The room was bright...too bright. Kate opened her eyes, and she followed the bustle of movement from the people in her room. Her throat felt raw and sore, her memory already foggy of them pulling something out of her mouth.

"Kate? Can you hear me?" a voice asked. It was a little muffled, but Kate could hear it. She nodded. "Good. We thought we'd lost you, sweetheart."

Kate met the speaker's eyes, noticing it was a woman in a lab coat. She blinked.

"Where...am...?" she tried, but it hurt to talk.

"You're in the hospital in L.A.," the woman answered. "I'm Dr. Thornton. You've had a rough go, Kate Macer. You've just come out of a two week coma."

Coma? Kate tried to think hard. What happened to her? How did she get into a coma?

"Happened?" Kate asked, saving on words. She licked her dry lips and swallowed, wincing from the pain.

"What do you remember, Kate?"

Kate closed her eyes. She pictured Jensen lying on top of her and smiling down at her while brushing hair off her cheek with his fingertips.

"Was...in bed," she said. "With...Jensen." Hadn't she been? She couldn't remember. And where was he? She panicked. Had something happened to him? Had something happened to...?

"Piper," she gasped. "Where...Piper?" She saw the doctor look at her clipboard with a small frown on her lips. She flipped pages for a moment before setting them down and looking at Kate again.

"There's no mention of a Jensen or Piper in your file," she said. "Who are they?"

"My...boyfriend and...and his daughter," Kate said, feeling weird suddenly. What was happening? She stared at the doctor, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Well, this is rather awkward," Dr. Thornton commented.

"Why?"

"Your husband is here."

"My...my husband?" Had she married Jensen in the end? No, she would remember that.

"Is she awake?" a voice asked, and Dr. Thornton turned to face it.

"Yes. There is some confusion, which is normal."

"Not amnesia?"

"We don't know yet."

Kate's eyes narrowed in on the person speaking, who had moved closer to her. Evan gave her an encouraging smile. Evan?!

"Hi, sweetheart," he said.

Sweetheart?! What the...

"No," Kate said, shaking her head. "Jensen."

"Who is Jensen?" Evan asked, and the doctor looked embarrassed on Kate's behalf.

"I'm not sure," she said. "Kate seems to think he's her boyfriend."

"Well," Evan said with a chuckle. "I can assure you not."

"Yes," Kate said firmly. She was with Jensen. She knew it. Where the hell was he?!

"Sorry, love, but you don't have a boyfriend named Jensen," Evan told her. He took her hand in his, and she saw the wedding band on his finger. She saw she had one too.

"We're divorced," she croaked.

"We were," he corrected. "We reconnected a couple years ago."

"No..."

"Is this amnesia?" Evan asked the doctor, looking concerned. Dr. Thornton frowned a little.

"It might be. Let me run some tests. I'll be right back."

Kate tried to sit up, but Evan eased her back down.

"You were really hurt," he said. "Take it easy."

"We didn't," she tried, and he seemed to know what she was trying to say.

"This hurts," he said sadly, stroking her arm lightly. "It was all my fault. I couldn't get out of the way in time before he hit us."

"What?"

"What do you remember?" he asked. "That might help me piece together the gaps for you."

"I was with Jensen," she answered. "I...I think we were at home..."

"Ah," Evan said. "Then you don't remember the accident itself?"

"No..."

"We were on our vacation," he told her. "We were driving back to the airport and got into an accident. Your injuries were too much for them to look after, so we shipped you back home. You were put into a coma because of swelling in the brain."

"Wait," Kate said. Vacation? Evan had been there? "Where is Jensen then?"

"I don't know who that is," Evan said with a shrug. "He might have been the guy who taught us to surf...I don't remember exactly."

"Piper," Kate said next.

"Oh, wait...yea!" Evan said, snapping his fingers. "Yes! His adorable little girl would watch and give pointers. I guess that's why they're stuck in your head. He went by Jay, so I didn't connect the dots."

"Okay, Kate," Dr. Thornton said, returning. "I'm just gonna run some tests on you." Kate tolerated all of it, wanting to know what happened to Jensen the entire time. Was he okay? Was he dead? Why was she stuck thinking about him?

