As always I do not own the show.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, they are greatly appreciated! Huge thanks as always to Debbie and Steph for editing this.

This chapter picks up a few days later….

Molly took a deep breath as she opened the doors to her ward. She'd been off the previous day and was slightly nervous at what awaited her.

Her and Kate had met up the day before to take Sam, Chloe and Holly, Kate's eldest daughter swimming. Holly was the swimmer whilst Chloe and Sam splashed about in the baby pool before being treated to a McDonald's for lunch.

For Molly the afternoon was spent curled up on the sofa watching Sam colouring in before watching cartoons. Her mind was constantly wandering elsewhere, here on this ward wondering how Charles was. Did he still have amnesia? Was he still groping people and being rude to his parents? His last remark before she had been called from the room – "did they know each other and had they been in love?" How the hell could she answer that, even if and when he was his normal self and remembered their very brief night spent together. She had promised him she would come back to the room, but she didn't. Her meltdown in the staff room had finished her shift as Kate sent her home. Would he remember her not coming back, would he care?

She opened the door and practically walked into her ex head on, Bryce Foster, whose shift was just finishing.

"Watch it mate!" she exclaimed and then realised who it was "Oh hi."

"Is that all you're going to say?" Bryce bit back as he looked at her.

"What else is there to say," Molly sighed, this was the last thing she wanted.

"Oh, I don't know, goodbye, good luck, it was nice knowing you maybe?" Bryce replied, "I've just finished my last shift here Molly, I fly back home in two days."

"Oh right," Molly said quietly. She had heard whispers of him leaving suddenly but had forgotten all about it with everything else that had been going on. "Good luck then."

Bryce sighed "Who is that guy that you and Dr Devlin are so focused on? This Major James?"

"So focused on?" Molly glared at him wondering what the hell she had ever seen in him. "He has a serious head injury and nearly died Bryce."

"Well his scan yesterday came back okay."

"That's good," Molly said as she looked anywhere but at him. "He's Sam's father."

"Ah. That would explain it then."

"Explain what?" Molly sighed, she just wanted this conversation over and done with.

"You look at him in a way that you never looked at me," Bryce sighed "I just hope he feels the same way Molly."

"What the hell are you talking about Bryce?"

"You'll realise eventually Nurse Dawes," Bryce smirked "You were right, we were never a long-term relationship, it just took me a while to realise that. Give Sam a hug from me."

Molly stared as he gently patted her shoulder and turned out of the ward and towards the elevator.

"Good luck and good bloody riddance" she muttered under her breath as she walked into the ward and towards the nurse's station, where Kate was already sitting and going through the charts from yesterday.

"I see you saw Mr Yankee Doodle Dandy then?"

"Yeah," Molly said quietly, still thinking over what he'd said.

"What you ever saw in that man is beyond me," Kate smiled "I'm glad to get rid of him and that pompous ego of his!"

"Well I always did say that I have shit taste in men," Molly smiled. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Chloe," Kate sighed

"What now?"

"Screamed the house down at four am for her breakfast, can I please have Sam, please?"

"Nope," Molly smirked as she looked around and saw his room. She nodded her head towards it. "How's he doing?"

"No change," Kate sighed "I just looked at his chart, Bryce was happy with his scan yesterday, but I'm not. I'm calling Patel and telling him he's going to have to wait a few more days before doing the surgery on his leg."

"Do you think there's another bleed?" Molly frowned

"Well Jasmin was his nurse yesterday, looking at her notes, he was rude to his parents, pinched her arse several times along with lewd comments and had absolutely no memory of his friend or his ex-wife. The amnesia doesn't seem to be getting any better. He kept asking for someone but when Jasmin asked him who, he had no idea of their name or what they looked like."

"That might be me," Molly said quietly "I did tell him I would come back and didn't."

"Molly he can't even remember your name according to these notes."

"He asked me if we knew each other, if we dated and if we were in love," Molly said quietly

"What did you tell him?" Kate asked as she finished her coffee and stood up.

"Nothing, that's when you came in and asked to speak to me," Molly replied smiling. "Good save!"

"I'm actually kicking myself for my timing!" Kate smiled as she stood beside Molly. "I need you to be his nurse today Molly. Jasmin has point blank refused and apparently his parents were asking for you all day yesterday."

"It's okay, at least I know what I'm walking into," Molly replied as she turned and headed towards the staff room with Kate directly behind her.

"How did Sam take the news about Jac and Dan?" Kate asked as she followed Molly into the room.

"Good, looking forward to the wedding," Molly smiled "I'm not sure he really understands yet that they'll be moving out. Just need to wait and see."

