CHAPTER EIGHT

I woke up to ringing in my ears and a dull ache drilling into my head. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't in my own bedroom and then realising that the ringing was actually the steady beep of the heart monitor beside me.

What happened? How did I end up here?

"Madison?" A nurse came in with a gentle smile. "Hey, you're awake. I'll quickly call the doctor over and then, we can answer a few questions. I'm sure you have a lot, right now."

I touched my head, feeling the bandages there. On the opposite side of the heart monitor were a few cards, stuff animals, flowers, and balloons.

Reaching over, I squeezed a brown teddy against my chest. The little thing was a contained fluff of comfort.

"Madison, hello." The doctor came in with a clipboard in his hands. "I'm . How are you feeling?"

"C – " My voice cracked and I tried to clear my throat, but it felt like I was rubbing sandpaper together.

"Here." He helped me sit up and handed me a glass of water. "Slowly."

"W-What happened? I don't really remember what h-happened." I clung on to the teddy, hoping that it could somehow give me the answers I needed.

"Why don't we start with what you can remember? Do you know who you are? How old you are? The year?"

"I'm Madison Harmon. I'm twenty-five and it's 2015," I told him. Those facts came easily, but when I tried to delve into my mind for more, it was as if I was grasping at thin air. "I don't remember much else. What happened to me? Why can't I remember? What's wrong with me?!"

"Shh… It's alright. We can help you." He was taking down notes as he spoke to me and it really wasn't making me feel any better. "You were in an accident and you've sustained some brain damage. It's nothing too serious, but you are going to have a hard time remembering for a while. It will come to you eventually. There's no need to force it."

He called for the nurse who rolled in a stack of books and magazines. "Relax a little. Calm your mind. We've already contacted someone to come see you and when you're ready, we'll give you the discharge papers."

When he was gone, I picked idly at the books. I didn't want to fill my head with fictional tales when I couldn't even find my own story.

"Madison? Madison!"

I looked up to see a blond man who looked as if he had seen better days. His golden hair was a mess on top of his head and there were dark bags beneath his eyes. I hoped that I hadn't been the cause of that.

"Luke!" His name rolled off my tongue without even a thought.

"Holy shit!" I thought you were never going to wake up! What did I tell you about doing stupid things? Do words go in one ear and then out the other?" he rambled on until I let out a hoarse laugh and then, he stopped to give me a shocked look.

"What?"

"You're looking better than you have for a while. The nurse told me about your memories, but I didn't think it would change you that much." He sat down on the small, plastic chair by the bed.

"Is that a bad thing?" I didn't want to somehow lose myself and become a stranger to everyone.

"No. No. It's great. You're great." When he smiled, I felt my heart flutter.

I had to take a moment to remember who he was to me. He was my agent – my best friend, but we weren't anything more than that. HE was also the only one I trusted in this big city. "Can I go home, now? I don't like it here."

He nodded excitedly and called for the nurse who happily gave us the discharge papers along with a prescription of a list of new and old medications.

While we were leaving in his car, he told me all about what I had missed, but nothing seemed to explain the underlying sadness I always felt whenever I tried to remember my past.

There was something he wasn't telling me, but I wasn't excited to find out what because I knew that it was the reason why I had gotten into the accident and why there was a lingering sadness in me.

After I was physically recovered, Luke began to line my days up with auditions and Go-Sees. I did my best to ignore all the looks of pity and smiled at all the well wishes.

Surprisingly, the jobs kept coming. I even had a few runway shows before Luke informed me that a director was hoping to see me for an audition. He didn't say exactly what it was for, but after I read off his audition script, he immediately welcomed me on board with a wide, unassuming smile.

It had been the least stressful audition I had ever gone to. He must've really liked what he saw. Maybe I fit the character profile he was looking for.

When I told Luke of the good news, he happily congratulated me. Apparently, I had never been particularly successful with acting jobs. It made me a little nervous, but if Sidney was alright with me, I saw no reason to fret.

Everything was going so well, until one day, Luke burst into my home in a frenzy. He was going a mile a minute and I had absolutely no idea what he was saying at all.

"Wait! Wait! Slow down! You're not making any sense!" I exclaimed.

He took in a deep breath before reiterating everything in a more comprehensible pace. "I made a mistake. I should've done more research before we signed the contract. I'm sure I can talk us out of it. We might have to pay a small fee, but I'll cover it. It's my fault. I'm sure I can help them find someone else. I swear, I didn't know when he came to me. Someone told me about the role and said it was going to be perfect for you. I should've looked more into it. I'm so, so sorry."

