nightmares can get pretty bad" Kate acknowledges quietly.
"You've seen them?" I ask surprised. Ana didn't seem to think that Kate ever heard them.
"She doesn't know that I have" Kate confirms what I was thinking. "But, she's had a couple when she would stay with me. I never knew what they were about; I never asked her about it but they sounded horrific."
"Thankfully it didn't get that bad last night, I think the nurse gave her the sedative just in time" I say.
"Any progress on finding the douche bag who did this to her?" Kate asks.
"Not yet, but we will find whoever it was" I vow.
Kate and I spend most of the afternoon together, the time allowing me to learn more about Elliot's new girlfriend and more importantly Ana's best friend. Kate told me how her and Ana met in freshman orientation; she said Ana was sitting by herself in the back of the room when Kate decided she looked like she needed to have some fun. Kate said she immediately sat down next to Ana and began telling her jokes about the rules that the administrators were discussing with them. Kate said that very quickly Ana went from looking shy and uncomfortable to nearly drawing attention to herself by laughing out loud. After freshman orientation they discovered that they had a few general education classes together which brought them closer together. Kate said by the end of the first month of school she knew that Ana would be her best friend. They started sleepovers at Kate's apartment at least once or twice a month in which they had a true slumber party on the living room falling asleep to what Kate describes as "chick flicks."
"Did you ever have slumber parties at Ana's?" I asked.
"No" she sighs. "Ana never really said much about where she lived but I got the impression very early on that it was in a rather bad section of town and was not something she was proud of. Every time I offered to pick her up or drive her home she would make excuses so I didn't have to see where she lived."
"She did the same thing with me" I agree.
"I tried for so long to get her to move in with me but it wasn't until she received a scholarship earlier this year did she finally agree. I knew she didn't want to move in with me because of the money but no matter what I did I couldn't convince her that the money did matter. My parents pay my rent every month; even now that she finally moved in with me I refuse to accept money from her. Instead she insists on keeping my kitchen stocked – which I can't complain. Before she moved in, I was eating take out or sandwiches every day" she laughs.
"Mmmmmmm" Ana moans.
Kate and I both hold are breath and look at Ana trying to determine if she is waking up or if this is the beginning of another nightmare. A few minutes go by without a sound from Ana; I'm immediately disappointed that she didn't wake up but find myself hopeful that perhaps it's a move in the right direction. Time passes by slowly without another sound from Ana; Kate continues to tell me stories of Ana in college.
"Christian, I don't mind sitting here for a while if you want to shower or get something to eat" Kate suggests.
"Are you sure? I have a couple calls that I could make" I answer.
"Take your time; I'm meeting Elliot for dinner in an hour but he won't mind if I'm a little late" she encourages.
"I will be back before then" I promise as I leave the room.
"Mr. Grey" Sawyer immediately stands to great me from his seat next to Ana's door.
"Sawyer" I acknowledge. "Any concerns?"
"No sir" he answers.
"I am going be in the waiting room just around the corner. Please call me immediately if there are any changes with Ana or anything I need to know about" I direct.
"Yes sir" he says.
I walk into the empty waiting room, responding to a few emails before calling Ros to check on the status of several projects we have been working on. Ros is thankfully very understanding and immediately took the lead on the projects I was handling last week. Andrea has rescheduled most of my meetings for later this week with Ros but some were moved to next week due to scheduling limitations. Ros advised me that there were several items that I needed to sign however we agree that they can wait a few more days. By mid week Ros will have her assistant bring everything requiring my signature to hospital so I am only interrupted once. I request that she notify me the approximate day and time so I can arrange to have someone sit with Ana during that time.
"Welsh, any update?" I answer my phone.
"We have confirmed that Stephen Crawford remains incarcerated and has had no visitors other than his mother in the past year. We do not believe that he is behind this attack" Welsh says.
"Any progress on the bank cameras?" I ask.
"Minimal" he sighs. "We have obtained the footage however there is no clear view of the driver. From what we can tell the vehicle was an older model, dark blue or black sedan. Barney is trying to fix the picture some but he is doubtful that we will be able to get a license plate from the image."
"What about the driver?" I ask.
