A/N: To all my readers and especially those who reviewed, thank you so much! You guys are completely wonderful. Keep it up and enjoy chapter 2!
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me!
We'll Always Have Paris... Unless, You Know, One Of Us Forgets Or Something
"Zack saw the whole thing from across the street." London was explaining as she and Bailey walked through the bustling hospital corridors. "Cody was crossing without watching where he was going, and walked right out in front of a Vespa. The Vespa swerved and beeped but when Cody jumped out of the way he fell and hit his head on the curb."
"A Vespa? As in, a moped?" Bailey asked incredulously.
London rolled her eyes. "I know. Cody would get himself taken out by a motor scooter."
"Don't say that."
"Last I heard he was still unconscious." London finished.
"That sounds bad." Bailey murmured. They walked into a waiting area and she immediately spotted Marcus, Woody, and Mr. Moseby sitting against one wall. The two girls quickly joined the group. "Any news on Cody?" she questioned anxiously.
Moseby and the boys looked mildly surprised to see her. "I'm afraid not." Moseby answered. "His vitals are stable, but he's still comatose. But the doctors say he could come out of it at any time."
Bailey closed her eyes tightly, a grimace on her face. While she was relieved that Cody was stable, comatose was never a word you wanted to hear in reference to your loved ones. "Where's Zack?" she asked after a moment.
No one said a word, but Marcus pointed discreetly towards the other end of the waiting room, where Cody's twin was pacing back and forth distractedly. Leaving London with the others, Bailey stood and approached Zack. When Zack realized she was there, the expression in his eyes oddly resembled the pained look Cody had given her when he suggested they split. "How are you doing?" she asked him quietly.
"How am I doing?" Zack answered back harshly. "That's a funny question."
Bailey folded her arms. "How could you not tell me about this, Zack? I should have been here for him."
"Yeah, you should have." Zack replied. "But you weren't there for him before the accident, why should you be after?"
"That's not fair-" Bailey protested around the lump in her throat. It occurred to her that she had never seen Zack truly angry before. She had never seen him speak to anyone as coldly as he had just spoken to her. Tears burned in her eyes at her friend's reproachful gaze.
"I told everyone not to tell you." Zack said. "You've already upset Cody enough, he doesn't need you here making it worse."
"You think he'd be less upset if he thought I didn't even care enough to visit him in the hospital?" Bailey challenged.
"I think he'd be less upset if he didn't have to see you anymore." Zack returned. "After all, that's what you wanted, right?"
"Of course not! You're twisting what really happened!" Bailey cried. When Zack didn't respond, only fixing her with a stony glare, she lowered her voice, trying to keep calm. "Just tell me how bad it is." she requested in a quivering voice.
Zack made a fist and slammed it into the back of a nearby chair. "I don't know, okay?" he growled. "It's bad enough."
Seeing Zack so freaked out scared Bailey more than anything. Her vision blurred as hot tears began to collect in her eyes. "Zack-"
"Bailey, please!" Zack snapped, cutting her off.
"Excuse me, you're Cody Martin's brother?" A nurse broke into their heated conversation, addressing Zack in heavily-accented English.
Zack's attention deserted Bailey instantly and both teens focused on the nurse. "Yes. How is he?"
"As far as we know, he is doing fine." she assured him. "He is increasingly showing signs of normal brain activity, which means that he is likely to wake up soon. Until he does, we won't know how serious his condition is. Head injuries, they can be very tricky."
Zack nodded. "Okay."
"Can we see him?" Bailey requested. "I don't want him to wake up alone..."
The nurse gave the two distraught teens an empathetic smile. "You may. But no fighting in the patient's room- he needs rest."
Zack and Bailey looked at their feet, both ashamed of their behavior in the waiting room. With a quick wave to their friends, they followed the nurse down the hall and to Cody's room. Tentatively, Bailey pushed open the door.
