Wayhaught - Remember me

Wake up

Nicole was sat at her desk surrounded by a mountain of paperwork, she stared at the clock thinking it would make it move faster. She couldn't wait to see her girlfriend again. She would sit next to Waverly and tell her about her day, hoping she would hear.

Buzz....buzz....buzz
Nicole looked towards her phone wondering who would be calling her at work. So she picked it up.

"Haught" she said as she put the phone to her ear.
Wynonna was on the phone but she could hear a word she was saying as she was speaking at the speed of light.

"Earp, slow down I cant hear a word"

"Haught, its Waverly....Shes awake" she said finally.

Nicole couldn't think straight,  she couldn't react. She was overwhelmed with emotion.

"Haught, ya there"

"Yeah, im on my way" she said as she grabbed her keys and ran out of the station, almost knockinga few people over on the way. Her thoughts were in a complete jumble as she was driving to the hospital. She couldn't wait any longer to see her.

__________

When Nicole arrives at Waverly's room, Wynonna is sat besides Waverly, who is beginning to pull herself into a sitting position.
Nicole could feel all of her emotions come at her all at once, and it was overwhelming.

Wynonna noticed her presence and she walked towards her.
"She's a little groggy and confused at the moment but the doctors said that's expected." Wynonna said as they both walked into the room and Wynonna took a seat in the corner.
By this time everyone else arrived and were waiting at the door. They wanted to give Nicole a bit of space to see her girlfriend.

Nicole walked up to Waverly and sat besides her and went to pick up her hand.
But stopped herself when Waverly pulled away, with a confused look on her face. Nicole looked into her eyes, and it was as if a stranger was looking back.
"Hey, Waves...are you okay?" She said in a sincere tone, cautious about giving Waverly the space she needed. Although it did hurt to be pushed away.

Waverly frowned and began to speak. "I'm sorry but....have we met?" She said, looking at Nicole.

Her stomach dropped and tears began to rise. She'd never felt so heart broken in her life.
The second she heard those words, her stomach dropped and she was overcome with sadness.
There was an overwhelming silence that lingered over the room before Nicole spoke.
"Yeah Waves....i'm....we're." She paused not knowing what to say, before she continued.
"Yeah i'm the sheriffs deputy, Nicole Haught" she said, trying so desperately not to show how broken she felt inside.

Waverly reached her hand out for Nicole to shake.
"Its nice to meet you officer Haught"

Nicole looked around the room to see everyone's blank expressions. 'How could she remember everyone but me, this cant be happening' she repeated to herself, and eventually she got up and exited the room to her squad car, and released the tears that she was holding back.

Everyone was in pure shock, until Waverly spoke and brought them back to reality.

"Did I say something to upset her?" She asked. Confusion riddled across her face.
They didn't know what to tell her though. Should they tell her the truth about Nicole or let her find out herself.

Wynonna stood from her chair and sat on the side of Waverly's bed. She began to speak.
"Waverly, you do know Nicole, you've known her for three years" she said and pulled out her phone to reveal pictures of the couple. Waverly still looked confused so she explained further.
"She's your girlfriend baby girl" she said looking Waverly in the eyes.

Waverly was speechless. 'I've never met this woman in my life and i'm supposed to be in a relationship with her?...i'm with champ....why can i not remember' she thought with frustration.

Wynonna broke her grip with Waverly's hand and began to walk to the door.
"Ill go get the doctors and tell them you're awake" she said walking out the door.

__________

A short while later

Everyone, except Nicole, was huddled in Waverly's room waiting, in silence. That was when a doctor came through the door and broke the silence that lingered.
"Hi, i'm Dr. Riley, we have ran some more tests on Waverly regarding her memory based on what Miss Earp told us. Due to the damage to the hippocampus, which is a part of the brain and limbic system responsible for memory, we believe that Waverly is suffering from a type of amnesia. This can affect different people in different ways, and for Waverly, her memories of Officer Haught have been forgotten." She said directing the information to everyone in the room.

Wynonna looked at the doctor with a concerned look in her eyes.
"Is that permanent? Can she get her memories back?" She asked, worried about Nicole. She may give Nicole a hard time sometimes, but she's her family now, and she cares. Waverly has never been more like herself now that she had Nicole, and Wynonna wants that for her.

The doctor continued. "Waverly received some severe head trauma during the accident but luckily she doesn't have permanent brain damage. This means that her brain will slowly begin to recover, but in may take some time. She can also regain her memories from doing something or reliving something to trigger a memory. In the mean time, try not to force her into anything, because to her, Nicole is a stranger" she said finally before exiting the room.

Jeremy was the first one to speak after the doctor left.
"Man, severe head trauma...that's pretty bad" he said but was cut of by a sharp glare coming from Wynonna.

He put his hands up in surrender and murmured something to himself, something on the lines of being insensitive.

__________

Nicole couldn't think straight. She almost ditched her car a few times because she couldn't see through the stream of tears rolling down her face. She needed a drink, something to take the pain away. And so she made her way to shorty's. She composed herself a little before heading in so she didn't seem too much of a mess. But her eyes were still puffy and red from the crying, that much was obvious.

She walked through the old doors calmly and headed straight towards the bar. Gus was there pouring some beers for some locals, and noticed the officer walk in. She immediately saw that something was wrong. She walked up to the redhead who was now sat on a stool and the bar. Her head was slouched down, as if she was trying to hide her face.

"Nicole, whats wrong? Is Waverly okay? Please tell me she's okay?" She said full of worry. Gus knew about the accident and visited Wavery but she had to continue working on occasional days.

Nicole looked up at Gus. The tears were returning again but she didn't let any escape.

"She's fine Gus. She....uh" her voice broke as she tried to explain what happened but she failed to hold back the tears.
There was a short silence before she was able to continue.

"She doesn't remember me....us." she said like she had just lost her entire world. Which is what Waverly was to her.

Gus grabbed her hand but stayed silent. No words needed to be spoken between them. Gus was always good at that. Making people feel better without even speaking.
She broke away for a second and returned with a bottle of their finest whiskey.

"I know that face when i see it.  Wynonna wore it too often. If you want to drink away your problems im not gonna stop you. But you have to face this sooner or later" she said getting to the point but also with a very caring look in her eyes. She wasn't the kind of person to tell a grown woman what to do with her life, especially with what Nicole is feeling. She finally walked away and left Nicole to think, or less thinking and more drinking.

All Nicole wanted to do was feel something other than pain. She grabbed the bottle and drove home in utter silence. Once she was home, she drank until she didn't feel anything.