"From what we can see, the vehicle was driven by a Caucasian male wearing a dark colored baseball cap with a dark long sleeve shirt or jacket. He was looking straight ahead at the time of impact, both hands were on the steering wheel" Welsh says confirming our suspicion that this was purposeful.
"Any threats received?" I ask.
"Nothing sir and the media does not appear to have gotten wind of the situation" He says.
"Very well, let Barney know he should acquire any resources needed to enhance the image" I direct before hanging up.
"Any changes Kate?" I ask walking back into the room.
"She moaned once but nothing else. Her heart rate didn't change and she didn't move" Kate answers sadly.
"If you don't mind sitting for a few more minutes, I'm going to take a fast shower" I ask.
"No problem Christian" she says.
I take what is probably the fastest shower of my entire life before returning to Ana's side. I try not to get my hopes up but find myself watching her closely for any sign of her waking up. I thank Kate for her company today as she leaves to go meet Elliot for dinner. I put on some classical music on the MP3 player that Ana gave me for Christmas to drown out some of the silence in the room. I don't particularly like watching television so I don't turn it on.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm" Ana moans again.
"Ana? Ana? Can you hear me?" I ask as her head moves slightly.
"hmmmmmmmmmmmm" she moans in response.
I quickly hit the nurse button as her hand begins to try to reach for something. She continues to moan and move around slightly; it's different than the nightmare she was having last night. Her face doesn't look like she is in pain, she just looks like she is trying to wake up from a deep sleep.
"I think she is waking up" I say as the nurse walks through the door.
"I'm going to page the doctor" she says.
"Christian?" Mom says rushing into the room.
"She's moaning and moving around….not like last night when she had a nightmare" I explain quickly.
"Ana! Ana can you hear me?" Mom says loudly. "Squeeze my hand if you can hear me."
I hold my breath, watching Ana's hand in my mother's. Ever so slowly I watch Ana's fingers move and apply the slightest pressure to my mother's hand. I slowly let the breath I was holding; she is finally waking up! My Ana is finally coming back to me!
"Ana? Can you open your eyes for me?" Mom asks firmly.
Slowly Ana's eyes open, confusion is evident as she looks around. She slowly looks at my mother, at the machines next to her, the IV in her arm, her leg in a contraption above her bed before finally landing on me.
"Oh Ana" I sigh giving her a kiss on the cheek.
Her eyes don't meet mine but instead are looking at my mother full of concern and confusion. She tries to speak but her mouth must be too try because nothing comes out. My mother sends the nurse to get ice chips and advises Ana not to speak just yet.
"Ana, do you know where you are?" Mom asks.
Ana shakes her head no.
"You are at Seattle Grace Hospital, you were in an accident. Do you remember?" Mom asks.
Ana shakes her head no again.
"Take some ice chips, don't chew them – just suck on them" Mom instructs lifting a cup to her lips.
I sit on the edge of my seat watching Ana but she doesn't look at me again. She is focused on my mom who is writing in her chart and checking her IV as Ana sucks on the ice chips the nurse brought back. Mom explains that Ana's doctor is in surgery at the moment but will be by to visit Ana as soon as he is available.
"Ana, do you remember me?" Mom asks and I immediately look at her confused.
"No" Ana whispers. "Should I?"
"That's okay sweetie. Your body has been through a lot." Mom says writing something else in her chart. "Do you recognize the man sitting next to you?"
Ana finally looks at me but I can tell from her eyes that she doesn't know who I am. My heart sinks and I feel sick to my stomach at the thought that she doesn't know who I am. How will I cope with her not knowing me? How could she forget everything we have been through? How could she forget me?
"I don't think so" she whispers.
"Ana, my name is Grace and I am a doctor here at the hospital. I was here when you were brought in after your accident. This is my son Christian, the two of you are dating" she explains.
Ana looks from me to my mother and back again in utter confusion.
"What? How….we….?" she stutters.
"It's okay, memory loss can happen have an accident. I'm going to go page your neurologist and have him come check on you" Mom says leaving the room.
I'm speechless….I don't even know what to think. If she forgot everything how can I make her fall in love with me again? How can I get her to trust me again? I put my head in my hands trying to think of something to say to Ana, something to trigger her memory.
