The Gigolo and the Angel Ch. 04

James felt the darkness of the medication wrap around him puling into a painless oblivion. Suddenly he felt like he was floating, he could hear a voice murmuring in the darkness, but he couldn't make out the words only the feeling of love. He was tired and knew that he had been in an accident. When he was awake the pain was unbearable, so he held onto the darkness. As he floated he began to think about the last things he could remember. All he could remember was that he had been planning on talking to Krys about something important. As hard as he tried he couldn't remember what it was that he wanted to talk to her about, or who she was. All he could think was that she had been important to him. So why couldn't he remember who she was?

The darkness began to fade again as the pain returned. The voices were louder but make no more sense than they had in the dark. He could feel the touch of skin on his hand. With more effort than he thought he had he turned his head and opened his eyes. The woman sitting beside him was breathtaking. Her hair though obviously dyed was styled perfectly leaving two wings of red hair falling down her face. He tried to speak. "Hello." His voice came out more of a croak than his own silky voice. He wondered for a moment how much damage he had done to himself after all.

Angel nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his broken voice. He wasn't supposed to come out of the coma for a few more days. She didn't know what to do. So she simply replied, "Hello James. How are you feeling?" she forced her voice to remain calm even as panic gripped her heart.

He drew a shaky breath, "Like I tried to blow up my car. Everything hurts."

Angel smiled, "Do you want me to get the nurse?" she asked knowing she should go get them, but almost too scared to.

"So I am in the hospital?" he asked his voice stronger but still rough.

"Yes, there was an accident, you totaled your car, and nearly lost your life." She explained reaching over and pushing the call button for the nurse.

It was only moments before the nurse came running in. "Is there a problem?" she asked as she came through the door, skidding to a halt as her eyes settled on James' open eyes. "Oh I see. I will let the doctor know. Are you in any pain Mr. Oliver?"

James closed his eyes and tried to relax. As much as he hurt he didn't want to go back into the darkness. "Not enough at the moment for me to want anything for it." He tried keeping his voice even but knew his face gave away the pain he was in.

"I understand Mr. Oliver. I will send the doctor in when he has a moment, if you decide you want something for the pain just press the call button and we will see what we can do for you." She smiled and stepped back out of the room with a simple glance at Angel.

James looked back at the beautiful woman sitting beside him, "I am sorry, I know you must know me to be sitting here waiting for me to wake up, but for the life of me I can not remember your name." he felt his heart clench, but didn't know why.

She took a deep breath and sighed softly, there was no help for it. "My name is Angel. We've been friends for about 4 years now." She told him as little as she could get away with and sent up a silent prayer that his memory would return and she would not be left having to restart her life.

"I am sorry, but I don't remember you." He told her watching as a sad smile crossed her face. Something about her eyes caught his attention, but he couldn't place it.

Angel shook her head. She was about to speak as the room door opened. "It's good to see you Mr. Oliver. We weren't actually expecting you to be awake just yet. How are you feeling? The nurse said you didn't want anything for pain." The doctor said stepping in and walking up next to the bed. He took James' vitals before writing a few notations in the chart and turning back to Angel.

James answered the doctor even though he was facing Angel, "No I don't want anything for pain. I am tired of being in the darkness." He told him honestly.

The doctor nodded, "I can understand that. You are awake because your body fought off the drugs and brought you out. Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked touching Angel on the shoulder. He had a feeling something in here was wrong, but didn't feel like asking since neither of them was saying anything.

James reached over and pushed the button to sit the bed up farther. "I was actually hoping you might tell me why I have lost some of my memories?" he asked glancing from Angel to the doctor and back.

The doctor turned back to James, "How much have you lost?" he asked suddenly concerned. This was not what he thought the problem had been.

Angel spoke up before James could answer. "I can tell you he doesn't remember me." Her words were soft and unknown to her full of pain.

The doctor stepped back over to James, "This might sound like a strange question, but knowing that you are having memory issues it needs to be asked. What day is it?"

James thought about it for a long moment before saying anything. "The day I am not sure of, I have no idea how long I have been in that darkness, but it should be March of 2010." He answered.

The doctor slowly shook his head. "I am sorry James, but that is incorrect. It is actually the end of May 2013." He waited and watched as the fear filled James' eyes.

James swallowed hard, "You have to be kidding me right? There is no way it can be 2013." He felt panic start to overwhelm him. He forced himself to take a deep breath. "Doc. Please tell me that Krys is safe."

The doctor felt his face go blank, even knowing it wasn't a good thing. "Who is Krys?" he asked carefully avoiding turning to look at Angel as he heard her faint gasp, he was really glad he had been standing directly between them and blocking James' view as he asked the question.

James felt his heart sink, "She is a friend of mine, we had a fight. If I've lost three years of my life I need to know where she is, and if she is ok." He struggled to sit farther up, but the pain put him back flat on his back. "Oh god that hurts." He looked at the doctor, "Okay I would like something for it, but nothing that will put me back into the dark."

"Understood. I will be right back, is there anyone I can call that might know where to find this Krys?" the doctor asked standing at that door. He forced himself to keep his eyes off of Angel, he knew if he looked at her it would all be over. He could only hope in the end she would make it through this.

James let out a moan. "My mother might know." His voice was a whisper.

"The nurse called her when you first came around tonight so she should be here soon. I will talk to her when she gets here. The nurse will be in with something for the pain shortly." He finished seconds before slipping out the door. Angel caught the sad haunted look on his face and knew things were going to only get harder.

Angel couldn't bring herself to look up at James for a few moments. Knowing that he remembered Krys, but not that she was Krys was going to be the hardest part of all of this. "James." She finally spoke. "I'm going to step out for a moment. I will be back in a few."

"Okay. I'll be here." He laughed.

Angel stood up and walked out of the room, her heart in stomach. "Damn man." She mumbled when the door had closed behind her.

The doctor was standing at the end of the hall and smiled at her. "I'm sorry Angel." He stepped forward and hugged her, "I would never have thought it would happen this way. I am out of my element here. I'm not sure how to move forward here. I have to ask how do you want to handle this?"

She took a deep breath, "I am Angel; there is nothing that is going to change that. I have to be safe, even if that means James is confused and hurtful. I can move past it." She released him and stepped back. Now was not the time to fall apart. "I have to call and Check on Lucas and Scott." With that she simply headed for the waiting room and the phones inside it.