I blinked. He wasn't making any sense. 'What are you sorry for? It's just some documentary. I don't even have a very big role. Besides, I really want to do this. Maybe it's exactly what I need to jumpstart my career."

"You don't understand!" he groaned, wearing down my floor with his incessant pacing. "You're going to kill me when you remember!"

I frowned. "Is it something illegal? I don't want to get mixed up with things like that."

"No!" he exclaimed as if I had blasphemed. "Of course not!"

"Then I see no reason to worry! Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Let me do this, alright? I'm a big girl. I can handle myself." I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for always looking out for me, though. I really appreciate it."

When I stepped back, he kept a hand at the small of my back. "Someone has to." He brushed back my hair and began to lean in.

My breath became caught in my throat. I could only stare as he drew closer and closer, until I let out a gasp when they touched mine. They were so soft and warm.

Before I could do anything, he jumped back. Sorry! I – I didn't mean to… I mean… I was just caught up in the moment and – "

I reached out and pulled him back, crashing our lips together. He let out a muffled cry of surprise, but quickly held me closer, deepening the kiss.

This time, when we broke apart, we were both flushed and panting. "Wow… I've always wanted to do that."

I laughed. My heart was pounding in my chest. "Stay here, tonight?"

He mutedly nodded, but a wide grin was on his face.

"Let's not think about what's going to come and just enjoy the moment." Who knew when another accident was going to occur and I was going to end up losing them?

Our relationship took off quickly and passionately. He was the most wonderful man I knew and I was happy to call him mine.

We went to he set together. The house was hard to miss. It was large and slightly run down. It had an aura of mystery radiating out of its walls. Sidney was there to meet us. Their equipment vans were all parked outside, but I didn't see any of the other actors around.

"Hey, Madison!" The brunet male grinned, waving us over. "Welcome! Welcome! You're one of our only new casts, but that's what makes you special. You're going to give this series the oomph that will take it to the next level!"

I flushed. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I hope you don't mind that my agent is here, as well? H-he also helps me with my meds and such." I was a little embarrassed with the slew of medication I had to take. A lot of it were from before the accident, but because the dose had been so high before, the doctors thought it'd be better that I start to taper off because they believed that I was good enough to start a new life without them.

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! The more the merrier!" He gestured to a runner and the young man handed him two cameras. "Here. We'll be doing some shooting and re-enactments, but it's mainly going to be a documentary of your experiences in the house. Have some extra memory cards, too. Record anything you think is interesting!"

I nodded, fidgeting with the sleek device in my hand.

"Wonderful! Do you need help getting your stuff inside? If not, you can go pick any room you like. It pays to be the first to arrive!"

"We're good. Thank you." Luke took our bags and I fought the urge to run in like a child.

I turned the camera on and looked into it. "Hello! Madison Harmon here!" I turned so that both Luke and I were in the same frame. 'That's Luke Moore – my agent, my best friend, and confidante! He's the best!"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I'm the best bell boy maybe." He raised the bags in his hands. Two of them were mine. I may have over packed a little, but we were in the middle of nowhere with questionable locations to do laundry.

"This is the first day. I'm on the set for the sequel of My Roanoke Nightmare: Return to Roanoke! Three Days in Hell! Sounds spooky. I'm guessing we'll probably be here longer with all the other stuff we have to do."

I walked into the house, looking at the interior in wonderment. It was old with creaky wooden floors and peeling wallpaper. "Let's do a house tour before anyone else arrives!"

I went through every room like a tornado – touching everything and talking animatedly to the camera. I had done several video blogs before and gained a handful of loyal viewers. IF Sidney allowed it, I'd probably upload small clips for them to watch. That was… if there was internet here…

"Come on, Luke! This one! I want this room!" I was pointing excitedly at it before running in. It wasn't the biggest one out of the lot, but it had the best view. The grassy field went on forever and I could see a bit of the forest beyond it.

He finally dropped the luggage with a heavy sigh. "Finally! I thought I was going to lose my arm!"

I giggled, running over to kiss him. "I guess I should've gotten us a room first, huh?" The poor man had followed me around, while I ran in and out through every door. "Guess what, guys? He's also the best boyfriend ever!"

I loved calling him my boyfriend. There were some issues that came with being intimate with my agent, but it wasn't anything we couldn't deal with.

He laughed. "Yeah… Yeah…"

I took my bags from him and pushed them carelessly into a corner. "Let's continue exploring!"

I dragged him around the yard where the crew was still talking. Sidney had set up the scene to look as if it had come out of the olden days with the Lost Colony.