"Did you get to see the house after swimming?"

"No but Jac showed me the pictures she took. There's nothing wrong with the house, just Jac over-reacting as usual. Dan is moving in straight away, in fact Sam is at home with him now, supposedly helping him pack," Molly laughed.

"Supposedly?" Kate asked smiling.

"I think Sam is more interested in playing with the boxes than actually putting anything into them!"

"Tell me about it, we spend a fortune on bloody toys, only for the toy to be ignored and they have hours of fun instead with the bloody box!" Kate laughed "Chloe is the same."

OGOGOGOG

Molly took a deep breath as she opened the door to Charles' room. She walked in and noticed that he was sitting up in the bed just staring into space. His breakfast was sitting on the trolley untouched.

"Morning Charles, how are you today?" Molly asked trying to be bright and cheery.

"Fine," came the curt response.

"Better hurry up and eat your breakfast mate before it goes cold," Molly said trying to encourage him to eat even though the breakfast looked less than appealing.

"I am not your mate," snapped Charles still staring into space.

"No, you're not but I'm your nurse today," Molly said as she came and stood in front of him and crossed her arms, "So unless you want me shouting at you all day then I suggest you eat some of your breakfast."

"Yes ma'am!" Charles barked and mock saluted her and then started giggling.

She needed to run a few tests and ask him some questions as part of his regular observations, but she just stood and watched him for a few moments, this was definitely not the Charles she saw the other day and it definitely was not the Charles James she fell for three years ago.

She watched as he giggled like a school boy, lifting his toast and breaking it into pieces but made no attempt to eat it, he just started to play with the pieces. She had heard the expression playing with your food, but he was literally playing with the pieces of toast in front of him. For a brief moment it reminded her of Sam playing with his toys at the kitchen table and she was nagging at him in the background to eat his food. She was standing here watching the father of her son acting like a child himself and she had to admit that she found it heart-breaking. Something was definitely not right as she heard him muttering.

"Sorry what was that?" Molly asked him carefully

"Wellington should have done this," Charles muttered quietly "and that would have led to Napoleon doing this…."

"What?"

"Are you thick?" he shouted at her

"No, I just don't understand what you are saying that's all," Molly said, quietly trying to ignore her shock and hide just how much his outburst had annoyed her.

"I'm talking about the Battle of Waterloo," Charles stated as he glared at her "I'm trying to tell you my opinion of what they could have done better, like you asked us to!"

"Us?" Molly asked frowning

"The rest of my class, god you are stupid," Charles said as he rolled his eyes and continued playing with his toast.

At that moment Molly heard the door open and saw his parents walk in.

"Oh, great more stupid people," Charles scoffed as he rolled his eyes again.

"I see nothing has changed then," Archie sighed as he placed his jacket over the back of the chair.

"Molly! It's so good to see you!" Anna said as she turned and smiled at her. "Are you Charles' nurse today?"

"I am," Molly replied nodding her head whilst watching Charles out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Anna said smiling "That nurse yesterday was lovely but she, well, she didn't seem to know what she was doing."

"Jasmin is every bit as good a nurse as I am," Molly smiled as she looked back over to Charles who was still muttering away to himself.

"This started last night," Archie said quietly "the muttering and playing with anything on the tray."

"What's he saying? I can't make him out?" Molly asked them.

"Last night it was the Battle of Hastings and from what I have heard so far he is now re-enacting the Battle of Waterloo."

"I take it he likes history then?" Molly asked.

"Military history, he's always been interested in it," Archie replied as he glanced over towards his son. "Morning son!"

"Go away dad, I'm busy here!"

Molly could see how upset Anna and Archie were, as she glanced over and whispered that she would be back shortly.

She walked out of the room and towards where Kate was sitting.

"How is he?" Kate asked, "He is top of my list on ward rounds."

"Not making any sense," Molly sighed as she leaned up against the desk "He's playing with his food and I mean literally playing with it, he's broken up the toast into pieces and using them as toy soldiers whilst reciting military history. I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm his teacher."

"None of this sounds good, this behaviour and his observations during the night are giving me cause for concern," Kate replied frowning at his chart again. "Molly organise another scan please as soon as possible."

"Of course," Molly replied as she dialled the telephone number that she knew from memory and booked Charles in for another scan. "We've got a slot in an hour."

"Good, let's go and check on him again," Kate said as she led them both into Charles' room.

Kate tried to ask him some questions, but Charles just giggled back at her. In between giggling he continued to recite the Battle of Waterloo.

