Even before she was fully awake she could feel pain, perhaps that was what had awoken her. There was a sharp pain in her head, another in her abdomen. The rest of her body was one throbbing ache. She opened her eyes slowly but shut them again at the bright light she encountered. An even sharper pain accompanied the light and she decided darkness wasn't so bad after all, in fact she could learn to love it. She was debating whether or not to try to go back to sleep when she heard someone speak, a man with a gentle voice.
"I'm sorry, the light is off now, Alexis please open your eyes again."
His voice was soft, not more than a whisper. She could hear the pleading in his tone, the desperation as well as hope. Tentatively she opened her eyes and discovered that the bright light was gone. It must be evening, she thought, there was still some light coming in through the window. Slowly the pain in her head lessened enough for her to focus. The first thing she saw was a gorgeous man, sitting on the edge of the bed, smiling at her.
"Hi there beautiful." He greeted her.
"Um hi." He had taken her hand in his being careful not to hurt her. His smile was warm and in spite of her confusion she smiled back.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I was hit by a truck." She saw his mouth turn up, in a grimace or smile, she couldn't tell.
"Do you remember what happened?" He asked.
She tried to think back, to remember something but nothing came to her. She had no idea what had happened to her though she assumed it had been an accident of some sort.
"No."
"You were hit by a truck," he told her waiting for her to respond. When she didn't he became concerned. "Kristina is okay." He assured her trying to focus on the positive.
"Kristina?" She asked not recognising the name as someone she knew.
"Your daughter Alexis." He told her clearly worried by her question.
"Right, my daughter." She agreed not wanting to upset him anymore than she already had. Frantically she searched her mind for memories of a child, a daughter. As hard as she tried she could not picture her child's face, she could not really believe she was a mother. Realising she was probably confused he decided to back it up.
"Alexis you were in a car accident, apparently a truck slid on the ice and crashed into you."
"And my daughter was in the car with me?" She asked trying to figure out what was going on.
"Alexis you were pregnant, don't you remember?"
"No." She looked down at her body, she was definitely not pregnant now. But he had said the baby was okay. It was too much, a daughter she couldn't remember.
"Alexis are you okay?"
"I don't... I don't remember."
"You don't remember what?" He asked.
Her eyes were filled with fear as she looked up at him.
"Anything, I don't remember anything."
He hurried down the hall in search of Monica or Alan or Bobbie, hell at this point he'd be relieved to see Amy. Over and over again he told himself that she would be okay, that she would get her memory back. He couldn't bear the thought of Alexis being lost to him forever. Finally he saw Monica walking towards him and hurried to her.
"Monica, thank God. You need to come with me, it's Alexis."
"She's awake?"
"She can't remember anything."
Monica turned to follow him back to Alexis' room. Upon entering it she found Alexis lying in the bed clearly upset.
"Hi there, it's good to see you awake."
"Um hi." Alexis smiled at the doctor wondering if she was supposed to know her as well as the man.
"I hear your having a little problem with your memory?" Monica said.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it little." Alexis said frustrated by her situation.
"Can you tell me your name?" Monica asked while checking Alexis' pupils.
"Alexis?" It was more a question than an answer. Though the man had called her Alexis several times, the name itself did not seem familiar.
"Alexis what?"
"Um...I'm not sure. I can't believe this I don't even remember my last name, I have a daughter I can't remember, I mean what kind of mother doesn't remember her own child..."
"Alexis calm down sweetheart," the man soothed stepping closer to her so that he could take her hand in his again. Looking into the face of the man beside her Alexis felt calmer, more relaxed. She wondered who he was, how they knew each other. In spite of the comfort his presence brought she didn't even know his name.
"Alexis I'm going to call Tony, um another doctor to come look at you. Then we'll take you down stairs for a couple tests, in the mean time try to relax."
"Sure," she replied sarcastically. As if she could just lay back and forget about her situation. Then again maybe she could, she had forgotten everything else.
The doctor walked out of the room and she was left alone with the man. She was reluctant to ask him his name because it was obvious she should know him.
"You don't remember me do you?" He asked as though he knew what she had been thinking. Perhaps he did, she thought.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, there is nothing to be sorry about. You hit your head pretty badly and I'm sure it's just going to take a while for everything to come back. In the mean time I'm Jax." He told her hoping he would see some recognition in her eyes but there was nothing.
"Hi Jax." She smiled shyly. Saying the name felt odd, as though she had never heard it before.
"I heard you were awake," Tony said by way of greeting as he entered Alexis' room. "I'm Dr. Jones, I'd like to bring you down stairs to do some tests, see if we can't figure out what's going on in that head of yours."
She looked to Jax unconsciously seeking assurance.
"It's okay, I'll be here when you get back." He assured her and she relaxed.
Alexis' bed was wheeled out of the room and Jax took a seat in the chair that had become home for the last two weeks. He couldn't believe it had only been two weeks ago, New Year's Eve, a night of beginnings and endings. It seemed like a bad dream, starting with the phone call from Alan. Ned and Alexis had been in an accident, Ned had been killed instantly, Alexis was in a comma and the baby was in distress. They had been forced to deliver the baby, she was small but a fighter, like her mother. She was already breathing on her own and Jax had spent every minute that he was not with Alexis in the nursery holding Kristina, talking to her, mostly about her mother. He had lost one of his closest friends that night and almost lost the other as well. Since then he had barely left Alexis' side, ignoring the concerns and later complaints of Skye and Brenda.
"Jax?"
"Monica."
"Alexis is still downstairs?"
"Yeah."
"Would you like some company while you wait?"
"Thanks."
"She's going to be okay."
"She doesn't remember anything, she didn't even know she had been pregnant. What if Alexis is gone, what if its like Jason, what if she's someone else." He regretted his words immediately knowing that Jason was difficult for Monica to talk about.
"Jax we have no reason to believe Alexis won't regain her memory. We just have to wait for the test results."
"I can't lose her Monica, I can't."