Chapter 1 - Ana

A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.

Ana. Her name never sounded so foreign as the ghostly whisper passed from his lips. Had she misunderstood him? Or had she created the brief illusion on behalf of her damaged thoughts? For the possibility of a man, who was no more than a stranger in passing, could not possibly utter her name. But he had, and now that moment had become a memory. One that had tattooed itself to the walls of her brain.

"She's still having a bitch fit," Kate commented.

With a bundle of hair on top of her head, no makeup, and dressed like a walking catalog for Victoria Secret's loungewearawwa, somehow Kate still appeared stunning. How did she do it? She observed her best friend as she stood next to the cracked door of her hospital room with her arms crossed against her chest. Carefully, she listened to the commotion next door. The commotion she had caused.

Unable to keep track of how much time had passed since "the incident" happened, Ana sighed and rubbed her hands together. While she tried to stay in tune with the present, her mind fluttered to the past. A fleeting memory she could not shake from her thoughts. It had all happened so fast. One moment her name was be spoken from the befuddled man before her and the next she was being shipped off back to her room as chaos ensued.

Had it been her doing? Had Christian awaken thanks to her solemn words?

Her heart raced at the thought like a grand stampede of wild horses who trotted furiously toward the finish line. No. It was not possible. It was coincidence, an untimely coincidence that she had been witness to, but it still did not settle with her well.

The muffled sound of voices simmered next door. Ana dragged her hands down her face and looked up at her friend as her gaze scanned the scuffed tiled floor as she continued to listen. She had been the first person she called after it had all unraveled. Kate had been the only person she knew to turn to in a moment like this. Her parents were out of the question. They would have only made matters worse. While Kate catered to her condition and amused her on most occasions, her time of silence was about to come to end.

Kate shook her head and sighed. She closed the door quietly behind her as she walked over toward her bed. Taking a seat, she pulled her legs up and sat Indian style as she tried to decipher everything she had just learned in a matter of fifteen minutes.

"He said your name," she stated in utter disbelief.

Apparently, the bombshell Christian had dropped in the form of a breathless whisper had not only rocked her world but others, too. While the nurses and doctors only focused on the matter of his conscious state, she, Kate, and the vile woman who was his fiancé directed their concern elsewhere. She had not been the one to tell Elena what he said upon his return to this world, but she was sure someone else had. The shrill sound of a woman's scorn that could be heard all down their wing of the hospital only a few moments ago confirmed her curiosity. That was just after Kate had arrived and she quickly got her up to speed with the events of the day that seemed to be never-ending in shock value.

"Walk me through it again," Kate ordered.

Ana rolled her neck to release some tension and shifted in her wheelchair.

"Where do you want me to begin?" She asked.

This madness had many beginnings. What she shared before with Kate had been the cliff notes version, but she knew now she needed to explain everything to her in essay format.

"You're not telling me something, Ana." Her tone was soft but still demanding. "I can see it in your eyes. You're worried about something, and it goes beyond that bitch next door and your name being said by the man who hit you, so spill."

If there was anyone in this world who could strip away her every layer, it would be Kate. She saw right through the facade she had put up as of recently that hid her internal conflict. The one that played tug of war with her emotions. The one that made her conjure up feelings toward a man who she should not have feelings for at all. How could she put it into words?

"Um, well," Ana began as she fidgeted with her hands in her lap. "I had this dream."

"A dream?" Kate echoed her words.

"Yes, the other night. He, Christian, was in it." She peered up at her friend, who raised an eyebrow. "And it was odd."

The way Kate leaned forward and her facial expression relaxed, she could tell she was intrigued and highly amused. Warmth rushed to her cheeks upon the details of her dream. The fear of describing what she saw and felt trembled on the tip of her tongue. The longer she withheld it, the more it swelled inside her. She proceeded with caution as she knew Kate would carefully dissect every word she was about to say.

"It felt real like it wasn't even a dream."

"Sometimes dreams can seem that way," Kate commented. "We don't know that it is a dream until we wake up."

"I know, but this one was different. This one," she paused to collect her thoughts. "Anyways, I was in this place that overlooked the city. It was beautiful. And then I heard this song being played on a piano and I realized it was him. He was the one playing the song. It was so sad, but melodic. I was drawn to him and the song."

Ana peeked up from under her lashes for only a second. Deep in concentration, Kate nodded. She could see the wheels turning in her head at record speed as she was more than likely composing her conclusion. If only she knew that her dream was more than just a musically driven projection of a makeshift scenario. Her teeth scraped at her bottom lip as she controlled her breaths. Did she really want to continue? It was one thing for Christian to appear in her dream. It was another for him to reel her in and kiss her like he had.

