(Tom's P.O.V.)
Loki
"This is a miracle." Someone, a paramedic, uttered, somewhere in the distance, but I was numb to every sensation.
I thought my heart had shattered for good when I saw her kissing Loki, but that was nothing in comparison to what I was experiencing now. I couldn't breathe. Blood gathered in my mouth. I forgot how to breathe.
"Okay, everyone move!" A man shouted, somewhere. "To the hospital, immediately! Come on, guys!"
The shouting continued, foreign people were dragging her body away. I just kept staring at the road, unable to blink, to move. I still don't know how I had managed not to die, but sometime after Caroline was inside the ambulance, someone stepped near me. They asked me if I wanted to get in.
It was like they didn't say anything, as if they didn't exist.
"Sir, do you hear me?"
Nothing.
"Sir, we will take your wife to the hospital now. You need to come with us. We still need to examine you."
Who are you?
"Doctor Barton, he's in a state of shock. Guys, help me get him up."
The voices were fading, everything was fading.
Slowly, intimately, painfully.
Then everything went black. My mind, my senses, my everything failed.
---
(Caroline's P.O.V.)
A light. It was white, no, yellow. I had once learned, the light we saw was never white, nor yellow. It contained the entire light spectrum. We just couldn't separate them. The light then hit objects, which absorbed most of it, and reflected only one wave length. This wave length, hitting our cones and rods in our retina, is what our brain then recognized as a colour.
Oh, God. My brain, my head hurt. A dull pain, everywhere. Something was on the back of my hand, it was heavy. My eyes were slowly adjusting to the annoying light, I tried to lift my right hand. The muscles of my arm twitched at first, weak. It took me a few attempts to finally raise my hand to my face.
The first thing I noticed was a golden ring around my ring finger. There was also an IV line on the back of my hand, but that wasn't nearly as confusing and interesting as the ring. I was a doctor, IV lines bored me.
There was something about this ring that I couldn't put my finger on. My mind was so slow... Why was I wearing this ring? It looked like a wedding ring. And who was wearing the other one?
There was someone. Someone back, in the remotest corner in my brain. Gosh, this was frustrating beyond thought. I didn't even know what I didn't know.
If only Loki was here.
A shock interrupted my train of thought. Goosebumps spread across my skin, from my neck to my legs. I remembered a man. Very tall, pale and black-haired. Narrow cheekbones, not a single flaw on his skin, thin lips and a gaze not from this earth.
My friend, the norse God. Loki, Loki, Loki. Gosh, I was in hospital, and whatever had taken me here, he'd be angry about it. He was always so stressed, so tense. He lived with me.
I was Caroline Irene Adlers. I was 26 and I was a resident, or registrar. The man with those emerald green eyes was my friend. He killed my parents, but I forgave him.
There was a book, about a perfume? This didn't make any sense, and it was frustrating me.
I noticed a light pressure on my other hand that still lied lifelessly next to my body. No, there was another hand holding it. I followed the hand, the arm, the shoulder and the neck with my eyes and arrived at a face.
At first, I mistook this stranger for Loki, I had almost called out his name. But his hair was far too fair and his eyes too blue.
Was he crying? Tracks of water were covering his cheeks and his eyes were puffy and red. When he looked at me, his expression lit up a little, but depression was written all across his face.
"Darling, you're awake - " He whispered disbelievingly, yet with relief.
He looked exhausted, had two plasters on his face, but still quite handsome. The bells inside my head were ringing violently, but I couldn't match a name to him. I didn't even know which letter his name started with... he looked like an Edward, or a Henry.
I keep staring irritatedly at him, without any expression. He saw that, tried to mask his sadness. I tried to speak, but my voice cracked. I cleared my throat, and groaned immediately. Everything hurt.
"Who... Who are you?" I asked slowly, tensed. His expression intensifyed, his blue eyes burning into mine. He stared, silently. I thought he wasn't going to answer, until what had apparently boiled inside him broke out.
"Don't ask me who I am! You know who I am, Caroline!" He shouted at me. Liar. I knew nothing about him. Up until then, I only knew he had come into my room, touched me while I was unconscious, and now he was shouting at me. He was handsome, true, but he wasn't making a pleasant first impression.
