"Any dizziness now? How's your stomach feel?" the kindly man asked, looking into Rick's eyes with a flashlight.

"Other then my head pounding…." Rick replied, trying to remember this "Rudy Wells" that was supposed to be so close to his wife and he.

He felt comfortable with him, it was true, but other than a few brief flashes of familiarity, his memory still ended with him coming back from Los Angeles with an assignment to protect a Laurel Scott.

His Laurie, who his brother had told him had loved him all those missing years. They had fallen in love again, been married and raised her niece and nephew as their own. He didn't remember any of this, nor of the concerned-looking man named called "Oscar" who had taken their captors into custody. He did have a flash of memory when A.J. mentioned "Downtown" Brown and his wife Temple living nearby, and A.J.'s wife Linda…she was very familiar too.

"Well, the MRI and CAT scan should tell us if there's any fractures or swelling that could be triggering your memory loss. It's interesting though, where your last conscious memories end.. right before you and A.J. went to Chicago and saved Laurie." The doctor added.

Rick frowned. "My brother mentioned we went to protect her from some stalker, he didn't tell me about saving her. What happened?"

Rudy started putting a local on the gash near the older Simon's temple as he talked. "You and A.J. arrived at the hotel where you were to meet her just in time to stop two of Willowby's men from kidnapping her.

She told me and Oscar that she looked up to see you and was never so happy in her life."

As he spoke, Rick found himself getting worked up at the thought of his girl being terrorized by the maniac, only to be relieved to hear that the millionaire was killed by the police years before.

"Of course you two have had a lot of dangerous times in your life together." Rudy explained, "but Oscar and I have never had to worry as far as your marriage, because you've always believed and trusted in each other."

Rick saw the smile on the older man's face, then impulsively put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Rudy, I might not remember much about you, but somehow I know you've helped take care of Laurie and ..all of us. I can't promise I'll be any good at dealing with, I mean, I've got to figure out what my life is."

He lowered his eyes, not wanting to admit what he had to remember didn't sound all that great at the moment.

The doctor leaned over and hugged him, then reassured him. "You'll be all right, son. Once we figure out what's causing your memory loss, we'll be able to help you get through it. Right now let's get some pictures then we'll go on from there."

Hours later, Rick was finally resting in a hospital bed, his headache down to a dull roar. A.J. was sitting on one side and Cecilia on the other, just making small talk.

His mother looked so good to him, somehow she knew he needed her to just sit and remind him of all the things he and A.J. had accomplished together.

He had to laugh at the descriptions she painted of his "expeditions" with his friends, of learning to ride a horse again and playing "cowboys" with A.J. and Laurie.

As he started to ask his mother about when she moved to Phoenix, Laurie knocked at the door.

"Honey, come in, how are you feeling?" Cecilia asked, insisting on wheeling her in. Rick took one look and his heart sank. Her skin was startlingly pale, the bruises from their attackers in sharp contrast to her relieved smile.

"Much better, Mom. Rudy told me you got in." Laurie got up from her chair and hugged her, then let A.J. trade places with her, making her laugh with his attempts to wheel to the other side of the room.

"Rick, you look better, what did Rudy say?" she leaned over and kissed his cheek. Rick was tempted to turn so her lips would land on his, but all he did was take her hand and squeeze it.

"I have a concussion, darlin', as soon as the swelling goes down he thinks my memory should return." He glossed over the part about the small crack his skull took.

A.J. looked over at Rick. "Concussion? Your head must be harder than I thought!"

Cecilia shook her head in mock frustration. "A.J., don't tease your big brother. I'm just glad it's not as bad as Joe told me."

Rick looked puzzled until A.J. said, "Chief Joseph, he was a friend of Dad's and he's the one who helped Laurie find out about her family, and Robin and Robbie. He was with Oscar yesterday in the hallway."

At once Rick had a flash of memory; an older man with a crinkled face, a pair of dog tags. "A.J., he gave us Dad's i.d. tags, when we first came to Arizona."

Laurie got very excited. "Yes, Rick, he gave them to you two just before you proposed to me. Rudy was right, you are getting better!"

He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Right now, the only thing I'm getting is tired. I'll remember everything tomorrow, sweetheart."

Immediately Cecilia got up. "Honey, you need to rest. I'll go home now, but I'll be back after breakfast, Rick." She kissed his cheek, then whispered, "you'll be okay."

"Night, Mom." He covered his sudden reluctance to see her go with a yawn, then reached out and patted his brother as he suggested "A.J., you go get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow, too."

"Night, Rick, night, Laurie." The younger Simon clasped his hand, then dropped a kiss on his "older sister's" cheek. "I'll be just a phone call away."

As the door closed behind him, Rick felt Laurie take his hand in hers then bring it to her cheek.