"Once it ended, he got up and said my name. He asked me to help him." Her voice fell an octave. "I wanted to yell at him for what he did, but I didn't. I just stood there and let him get closer."

Kate literally hung on to every word. "And then," Ana inhaled a large breath. "He kissed me."

"What?" Kate exclaimed.

"I didn't ask for it to happen. It just did." She was quick to defend herself. "And I let him. I shouldn't be having dreams like that, especially not with that guy."

"You've been through a lot, Ana," Kate replied. She wasted no time to begin her diagnosis. "After everything, I think you're just confused. It's not odd that he appeared in your dream when he has been the topic of most conversations recently."

She had a point. From the moment she woke up, Christian had been all anyone could talk about. Nothing pleasant was exchanged on the man's behalf. She could not blame her family and friends for doing so. Even she hated the man, but that did not stop her from heading down another path of feelings for him. A path she did not choose to go down but instead was forced to walk.

"What is odd is that he kissed you," She remarked. "Did you like it?"

Curious as ever, Kate. Ana turned her gaze to the closed door before she said, "I don't know. I guess." She huffed. "Kate, I don't know what I'm supposed to feel anymore. Ever since I woke up, I haven't felt the same as I used to."

Uncrossing her legs, Kate dangled them over the side of the bed and scooted closer to her. Tiny wrinkles formed on her forehead. She reached out for her hand and cupped it between both her palms. Her reassuring smile faded into view.

"I'm no doctor or psychiatrist, but I think this is all part of the recovery process. You're going to be confused for a while." The buzz of her phone sounded from the table. She ignored it as Kate glanced over and realized she was not about to answer it. "I not going to tell you that what you dreamt about wasn't messed up, but I think maybe you just misplaced your feelings is all. It happens."

"Then how do you explain what happened outside of my head?" Ana questioned her as if she knew all the answers. She longed for an explanation on why Christian spoke her name.

"Coincidence." She shrugged her shoulders. "You said your name to him, right? Maybe he heard it. He had to in order to say it when he woke up."

"But why my name? Why not his fiancé's name or something else, anything else?"

"I don't know." Kate released her hand. "She's pissed, though. Not just because you were in the room with him alone, but because of the whole name situation."

"Can't say I blame her," Ana added.

"Imagine knowing your fiancé woke up saying another woman's name." She chuckled and rose from the bed. "That's almost as bad as him saying it in bed."

"Kate!"

"Sorry, I know not helping." Her tone was much lighter, playful almost. She returned to her spot near the door and she cracked it back open. "I still can't believe that bitch wanted to buy your silence."

Honestly, it was no surprise to her Elena was prepared to protect her perfect life and the man she had sunk her claws into with the gesture of a blank check. Maybe in her eyes she thought she had everyone fooled, but to Ana the only fool she saw was her. Her blood boiled still at the memory of her attempts to zip her lips and fill her bank account with her tainted money. She wanted none of it. Everything and anyone associated with that woman, she wanted nothing to do with, including him. Ana sighed.

All roads pointed back to him no matter the situation. Whether it was him directly or the woman he was about to head to the alter with, he was the constant variable.

As Kate pressed her ear closer to the door, she closed her eyes and wondered how she had made matters worse for herself. The whole point of her going into his room was to forgive him. To let go of the essential piece of the puzzle so she could move on. How was she supposed to know that her actions would only further stir the pot of chaos?

Ana played the scene over in her head again. The way his hand moved in hers. The way he strained his voice to say her name. Her heart began to race again at the thought. Frozen in time, she had stared down at the sleepy man who fought his way to the surface. Little by little be awoke and with each second that passed, she became more aware of how selfish she was being. In panic, she let go of his hand and pressed the call button for medical attention. Her textbook knowledge and hands-on experience kicked into overdrive and within less than a minute a nurse rushed into the room.

The nurse almost looked relieved as she entered the room and saw it was her and not Elena, but that quickly changed. She wondered how many times the call button had been abused by her requesting things that didn't need to be tended to, but the thought quickly faded as things began to unfold.

With careful precision, the nurse tended to him. She asked Christian simple questions to observe his response. His body twitched and she referred back to his monitor. More questions were asked, but this time they were directed at her. Ana stumbled to speak as she explained why she was there and what had happened. The nurse nodded her head making no definite judgement on the obvious strange occurrence that she still tried to wrapped her head around.

