Both Buffy and Angel were surprised by the guest visitor that stopped in the next day.

The door had opened, gaining each of their attention and there stood a nicely built dark haired stranger with some piercing blue eyes. "Hello strangers," the man said after glancing at the two, his voice holding a nice twang to it.

Buffy didn't recognize him but a glance over at Angel told her that he did. He looked surprised to see him though. "Linds," Angel greeted, starting to stand. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"I was passing through," this 'Linds' answered, waving a hand in the air.

"Passing through?" Angel asked, skeptically.

"Mmhmm," he answered with a smirk. Those blue eyes flickered back to Buffy and he smiled. "How you doing there, sweetheart?"

Before she could answer Angel turned to look at her. "Buffy, this is Lindsey McDonald. He's an old friend of mine."

Lindsey nodded toward her.

"Oh. Well, um, hi there. I'm doing as well as can be expected I suppose. How are you?" she asked out of habit.

"I am doing just fine, thank you," he answered, those pretty eyes sparking, a smile still on his face. "I hear you had quite the ordeal. And from the looks of it, you still have some missing holes there in your memory?"

Buffy nodded. "More like one big endless one."

"Don't you worry none, the brain's a funny thing and sometimes just needs time to heal and get itself all sorted back out. I am sure you'll be back to your old self soon enough."

"I hope so."

Lindsey stole a glance over at Angel before crossing his legs and leaning against the counter behind him. "I must say, for a woman who got hit by two semi's and a mini van before rolling off into a ditch... you are looking mighty fine."

Buffy blushed, lowering her head to look at her hands. "Th-thank you. I've been told I got very lucky." When he didn't reply, Buffy lifted her head back up to find Lindsey and Angel staring at one another. "E-everything okay?" she asked, confused.

Lindsey laughed. "Just go sit down," he said to Angel then he looked back at Buffy. "Don't mind him, he just gets overly jealous., at least when it comes to you. You might not remember this, but the first time you and I met Angel here up and punched me right in the face. Damn near broke my nose. Had a black eye for weeks after that."

"You deserved it," she heard Angel mutter.

"Hey, all I did was compliment a beautiful woman."

"You were looking down the front of her dress!"

"While giving her a compliment!"

Angel shook his head while Lindsey just laughed heartily.

Buffy was rather amused as she watched the two of them go back and forth. Angel seemed to be a little more relaxed with his friend here, though a little on edge, especially with a few jabs the man with the twang put out there. Once the two of them took a seat Angel back to his chair while Lindsey jumped up on to sit on the counter beside the sink, she asked for some backstory with the two of them.

Turns out, Lindsey and Angel had met at college when they'd been paired together in the dorms. Lindsey pointed out they hadn't stayed there long, Angel dipping into his "family money" to rent out a condo. She remembered some of what Angel had told her about his grandparents with that statement. Lindsey hadn't been able to meet him halfway with the payments for their new place but he stayed as his roommate anyway and helped with what he could. They'd remained friends ever since, even if life had set them in different directions after college ended.

Buffy brought up the fact that every once in awhile Angel seemed to use a southern type phrase or word and attributed it to their new guest. He'd laughed at that, owning up. "He got me back for that, too, believe me. I turn into an angry Irishman whenever I have had more than my fair share of alcohol. Or if I get really mad. Or a combination of the two. And trust me, that freaks anyone out more than anything else."

Buffy was enjoying the company of the two men when one of the nurses came to get her to take her to another floor. She really hadn't wanted to go but didn't see another choice in the matter.

Both men stood, Lindsey reaching out a hand to her. "In case I don't see you before I take off I just want to say it was nice seeing you again, I wish you a speedy recovery, and I do hope we cross each other's paths again soon."

While they were all walking out, the nurse bumped him with the wheelchair Buffy was in and started to apologize when he seemed to turn on that charm of his. "Don't you worry none... Lily, was it?" At her nod, he smiled bigger. "You know you are far too pretty to be in this profession..." he began but Angel rolled his eyes.

"Linds, you are a terrible flirt," Angel cut in.

"I happen to be an excellent flirt. Which is why you want to deck me every time I am in the same room as Buffy," he countered playfully. "You take care now, Buffy," he said to her. "Now come on, Angelus. You can buy me lunch."