"No, I don't."
He sighed and sat back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.
"I see. What do you know?"
"No, I want to know who you are first." I insisted. I wasn't going to tell him anything if I didn't knew who he was. Taking my hand again and bringing his face to mine, he told me everything and nothing at the same time.
"My name is Thomas Hiddleston. You are my wife, Caroline Hiddleston. We are married, my love. We had an accident on a highway and since then, you have been in coma." He halted, swallowed. I wanted to withdraw my hand, but I was too weak. And confused.
"An accident?" I gasped. It dawned on me that this was bad. "When?"
"Thirteen days have passed since."
"Thirteen." I breathed, staring at the white blanket. "How bad is it?"
"You - You weren't wearing your seatbelt, and you flew through the windscreen. They say it's a miracle. Your head took the entire impact, and they fear... permanent neurological damage."
I had leant this. Loss of speaking fluency. Loss of sensation. Motor deficits. Loss of memory.
"Wha-what? What are you talking about?" I couldn't take this. I was so angry, so angry he was giving me this. This stranger. "I'm married to you, fuck, I've never seen you before! I - "
"Shh, please, let me finish speaking." He interrupted me. I wanted to cry. I stopped to give him a chance to explain this madness.
"I am your husband. You are my wife. We have been married half a year and I can prove it. Look at my hand, and then at yours." He released my hand, which I quickly pulled away. I took off the ring, then read the saying inside.
"Tom and Caroline. 12th July"
"Do you believe me now? Mine says the same, here, look at it."
I took his ring he held out to me and read. I realized that he was telling the truth. This man, this strange man was my husband. This sounded out of this world, something that only happened in the movies. I didn't want this.
"So, you're Tom?" I asked, to which he nodded. "Why did we crash?"
"It was cold and the road covered with ice. Another car crashed into ours and your wore no seatbelt." He repeated. "You flew through the windscreen. This is why your injuries are worse than mine. We were coming... from a friend's house."
"Loki's? Is it Loki?" Suddenly I felt better, at least there was someone I knew. Like a light in the darkness. Tom's eyes darkened. I couldn't read him.
"Yes. Why do you remember him, why not me?" He asked me desperately, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for this man, my husband. It was cruel, but not my fault. I was the victim here, and for someone apparently this disoriented, I was staying quite calm.
"I think I can explain."
A doctor came in, in white as usual. I knew him! A name formed on my tongue.
"Clint!" I exclaimed, actually happy. I wasn't completely lost.
"Caroline." He nodded to me. "You're doing better I see, but you know why I'm here." He pulled a chair to my bed and sat down on the other side where Tom wasn't. He had what looked like a CT scan in his hand. "This is confidential, as you know." He risked a short glance towards Tom.
"I'm her husband!"
"It's alright, Clint." I uttered. Maybe transparency wasn't that much of a bad idea. I wasn't going to stay here forever, and Tom wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"This is a quite unique case of memory loss. A blessing in disguise. The fact alone that you survived, it's one in a hundred thousand. You're tougher than you look." Clint smiled.
"But the accident did have an impact, it's your head. While it's a miracle you can talk and move like this... We found a haemorraghia inside your skull, which we ablated, but your brain tissue suffered lots of pressure and hypoxia. Plus, we couldn't rule out micro bleeding, and judging by the CT and your memory, I'm afraid you did have some."
I inhaled. While I tried taking it logically, not being too emotional about it, I saw Tom's face distort with confusion and sadness.
"But Dr., she remembers everything, except for me!"
Clint eyed him intently, then me. He exhaled audibly.
"There are theories about incident like this, it's rare but not impossible. You were most likely thinking about Mr. Hiddleston when it happened, there's a quite popular theory about neuronal electric currents and brain waves, I won't bore you with the details since it hasn't been proven."
"And how can we cure her?"
"Mr. Hiddleston, I won't beat about the bush. The first thing Caroline needs is physiotherapy, we don't know for sure if she can walk as well as she talks right now. Secondly, the best for your wife is to let her be with someone she's familiar with. It's counterproductive to throw her into a completely foreign milieu, so I'll ask her whether there's somebody she knows and trusts, and then we will contact this person."