"Wow…" I watched them work until the sun began to set before we went in for dinner. I was surprised that the others hadn't arrived, yet. Perhaps we were just super early.

Just as I thought that, there was a knock on the door and I raced down, swinging the door opened with far too much enthusiasm. "Hello, there! You're the second one here! Well… third… Kinda?"

He was a very attractive young man with bottle red hair (because there was no way hair that vibrant exists naturally). His chocolate brown eyes were wide with shock when he saw me. Perhaps I had come on too strong, but what he said after made me freeze.

"Madi?!" he exclaimed. He took a step forward as if he was going to touch me, but I quickly moved back.

Alarm bells were going off at the back of my mind. He knew me. I didn't know him, but he knew me and I couldn't remember him at all. Were we close? Should I greet him as I would an old friend?

"Madison, come here!" I turned to see Luke with a glare on his face and a hand extended towards me.

I gave him a puzzled look before standing by his side. "What's wrong? I think he might be someone from my past. Do you know him?"

I turned back to the redhead just in time to see his face fall. 'What? This isn't funny!" he shouted.

Confusion raged in my mind. I didn't understand why he seemed so offended. Surely, we couldn't have been that close if seeing him didn't trigger any memories at all.

"Madison, I found some ice cream in the freezer – chocolate, your favourite. Why don't you get some before the others eat it all?" Luke gently told me.

I gave him a huff. This was part of the secret that he hadn't been willing to tell me. I knew he wouldn't be keeping it from me unless it was for my own good, but it was still frustrating! "Luke…"

"Please, Madison."

"Fine…" I let out a puff of air and went over to the kitchen. I heard the front door close and knew that they were talking outside. What was so important that I couldn't even hear a word of it?

Deciding that ice cream was a good idea, I dug in straight from the carton. If they were going to be like this, then I wasn't going to share any of the cold, creamy, chocolaty goodness!

…

Luke pushed him roughly out of the house.

"Hey, what the fuck, man?!" Rory pushed back. "What did you do to her? Did you brainwash her or something?"

"You, listen. She doesn't need you fuckin' up her life anymore! She's finally better," Luke hissed.

"Doesn't explain why she suddenly sounds like she doesn't know me!" he growled back. Seeing her stare at him as if he was a stranger had been a dagger straight through his heart. That was his childhood friend, his ex-girlfriend, the woman he thought he would always be with…

He watched Luke's jaw clench and unclench. "You know that accident she had recently? I know you know about it. They dug up your relationship, while she was still recovering and you're narcissistic enough to read anything that's about you."

"Yeah…" he mumbled, looking away and ignoring the jibe. What could he deny? It was all true.

"Well, she lost her memories. Some of it has come back, but she's still missing a large chunk of it. The doctors think her brain is suppressing those memories because they've become too painful. You know which ones those are. You know what you've done to her."

He couldn't meet the other man's eyes. It was for the better, wasn't it? He could finally clear his conscience if she wasn't destroying herself anymore because of her.

Right?!

"S-She looks… She looks better…" he weakly admitted.

Without him, she was starting to look like her old self, again. The light had returned to her beautiful blue eyes.

He swallowed.

If that was what it took…

He was willing to do anything just to have her better.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Minor spoilers for AHS: Apocalypse below.

Thank you guests (anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest) for reviewing!

anonymouscsifan: I really didn't like Audrey in this, but I hated most of the characters in this season. Thanks for pointing out the spelling errors! My fingers tend to not work in the order I want it to sometimes… I'm one episode behind on AHS right now Hahah!

The main thing I think about whenever I watch this season is… How the heck am I going to fit it into my own series? I had decided to go against cannon in regards to something very crucial in Vision LOL

I was really happy to see Constance. I think she's still my favourite character for Jessica Lange, but I really like her in general. I didn't really feel like there's a point in having Madison Montgomery in the Murder House. I kind of wish they told the episode in a different way, but that could just be me hating Madison Montgomery. I also wish they showed a little more of Tate in the Murder House afterwards and how he managed to save Vivienne from what I assume is something like Hell Fire.

Guest: I love it when you ask questions! It means that you're actually thinking about what I'm writing about and also making me think about what I wrote.

Guest: Umm… I do tend to keep Madi's appearance pretty vague, but whenever I mention it, she has brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She's relatively short and not particularly shapely. Yeaaaaah… That's about it.

For the episode you were referring to, I really liked that they gave Constance a bigger scene. I'm always going to complain that there's not enough Tate because I love him and he'll always be my favourite. I enjoyed knowing more about Michael, but… I still don't like Madison and I'm not huge on them pushing Violet and Tate back together the way they did. It seemed really forced.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this.