"Good evening Ana, I am Dr. Walker the neurologist assigned to your case" A doctor walks in with my mother and shakes Ana's hand.
"Christian Grey, nice to meet you Dr. Walker" I shake his hand.
"Ana, before we proceed, I need to ask you if I have your permission to talk about your protected health information in front of Mr. Grey" Dr. Walker asks.
Ana looks at me and thankfully shakes her head yes. I was seeing red when Dr. Walker asked her that question; let him even try to kick me out of this room. HIPPA laws or not there would have been hell to pay if he even tried.
"Ana, what's the last thing you remember?" Dr. Walker asks shining lights into her eyes.
"I don't know, it's all fuzzy" she sighs. "Maybe a college class?"
"Do you know what day it is?" he asks.
She shakes her head no.
"What year?" he asks.
Again, Ana shakes her head no.
"Do you know your address currently?" he asks.
Ana's eyes immediate fill with panic, darting between myself and the doctor. She shakes her head no quickly but I think she is recalling when she was living in a shelter or a boarding home and is embarrassed to say so. She doesn't know what I know and probably doesn't know what to say.
"Are you in any pain right now?" he asks.
"A little…my ribs mostly…." She answers.
"Yes…I see from this report that you broke three of your ribs during the accident. Normally ribs heal pretty quickly however it appears you had previously broken your ribs and they did not heal properly. This complication will likely delay the healing process some" He explains.
"Can you give her something for the pain?" I ask seeing Ana begin to shut down at the reference to her past abuse. Of course there is no way she could forget something like that.
"Yes, I will have a standing order for pain medication as needed" he writes in her chart.
"When will I remember…..everything?" she asks.
"Your CAT scan showed some minor swelling in the area that controls short term memories however we expect over the next couple of days for the swelling to decrease. Your memory will likely return during that time however it's not going to come all at once. It will likely come back slowly, almost as flashbacks and probably in pieces. It would probably be helpful for someone to be with you whenever possible to try to explain some of the memories or at least help you piece them together" Dr. Walker explains.
"I will be here" I interject.
"Do either of you have any questions?" Dr. Walker asks.
We both shake our heads as Mom and Dr. Walker leave the room. I can tell Ana is slightly uncomfortable with being alone with me suddenly; afterall to her I am a virtual stranger. I decide to hold off on contacting Kate or Elliot to let them know that Ana has woken up, I think with everything going on she might need a little more quiet time.
"Kate was here earlier visiting you" I say.
"Kate?" Ana says confused. "Oh….yes….we have a couple classes together."
"Actually, you did have a couple classes together but you don't currently as you have different majors. Kate is your roommate" I inform her.
"I live with Kate?" Ana asks surprised.
"Yes, you moved in over Christmas break" I answer. "I helped you move your stuff in as Kate was away with her family in the Bahamas."
"You….you helped me move?" she asks.
"Yes" I answer, knowing she is asking if I knew where she lived before.
"How long have we….." she asks, not knowing what to call our relationship.
"A few months now" I say smiling at her.
"Do you mind telling me how we met?" she asks.
"You bumped into me" I laugh. "You almost fell on your ass but I caught you."
"That sounds like me" she giggles.
"The second time we met, you spilled coffee all over me" I say.
"On black shoes?" she says closing her eyes.
"Yes! Do you remember?" I ask excitedly.
"No, maybe…I don't know. I just had a flash of expensive looking black dress shoes with droplets of something on it" she describes.
"You bumped into me at a coffee shop early one morning" I continue. "We then met at a dance club when Kate dragged you out to meet her boyfriend which happens to be my brother."
"And we've….I mean….have we?" she blushes.
"Yes we have been intimate" I smile. "Many times."
"Oh" she says blushing deeply.
"Are you tired? Thirsty? Hungry?" I ask after a brief pause in our question and answer session.
"I'm a little hungry" she admits.
"I will be right back…let me see what you are allowed to have" I quickly stand.