Molly watched him the whole time, he was still fidgeting with his food, couldn't look directly at anyone and everything he said made no sense at all.

As Kate was finishing her examination she turned to his parents and explained that she had ordered another scan for this morning as a precaution. Molly saw them nod their heads in approval and as she turned back towards Charles, she found him staring right at her.

"Hel… e."

Molly frowned - was he trying to say something to her?

"Hel…." Charles slurred again as Kate turned around and looked at both of them

"Charles?" Kate asked him

Charles didn't reply as the seizure hit him. Molly reacted instantly as Kate started yelling instructions to the nurses outside his room who immediately ran in.

Within minutes Molly and Kate were rushing Charles towards the elevator with Molly promising to keep his parents updated.

OGOGOGOG

As Charles was wheeled into one elevator the other elevator arrived on the surgical floor, which Elvis stepped out of, laden with a bag of pastries for breakfast in one hand, and a tray of coffees in the other. He noticed a lot of people around the ward but thought nothing more of it. It was a surgical ward with lots of different things going on. He approached the side room that Charles was in, turned and leant backwards to open the door. He stepped in and started speaking instantly.

"That car park was mental out there and as for the queue in the canteen..." he started but stopped as soon as he realised that there was no bed or no Charles in the room, only a sobbing Archie and Anna who were hugging at the window. There was only one thought in his mind right now. "Oh fuck no."

"Elvis," Anna said as she looked over at him, "He is… away…" she sobbed as Archie tried to calm her.

"What Anna is trying to say is that he just had a seizure or something like that, fortunately the doctor and that nice nurse Molly were here when it happened, so they have just rushed him down for a scan," Archie explained as he led his wife to one of the chairs.

"Jesus, I thought, no you don't want to know what I thought," Elvis said as he set everything on the bedside table. "I take it there's been no change then?"

"He was reciting the Battle of Waterloo when we arrived," Archie sighed "He was acting like a schoolboy for god's sake."

"Maybe this scan will show something," Elvis said trying to reassure them

"I hope so."

OGOGOGOG

Molly came and stood beside Kate as they waited for the scan results to show on the screen.

"How is he?" Molly asked as she bit her lip.

"Stable at the moment," Kate replied as they waited impatiently "God why does it feel like forever waiting for this bloody thing to show."

"Like waiting for the kettle to boil," Molly said quietly

"How are you doing Molly?" Kate asked her quietly "I understand if you don't want to be here."

"All over the place if I'm honest, let's see what the scan shows first before I make any decisions."

A few minutes later and they were both looking at the scan of Charles' brain. Kate saw it first.

"There," Kate pointed to an area of the scan "The skull has swollen slightly and there's a bit of bleeding."

"Enough to cause the amnesia?" Molly asked

"Definitely," Kate replied, "He needs another craniotomy right now," she explained as she looked at Molly.

"I don't think I can, go in there I mean," Molly said as she took a breath to steady her nerves. "It were different last time when I didn't know it was him, now…"

"I understand Molly," Kate said sympathetically. "I will prepare for the operation, can you go back up to the ward and let his parents know what's happening, and then call Patel and tell him that the surgery on Major James' leg will have to wait another day or two."

"Telling him will be my absolute pleasure Boss!" Molly grinned, no one liked Mr Patel, and his arrogance "Maybe if he had let you operate first then none of this would have happened."

Kate nodded in agreement "My other burning question is why Mr Foster didn't pick up on the bleed in yesterday's scan either, but that's an argument for another time.

Molly nodded "Good luck."

"I'll let you know the second we're finished."

Molly smiled sadly as she stepped out of the room and took a glance over at where Charles was lying unconscious. She wasn't a religious person but said to herself "please god" looking up to the ceiling for him to be okay, not for her sake but for Sam's.

As she walked back up to the ward all she wanted to do was to find a dark room, curl up in a ball on the floor and cry her eyes out. But she couldn't. If she turned up on the ward looking upset, it could prompt Charles' parents to ask questions that she was not yet ready to face. Even now, she still wanted Charles to know he was a father first. Crying would come later she told herself. Right now, she had to be strong for everyone's sake.

A few minutes later and she was standing outside Charles' hospital room, the door was open, and she could hear his parents talking. Elvis saw her first and stood up as she walked into the room.

"Molly, what's going on? Where is here?" Elvis asked as she walked fully into the room, closing the door behind her.

"Ms Devlin is preparing Charles for surgery," Molly said quietly as Anna sat down on the chair and buried her head in her hands.

"The scan has shown some more swelling to the brain as well as some bleeding, Ms Devlin is going to perform an urgent craniotomy."