Ana. His voice haunted her.

Another nurse entered the room while the other paged for a doctor. Ana tried to help, but was ignored and soon wheeled away and out of sight before Christian even opened his eyes. She waited to be scolded by the nurse who removed her, but it never came. Instead, she hastily pushed her back to her room.

Down the hall she heard the high heels click fast against the tile and for a split second she saw the fury in Elena's eyes as she watched her being taken from Christian's room to her own. Shit.

"Stay put." The nurse ordered and closed the door behind her.

The high-pitch exclamation from the woman she despised followed and soon more raised voices could be heard on the other side of her door. That's when she knew she needed to call Kate.

As she floated back to reality, she reached for her phone to see who the missed call was from. Upon the moment her screen lit up with the notification, her parents barged in nearly knocking Kate over in the process.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Ana asked.

It was late and unusual for them to show up at a time like this. Her eyes flickered toward Kate, who looked guilty. She glanced down at her phone to see the missed call from her mother, who was more than likely telling her she and her father were on their way up.

"Ana, I texted your mom." Kate intervened before the storm of questions and accusation could be made by her parents. "With everything that just happened, I thought they should know."

"And I'm glad you did, Kate." Carla responded.

What in the world did she tell them? She was furious with Kate at the moment and terrified to know what her mother and father knew about what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. The urge to shrivel up to the size of a raisin in her chair sounded much better than having to explain herself again, and this time to her parents.

"Is it true? Is he awake?" Her father asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"And what's this I hear about you sneaking into that man's room?" Her mother shouted. "Ana, I don't know what's been going through your head lately, but you're not thinking straight."

Her mother was partially right while her comment was slightly insensitive. She had just woke up from a head injury after all. Of course, she was not thinking straight, but that didn't mean she needed to be treated like she was incompetent.

Seeing the frustration and struggle on her end, Kate stepped forward and tried to get her parents to calm down.

Without being asked, Kate took the reigns. She dived into the details of why Ana had gone to him and what had happened afterward. There was no mention of questionable dreams of swapping spit with the man responsible for her current state or Elena's visit to be the awful bitch that she was. Ana was thankful that she did not include either. Now was not the time to instill more concern in her parent's frantic worry.

She mouthed a thank you to Kate and she smiled back in response.

"Well, I'm glad he's awake." Carla forced her statement out. A part of her knew her mother rooted for the worse for Christian. After all, he had almost killed her daughter. "But that still doesn't change how I feel about him. I think you are being ridiculous Anastasia for not wanting to press charges."

Anastasia. Her mind drifted off to the thought of what it would sound like coming from Christian's mouth. What the fuck? No. She should not be.

"Carla, give it a rest. Ana doesn't want to and we should respect that even if we don't agree." Her father's opinion obviously sided with her and not her mother. She gave him a tiny smirk in return.

"I just want justice." She whined.

"And I want to move on!" Ana shouted. All heads turned her way. "I'm done fighting with you on this mom. Please, just let it go because I already have."

Her mother's mouth twitched. When would this battle end with her?

To relieve the tension in the room, a timely knock came on her door. The same nurse who had guided her out of his room hours before entered hesitantly. She politely smiled and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Grey has requested to see Ana."

"What?" They unanimously all uttered at once.

She could feel the shift as everyone looked to her. The temperature in the room changed from ice cold to burning hot. Suddenly, she felt sick to her stomach with the news.

"He's awake now and even though we've advised him to rest before anyone else visits, he has insisted that he speaks with you." The nurse informed her. "That is if you want to."

"Not without a lawyer." Her mother replied.

"Mom!" Ana scolded. "Sure, if that's what he wants."

Christian wanted to see her. She imagined that did not go over well with the soon to be Mrs. Grey.

"I'll take your parents down to the cafe for some coffee." Kate mentioned and winked at her. "I think we all could use one, don't you think?"

The urge to protest was just beyond her mother's lips, but her father placed his hand on her back and they followed Kate out of her room and down the hall. They did not need to be within earshot of whatever was about to be discussed, even if Kate secretly wanted to.

Her nerves crackled and popped like hot kernels on a stove top as the nurse walked behind her and pushed her back out of the room and across the hall. She had been alone with him not too long ago, and yet she was unsure of doing it again. This time, he would be conscious. This time, he could respond. Did he know what he had said? Did he know what he had done? She was about to find out and internally she was a nervous wreck.

As she rounded the corner of his room, propped up in his bed he was awake and alert with his eyes on her.