"Darlin'," he sighed, then turned his hand and stroked her face. "You don't look so good, I want you to get some sleep. You want Rudy to take you back to your room?"

"Not yet, Rick, please? I'd like to stay until you go to sleep." She scooted her wheelchair closer to the bed.

"Tell you what, I'll close my eyes, then you go to bed, okay?" he saw her reluctantly nod.

"Yes, love. "

Immediately he said good night then shut his eyes. Letting himself start to drift off he half-heard a small sob, then the squeak of the wheelchair as it rolled away.

"We made how much!"

Rick stared at his brother in disbelief, then shook his head. He couldn't believe at first they'd closed their office "temporarily". Now he understood why it was "no trouble" to his brother or why no one was bugging them for money.

"We were how long in San Diego, 20 some years, and in 13 years in Phoenix we made twice the money, unbelievable!"

"Of course for the first year you and Laurie were married, we only did business in San Diego, but the kids went through some nasty stuff there, plus we established quite a few contacts here, so after seven years we closed the office and moved here full time. That's when Linda and I started dating." A.J. leaned back in his chair and smiled, thinking of his wife.

"Oh, geez, A.J., talk about me…you've got it bad too." Rick teased, enjoying the grin that crept around his brother's face. Spending the better part of a week together, he and A.J. were now comfortable discussing the part of his life he largely had no recall of. At least he could voice his worries about Laurie's health with his brother; both Oscar and Rudy had been evasive with him about her being so pale. He knew he shouldn't send her away every night, but the pressure to recapture his past was making him so irritable that he was certain he'd say something hurtful to her. With a jolt he realized his thoughts had started to wander and he tried to focus on what A.J. was saying.

"You got that right. What really sealed it was the fact that she enjoys all the same things I like, plus, well, she was just about as lonely for family as Laurie was. Unlike a lot of the women I knew, she needed me."

A.J. added, a contented note in his voice. "And I needed her."

"Well, I'm glad, little brother. She's sweet and honest and has a lot of guts." Rick told him, then caught his breath as he realized he remembered something.

"A.J., when you proposed to her, something happened, you and her were kidnapped….."

"That's right, we were taken as bait by Aaron Caparelli, the crook who tried to kill you and Laurie and Steve Austin." A.J. paused, shuddering inwardly at the memory.

"You and Steve and …." Rick halted, sorting through the pictures in his head, "Rudy and Jaime, that's it, Steve's wife."

"This is weird, Rick. Why do you think you can relive other memories, but you have a hole where Laurie's concerned. Something must have happened that is blocking her out." A.J. mused.

Rick shook his head, "I don't know, but at least I remember Rudy now, I'm just grateful he's always been there for us. Speaking of which, were we sick recently?"

"Yeah, you two got a cold from our cousins when they came to visit, only Laurie got a virus from it. Rudy was really concerned about it 'cause it went into her chest." A.J. added.

"Someone call my name?" Rudy stuck his head in the door, then smiled at the two brothers.

"Hey, Rudy, come on in." Rick chuckled at the coincidence of the doctor's appearance.

"How do you feel?" he sat next to the older Simon, then took his pulse.

"My head feels much better, and I've started remembering more…."Rick replied, as A.J. added,

"Rick remembers mostly places and situations and people."

"That's great, I knew the swelling was down, when you're healed enough, I'd like to try a little verbal recall." Rudy said, continuing his examination of Rick's injuries.

"Uh, Rudy, there is one thing." Rick cleared his throat.

"Why can't I remember Laurie, I mean the last 18 years, I know there's something, heck I've always loved her, but …."

"I don't know, son. I suspect something happened the night you two were attacked. You saw or witnessed something that has caused you to block out your recall of someone you love."

Rudy put a hand on Rick's shoulder as he sat back against the bed pillows.

"I don't want you to push it, Rick. I know from experience that the mind protects itself from unbelievable tragedy and heartache by shutting the door to those events. Once it figures out that remembering whatever you saw or experienced won't hurt you, I think your memories will return naturally."

Both A.J. and Rick looked at each other, then the older Simon sighed.

"Thanks, Rudy, now I need to know about Laurie. What is wrong with her, she's so pale and I keep hearing about her having a heart problem a couple of years ago."

The older man frowned, then took off his glasses. "Rick, Laurie made Oscar and I promise we weren't to tell you, but there's no way I can keep quiet about something that might hurt either of you."

Just then his beeper went off, and he looked at the message on it.

"Guys, I have to go. Abby just brought Joey in, he might have broken his wrist. I need to talk to you, no better yet, A.J., can you come and keep Abby company until Ron gets here?"

"Sure, let me get my jacket." A.J. said, then Rick stopped him.

"Let me go, too. I haven't gotten a chance to really talk to her since this happened."

Rudy narrowed his eyes, then reluctantly agreed. "Good idea, besides, maybe just getting out of this room will help jog a few things."