Chapter Text
There was a knock on the door and Fitz instinctively hid his "construction" under the covers, straightening up before clearing his throat and telling whoever it was to enter.
"Good morning, Mr Fitz."
Fitz's lips pulled up immediately as his favorite doctor entered the room. Well, his current doctor and the only one he could remember anyway but still… seeing her first thing in the morning always put him in a good mood despite everything.
"Good morning, Dr Jemma Simmons, neurologist with an extra degree in biochemistry, originally from Sheffield, United Kingdom."
She smiled fondly as she tilted her head to the side.
"Very good, Mr Fitz!"
"Hey, no need to patronize me. You're the one who told me I'd have no trouble remembering things i've learned since the accident," Fitz grumbled.
"I didn't mean to patronize you. It's just that it's always good to make your memory work, whether it's old or recent, it might help you recover more…" She trailed off when she noticed his widening smile. "You were teasing, weren't you?"
Fitz nodded and she glared at him as she grabbed his file from the end of his bed and sat on a chair as she took a pen out of her blouse pocket.
"What are you—"
"Patient seems to have developed a mean sense of humor," she said, very clearly pretending to write. "Might be a symptom. Need to check for more brain damage."
"Hey! As a doctor, should you really joke about brain damage?" Fitz grumbled again and she quickly glanced up with a mischievous smile before looking back down to the file as she continued to pretend to write.
"Patient seems extra grumpy today. Need to check for possible ill effects from his medication."
Fitz rolled his eyes as he flopped back into the bed. "No, if I believe what my friends say, that's a pre-existing condition."
"Awww, I'm sure that's an exaggeration," she said, looking back up at him and Fitz had no choice but to smile at her. There was just something in her voice and face that soothed him and made him feel warm inside. Fitz raised his eyebrows at her affirmation though.
"Okay, maybe not," she conceded. "But you're still my favorite patient."
Fitz felt his cheeks heat up under the softness of her gaze. He knew it wasn't the best idea to have a crush on his doctor. She was the only woman he knew for now and really, one of the only people he knew at all, so it was probably more of a duckling imprinting on the first people they saw situation but still… She was so sweet, obviously very smart, pretty, funny in a slightly mean way and she always had that slight lavender scent that triggered something in him. And in his state, still remembering very little of who he was, it was nice to have something he was certain of, even if it was just a silly crush that would lead to nothing.
Fitz chuckled nervously. "Am I really? I bet you say that to all your patients."
"To my youngest patients yes but I mean it with you. You're a very interesting case."
"Ah. Of course."
"And I truly enjoy our conversations. I'm going to miss you when you're gone."
Fitz blushed a deeper shade of red at the earnestness in her voice. She was just being friendly of course but it didn't help with this whole crush thing.
"Well, you're my favorite doctor as well," Fitz replied with a grin and she ducked her head for a second before squinting her eyes.
"I'm your only doctor!"
Fitz laughed.
"No, I've seen Dr. Milton as well."
She rolled her eyes.
"Dr. Milton just checked that mole on your back. He's a dermatologist, we both know that's barely considered medicine."
Fitz gasped as he pretended to be shocked while being secretly delighted. Not that he had anything against dermatologists but he had found Dr. Milton annoying, which only had a little to do with the fact that he seemed to flirt with his Jem- with Doctor Simmons.
"Either way, you're still my favorite!"
She bit her lip in amusement.
"Thank you Mr. Fitz, I'm very—"
"You don't have to call Mr. Fitz."
"Oh. Well, thank you Leo, that's very sweet of you to say."
"Oh no, not Leo please, just Fitz, I really hate my…" Fitz trailed off as he was struck with how familiar the words sounded. And not just the words, the whole situation.
She frowned as she stood up and came closer, leaning against the side of the bed.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No… at least I don't think so…I think I just remembered that I hate my first name."
"Oh, that's really good!" she said, looking truly excited for him.
"I mean, the friends who came to see me, they all called me Fitz, but it's only when you called me Leo that I remembered why."
"Yes, that makes sense," she said. "I must have triggered an important memory. I'm hopeful that memories will start coming back faster once you're confronted with more familiar faces, places or situations. But this is already very encouraging."