OoOoO

Outside the two men discussed where they wanted to go eat before Lindsey followed him that way. After the waitress left them with their menus, Lindsey wasted no time jumping right in. "I see you're still in love with her as ever."

Angel sighed, reaching over to take a drink of the ice water that had been set out with their menus. "What are you doing here, Linds?" he asked again.

Lindsey sighed, sitting back comfortably in the booth. "I came to check up on you, see how you were holding up. I know this isn't much easier on you than it is Buffy."

"I appreciate the concern," Angel drawled.

"Hey, you can try and hide it all you want but I know better," he said, finishing just as the waitress came over to get their drink orders. "W and H must be missing you."

Angel shrugged. "I've been in touch with them just about every day. Mostly been doing things from my cell phone or laptop. Think I'll have to go back for a few days near the end of next week though."

"Can't say I was surprised by you deciding to stay out here with her."

"Didn't seem right to leave her there alone while she was still in the coma," he answered after a moment. "Then when she woke up... It's one thing to be stuck in the hospital, another to be stuck in the hospital and have a good chunk of your memory missing."

Lindsey huffed out a little laugh. "Whether she woke up with her memory intact or not, you would have stayed out here until she was released. We both know that. She could have woken up, spotted you, and called you every name under the sun, as she's done many times, and you'd still be here. Maybe not being all buddy-buddy in her room or even going to see her personally, but we both know your lovestruck dumbass would have been here checking up on her in one way or another."

Angel sighed. It wasn't like he was wrong.

The waitress came back to check if they were ready to order and after a few more minutes they finally let her know what they wanted. Angel also asked for them to make a carry out box for Buffy.

"Maybe the Powers That Be decided to throw you a bone, taking her memories away like that."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Lindsey shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe the universe is giving you a second chance. Without all the drama you two found yourself in, maybe you have a chance to make her fall in love with you all over again."

Angel snorted. "I don't think it works like that, Linds."

"Why not? You kind of got a fresh start right in front of you."

"Yeah... Until those memories do come back. And then what? Those memories are going to come back to her and it's going to be a shit storm as it is. Over the past and over everything that's happened since her accident. She's going to throw absolute hell over me even being here in the first place, it'll be nothing more than manipulation as far as she's concerned, taking advantage under the circumstances." Angel reached up to rub his eyes. "I really don't need that."

OoOoO

Buffy was disappointed that her session with the doctor took as long as it did. Neither Angel nor Lindsey were back in her room when she came back, though she knew Angel had obviously been there by the food left on her bedside table.

When she asked the nurse if he knew how long ago it'd been since he was there she was told she missed him by ten or fifteen minutes.

With a sigh, she returned to bed, at the food and started to watch a movie that was playing on the television. She hoped Angel would try to come back by but he never did, after visiting hours came to a close, she decided to just try and go to sleep.

OoOoO

"Don't you have leaving to be doing?"

Lindsey sighed, resting up against the door to his truck. The weather seemed to be taking the turn that'd been promised for these parts, already dropping to one hell of a cold temperature tonight. "I have never seen two people more in love with one another than you and Buffy were," he said honestly. "And I've never seen two people act more stupidly than the two of you either to let it go like you did."

"Well, you couldn't have one without the other on the latter," Angel replied wryly.

"I'm serious, Angel. The two of you threw away something pretty damn amazing over absolute bullshit."

"You think I don't know that? You think I don't live with that every damn day? That I let things get as bad as they did. That I didn't fight to fix things. That I didn't stop her from leaving me."

OoOoO

"Mr. O'Connor," Buffy's morning nurse greeted. "You are here just in time."

He raised an eyebrow while Buffy looked mortified. "In time for what?"

"Your wife's been cleared to take a shower before we switch out her IV's. I was going to stand in there just to make sure she was alright but now that you're here..."

Angel cleared his throat. "I-I don't think that is the best idea. You're as much of a stranger as I am right now."

The nurse waved him off with that statement. Before he or Buffy could talk the situation around they were left alone.

Angel sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "I guess come on," he said after a moment. At her wide eyes he continued, "You can take your shower. I'll keep my back to you and just be there in case you need me. Alright?"

