Part 2

"You're my wife"

"WIFE? Buffy squeaked out the word in total disbelief.

Whatever she'd been expecting it certainly wasn't this little bombshell. At her startled expression, her so called *husband's* face creased into a dark, almost angry frown. His broad shoulders seemed to slump beneath his shirt and she was almost certain she heard him quietly sigh. Tearing her eyes from his face, her gaze travelled nervously down the length of his muscular left arm and on reaching his fingers, it settled on what appeared to be a small, gold wedding ring.

**You're my wife**

At the sight of the ring, an invisible band tightened around her chest, squeezing all the air from her lungs. Biting back the acid bile that was burning her throat, Buffy's shocked eyes edged slowly to her own left hand, only to discover the third finger was suspiciously bare... Oxygen was only returned to her protesting lungs when she realised that all her other fingers were also bare. Taking a welcoming gasp, Buffy calmed herself with the knowledge that she was in a hospital bed and almost naked, so the lack of a ring at this point didn't prove or disprove anything.

**This is utter madness**

From the moment she awoke her life had become surreal, nothing made sense anymore.

The silence that filled the room was almost deafening.

Turning her head, Buffy's anxious eyes flickered back to her *husband* and the coolness this man radiated caused her to shudder.

Suddenly her throat was too dry, the room was too hot and a troupe of small men with wooden clogs on their feet, danced frantically up and down inside her head.

**Okay, breathe Buffy. You remember how to do that much.. It goes in, out, in, out...** Each shaky breath caused her small chest to swell up against the rough hospital gown.


"You're my wife"

"We're married?.. You and me?" Buffy's large hazel eyes blinked as the information tried yet again to break through her disbelief.

The man claiming to be her husband glared, only his cryptic eyes showed any real emotion. Their coolness cut through her like freezing rain, causing Buffy's whole body to tremble.

Mr. tall, dark and gorgeous suddenly looked tall, dark and scary. His whole body seemed to tense up at her question. For a second, Buffy could have sworn she saw something resembling anger or even worse, bitterness flash in his deep chocolate orbs. When she looked again only indifference shone back at her.

Feeling the tension between the couple grow, the nurse took a diplomatic step forward.

"Buffy..." She started with a calming smile, carefully choosing the name the girl seemed more comfortable with." Do you recognise this man?"

**Do you recognise this man?**

The simple question brought Buffy crashing back to reality.
Did she recognise him?.

Looking up, she took a few more seconds to study his handsome features and then slowly nodded her head.

" You're Angel?" It was more of a question than an answer.

On her almost uncertain reply the nurse turned her head.

"I thought your name was Liam?" She asked suspiciously.

"It is. Only my wife calls me Angel"

Angel snapped back, annoyed that he had to explain something so intimate to a total stranger. He ran his hand slowly over his chin and the slight growth of stubble reminded him that he'd hardly slept in three days. What with the resent stress he'd been under, and now the lack of sleep, it was no wonder he was becoming irritable.

"I'm sorry, but you people already know who I am, you were the ones that called me, remember?" With a frustrated sigh he returned his voice to a softer level " All I'm concerned about is my wife, there's obviously a real problem here"

Buffy watched quietly, her eyes never once leaving his face.

He was giving off the most confusing signals.

Raising both hands to the side of her head, she massaged her temples, trying to rub out all the confusion swimming around in her memory.

"I don't understand any of this. My head, it's all mixed up, nothing's in the right place, everything's so fuzzy..." Buffy closed her eyes begging for the blackness to swallow her again, and return her to it's warm nothingness.

**Was there really a giant hole inside her head that used to hold memories of loving this man, marrying this man?. How could she possibly forget something that monumental, and yet still remember insignificant things, like the fact she liked yellow roses.**

"Here, take these" The nurse held out her hand and dropped two small pills into Buffy's trembling palm. Reaching over, she filled a small glass with water from the jug on the bedside locker and carefully placed it in her patient's other hand. Without hesitation, Buffy threw both tablets inside her mouth and swallowed them down with a large gulp of water.

Straightening the crumpled sheets, the nurse then offered a reassuring smile.
"They should ease the pain and also help you sleep"

Buffy shook her head.

"I don't want to sleep, I need to understand what happened to me..." She tried to stifle the yawn that broke free but failed as a renewed wave of exhaustion attacked her whole body.

"All in good time. First you need to rest. The doctor has been called and he will want to talk to both of you but, in the meantime, please try and sleep."

"But I...."

"Buffy, do as you're told. Close your eyes," Angel's clear voice was the last thing she heard.

She wanted desperately to protest, but her eyelids were already dropping. Within seconds, the darkness was washing back over her, pulling her into its safe, silent vortex. Only one picture accompanied her on the journey..

The face of this *Angel*... who ever he was.

*****

"Try not to be too concerned Mr. Angelus, a small amount of memory loss is not uncommon in cases like this."

Angel sat in the cramped doctor's office several hours later. He was tired, hungry and extremely frustrated but all that was put aside by his need to understand Buffy's condition.

Doctor Adam Walsh carefully studied the notes in front of him; he was nearly as tired as Angel after being on call for almost forty-eight hours. Ever since the accident two days earlier, the hospital resources had been pushed to breaking point. Every member on the staff had worked around the clock as they fought bravely to save the survivors.