"Well?" Evan asked when it was finished.

"She's got some amnesia. I think it's temporary," Dr. Thornton was saying. "She can remember a lot of her life up until about a few years ago, so I think she will eventually get back to normal.

"Oh good."

"I have to go tend to someone else for a moment," Dr. Thornton said to Kate now. "But I will come back and check on you. I promise."

"Make it stop," Kate whispered, crying again. "Please, make it stop. I want Jensen." She wanted him so bad. He'd know what to say to make her feel better. He'd tell her this was all a bad nightmare and that he'd take her home and make everything all right.

"I'm so sorry, Kate," the doctor said, sounding almost emotional now herself at Kate's distress. "I really am. It'll get better."

"Do you want some water?" Evan asked her. "I'll get you some."

"I just...please...I want...leave me alone," she answered, not knowing what to say and saying a bunch of different things instead.

"Okay," he agreed, patting her hand. "I know it's a lot. We'll get through, though, huh? I'll come back in a bit." He stood and gave her another smile before leaving. When she was alone again, Kate buried her face into her pillow and sobbed.

...

It was a few hours later, and Kate was staring at the window. She was sick of hearing the ambulance siren, which meant someone else was hurt or dead and it was making her feel upset. She was trying so hard to remember the accident, but she couldn't. She also couldn't seem to remember much of the last couple of years, and that scared her. How could she just forget? And why, if he was such a minor person in her life, could she not stop associating Jensen with being someone very close to her? Had she been having an affair with him while on vacation? She frowned. She wasn't one to do that, especially when she'd had it done to her.

That was another thing that was making her sick. She was back with Evan?! When had that happened? And how? She had known to never go back to him, and yet here they were. She had the wedding ring on to prove it.

"Hey," Evan said now as he came into her room. He'd come and gone a few times, giving her space and letting her process everything. "How are you feeling?"

"Confused. Frustrated," she answered.

"It must be awful," Evan empathized. "I couldn't imagine."

"Tell me about us," she said, deciding to try and figure it all out. "How did we get back together?"

"Oh, it was funny, actually," Evan said, sitting down in the chair next to her bed. "We bumped into each other at this party of a colleague's, and the two of us sort of just drifted next to each other to escape the noise and started talking. You were still pretty upset from the whole cartel case, and I'd had a near miss myself, which got us to talking about second chances. It kind of just went from there."

"But you...you hurt me," Kate said, confused. "I wouldn't have looked at you again."

"Yea, that was not my proudest moment," Evan said, hanging his head slightly. "I, uh, went to therapy for a while, sorted out my issues, and I've been doing a lot better with my moods and stuff. I'm sorry, Kate, for hurting you. I wasn't myself. I got messed up from trauma at work, and it brought out the worst in me."

"This just doesn't make sense," Kate argued. She clenched her fists on top of the sheets, her nails digging into her palms.

"I'm a really lucky man," Evan said when she was quiet, and she looked at him. "The fact you gave me another chance is very sacred to me. I am doing all I can to prove that I've changed, but I do know I don't deserve you...not for a second."

Kate felt his words were sincere, but something still didn't feel right. Maybe she was just overthinking it all. Maybe she really was suffering from amnesia and this was true.

"But...why am I picturing Jensen so clearly?" she asked.

"The doctor said something about coma dreams," Evan answered. "She said lots of people will live an entire lifetime sometimes and then come back to reality to discover they have a different spouse or job or kids or whatever. It's all the big mystery of the brain apparently."

"Oh."

"Whatever you need, I'm here and will provide," Evan promised. Kate still felt like crying for the loss of what she thought she'd had. Jensen had been warm and safe and made her happy...she knew this, but she couldn't remember how she knew this. It was just a known fact in her brain.

"Once we get you home, it might help," Evan said next. "Stuff might jog your memory."

"Reggie," she said suddenly. "He'll help me remember. Let me call him." She looked at Evan, who looked suddenly very sad. "What?"

"He, uh, he was killed during a raid," Evan said slowly. "I am so, so sorry, Kate. He died a year ago. I was hoping you wouldn't forget that; it was so hard on you."

