Thank you all for the nice comments.

Finally, some answers...

Chapter 9

Lucas slid off the table and stretched his legs, looking anywhere but at Elizabeth. "If you will excuse me for a moment, I... uh... need to... relieve... myself."

Of course, he did; he had been out for many hours. Elizabeth nodded, more to herself than to him as he exited, and Carson and Faith walked back in. "Is everything alright?" Faith asked.

"He will be back presently."

The three of them waited in silence and soon Lucas returned. "Lucas, I want to check your blood pressure again, since you are moving around." Carson's statement frustrated Elizabeth, who said nothing, but the words brought Lucas up onto the table. "Almost back to normal," Carson said afterward as he and Faith turned to leave, Lucas stopping them with his words.

"I want to thank both of you for taking care of me during my... during all this. Am I free to go?" Lucas' question brought a solemn look to Carson's face.

"I would rather you stay here another night..."

"Lucas, I think Carson is right. You should stay a little longer. You've been through a lot..." Elizabeth was surprised not to get an argument after her statement.

"We will give you some privacy," Faith said as the two of them left once again.

Standing, Lucas led Elizabeth over to a chair. "Please sit," he said, a slight tremble in his voice. As she sat, Lucas paced for a minute. "I'm not exactly sure how to begin this conversation..."

"Take your time, Lucas," she encouraged.

"Although my memory has returned, my thoughts seem quite jumbled in my head. I'm guessing it will take some time to sort everything out in the correct order."

"I would think so. We aren't in a hurry." Her soft words were intended to calm his obvious anxiety. He was somber and sad, and Elizabeth simply wanted her fiancé back to his joyful self.

"I will get to details of my lost time later, but I wanted to share with you about the accident that caused all of this first." As he paced, Elizabeth noticed he kept gripping his hands into a fist and then relaxing them. She had never seen him this stressed and wished she could do something to help him.

"I was taking a short vacation from... my job..." His voice wavered and he grew silent. Elizabeth saw the tears forming once again and hated the pain that she saw there. Although she wanted to rise and comfort him, she knew he needed to talk this out.

Clearing his throat, he continued, his voice stronger now. "I had two good friends that I spent a lot of time with and decided to go on a trip with one of them. His name was Russell O'Brien. We had several days and were planning to drive down the west coast of the States. Only... we didn't get very far..."

"What happened, Lucas?"

"We would switch out driving and it was his turn. Russell was a bit of a daredevil... he was speeding and missed a sharp turn. The car rolled several times down an embankment in Washington State. I remember hitting my head and not much else after that."

"Oh, Lucas. How awful for both of you. Do you know what happened to Russell?"

His silence was her answer for a long moment. "He didn't make it."

Standing, Elizabeth went to him and wrapped her arms around him, hoping she could bring some kind of comfort. Feeling his hands on her back gave her solace that Lucas was still the man that she loved, no matter what he may be going through right now. Soon she stepped back and kissed his cheek.

"I only have a vague memory from the hospital regarding him. I overheard the doctors saying that O'Brien was dead. With my amnesia, it didn't mean anything at the time, but now..."

"Now you are grieving someone that you lost years ago. Only to you, it could have been yesterday. I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend, Lucas."

"He was a great man and didn't deserve to die. But... there is something else." Lucas began rubbing his temples.

"Has your headache returned?"

He nodded causing Elizabeth to go into the other room and bring Carson back. Faith was seeing another patient. "Lucas, let's sit down again," Carson said, gently taking his arm to lead him. "Your pulse is racing," he promptly said. "Let me give you some aspirin for that headache and then I want you to lie down." After swallowing the pills, Lucas easily complied with Carson's request. "I'll be back shortly," he said before leading Elizabeth out of the room. As soon as they were out, he spoke. "I assume he has been filling you in on his past."

"Yes. He was pretty upset about some things he remembered."

"We need to encourage him to talk, but if he is under too much stress he should stop and rest. He doesn't have to revisit everything all at once."

"You're right. I should have paid more attention when he was speaking. I better leave for a while and let him recover, because if I stay, he will want to continue." She moved back into Lucas' room with Carson following behind. He lay there almost motionless, other than his breathing. "Lucas, I have a few errands to run but I will be back soon. Please get some rest." She leaned over and softly touched her lips to his, happy when he returned the kiss. As she stood, he stopped her with his hand.

"Don't be gone long." The words were spoken quietly and brought a smile to Elizabeth.

"I'll be back very soon, my darling." Making eye contact with Carson, Elizabeth nodded and left the infirmary.

###

"The poor dear." Rosemary's words were accompanied by a gloomy expression after Elizabeth filled her in on the latest. "It hurts my heart to hear about what he is dealing with."

"I know. I wish there was some way for me to help him through it all."

Taking her friend's hand, Rosemary spoke again. "You are doing exactly that by being there for him and listening when he speaks. He is so blessed to have you."

"I don't feel like that is much help when I see such angst in his eyes. Thank you so much for watching Jack for me. It's one thing off my mind while all this is going on."

"Always my pleasure. He is such a joy to have around."

"I guess I better get back. Hopefully, he has calmed down enough to talk more. I'll see you soon."

After saying goodbye to her son, Elizabeth made her way back to town thinking of all the exercise she was getting today.

###

Lucas had rested as long as he could and was now walking back and forth at the foot of the bed. Carson came in a couple of times to converse with him, but Lucas told him he would have to wait until he talked to Elizabeth.

Since he seemed to be physically sound, Carson and Faith left him alone, hoping that once he dealt with everything that was bothering him, things would calm down. Carson would make sure his mind was also whole before leaving town.

It wasn't long before the door opened and Elizabeth entered, quickly stepping into the room where Lucas was. She noticed right away that his face was more tranquil than when she left, but he was also pacing instead of resting. When he saw her, his eyes grew intense with worry again, causing Elizabeth to wonder what was troubling his mind.

"Hello, Lucas."

"I'm glad you're back," he said as he came near and wrapped his arms around her; Elizabeth felt his arms trembling before he pulled away and placed his hand on her cheek. Leaning in he kissed her sweetly, but when she tried to prolong the caress, Lucas stepped back. "Would you please have a seat?"

Ignoring his request, Elizabeth spoke. "Lucas, are you sure you are up to this? If you need more time to recuperate..."

"I don't think it can wait. Elizabeth, it's hard to explain. You remember I told you about my friend Russell and how he died in the accident that caused my memory loss... it's... complicated... my other friend... we worked together...I knew, and yet I didn't know..."

Elizabeth could see the frustration rising as he tried to tell her something and yet she couldn't comprehend what he was saying. "Lucas. You're here with me. And you can tell me anything, but I don't understand."

When he gazed into her eyes, she saw such grief that she wanted to cry herself.

"I'm not sure how to tell you..."

"Talk to me, Lucas."

"Elizabeth... I mentioned another friend... he, uh... but I didn't realize until yesterday, even though I knew before that..."

Confusion crossed her face as she tried to follow along. "Should I get Carson? You aren't making any sense..."

"No!" he said loudly, then promptly apologized as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I didn't mean to raise my voice. I'm... struggling to tell you something difficult and I don't know how." The chaos in his expression was breaking her heart. She stepped forward and rubbed his arms with her hands. He needed to be free of whatever was tormenting him.

"Then say it, as simply as you can."

"Alright," he replied with a loud exhale. "This is hard to reveal...my other friend... he was a Mountie, and he died in a landslide shortly after Russell and I left." Her eyes grew wide, and goosebumps popped up on her arm. It couldn't be.

"Lucas, what are you saying...?"

"Elizabeth... my friend was your late husband, Jack Thornton."