I quickly find the Ana's nurse who confirms that the doctor has written an order that she can start on soft foods in small portions for as long as her stomach can tolerate it. I quickly text Taylor asking him to pick up some chicken broth, jello and apple sauce from a restaurant as I don't want Ana eating hospital food if at all possible. The food here isn't the worst, but it doesn't have very much flavor and often tastes as if it's been sitting out for days.
"The doctor has given the okay for you to have soft foods, so I've arranged for something to be brought to you shortly" I walk back into the room to find Ana gazing out the window.
"Thanks" she says sadly.
"Are you okay? Are you in pain?" I ask worried at her change in mood.
"I'm fine" she sighs. "I just wish I could remember. It's obvious you care about me and I just wish that I could remember…."
"Ana, I just don't care about you" I interrupt. "I love you."
She gasps as her eyes fill with tears. I immediately move closer to her and awkwardly hug her while she is laying in bed hardly able to move. It's not easy hugging her like this but she buries her head against my chest breathing in deeply.
"Your cologne" she sighs.
"Hmmmm?" I ask confused.
"The smell is familiar" she says.
"At least on some level your nose remembers me" I smile.
"I guess so" she says pulling away. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me Ana" I say sitting down next to her.
"Can I ask you something?" she says taking a deep breath.
"Anything" I answer quickly.
"If we've been….then you must have seen…." She stutters.
"Yes, I have seen your scars and you have seen mine" I say. "I have a few scars from when I was very young, cigarette burn scars. They are obviously nothing compared to your scars but we sort of bonded over our scars. I think you are beautiful, every inch of you inside and out. It's one of the reasons I find it so difficult to keep my hands off of you whenever you are around."
On cue, she blushes deeply.
"Oh….I…." she stutters just as someone knocks on the door.
"Taylor, please come in" I greet.
"Gail sent over some homemade chicken broth, soft fresh bread, applesauce and several bottles of water for Ms. Steele. She has also packed a dinner for you sir" he says handing me a bag.
"Ana, this is my head of security, Jason Taylor" I introduce.
"Ms. Steele, it's nice to see you awake" Taylor says shaking his hand.
"Thank you for bringing me dinner" she says shyly.
"Ana, I will be right outside the door" I say escorting Taylor out.
"Does she remember anything sir?" Taylor asks as the door closes and we step out of ear range.
"Not really….she thought she still had classes with Kate and didn't know they were living together" I answer sadly.
"What does the doctor say sir?" he asks.
"He said it should come back in flashes over the next few days as the swelling in her brain decreases" I answer.
"Would you like me to have Dr. Flynn come for a session here?" he asks.
"I think I'm going to wait a day or two but I will let you know" I answer before walking back into Ana's room.
"What do you say we have some dinner?" I ask.
"Sure" Ana answers.
"Gail, my housekeeper, makes the best home made chicken noodle soup so I'm sure you are going to love her broth" I say placing the containers on the stand next to Ana's bed.
"Your housekeeper?" she asks.
"Yes, she makes delicious food" I answer.
"You have a housekeeper and a security guard?" she asks surprised.
"Yes," I sigh. "You had no idea when we first met who I was, but I've been Seattle's most eligible bachelor for several years now…at least according to a few top magazines. I am the CEO of my own company which has made me a very wealthy man."
"I see" Ana says quietly.
"It was one of the things I liked about you almost immediately Ana" I smile. "You had no idea who I was or how much money I had. All too often people would approach me just because of who I was; it got to the point that I had no idea if people liked me for me or liked me for my money."
"I guess it works out that I don't read all those Seattle magazine" she giggles.
We ate our dinner in comfortable silence over the next few minutes. It's unreal to me that after sitting by her side for almost two straight days that I am now sitting next to her talking. I still don't know what to think about her short term memory loss; I can only hope the neurologist was right and that her memory will return in the next few days as the swelling goes down. As she finishes dinner, she comments that she is tired and I suggest she take a nap. She asks if I will still be here when she wakes up which of course I promise her immediately that I will be here but I can't help but feel a tad happy that she at least wants me to be here when she wakes up. She quickly doses off as I sit next to her holding her hand tightly. Within minutes I feel the exhaustion of the last few days hitting me, and I quickly fall asleep with my head on Ana's hand.