"Reggie's dead?" she whispered. Her best friend? How could she forget something like that?

"Oh, God," Evan said. "I was so hoping you'd remember that. I hate breaking your heart all over again."

Kate didn't respond, fighting the tears, and after a bit, he left her alone again. She cried and cried, aching for her friend, the one who could help her with everything happening right now. When she had no more tears left, she turned onto her left side, looking at the sky through the window. For whatever reason, she couldn't stop thinking about a beach and a man holding her in his arms and making her laugh, making her feel safe and all right.

That man was not Evan, and she didn't think she could ever get past that.

Days Later

She'd been deemed well enough to go home. When Evan brought her there, she took in all of her stuff. Hoodies were discarded over the back of the couch and on the kitchen table. Her shoes were kicked off on the mat. A book she'd been reading was on the counter, dog eared. She went to the bedroom to find her gun and badge on the dresser. A hair brush with ties and a comb were there as well. A pair of her pajamas were on her side of the bed, which was unmade.

"You okay?" Evan asked, hovering behind her and watching carefully.

"I've got a headache," she answered truthfully. She saw photos on the wall next: The two of them at their first wedding, the two of them at their second wedding, the two of them at different places in the world smiling and happy, Reggie's photo and memorial plaque...

She had zero memory of any of it.

"I'll get some painkillers," Evan offered, moving to get them. Kate stood frozen in the hallway, staring at all the photos. How could she not remember any of this?

"Here," Evan said, returning with Advil and a glass of water. She took it and downed it, wanting the throbbing in her temples to stop.

"I think I'm going to lie down," she said. She was still a bit frightened of returning to a coma in her sleep, but after sleeping in the hospital the last few days, she was slowly moving past that fear.

"Okay. I'm gonna sleep on the couch for now," Evan said. "I want you to not be stressed while you keep recovering."

"What if...?" she trailed off. For some reason, asking that question was terrifying. What if she couldn't get her memory back? What then?

"I think it'll just take time," Evan said, reading her mind. "The more you stress, the longer it might take. Just relax and try not to force your memories to come back."

He patted her shoulder and left her be. She sat down on the bed and caught sight of lingerie in the corner on the floor. She shuddered. Thinking about sex with Evan was making her feel nauseous. She moved to scoot it out of sight before going to stand by the window.

KATE!

This shout echoed in her head. It felt real. It had to be real. It couldn't have just been a coma dream. She fought to remember more about it, but she couldn't get anything else to come up except for snippets of moments in the sun, a child's laughter, and Jensen lying on top of her and brushing hair out of her face. She felt tears on her face again and felt utterly alone. She didn't have Reggie. She didn't want to call her mother. She couldn't remember the number to call Tavs, but then again, Tavs was probably a part of her coma dream as something familiar so as to stave off stress of being in a new place alone. How could she be sure that Tavs was where Jensen was anyway, if it wasn't a dream? Tavs could be anywhere in the world.

Her email.

She began hunting for a laptop. She had emails. She could find them and write Tavs. She could ask if this was all true or if the story she was stuck believing about Jensen was true.

"Urgh," she growled. Where the hell was her laptop? She went out to the living room and found Evan watching TV with a beer on a coaster next to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"My computer," she said. "Where is it?"

"Over there." He pointed to the desk in the corner. She felt slightly triumphant as she went to sit in front of it. If Evan was lying, this would prove it. She turned it on, pulled up her email sign in, and entered her information.

Nothing.

"Wait," she said. This couldn't be right. She put in her email address and password, and it said her address did not exist.

"You okay?"

"It, it's not working," she said. He came over to her.

"What email are you entering?"

She showed him, and he shook his head.

"You got rid of that a few years ago," he clarified, leaning over her to type in an address. "This is the one you use." She recognized it, but she hadn't used that one in ages. She entered her password anyway, and it opened.

"There," he said. "See? Just a blip. One of the things you've forgotten."

Kate stared at it. There were emails from Reggie on there from a few years ago. There was spam. There wasn't really anything else on there.

"There's nothing here," she said.