Her enthusiasm was contagious and Fitz felt like jumping off the bed to hug her. But, even if it wasn't inappropriate, he wouldn't have done it with the cast on his leg. Even though he knew he was lucky to be alive and not more injured given how bad the car accident had been, these past two weeks had been hard on him, barely able to leave his bed and not remembering who he was. So even something as small as knowing he didn't like his first name felt like something really big.
"And it's funny too, I just had the biggest impression of déjà-vu when you said it. Like I've lived this exact same scene before."
Her eyes widened for a second before her face softened again.
"Ah well… Given that you go by your last name, I'm sure it must have happened more than once."
"I suppose…"
Still, he couldn't shake the sound of someone with her lovely accent and soft voice calling him Leo and him correcting her. But she was probably right, she was the neurologist after all.
"So um… I was coming to check up on you and tell you that— Hey, what's that?"
"What's what?"
She rolled her eyes and pointed at his lap. His cheeks heated up again when he noticed that the covers must have slipped and the toy he'd hidden earlier made it look like he definitely liked his doctor too much. She picked up on his embarrassment and her lips turned up into a big mischievous smile as she raised her eyebrows. Of course, she had to know that given the size of it, it couldn't possibly be what they were both thinking of and he both loved and hated that her mind went there as well. He couldn't be sure that it wasn't just her having that effect on him but he was pretty sure that he was quite shy and easily embarrassed. Which she seemed to enjoy.
"It's not what you… It's just Legos," Fitz said as he pulled out the tower he'd built the previous day from under the covers.
"Is that Stark tower?" Jemma asked, stepping closer and taking it in her hands, looking impressed as she turned it around to look at it from all angles. He was indeed rather proud of himself.
Fitz shrugged.
"I don't know. The name sounds familiar for sure."
Dr. Simmons picked up her phone from her pocket and quickly typed a few words before showing the screen to him.
"I've been there!" Fitz let out excitedly, his mouth working faster than his brain, and she nodded enthusiastically. It wasn't just the sight that was familiar. There were also feelings attached to it. Happiness. Pride. Exhaustion. "Wait, I work there, right?"
"Yes! Yes, Fitz, that's really good!" she cried out, reaching for his hand and squeezing it. Her skin, cold but soft, felt nice against his, sending shivers up his arm, but it was over before he had the time to truly enjoy it. Her cheeks were a little pink when he looked up at her. "And uh…do you remember what you're doing there?"
She was only testing his memory of course. He knew that she knew a lot more about him that she did, having spent a lot of time talking with his big friend Mack. She said it could help pushing him in the right direction if he started remembering. And that it was better than to give him too much information that could potentially overwhelm and frustrate him. It looked like she was right.
"Professional Lego builder?" he offered and she burst out laughing.
"Wouldn't that be nice?" Fitz nodded and she smiled. "Well, it'll come back. I'm sure of it. And in no time you won't need me anymore."
"Oh… I don't know, there's still a lot I need to remember and—"
"Actually, that's what I was coming to tell you. You'll need to keep the cast on for several more weeks but if you promise to not over tire yourself, I'm going to allow you to go home by the end of the week."
"Oh… that's-that's good." The prospect of going home would be more exciting if only he knew what home felt or looked like.
"And of course, you'll still have to come see me once a week at first to see how things progress." Now that was a much more exciting prospect.
"Now. Why were you hiding these Legos? Did you steal them from the children's ward perhaps?"
"No…" She raised her eyebrows. "My friend Hunter did because I told him I was bored out of my mind."
She laughed as she rolled her eyes.
"You know, I like him and I see why we're friends but I think he's the kind of friend mums tell you to stay away from because they have a bad influence on you."
She laughed as she shook her head. "I don't know. He helped you remember something important so I'd say he's a pretty good friend."
Fitz shrugged.
"How about I find you a wheelchair and we get this back to the children's ward together. I bet they'll appreciate your Lego buildings talents there."
"Will you stay to help?" Fitz asked with a big smile, feeling emboldened by her earlier gesture.
She bit her lip as she looked down at her watch, seeming to hesitate for a second before smiling at him.
"I suppose I can spare a few more minutes for my favorite patient."