A/N: So I should clarify, I've never read or seen The Vow, meaning this story will probably not follow that storyline very closely. I've just based this off of the same idea. I'm also not a doctor so my doctor-speak probably makes little to no sense. This chapter is really short, but it's basically just setting the tone for the rest of the story. Anyway, enjoy!

He stumbles out of the hospital room and all of the white sort of makes him want to vomit. Conveniently, he smacks right into Serena before he can panic too much.

"Serena, thank god," he grabs her arm, catching her off guard, "Where is she?"

"Dan, I…" Serena trails off and the look in her eyes tells him that it's nothing he wants to hear.

"Where is she?" The desperation in his voice scares him, sounds nothing like his usual tone.

Every awful thought he ever had when they were together, every fear of her walking out of his life without even a goodbye, every nightmare he had about her dying in some horrible accident, nothing could compare to what he was feeling now.

"She had serious head trauma. The doctor says she doesn't remember the accident."

"Have you seen her yet?"

Serena tries to force a smile and shakes her head, "We all thought you should be the first."

She gives him the room number and he goes sprinting down the hallway, stopping to take a break when the excruciating pain from his bruised ribs shoots through his side. He decides to attempt a quickened walk so as not to strain himself, his head still pounding achingly.

He finds her.

He'd never seen her in the hospital before now, but she still looks beautiful. Her chestnut locks are pushed out of her face, her lips still pink aside from the purple bruise at the corner of her mouth. As he enters the room her familiar brown eyes flutter open and he sees something that looks somewhat like relief, but is quickly replaced by overwhelming confusion.

"Hey," he smiles, and rushes in to sit beside her bed, "Remember me?"

He means it as a joke, but in reality he's dreading the answer.

"Am I supposed to?" She raises an eyebrow and it's such a familiar gesture for her, but right now it makes him want to cry.

"Blair, I'm your husband."

She takes him in and for a fleeting moment he thinks she'll remember everything and they'll laugh and cry and she'll pull him in for a kiss and he'll thank god every single night of his life that he didn't lose her.

But she doesn't recognize him. Instead she says,

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong room," and just like that she tries to dismiss him, forever. "Besides, I would never marry someone who deigns to wear their hair like that."

He takes a deep breath and tries to be patient. After all, none of this is her fault.

"Well, you did. See my ring?" He holds up his hand, then compares it to the silver band on her own finger, "Notice we're matching?"

"Did you pick the wedding bands? Because, see, that would not surprise me."

Her tone is the same one she used to use in high school, a combination of disgust and pity with a tiny flicker of affection in her eyes.

"Yes. You put me in charge of the wedding bands."

A shrill laugh comes out of her that makes him cringe, "Are you sure I didn't have the brain injury then?"

Dan opens his mouth to retort, but he can't think of a goddamned thing to say. He notices the doctor standing outside the room and excuses himself politely. Blair just rolls her eyes.

"Mr. Humphrey, I've got bad some news," the doctor flips through his clipboard distractedly while Dan tries to ignore the dizziness that's clouding his vision. "Mrs. Waldorf is suffering from retrograde amnesia. She's dealing with memory loss of the events that occurred before the accident, and the accident itself. We've yet to determine how far back the loss goes."

Dan's heart is slamming against his rib cage, threatening that he may pass out in the next few seconds if he doesn't grab onto something. For a moment, he wishes he never got out of his fucking hospital bed.

"She remembers her family, Serena, Nate, vaguely Chuck, but you…" he trails off and there's sympathy in his eyes."Mr. Humphrey, your wife has no recollection of ever being married. Nor your existence at all."

"Is that- Is that normal?" he stammers.

"It's rare, but amnesia patients can sometimes forget key people in their lives, no matter how important."

He wants to punch something. But mostly he wants to go back into the room and kiss his wife who's thankfully alive but will most likely call security if he even tries to touch her again.

"What can I do?"

"Pictures, movies, music, anything that might trigger a memory. We're going to start short occupational therapy sessions to see how much she remembers from her life."

"And if that doesn't work, if the pictures and bullshit don't trigger anything?"

"Well, you made her fall in love with you once. I'm sure you can do it again."

Dan laughs and it's angry and bitter and sad.

"You don't understand, it took me almost a year to even get her to go on a date with me. Three years to get her down the aisle. And that was when she knew me. It'll be nearly impossible to do it again."

"The key word there is nearly," the doctor replies, pointing his pen at Dan before leaving to tend to other patients.

It's not that he won't try. He'll probably spend the next howevermany years of his life trying to win Blair over again and proving to her that they were happy together. That's not the problem. The problem is that he wants her now. He wants her to come home with him so they can climb into bed and strip off their clothes and show each other their scars, taking turns kissing each one until they're too heated to stop. This Blair will probably not agree to that.

But he decides, if he does have to do it again, he'll do it differently this time. He'll be assertive and go after what he wants, rather than let the Chuck Basses of the world swoop in before he has the chance.

Eleanor insists that they take her back to the penthouse and Dan can't help but agree. He doesn't really have much of a choice. Blair's already scrunching up her nose at the mention of their apartment in Williamsburg. All of their friends say their hellos and goodbyes and finally Dan leaves with Blair and Eleanor to bring her home.

When they arrive at the penthouse, Dorota runs to greet her and of course she remembers Dorota. The maid rushes upstairs to put the finishing touches on Blair's room while Eleanor tries to get ahold of Cyrus. This leaves Dan and Blair standing in the foyer, alone.

"You can leave, you know. Dorota can take it from here." She brushes him off like a fly.

"I know you don't remember, Blair. But this is where we had our first kiss."

He approaches her carefully and she immediately takes a step back, eyes wary.

"Oh, right. During that awful period of impaired judgment. Are you going to continue reminding me about that?"

He goes to rub his thumb over her shoulder, in hopes it'll trigger something- anything. She swallows nervously, but no recognition flashes.

"Just remember," he whispers next to her ear and her body tenses at his proximity, "It's my ring on your finger."

Blair clears her throat and stomps her foot down as if to tell him she's had enough. He steps back and looks at her face, her eyes still searching his for some hint of familiarity. She's lost in silence for a few moments before snapping back into focus.

"If you would please, excuse yourself for the night."

As much as he hates leaving her, he knows he has to listen to her requests in order for this to work, in order for him to have any chance of getting her back. So he just smiles at her, an easy smile that he would reserve for her and her alone.

"Of course. Good night, Blair."

**Just a couple things- I know Blair is sort of a sass in this story, but I don't see Blair Waldorf waking up in the hospital with amnesia and just being sweet and understanding. Also, sorry if you feel Dan is out of character at all, but I wanted to play around with a more confident Dan. I mean, at this point he already got her to fall in love with him once, so that deserves a confidence boost. Finally- yes, I had Blair keep her last name. It just always felt right to me when I thought about DB married fics. Sorry if it bothers you, but I don't care actually.