Buffy hesitated but passing up a shower was not on her to do list. 'It's not like there's anything he hasn't seen before,' she thought, then blushed furiously and hurried toward her bathroom with him following slowly behind her.

As promised, Angel wasted no time turning his back to her, looking at the door. Nevertheless, she turned her own back to his as she finally started to undress, her fingers slightly shaking. To try and distract herself from the situation, Buffy began to ask him about his night and find out if Lindsey had already skipped town or not.

Buffy knew the water wasn't going to be anywhere near the hot temperatures she liked to use in her showers at home, but was looking forward to it all the same. She turned the water on and was soon standing under the surprisingly warm spray, the shower curtain was clear plastic which didn't help her embarrassment even with Angel's back turned but she did her best to ignore that.

Closing her eyes, Buffy tilted her head back, letting the water spray down her aching body. The water stung in all the right ways as it hit her skin and her wounds.

Grabbing for her shampoo, Buffy began to softly hum the first song that popped into her mind.

OoOoO

After rinsing out her hair and scrubbing down with some of the goods Angel had brought her, Buffy snuck a glance at him, remaining standing in the same spot. He looked extra delicious today for some reason... standing there in those sneakers, dark blue jeans, a tight black tee shirt with some sort of design to it with a brown leather jacket over it. He even looked like he'd had a trim to his hair... either that or just had it styled differently today.

"Can... can I ask you something?" she asked after eye-googling him.

"Hmm?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in the tiniest bit., not enough to see anything that he shouldn't, but to show he was listening.

"A-about D-Darla," she continued.

She saw him stiffen but he didn't say or do anything else.

She held her hands over her breasts, squeezing the poof she still held, feeling nervous. "Y-you mentioned that she was a f-friend?" she asked.

His hands slide into his pockets, his head looking down. He was silent for a long time before, "Not friends so much," he started then cleared his throat. "But we did know one another."

Buffy waited for him to gather his thoughts, continuing to enjoy the warm water. She did feel a slight chill at the thought of the woman who'd helped destroy her marriage though.

"We had met a college. Darla was a few years older than me but we had a couple of classes together and had several friends in common so our paths crossed more than a few times." Buffy thought she heard him swallow. "Darla Pratt was, is, the heiress to The Master Security Corporation. Her father wouldn't let her join the company… officially anyway, until she got a proper education. We were never close, there was never a relationship there but yes, we did know one another prior."

He paused, his feet shuffling some. "After she graduated she left to go part of her father's company. I would get a mass e-mail from her from time to time but that was it. I might have replied to one, I think, but that was it. When Wolfram and Hart decided to switch security systems Master put in a bid with the company and suddenly she, her father and a few others from their company were brought in."

"W-why did she..."

Angel sighed loudly. A hand came up to rub at the back of his head and neck. "I don't really know," he said. "I mean, she had showed an interest in me a few times back when we were in school but it was never returned. We remained friendly enough when we would see one another so I never thought much of it. Then she fell out of my life for all those years, life went on. I met you and we started our life together. I guess she was jealous and wanted to split us up even after all that time having passed. You told me right from the start pretty much you had a bad feeling about her but I just wasn't paying attention I guess. You and her had exchanged words a few times and I always took your side and went to go talk to her and get her side of the story and tell her to back off but it wasn't enough. It didn't calm your fears and it didn't get her to give it up either."

Buffy turned the water off once it started to go cold, asking him to hand her a towel that was still on the rack to the door. After thanking him, she wrapped herself up and quietly stepped out of the shower.

Angel took a step forward, his hand reaching for the knob to leave her to get dressed but he paused. "I tried to be polite at first, explaining to her that I had no issue working with her or even trying to be friends with her but I was happily married. I think a lot of me not being more aggressive with keeping her from being such an issue was due to me not wanting to muck things up at work. Which now I see is nothing short of stupid as stupid can get. Especially given the fact that once I brought everything that had been going on to their attention they went above and beyond with trying to get things straightened out and cut ties with her as soon as they possibly could. But... I just wasn't thinking. She had hacked into my e-mail accounts at one point and added some damning evidence to point the finger at she and I having an affair... which our tech guys shifted through until they were able to prove it was her doing. Just things like that. And the night... that night... I wasn't there with her, it had nothing to do with her. She wasn't even supposed to be there. I was in meetings all day and went back to the room to wait for you. I ordered some food, set out some swimwear so we could go laze around in the pool later that evening, and jumped in the shower while waiting for you to get there. Hell, I had called you just before I went to the bathroom to see where you were. I don't know how everything got so fucked up."