Slipping off a pair of thin, gold rimmed glasses, he rubbed his own tired eyes before returning his attention to the notes

Angel wasn't impressed, the kid in the white lab coat didn't look old enough to be out of med. school, let alone be responsible for Buffy's care.

"You said a small amount of memory loss, just how small are we talking about here?" Angel asked impatiently, his large body leaned across the desk making it clear he was sick of being brushed off. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

Refusing to be intimidated, Adam Walsh scanned the papers again. He sympathised with the anxious man but knew in cases of amnesia, there really were no text book answers, each case was different. He also acknowledged that Liam Angelus wasn't a man to be messed around.

Catching sight of an important sentence, the young doctor looked back across his desk.

"I understand Elizabeth recognised you, she remembered some personal information?"

Angel nodded.

"Sure, she remembered a pet name, but she's my wife dammit, how can she forget something like that?" A small muscle in his jaw twitched with frustration.

"The accident must have been very traumatic, even though the CAT scan showed no damage to her brain, there's still the problem of shock to deal with. From what I've been told it was hell on earth out there, we don't know how much of the accident she witnessed, what horrors her mind is trying to forget. People have strange ways of handling stress. In your wife's case she seems to have shut down part of her mind."

"You're saying Buffy has amnesia?" Angel asked, not liking the idea one little bit.

The doctor nodded. Adam Walsh had seen more than his fair share of amnesia cases, especially accident victims.

"So how long will it last?" Angel asked.

Scratching his chin, Adam considered the question carefully before replying.

"We can't know, it could be an hour, a week, a year. It all depends on Buffy and her state of mind."

"And in the meantime what am I supposed to do?"

"At this moment in time Mr. Angelus, you know your wife better than she knows herself. She will need as much love and support as you can possibly give her. You need to take her home and treat her as normally as possible. Maybe when she's in familiar surroundings she'll feel safe enough to open her mind and let out what ever demons frightened her into closing it."

"And what if her memory never comes back. What if she never remembers me?" Angel didn't even want to consider that possibility.

Adam Walsh shook his head

"Permanent amnesia is extremely rare, especially in cases where there was no damage to the brain. No, your wife seems to be suppressing something, all we can do is give her time"

*****

Outside the hospital, Angel sat in his car and dialed the familiar number by heart, after a few short rings, the other end clicked open

"Hi Cordy, it's me" His weary voice breathed deeply into the small cell phone resting against his ear.

"Liam, It's about time you called, I've been worried sick" The woman's reply was both angry and concerned.

Angel rubbed his hand over his tired eyes and relaxed deeper into his seat. For a hire car it wasn't too comfortable but it was better than nothing.

"I know and I'm sorry, what can i say, its been a rough few days" He almost laughed at the understatement, the last few days had been a nightmare and from what the doctor had just told him, it was only just beginning. The female voice on the other end of the line soon broke him from his reverie.

"Liam, will you just cut to the chase. Is it the little bitch or not?" This time her tone was almost venomous.

"Cordelia! Don't talk about her like that" Angel's mask slipped for the first time and real pain showed in his hard brooding eyes. It had been easy to hide his feelings from Buffy; months of heartache had turned him into quite the actor. Cordelia would be green with envy at the skills he had picked up. But now out in the real world, the pain he had carefully hidden for the last three months surfaced and threatened to suffocate him all over again..

"Yes, it's Buffy" His eyes softened as the memory of her smile caressed his battered heart.

"And what has the bitc.. Sorry, what has your wife got to say for herself? What excuse did she try to fool you off with"

"She didn't...."

"Oh please, don't tell me you forgave her" Cordelia angrily interrupted.

He could almost feel her contempt burn across the miles separating them.

"It's not that simple, she's got amnesia" Angel shook his head, cradling the phone closer to his ear, he waited for the explosion to follow. He wasn't disappointed.

"And you believed her! Liam you really are a dumbass"

"That's enough. I think you should remember your place, you're my little sister, not my mother" Angel snapped, his patience now pushed passed its breaking point.

For a second neither spoke, both sibling was too consumed with their own conflicting emotions to risk hurting the other.

"So, now what?" Cordelia calmed her tone of voice, she knew shouting at her brother wasn't the answer. She could almost see him shrugging his shoulders as he fought for the right answer.


"I guess that's up to Buffy"

"You really are a big, stupid, dumb ass.." She repeated her earlier insult but this time there was real pain in her voice. Cordelia didn't give him time to reply

"Liam, be careful, please, please be careful this time"

At the sound of his sister's real concern Angel pulled himself together.

"Don't worry, sis. She won't break my heart a second time"

Ending the call, Angel turned on the ignition and pulled away from the hospital.
He seriously needed to shave, take a hot shower and change his clothes before seeing his *wife* again.

**She won't break my heart a second time** The promise he'd make to Cordelia rang loudly as he drove the short distance back to his hotel.

**There was no chance of that occurring, nobody played him for a fool twice**

As his heart started to freeze back over, Angel made a new promise to himself.
All he wanted from Elizabeth Angelus was closure and once that happened...she could go to hell for all he cared.

TBC