"You weren't really one for emailing," he offered. "You texted."

"Where's my phone?"

"It got wrecked in the accident. I've got you a new one." He went to the counter to get it and brought it over. She stared at it. "I tried to get all your stuff back on it that you like and most of your contacts I could remember."

She took it because he was just holding it out to her. She unlocked it with the pin he told her he'd made, resolving to change it, and searched her contacts. It was pretty bleak.

"My mother isn't in here," she noted.

"Ah, yes. You...you haven't spoken to her in a very long time," Evan said. "You deleted her from everything, and as much as I hoped you'd reconcile, you haven't yet."

Convenient. It was all just too convenient.

"I want to call her," she said. "I need to make sure this is all real. No offense."

"None taken. I get it." He pulled out his phone. "Here. You can call her from mine. I kept her number."

Kate took it and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Mom?" She felt relief. Huge relief. "Mom, it's Kate."

There was a pause. Then: "The daughter who disowned me?"

"Mom..."

"You have some nerve calling me! Don't call me again!"

The call disconnected, and Kate felt like crying again. She handed Evan back his phone, her hand shaking.

"I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

"It's fine. Obviously we hate each other. That's a dead end." She wasn't going to bother with her siblings. It would probably be just as bad as what she'd just gotten.

"How about you get some rest and give your brain a break," he suggested. "I'm worried about you, Kate. I want you to heal."

"Fine. I'll go lay down," she said impatiently. She wasn't done with her detective work, though. She had to figure out what was going on and soon.

A Week Later

"Why are we in L.A.?" Kate asked. She was no closer to getting answers, and Evan's consistency of being a decent human being was slowly making her think what he was telling her was true.

"We transferred," he answered. "After the cartel stuff, I didn't blame you. New scenery. Fresh start."

"I see."

They were playing cards, which Evan thought might help her remember all the times they did this. She gave it a try, but nothing was coming up for her, not about him. She kept seeing Piper laughing and tossing cards at her.

"I see your ability to smoke me is still there," he commented when she won again. She smiled. Beating him was bringing her so much pleasure. Normally, he'd get pouty and angry if he kept losing, but this new version of himself seemed to keep it together. Perhaps he really had learned something in therapy.

"Water?"

"Sure."

He went to get her a glass, and she rested her chin in her hand as she looked out the sliding door window. They had a nice apartment at least. She wished she could remember picking it out.

She heard his phone ring, and he went farther away to answer it. Intrigued, she went to eavesdrop. Evan wasn't saying anything, though, just listening.

"Yup. Got it. Will be in touch."

Kate pulled away quickly as he hung up and walked back. She managed to get to the kitchen before him and collected her water he'd left there.

"Sorry," he said.

"Who was that?" she asked.

"Colleague. They're working a joint case with me and just wanted to update me."

"Oh. What case?"

"DEA related case. We partnered up for it. Not cartels," he said quickly. "In case you're wondering."

"Just regular dealers then."

"Yea. A big ring actually."

"And you're not there working because?"

"I'm looking after you," Evan answered, sounding almost hurt. "You're my wife, and I want to make sure you're okay before I just abandon you here all day."

"I'm fine," she told him. "You can go back to work."

"What if something happens?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Evan said, looking embarrassed. "I guess I just want to be here in case something goes wrong. I'd hate for you to have to deal with it alone."

"I think I'll manage," she replied. "It's just my memory having issues, nothing else."

"I suppose."

"Well, go on then," she encouraged. "Work your case. I'll be here when you get back."

"He's got it covered," Evan insisted. "I'll go in a few days."

"Evan..."

"I just need to have the peace of mind that you're really okay before I go back," he insisted. "Please?"

What could she say? He seemed to really want to make sure she wasn't going to die or something in his absence, so she'd give him his few days to sort through his anxiety and then kick him out.

"All right."

"Thank you." He kissed the side of her head, and she felt icky inside. It didn't feel right, but if he was her husband, she had to get all right with it. If she couldn't, she'd have to cross that bridge when she got there and deal with it.

Regardless of whatever was real or the truth, she really, really wanted her memory back.

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