Chapter 64

"You didn't retire did you, AJ?" Mac asked when AJ hesitated over his answer.

That question he could answer without lying to her, "No, Sarah, I didn't retire."

"So, I'm the one that left…"

"Well, it's good to see you awake, little lady!" Commander Skaggs said as he walked in.

"Doctor, it seems that Sarah has had some memory loss."

"That is not unusual in a case like hers, with that bump on her head and all, but it can certainly be disconcerting. What is the last thing you remember?"

"Well, I remember coming back from Paraguay."

"Sarah, that was a year ago!" AJ exclaimed.

"Nothing after that?" the doctor asked.

"No," she said as a tear fell down her cheek. "I don't remember our wedding, or getting pregnant…" As she said that, Skaggs eyes flew to AJ, who frowned at him and shook his head. "I don't even remember her birth," nodding at the baby in her arms.

"Why don't you pass her to your husband, and let me check you, Sarah?" While Skaggs examined Mac, AJ finished feeding and burping the baby.

Just as the doctor finished, the nurse came in wheeling a bassinet, "Would you like to have the baby in here with you now that you are awake, Ma'am?" she asked Mac.

"Oh, yes!" Mac told her.

"Have you named her yet?"

"No, AJ and I only had boys names picked out."

"You remember that?" Skaggs asked.

"Sadly, no. AJ said that as I was waking up."

"Well, you need to come up with a name before you're released from the hospital," the nurse told them.

"They have a few days," Skaggs said. "I want to keep you three to five days after the surgery." Looking over at AJ he said, "Could I speak to you in the hall for a moment?"

"Certainly, doctor," AJ said getting to his feet and handing the baby to the nurse.

Once in the hall the doctor asked AJ, "She had no idea that she is undercover and that this is all a sham, does she?"

"Unfortunately, no. It would seem that she doesn't."

"So, how did you explain all this?"

"I haven't, she was just starting to ask questions when you came in."

"Well, in the cases of amnesia that I have encountered it is better to let the memories return on their own. If there was some trauma involved in the memory loss, that could all be brought up again and cause set backs in her recovery."

"So, you want me to keep her in the dark?"

"I think it would be best for her," he was told.

"She is my Chief of Staff, and she believes we are married!"

"Do you want what's best for her or for you?"

"Her, of course!" AJ snapped.

"Then find a way to tell her as little as possible and let her memory come back on its own!"

As AJ reentered Sarah's room, he heard the nurse comment, "She's such a little angel!" and Sarah's reply of, "Yes, she is and she has her father's beautiful chocolate brown eyes."

"Do you know how rare brown eyes are in Caucasian newborns?" the nurse asked.

"No," Mac replied.

"Well, even with the two of you having brown eyes," she had noticed AJ in the room, "it is very rare. I have never seen it before in my seven years on the maternity ward," with that she left the room.

Mac looked up at AJ and smiled tentatively. It was still hard for her to believe this. That sometime in the last year all of her dreams had come true and she remembered none of it! But the proof was right in front of her…"So, what are we going to name our little angel, darling?"

AJ felt a jolt in his gut at that endearment. This time it was not used because of an undercover mission, Sarah meant it! The love shining from her eyes was real! Or at least she believed it was….

To be continued….