**Disclaimer: Cowboy Bebop belongs to Sunrise. Characters and events depicted throughout this story are purely the children of the author's imagination. No similarity to any real life person or event is intended, and is completely coincidental.**
A/N: This is my first Cowboy Bebop fan fic so be gentle. It takes place after "The Real Folk Blues pt. 2. That said, let's rock and roll! Also kudos to DC Luder for the idea on how to write this fan fic, the concept is the same as a story of his entitled Time will Tell.
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Spike took a deep breath and held it, letting it completely fill his lungs before exhaling outward. Staying at the hospital was boring.
Somehow he'd woken up here, with a head full of wool, and barely a recollection of who he was. They'd told him that his name was Spike Spiegel and that he'd been brought in with gunshot wounds, but that was it. He did see a purple haired woman sometimes in his dreams at night though.
So here he laid, his torso covered in gauze and tape. He reached up, and winced as he touched the tender spot on the side of his head where the last bullet had gone in, this was also bandaged. It hadn't gone far, and had only affected his memory to some extent. He had trouble recalling the names of objects, people, and places sometimes.
He knew he'd had the same nurse for the entire time he'd been there, but couldn't recall her name anytime he saw her. He did remember that her hair was gray, and that she was kind of short, and that she liked to tell him stories. Despite the drawbacks, she was always patient with him, and talked to him about anything he liked, whether it was how much he liked sweet potatoes or about the frayed threads in his blanket, or even about her grandchildren. He liked that she was so nice to him, even though she didn't know him from anybody else in the hospital.
After a few days, the purple haired girl from his dreams came to visit him. She brought with her a book, and a smile. And he knew that somehow that was all he needed.
He watched as she sat by the bed and smiled her smile at him, her eyes bright with the sunlight that shone through the window onto her face.
Spike smiled back.
"Hey lunkhead." She said finally, tilting her head a bit to get a better look at him.
"Hi…" he said tentatively.
"So how soon 'til your ready to blow this popsicle stand huh?"
Spike shrugged. "I-I don't know."
She frowned slightly, "That's strange. You usually come back with some smart ass comment, or something. And you don't stutter. What's this hospital stay been doing to you?"
She reached out and knocked on his head gently.
Spike let out a small cry of pain before shying away from her. "Stop." He pleaded in a small voice.
"Wha..? Stop? What are you doing? You've never sounded like that before."
"Befo… When? Who you?"
The purple haired woman's face twisted up, "What do you mean who am I?!"
Spike grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his head.
She was just about to continue her rant when Spike's nurse grabbed her by the arm and put a finger to her lips. "Not so loud. He's had memory damage; he doesn't know who you are. He can't even remember who I am half the time."
She stared at the nurse, her face expressionless. "You mean he… He doesn't remember who he was before he came here?"
She turned to face Spike's hidden form, "You don't remember 'us'? What we had together?"
Spike slowly pulled the covers down and stared at her, "You from dream. Purple. Smile."
He watched as her face melted in a mixture of mirth, sadness, and pain; then as she began to cry. "He doesn't know me." She said softly.
"Well…" The nurse began gently, "You could always introduce yourself to him. Sometimes the memories come back."
Faye shook her head disbelievingly.
"Go on. Just look at the bright side, if there was anything that went wrong between you two in the past, he doesn't remember now. You can start anew."
Faye wiped her face with the back of her hands and nodded to the nurse before approaching Spike's bedside.
"Hi Spike. I'm Faye. I was… A friend."
Spike smiled weakly, "Hi Faye."
"Now take in mind, he might not remember you the next time you visit. But have patience, it'll stick eventually." The nurse said from behind.
Faye turned and gave her a smile before refocusing her attention to Spike. "So what do you do around here for fun?"
Spike pointed at the television mounted in the corner. On the screen was some children's show. The animated pictures were at the moment showcasing the letter "H".
She looked back to Spike as he smiled. "Tee-Vee."
Faye raised her eyebrows and shrugged in defeat. "Okay. T.V. it is then."
He looked at her suddenly, a funny expression crossing his face. "How get here?"
Faye's brow wrinkled; his language skills had suffered since he couldn't remember how to express his thoughts like before. "We brought you here. After Jet brought you back to the ship and cleaned you up, you kept lapsing into unconsciousness so he thought it would be best if we took you to a hospital. Right before we got you here, you wouldn't wake back up. The doctor's said that it didn't look as bad as it could have but… I guess no one expected this, that's all I can say."
"Who 'Jet'?" Spike asked, his curiosity shining through his expression.
Faye laughed mirthlessly, "He's a friend too. He cooks for us and everything."
Spike stared at her without a reply, an unreadable expression on his face before going back to watching the screen.
Faye sighed, and in a deadpan voice commented "Alright. This should be fun."
**Two weeks later**
Faye pushed Spike's wheelchair down the nearly deserted hallway, every now and then stopping suddenly to surprise its occupant. Spike predictably flew forward slightly each time, his reflexes a mess.
"Aren't you glad you're going home today?" Faye asked.
Spike nodded, he couldn't remember anyone else that Faye said they were going to meet. She'd shown him their photographs enough times that he somewhat remembered their faces, but he had a distinct feeling that his mind had distorted the memory.
Truth be told, he was scared to death, but he didn't want Faye to know that, feeling that as long as she was there, he wouldn't have to be. Looking up at her he studied her face, something he liked to do when he thought she wasn't paying attention. He liked her hair, and the greenness of her eyes, and the way her face was shaped. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever remembered seeing.
During the past few weeks, she'd spent a lot of time trying to remind him of what he'd lost. Telling him all sorts of funny stories, and sometimes not-so-funny stories, reacquainting him with what he'd missed. He'd looked forward to her daily visits even more than the chocolate pudding they served at lunchtime, and almost as much as the green Jello at dinner. Sometimes they'd go for walks around the hospital, and she pushed him in his chair. Other's she'd bring him something from his room on the Bebop that might be familiar to him. Now all of that came down to this day, when he was finally well enough to go home.
After they reached the nurse's desk and she signed him out, they headed down the elevator and out to Faye's ship. As Faye helped him into his seat and warned him about being crowded he turned to her and asked, "Faye, why you only see me?"
"They've been busy Spike, chasing bounties. Besides, maybe they didn't want to see you all banged up like this."
"Oh." Spike answered quietly.
"You ready to go home Spike?" Faye asked with a smile.
Spike returned the gesture, "Yesh."
With that the ship took off in the direction of the Bebop. Spike was finally coming back home.