Cody was asleep in the white hospital bed, looking thin and pale. His white skin was marred by a dark bruise on one side of his head, partially covered by a gauzy bandage that wound over his hair and forehead. Bailey bit her lip as she moved to stand by his bedside, across from where Zack had taken up his place on Cody's right. She toyed with the idea of taking his hand, of talking to him, but she couldn't gather the courage with Zack there, sure he would reprimand her for being a hypocrite.
Zack, on the other hand, had no trouble ignoring Bailey's presence. He hunkered down in the chair next to the bed and talked softly into his brother's ear. "Hey, Code. Come on, wake up. We've only got one more day in Paris and I don't want the boat to leave without you."
Cody stirred slightly.
"I called Mom last night." Zack continued after a moment. "You've scared the hell out of her. She was all ready to drop what she was doing and book a trans-Atlantic flight. I told her I'd take care of you."
Cody let forth a cough that might have been a laugh. "Yeah right, Zack. You couldn't take care of a goldfish." he moaned.
Bailey watched with a mixture of relief and anxiety as Cody's eyes opened and he tilted his head to look at Zack.
Zack grinned. "Welcome back, Cody. How are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit by a truck." Cody answered, reaching a hand up to his aching head and looking vaguely surprised when his fingers encountered the bandage.
"I can't decide whether to let you keep your pride, or tell you that it was a moped." Zack joked.
"Ugh, you must be kidding." Cody groaned.
"Sorry, bro." Zack said, standing up. "And can I just ask, what were you thinking? You freaked us all out pretty bad."
Cody frowned, as if he were concentrating very hard. "I don't know what I was thinking." he said slowly. "I don't really remember what happened."
"You're lucky it wasn't a truck." Zack remarked. "I'll go get the doctor, maybe he'll give you something for your head. I'll be right back." he fixed Bailey with a warning glare before leaving the room.
Cody turned his attention to Bailey and she blushed, surprised at the way his face lit up. "Hey Bails." he punned with a soft smile.
Bailey scooted her chair a little closer to him. She had been miserable the past few days without seeing that smile, and she couldn't help how weak with relief she felt that he was awake and talking. "Hey Cody."
"Sorry for giving you a scare." Cody apologized.
Bailey shook her head fondly. Unlike the rest of their friends, Cody didn't assume that the breakup meant she wouldn't be scared for him. Just like always, he understood completely, and- Her eyes jumped abruptly to his when he reached out and grasped her hand in his own.
"How long was I out?"
"A little over a day." Bailey answered slowly.
"A day?" Cody sighed in apparent frustration. "I can't believe it. I missed our one year anniversary!"
Our anniversary was three days ago. Bailey's blood ran cold and she opened her mouth to correct him, but nothing came out.
"I had it all planned out- dinner on the Eiffel Tower, flowers, an accordion player..." he shook his head again, regretfully. "I'm so sorry, Bails. Happy anniversary."
"Oh, Cody, no..." Bailey began hesitantly.
"I know, none of that stuff really matters. But it would have been nice." he assured her, seeing her distress and not understanding it. "What matters is that I love you." he raised their clasped hands and brushed a kiss over her knuckles.
He doesn't remember. He doesn't remember what happened on our anniversary. He doesn't remember that we broke up. There was no way around it: Bailey was frightened for him. How could Cody have lost three days? How bad did a head injury have to be to induce memory loss?
He was watching her nervously now, waiting for a response to his declaration. Before she could decide on the right reply to give him, the door opened and Zack returned, the doctor following behind him. "Ah, Mr. Martin, glad to see you awake. I'm Doctor Benedict." said the doctor, a large-framed man with a dark mustache. "How are you feeling?"
"I have a headache." Cody responded ruefully, "But I assume that's to be expected."
Doctor Benedict gave a rumbling chuckle. "That it is." he told Cody. "I'm told you took quite a spill." He reached into his pocket and extracted a penlight before addressing Zack and Bailey. "Would you two be kind enough to wait in the hall while I examine him?"
