She looked exactly the same, but there was definitely something different about the Sam Nicholls of 10 years ago. Zoe had watched every expression she had made since being called over, and she definitely seemed more defensive and, if it were actually possible, vulnerable- as if she had something to hide.

Her eyes darted around in their sockets like she was watching a tennis match, and that usual stern expression she wore at work was gone, replaced by a young and childlike frown. Despite being ten years older, she was actually starting to resemble the age her mind had wound back to.

Zoe had expected some amount of temporary memory loss, but to forget ten years was far worse than she had anticipated. She wasn't prepared for this. Neither was St James'.

It had come out of nowhere. One minute people were going about their daily lives, the next they were being thrown backwards into walls and doors as recess exploded into a ball of white hot flames. The people in recess at the time were killed instantly, and the charred remains of their bodies would prove very difficult to identify when extracted from the rubble.

The entirety of the building Holby ED was situated under had collapsed about ten minutes after the blast, leaving nearly 400 people injured or dead. Most of the ED team had made it out beforehand, dragged into the cool night air by either Dixie or another member of the ambulance crew. Most were also still conscious.

Tom had a broken arm and a concussion, Tess had taken a blow to the head and a metal rod had punctured her left lung while Lloyd's right leg had become trapped under a large pile of rubble, and due to his proximity to a crumbling building Jeff and Dixie were forced to drag him out, leaving several chunks of his leg behind. Zoe, Charlie and Linda were all fine, for they were all out of the building. Zoe had been on the site of a car crash and Linda and Charlie were trying to tempt a confused patient back into the ED, who had crossed the car park and hid in a nearby ambulance.

Sam had suffered a blow to the back of the head when she was thrown against a wall by the force of the blast and another to the crown when an IV drip stand fell on her. She had a tiny fracture to the base of her skull and another on the top of her head, neither of which pointed to severe memory loss.

Charlie and Linda had been at St James' for several hours, helping to prevent their ED from collapsing under the sheer strain of having so many patients. Zoe had arrived nearly an hour after Sam did, and immediately set to work treating the burns on her forearms and sneaking her in for an X-Ray to ensure the cracks in her skull weren't casing any issues. Luckily they didn't appear to be.

Unfortunately all the scanning facilities were now completely booked up, and so with no way to tell what was going on inside Sam's head they were forced to improvise.

"Sam when was the last time you were in a hospital?" Zoe asked, shining a torch into her eyes once again.

"About 10 months ago for work experience." She replied, swatting the torch away. "What's going on? I have a paper due in a few days; I need to get back to Uni!"

Zoe, Linda and Charlie all exchanged glances. Charlie gave Zoe a brief nod and she began to speak.

"Sam… It's not 2003. Its 2013."

Sam stared at all three of them for a long while, taking in every detail of each of their faces. As Zoe watched her expression seemed to take on the barest hint of humour, before she suddenly burst out laughing. It was a bizarre sight, for her laugh wasn't at all like it normally sounds, it was full of hiccups and snorts and her hand was on her forehead.

"What are you three on exactly?" She said through several giggles.

"Sam…look." Charlie said, before walking away and grabbing a paper with the day's date off of the reception desk.

She stared at the date for a long while, before moving her eyes over the various headlines. Her smile slowly started to fade away until a grim frown was left in its place. With another snort she threw the paper onto the floor and rested her head back against the pillow.

"This has got to be some sort of sick joke." She muttered while staring up at the ceiling.

"No joke." Zoe said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sam you're a doctor, you work-worked- at Holby City Emergency Department and before that you were an army medic in Afghanistan."

Sam shrugged her hand off and stared at her angrily. "Army Medic? No way in hell!"

"Why?" Linda asked gently as she leaned forwards with her arms crossed.

Sam moved her gaze off Zoe glared at her feet like they had just insulted her mother, making it clear she wasn't going to answer. Zoe raised an eyebrow.

So, she thought to herself, this is Sam before the army.

"Well hopefully you'll remember for yourself soon. This memory loss should only be temporary." Zoe said flatly.

Sam merely rolled her eyes and stared at the ceiling once more. Zoe sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Linda and Charlie, who wore the exact expression she did: dumfounded.

"Would you prefer to be on your own?" Zoe asked as gently as she could.

"Yes." Sam replied sharply, "And close the curtains."

Zoe and Charlie stepped aside and Linda pulled the Curtains around her with a gentle hiss. Zoe then motioned them both to follow her to the reception desk, where a nurse was feverishly typing on a computer.

"Can you please get Samantha Nicholls on the list for an MRI?" Zoe asked after tapping her nails on the desk.

"There really isn't much point. I'm sure you're already aware that-"

"That all scans are booked up for the next 2 days? Yes, I am, but this is a priority. She just woke up with ten years of memory missing."

The nurse looked from Zoe's irritated expression to Linda and Charlie's worried ones before speaking again.

"I'll… I'll do my best to get her in today."

…

I'm not exactly happy with this chapter... but it'll have to do since I'm typing with one hand. That's what I get for nearly falling flat on my face. -.-