Loki! I wanted nothing more than to be with him right now.
"I know someone, Clint. It's Loki, you haven't met him, but he's a close friend of mine." I said quickly and looked into his brown eyes. His expression turned blank, too professional.
"Loki?" Clint asked and looked at Tom, who just nodded and glared at the wall. "A quite unusual name in these climes." Clint muttered while jotting something down.
"I'll have to have physio?"
"I highly recommend it. I know these things bore you, Carol. But I assure you, if you do well, you'll be done soon." He put his hand on mine.
"I want to go home." I croaked. "Please."
"Can we have home physiotherapy? Money is not an issue." Tom interjected. "Dr. Barton."
---
Only a few more days had to pass until I was discharged. The walking part turned out to be a... challenge. I did feel my feet, just the movement was difficult. It was then that I realized, I need this physiotherapy, as impatient as I was, and I was grateful for Tom's suggestion. Not only did he free me of this boring, white room - he also payed everything. I had learnt he was an actor.
Thank God, I had managed to change into my clothes alone. So yeah, here was I seated on this fucking bed I loathed, waiting. Tom had packed up and put my stuff into our car. As I tried to stand up, he immediately dashed to my side and put his arms around me, supporting me. This made me blush, but I felt uncomfortable at the same time.
"Thanks for your help, but please don't touch me." I told him, and it came across harsher than I had intended. It wasn't necessarily his touch, it was just that I didn't want to be touched at all. I felt broken, bruised, ugly. The fact that I had to call a nurse every time I had to take a dump wasn't helpful either.
Tom let go of me and I got up myself. Steady was pretty much the opposite of what I felt. I staggered, and he caught me. Again he looked so broken and lost, he was for sure the saddest man I could remember.
"So, I suppose you're taking me to Loki's now?"
"Seems like it."
With that, we left the hospital. He told me that he bought a new car and that this would be ours now. I could't help but admire it. Other than that, we didn't talk much. I could feel that he was nothing but depressed and shattered.
When we pulled up into the driveway of Loki's, I felt the atmosphere changing. It had become a tad colder, I believed, and remembered my favourite Frost Giant's powers. Loki immediately came down the stairs with an expression I couldn't read, but I believed to see his eyes full of concern. He saw my way-too-obvious bandage and knew.
"What did you do to her?" He questioned harshly when he came out of the glass door. I remembered this house, and I could see through the glass front that there was a hole inside of one of the walls. The fuck had happened there?
"I swear if you laid a finger on her, you won't survive me this t -" Loki continued, but Tom - all the while supporting me - interrupted him.
"We had an accident." We came to a halt in front of the stairs. Loki hadn't come down yet, he towered above us. "She - "
"I lost part of my memory. No need to sugarcoat it, Tom." I cut him off, trying to make my presence felt. I didn't like it when people spoke as if I wasn't there. "My doc said it would be best if I stayed with someone I knew."
Confusion demasked Loki's elegant features. His black hair suited him. But there was no time to swoon then. "Tom has taken great care of me, but it's... complicated. I need you, Loki."
That made Loki smirk.
"So she remembers me." He stated. "Does she remember you?"
It took Tom a while to answer, he was looking at his feet. I was pretty sure he distrusted his voice.
"No." He croaked, and Loki's grin grew wider and wider till I thought it would end in a permanent cramp.
"This is very interesting. Indeed, interesting. Come, my dear Caroline. I shall take care of you from now on." Loki purred extending his hand to me.
I knew Loki, I knew how provocative he could be, and I felt sorry for Tom. He didn't deserve this.
"I can't walk properly, these fucking leg nerves." I cursed, but reached out to him anyway. Loki had stepped down towards us, Tom held me a bit tighter. But I needed to go.
"This shall not be a problem."
With that, I was swept off my feet. Loki's arms were strong and protective, I blushed.
"You're ruining my physio - "
"Physiotherapy of Midgard." Loki scoffed, all the while looking at Tom. "With me, you will not need that."