"Will that help?" Archie asked her "I mean with his memory, did this swelling, and bleed cause the memory loss?"

"Quite possibly yes," Molly replied, "But at the same time we won't know until after the surgery."

"How long will it take?" Elvis asked her "I have to drive back to London later, I have a new assignment overseas that I can't get out of."

"Most craniotomies take around four to six hours, some are quicker, some take longer. Ms Devlin will call me and let me know as soon as the surgery is finished."

"You're not going in with him then?" Anna asked, "You are a theatre nurse, too aren't you?"

"I am but not today," Molly replied as she briefly caught Elvis's glance. "I am the most senior nurse on the ward today, so Ms Devlin needs me here. Relax, he is in the hands of one of the best neurosurgeons in the country."

Archie and Anna both nodded quietly.

"I will go and get some booklets for you, they are easy to understand and explain everything that is happening right now. You can also write down any questions that you have, and Ms Devlin can answer them for you later," Molly explained as she stood up "I'll be right back."

Molly walked out of the room and headed to the nurse's station where the leaflets were kept. She lifted the ones she needed and when she turned around, she found Elvis scribbling on a piece of a paper.

"This is my phone number, you can contact me on it anytime," he said as he handed it to her.

"Thanks," Molly frowned

"As I said I am going to be out of the UK and I just want to keep up to date on how my best friend is doing."

"No problem, I promise to keep you updated."

"How are you doing, with all this?" Elvis asked carefully

Molly bit her lip "Okay, verging on a breakdown, but I'm okay. As long I have something to do then I'll be fine."

"And Sam?"

"He doesn't know yet if that's what you mean," Molly replied more sharply than intended "Sorry."

"It's okay, I was just asking in general how he was," Elvis smiled

"Currently creating havoc with cardboard boxes," Molly grinned "My flatmate is moving out and he is supposed to be helping them pack."

Elvis smiled "I can imagine how that's going."

OGOGOGOG

Molly kept herself busy for the next few hours, between constantly checking on the James' and supplying endless cups of tea and coffee to them, there was a pile of paperwork that needed sorting and to top it off a new student nurse had arrived on the ward and needed showing around.

It was exactly six hours later when the phone call came from theatre. Molly closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she hung up and walked towards the relative room where the James' were currently waiting.

She knocked on the door and when she walked in three heads looked up at her. She smiled "Ms Devlin just rang up from surgery, the operation was a success, text book in fact. He is in recovery now and he'll be back on the ward shortly. No beds in intensive care as usual!" she said rolling her eyes at the last remark.

"Oh, Thank God!"

"Ms Devlin will come and speak to you when she returns to the ward."

Kate arrived around an hour later and nodded for Molly to join her in the relative's room.

"Mr and Mrs James," she said as Molly closed the door behind them "Your son is recovering well, there was another bleed on his brain, and I am confident that we stopped it for good this time. Whilst in recovery he did regain consciousness very briefly and responded to all our tests."

"He's awake!" Anna smiled.

"Not at the moment," Kate explained gently "I have put him back into a medical coma, mainly just to give him the chance to rest and heal. I will warn you, he is back on a breathing machine and is on a drip, again it is just a short-term measure to help him recover."

"What about his leg, you mentioned something earlier about it?" Archie asked her

"Dr Patel will be assessing your son over the next few days as he will need another operation to repair the damage to his leg, we all feel that it will be better to do this sooner rather than later and get started on his rehabilitation. We will continue to monitor him over the next few days and if everything goes okay then they will look into operating on his leg towards the end of the week."

"When you woke him earlier, after the operation, did he still have amnesia?" Anna asked her.

"He was able to tell us his name and date of birth and he knew he was in hospital," Kate replied, "We just need to wait and see what happens when he wakes up."

Archie and Anna both looked at each and sighed. They were both clearly exhausted after the events of the last few days.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Kate said to them "Why don't you both go home and get some proper rest. I know you are worried and want to be here, but he's going to be sedated until tomorrow morning at least, go home, relax, watch a movie. Whatever you want. We have your contact details if anything changes during the night."

"I am driving you both home," Elvis said, "and I'm not taking no for an answer."

OGOGOGOG

Several hours later and Molly was tiptoeing down the stairs praying that Sam would not wake up and bounce out of bed demanding another story. He had only done it three times already and she was rapidly losing the will to live.

"Oh my god, I only got your text now!" Jac exclaimed as she walked in the front door and saw Molly standing there telling her to be quiet. "Sorry, is he asleep?"

