Chapter Three


Sheldon leaned against the wall just outside Amy's hospital room and took several deep breaths, trying to quell the rising panic.

Amy didn't remember.

Of course he expected that she probably wouldn't remember the accident itself, and maybe not anything from that day at all. Actually, he preferred that she didn't. It was hard enough for him to live with the images of the aftermath of the crash. Thanks to his eidetic memory, he couldn't forget it, but if she was spared those details it would be a mercy.

But she didn't remember Howard and Bernadette's wedding. Howard and Bernadette got engaged in 2011 and married in 2012. Which meant she lost seven or eight years. Which meant she did not remember winning the Nobel, getting married, being engaged, moving in with him, maybe not even dating him.

Their relationship agreement and later marriage contract covered a wide array of scenarios including financial hardship, career changes, kidnappings, alien abduction, unplanned pregnancies, invasion from Canada, and intelligent dog uprisings. But there was no section on amnesia for the same reason there was no section on either of them switching their fields of study to geology. It never registered as a real possibility. His memory was such a big part of who he was, losing it was unthinkable. And since it was unthinkable for him, he never considered it for Amy either.

So now he would be forced to move forward with no plan.

Sheldon squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his breathing again. Slow, deep lungfuls of germy hospital air. Perhaps that was a bad thing to focus on. He thought about Amy's face instead. He had to stay calm to help Amy.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Sheldon opened his eyes to find a nurse watching him with concern. He swallowed and nodded.

"Dr. Fowler is awake," he told her, indicating her room. "Someone should check on her."

The nurse kept her eyes on him for a few more seconds before she agreed and entered Amy's room. Knowing she wasn't alone, he allowed himself a few more moments to get composed before returning to her side.

What he really wanted to do was call Leonard. Since that horrible evening, his friends had gone above and beyond for him. They spoke to the police and insurance companies, called and notified the university and Amy's parents, brought him food and clothes and comics books when he couldn't tear himself away from her bedside, and talked him through more panic attacks than he cared to count. Sheldon knew if he asked, Leonard would leave work and come help him again, but he was aware there was nothing Leonard could do in this case. Still, some advice would be welcome. Just as he reached for his phone, though, Amy's doctor rounded the corner.

"Dr. Cooper, I was just about to check on Dr. Fowler. How is she today?" he asked.

"Um, she just woke up a few minutes ago," Sheldon answered. "But she was exhibiting some signs of memory loss."

"Not unusual in cases of traumatic brain injury," he said. "Did she recognize you?"

"Yes, but-"

"Let's go see her." The doctor moved past him and into the room before he could say anything more, leaving him nothing to do but follow.

Back in Amy's room, the nurse was finishing up making notes on her chart and conferring with the doctor. Amy turned to look at him and he noticed she had her glasses back now, and he felt a twinge of guilt for freaking out and leaving before getting them for her. When she reached out for him, he moved closer and took her hand in both of his again without hesitation.

"Dr. Fowler, it's good to have you back with us. I'm Dr. McAllister," her doctor introduced himself as the nurse exited. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused," Amy answered. "Sheldon told me I was in a car accident. How long have I been here?"

Sheldon's grip tightened, bracing for whatever reaction she might have to the answer. When he felt one of Amy's fingers trace his wedding ring, his heart rate jumped. He sent a silent wish out into the universe that she would not ask about that yet.

"Three weeks," Dr. McAllister revealed. "You had some very serious brain swelling when you got here. We managed to bring it down with medication. Now that you're awake, I'm going to order you another MRI and CT scan."

"That sounds good," Amy said, nodding. "Um, what's the date today?"

"It's February 4th."

"A-and the year?"

Her doctor paused for a moment. "Dr. Cooper mentioned you might be having some memory loss. What year do you think it is?"

"The last I remember, it was November 9th, 2011, but I'm pretty sure that's wrong." Sheldon felt his stomach sink. That was just days before he asked her to be his girlfriend. To her mind, they were only friends right now. How would he explain their current situation? Was it possible for him to act like only her friend if that's what she needed? Consumed by these questions, he almost missed Dr. McAllister's response.

"I don't want to alarm you, but it's 2020 now," he told her. "Dr. Cooper told me you're a neurobiologist. How familiar are you with retrograde amnesia?"

"Enough to have already self-diagnosed."

The doctor nodded, making another note on her chart. "We'll need to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't also have anterograde amnesia."

"But you can treat her, right?" Sheldon finally spoke up.

"There are no known effective treatments, Sheldon," Amy answered first.

"She's right. But many patients do recover some, if not all, of their memories with time," he added. "I'll leave you to rest for now. Just press the call button if you need anything. The neurologist will stop by later."

Sheldon turned his head to watch the doctor leave, suddenly wanting to leave with him. Even though Amy seemed to be taking everything very well so far, he had no idea how to talk to her about what she had just learned. Luckily, Amy was not afraid to plow ahead.

"Are we married?" she asked as soon as the doctor's footsteps faded away.

His head whipped back around to her, his eyes wide. So much for his earlier wish. Still, he wasn't expecting her to make that exact logical leap and ask directly. For the umpteenth time, Sheldon wished he was better at reading emotions. She seemed calm enough, but this was huge news. Any reaction seemed possible. A few seconds passed where he just stared at her, terrified that the truth would disappoint her somehow.

"Yes," he finally said. "How did you-?"

"I know I'm recovering from a traumatic brain injury, but it didn't exactly take a genius to notice we're both wearing rings." She rubbed his wedding band again, making him look down at their clasped hands.

"Of course."

"So we're really married? This isn't some sort of trick you pulled to get the hospital to let you stay with me?" Sheldon frowned and took his hands back.

"It's real. We married on May 12th, 2018. The wedding was quite spectacular, if I do say so myself. I think when you remember it, you'll agree."

"Tell me about it," she requested, her eyes suddenly wide and pleading. And he wanted to. More than anything he wanted to join her on the bed, pull her into his arms, and tell her every detail of their lives together. Or better yet, perform a Vulcan mind meld and restore everything the accident took away. But he knew he couldn't.

"Amy, you know if I tell you it will just distort any actual memories you might recover later."

Amy sighed and settled back down on her bed. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right," he said, pleased she was listening to him. Amy rolled her eyes, but smiled back at him.

"I'm glad some things haven't changed."

Her choice of words made him pause. If only that were true, he thought.


Author's Note:

I don't understand how time moves in sitcoms. Sometimes there's a time skip between a season finale and the next season's premiere, and sometimes there's not. Sometimes if there is a time skip it's equivalent in length to the summer hiatus, and sometimes it's shorter. How do we account for all that missed time? Are there fewer days in a year in TV universes? For the most part, are events in the episodes taking place in-universe on the same day they air? Or at least within the same week?

Considering how important timing is in this story, I feel like I should have answers, but I don't. I'm making guesses. Hopefully I did okay. Also I've made the decision that this fic takes place in a universe where the pandemic doesn't happen, so don't expect that to come up. I'm not having these characters deal with COVID on top of amnesia. I'm just not.

Anyway, I hope this chapter clears a few things up for you all. I know I took Amy back a bit further than some of you were thinking, but this was the plan all along. Let me know what you thought. As always, thank you for your support!