"I'm sorry, Angel," she whispered, wanting to cry. She heard him let out a sad laugh. "Maybe "memory" me isn't, but "this" me is.

Angel didn't say anything, just opened the door and exited the bathroom.

When she finally emerged from the bathroom, Angel had taken his jacket off and was playing around on his cell phone. She decided that'd been enough depressing talk for the day so tried to keep their conversation light the rest of the time he was there.

OoOoO

"I-is that... snow?" Buffy asked, her forehead creased up as she looked at the white stuff in Angel's hair the next morning. She'd slept in and was woken up when he entered the room.

One of his large hands came up, brushing at his wide shoulders then rubbing at his hair. "Yeah," he answered. "It's coming down like freakin' crazy out there."

Buffy's eyes went wide, she didn't exactly put snow and Texas together and mentioned that to him, her eyes glanced toward her window and she felt a thrill go through her, a smile easily taking over her face.

Angel grumbled. "Yeah, well, locals seem to have the same thoughts as you from the way they all forgot how to drive at the first sight of a snowflake."

Buffy laughed. "Wait right there," she told him, hurrying to the bathroom. She used the facility then threw on her pullover hoodie and switched her slippers for the sneakers in a rush. "Come on," she told him, already heading toward the hall. "Do you think they'd let me go out in it?" she asked.

"I would highly doubt it," he answered, following behind her. "I can ask?" he offered.

Buffy didn't answer, leading him down a few hallways, a quick ride in the elevator, and then down to where a set of doors led outside.

"Buf?"

She just smiled, wasting no time stepping out into the cold air and opening her arms out wide as the white fluff rained down. She laughed, spinning around then started to venture further from the hospital.

When she looked back over her shoulder to where he remained just inside the doors, Buffy felt the air rush out of her.

"You stay out here long enough and you're going to turn into a snowman. Snow...woman?" Angel told her, a big smile on his face, bright red for the cold.

Buffy stopped, forcing herself to take a breath. The cold air rushed through her, burning her lungs. Buffy closed her eyes, the top half of her body leaning forward as she braced her hands on her kneecaps.

"Buffy?" she heard Angel shout, worry evident in his voice. "Buf?" he called again, reaching her. "Are you okay? Come back inside."

"Y-you t-told me I was going to turn into a s-snowman," she whispered.

"What?" he asked, his forehead scrunching up in confusion. He helped her over to a bench, sitting her down and kneeling before her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly. "I-I think I... remembered something."

His head tilted, eyes searching her face. "Come back inside and we'll tell your nurse, okay?"

She nodded, letting him lead her back inside and back to her floor. "What happened?"

Buffy rubbed her arms. "I-I went outside and when I looked back to where Angel w-was standing... I suddenly had a feeling rip through me, followed by an image... a s-scene playing out in my head," she told them. When they prodded for more she closed her eyes, trying to get a better picture to come up. She repeated what she remembered Angel having said to her, describing what she could remember. It wasn't much. She could remember snow falling down and what looked to be endless miles of white all around her, Angel standing in a large black coat in front of a red door that had a wreath on it. She remembered a large tree in the yard, a green bird feeder hanging from it in the shape of a Christmas tree."

She was asked a few more questions before the attention turned to Angel. "Do you remember anything like that having happened?"

Angel shrugged. "I don't remember that exact conversation... But it sounds like she's describing her friends', Cordelia and Xander's, house. We went up there for a late Christmas get together the year after we got married. They live in a pretty isolated area in the country, brick house, red door... Buffy had been so excited by the storm, I could hardly keep her inside."

Buffy put her hand over her racing heart once she was told they would alert her doctor to fill him in. She'd had her first memory of the past she'd lost. That was one hell of a step as far as she was concerned.