Shepard tried to sit up, but was stopped by all the wires and tubes that they had hooked up to him.
James wiped angrily at the tears that started to fall freely. "Mi corazón, I'm James. Your husband." He started to walk across the room, then stopped as Shepard shook his head.
"No. I don't know you. Where's Kaidan?" Shepard tried to look behind James toward the door. "Where is he?" The machines recording his vitals set off alarms. A nurse injected something into one of the tubes and Shepard slipped into unconsciousness.
James turned on the doctor that followed him in. "What the hell is going on with him?"
The doctor raised his hands. "Mr. Vega, if you'd listened..."
"That's Lieutenant Vega-Shepard, pendejo." James interrupted, resisting the urge to punch the doctor in the nose.
"Of course, I'm sorry. As I was saying, if you'd listened rather than run here, I'd have explained his memory loss. He doesn't remember the past two and a half years."
James knew his jaw dropped and he probably looked completely dumbfounded. He tried to talk several times before he managed to make a single word come out. "What?"
The doctor nodded slowly. "He's likely got traumatic amnesia. His memories could come back or they may not. It's also a possibility that when all the implants were, well, fried, it knocked out everything since he was brought back. His last memory was of the original Normandy being destroyed."
James looked through the door to see Shepard asleep. "So, he doesn't remember me at all?" He tried to make it a question, but it fell flat.
"No. He doesn't. When we told him his husband was here, he automatically thought it was Kaidan Alenko. We tried to explain that he was mistaken, but he didn't believe us, so we came to get you."
James nodded slowly, trying to process all the information. "I'll contact Major Alenko. He might be able to convince Caleb that things changed." He looked back at Shepard. "I won't be long. I'll be back before he wakes up."
"I don't doubt it. He'll be unconscious for a while." The doctor returned to the room to keep an eye on Shepard's vitals.
James walked down the hallway in shock. By the time he got back to the waiting lounge, he was shaking all over. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. He jumped and almost screamed as a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked up into the face of Admiral Hackett.
"Sorry, Lieutenant." Hackett removed his hand and sat down next to James. "How is he?"
"He doesn't remember me." James couldn't stop the tremor of his voice. "He doesn't remember anything after he was brought back."
Hackett frowned and nodded. "I see." He sighed and leaned back. "Let me guess, he still thinks he's in a relationship with Major Alenko."
James looked up at Hackett, eyes wide. "Yeah. How'd you know about that?"
Hackett shook his head. "As discreet as they tried to be, it still got back to us. I knew about you and Shepard six months ago."
James was silent for a moment, then nods. "Oh." He shook his head. "I need to contact the Major. Caleb was asking for him. The doc thinks that maybe Alenko can convince Caleb that things are different now."
Hackett nodded. "Understandable, but Major Alenko is on his way to Vancouver. I'll stick around though. I'll try talking to Shepard."
James nodded and managed a small smile. "Gracias, sir."