Cody gave Bailey's hand a brief squeeze before releasing it. "Don't go far?" he requested.
Bailey forced a smile. "Of course not." she reassured him, before following Zack into the empty hallway. As soon as the door closed behind her she turned to Zack. "He doesn't remember!" she said, for the first time allowing her panic to show.
Zack folded his arms and looked at her coolly, obviously still upset with her. "Who doesn't remember what?"
"Cody!" Bailey told him. "He doesn't know what day it is. He thinks it's the day after our anniversary."
Zack blew out a long breath. "Okay. That can't be good... May-maybe he's just a little mixed up. You know, the dates..."
Bailey shook her head. "It's like everything that happened in the past three days has been wiped out for him. He... he thinks I'm still his girlfriend."
Zack didn't know what to say, and the two stared at each other in silence until Doctor Benedict joined them, still making notes on Cody's chart.
"Your brother seems to be fine." the doctor said, to Zack and Bailey's immense relief. "He has a very minor concussion, but there seems to be no serious damage. I've given him some painkillers to take care of the headache, and the bruise will begin to look worse before it looks better, but I've given instructions for him to be released as soon as he's ready."
Bailey nodded, opening her mouth to ask-
"There's just one thing." Benedict continued. "Cody doesn't remember the accident- which is common for many victims of head trauma- but he also seems to be missing memories of the three days before the incident. This kind of memory loss is less common, but not unheard of. It's possible that something happened during those days that was particularly upsetting or traumatic for him, and the brain is suppressing those memories until such a time when he is ready to deal with it." he looked between Zack and Bailey. "Do either of you know if...?"
Zack glared in Bailey's direction. "I have a good idea of what it might have been."
Bailey paled, frantic that she might be the cause of Cody's condition. "Our anniversary." she confessed to the doctor. "Cody's and mine. We broke up." Her voice cracked. "He doesn't remember, Doctor. What should I do?"
Doctor Benedict patted the distraught girl on the shoulder. "Now, now. In almost all cases the memories return as the brain recovers from its trauma. Until then, I suggest acting normal around him. If at all possible, don't say or do anything that will anger or upset him. Rest is the best thing for him right now. Undue stress will only make the situation worse."
"Thank you, Doctor." Bailey said, wiping her watery eyes and nodding in understanding.
Doctor Benedict nodded at the pair and strode away down the hall, and Zack caught Bailey's elbow as she made to re-enter Cody's room. "Bailey."
Bailey stopped short and looked at him. The anger she had previously seen in Zack's face was gone, replaced by a pleading expression. "Yes?"
"Don't tell him about the breakup." Zack implored. "It was hard enough for him the first time. Please, please, just play along until he's well enough to handle it."
Hearing Zack beg so earnestly on his brother's behalf nearly brought Bailey to tears again. "Of course, Zack. I wasn't going to tell him. Not until he's better. I promise."
Zack swallowed hard. "Thank you." He stopped her again as she tried to open the door once more. "And- And I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you, Bailey. Cody's my brother, and you hurt him bad, but I know he wasn't the only one who got hurt. I was just... I was scared for him, and having someone to blame made it easier, but I was wrong. Whatever happens with Cody, I don't want us to stop being friends because of it."
The tears started to fall again as Bailey pulled Zack into a hug. "No. No, we won't."
The door opened and Cody came out, tugging his jacket over his shoulders. "Hey, you better not be scamming on my girl, Zack."
Zack and Bailey separated quickly, both trying to project a facade of normality.
"She wishes." Zack said, at the same time as Bailey said, "In your dreams."
Cody laughed and stumbled slightly. Immediately Zack and Bailey were on either side of him, draping his arms over their shoulders. "Thanks, guys. So this is what a concussion feels like."
He let her support him as they made their way toward the lobby, trusting her, and Bailey felt a stab of guilt. She couldn't figure out which was worse: having to hide the truth from him, or the fact that it was true at all.
