"Sir?" the voice jolted him out of his dream. He shook his head, shaking away the nightmare, and looked around the room. A nurse stood over him, smiling gently.

"She's awake." Was all she said. It was all she needed to say. Neil leapt out of his chair and leaned over the bed. Andrea's eyelids were fluttering furiously as she tried to take everything in and her hands clenched and unclenched as she readjusted to movement.

"Andrea? Andrea, can you hear me?" he begged of her, grabbing her hand and leaning over her.

She looked up at him, only confusion and fear in her eyes, "Who?"

"Andrea, are you okay?"

She tried to sit up, "No, I don't remember. I don't remember anything. What's going on?" She was panicking, clawing at the sheets to sit herself up, her face contorting into expressions of distress.

"Okay, Andrea, calm down. Lie back down for me, love," the nurse instructed, knocking Neil back and taking over, "There's a good girl, just be calm."

Tears were falling from Andrea's eyes as she lay back in the bed, "I can't remember anything."

The nurse stepped away from the bed and guided Neil outside.

"Don't worry. Temporary amnesia is not uncommon in these cases. I'll ask the doctor to come round and see her, but for now, her parents are on their way in and the best thing for her is to be surrounded by familiar faces."

"Her parents?" Neil asked. He didn't know they were down from Scotland.

"Yes, they've been here every day. You two never seem to be here at the same time though," the nurse commented.

"No, we must have just missed each other," Neil said, dodging the comment as the nurses knew he came in out of normal visiting hours. Normally at night.

"Yeah, but you'll see them soon. They'll be here any minute and you're not leaving, are you?"

Neil looked back at Andrea, "No."

O>

Andrea had drifted back to sleep again and Neil sat nervously by her side, chewing on a fingernail. He was not ready to meet her parents. What on earth was he going to say to them? "I'm the married man that's been sleeping with your daughter"? He was sure that wouldn't go down well. Just as he made the decision to leave and return later, a man and a woman entered the room. Neil jumped out of his chair to greet them, a bundle of nerves and apprehension.

"Is she okay? What's going on? The nurse just called and told us to come straight in," the woman rambled, watching her daughter.

"She woke up about half an hour ago, but she's sleeping now," Neil explained.

"Oh thank God for that," the man breathed, "And is she okay?"

Neil looked down, then back at them, "She's got amnesia. She can't remember anything."

"Oh no," her mother cried, sinking down into a chair.

"The doctor has been and he said it's quite common with head injuries like Andrea's for temporary amnesia to occur. He said she needs to be surrounded by familiar things, but we're not to tell her too much about her life, because she might start creating memories," Neil recited what the doctor had said.

"Well what can we tell her?"

"Just the basics. Enough for her to feel comfortable."

"Poor girl. It's just one thing after another," her father sighed, then he turned to Neil, "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met."

"No, I don't think we have," Neil agreed, shaking the older mans hand, "I'm Neil Manson."

"I'm Philip and this is my wife Marie, Andrea's parents. How do you two know each other?"

Neil didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell them how much he loved their daughter and what a great future they were going to have together, but he sensed they would not understand the situation the young couple had found themselves in.

"I'm her boss,