"Just, how much sugar did Dan give him today?" Molly asked as they both walked into the lounge.

"The whole bag knowing my fiancée!" Jac smirked as she handed Molly the bottle of wine "I think you're in need of this after your day today."

"Forget the glass just give me a straw!" Molly sighed as she practically fell down onto the sofa. "What do you fancy pizza or Chinese?"

"Pizza and I'm paying," Jac smiled as she went to get the glasses from the kitchen "How is he, Charles I mean?" she asked as she opened the wine bottle and poured them both a glass.

"Stable and heavily sedated. We will know more in the morning when we try and wake him," Molly explained.

"If you're not in the mood for this tonight it's fine there are plenty of other nights, and bottles of wine and pizza!"

"No, we are doing it tonight, I need the distraction," Molly smiled

"Well I have some good and sort of good news for you," Jac said as she kicked off her shoes and curled up on the sofa.

"Go on."

"It turns out both our parents had been saving for our wedding, so instead of waiting for years, we can go ahead and start planning and booking for it as well as work on the house."

"There is nothing wrong with the house Jac, this place needs more work done to it than your new place does," Molly laughed "So What's the sort of good news?"

"I will probably be moving out sooner than I realised." She grimaced slightly as she said it.

"And the problem is?" Molly queried

"Less rent for a start," Jac sighed "I…"

"Jac, for the hundredth time I'm really happy for you and Dan. Sam and I will be fine, besides things are slightly different now," Molly said quietly

"As in daddy is now around?" Jac asked

"Yeah," Molly sighed "I'm not looking forward to breaking the news but whether he wants to be involved or not there are grandparents who will definitely want to know Sam."

"From what that friend of his said," Jac said trying not to blush as she remembered her drunken antics in front of him years ago.

"That you flirted shamelessly with!"

"Thank you, Molly," Jac glared then smiled "He always wanted to be a father so I think after the initial shock he will want to be part of Sam's life. If not, demand child support from him and ask the grandparents to help with babysitting!"

"If only It were that easy!" Molly laughed "So to change the subject, have you decided on a colour scheme yet? Where are you getting married? What type of hen party would you like?"

"You are my only bridesmaid so you can choose your own dress and colour, as for where, I'm not sure. As for hen party, no secret trips to Ibiza. I think I want to keep it all small and quiet."

"Hello, who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"Very funny!"

Molly sipped her wine as there was as knock at the door and Jac stood up knowing it was the pizza.

"Jac?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for tonight, it's just what I needed." Molly smiled at her friend.

OGOGOGOG

The next morning Kate talked through the plan regarding Charles' recovery with Molly and his parents. Throughout the morning they were reducing his sedation in the hope he would come round by himself. Every noise had Archie and Anna jumping in their seats in case something was happening. But nothing, he was still unconscious.

Elvis was en-route back to London and Molly had already text him to let him know there had been no change.

It was early afternoon when it happened. Molly was just back from her lunch break and had ordered his parents to do the same. She was in the room alone with him checking his vitals when she heard a noise.

She looked up and saw his eyelids fluttering. Why she did it she didn't know but she took his hand and felt him grasping it in return.

"Charles?" Molly said trying to keep her voice as clear as possible. Her heart was racing. But there was no response.

"Charles?" she asked again and this time when his eyes opened, he was looking straight at her. He tried to speak so she removed the oxygen mask. He tried to speak but he couldn't.

"It's okay take your time," Molly said as she continued to look at him.

"Is….you?" he whispered

She frowned, not able to make out what he was saying and reached for the water on the table. She held the glass, so he could take a sip through the straw "Slowly," she whispered as he sucked on the straw.

As she set the glass back down on the table, she heard him "Molly, is it you?" he asked again slightly clearer.

Did he recognise her? Was it possible? She thought. Was he remembering her from their one-night stand or as the Molly he thought was a stripper?

"Yes," she replied smiling, still staring into his eyes. Her heart was still racing, and their hands were still entwined "I'm Molly, your nurse."

"I… found… you…" he whispered as he tried to smile. "Tried… to find…"

"It's okay," Molly soothed as she found herself stroking his hair back over the small area that had been shaved during surgery. She smiled at him, did he really remember?

"Am I…. dreaming?" Charles whispered "Your… not… real."

"I'm real mate, I'm squeezing your hand!" Molly giggled and then she saw his face change, it was then she knew, the amnesia was gone, he remembered her.

"You… came… back… to me."

Charles is awake and he remembers Molly!

What will happen next? All will be revealed in a couple of weeks when I come back from holiday! Thank you for reading!