Trigger warnings: Brief reference to the f slur.

And also reminding you some of this is purposefully not medically correct and is purely made up for the au :)

Remington seems to perk up when somebody comes in his room this afternoon. As they sit down, his eyes are fixed on them. He's trying to work out who it is. This morning, Doctor Sanchez gave him a piece of paper with the words:

Blue eyes and black hair - Andy, your husband
Green eyes and middle parted hair - Sebastian, your big brother
Green eyes and a hat - Emerson, your little brother
White coat - Doctor Sanchez

He had read it and re-read it for practically hours after she handed it to him, repeating phrases out loud as she checked everything was okay.

"Hi, Remington," they greet, and he notices their hat, though forgets what the importance of that observation is. "How are you today?"

Remington shrugs. "I'm okay," he mumbles.

"That's good," Emerson says, "and what've you done today?"

Playing with his fingers, the singer hums as he tries to remember. "Sleeping, I think," is the conclusion he comes to.

Emerson nods, thinking that Remington is slightly more on top of things than he was a week ago. "What's that?" He asks, pointing to the paper on the bed.

Remington picks it up and remembers why the hat is important. "I know you," he tells the man, "you're called Emerson. You're my, uh, my brother?"

The drummer almost can't contain his momentary happiness at this. "I'm your little brother," he confirms.

"Yes, little brother. That's it."

Emerson smiles.

Doctor Sanchez sits opposite Emerson, Sebastian, and Andy after Emerson's visit. She thanks them for coming before beginning. "Now, of course, nothing is set in stone with his condition," she reminds them first. "It's only been a week since his accident and he's still recovering physically from the damage."

The three nod.

"I've spoken with him everyday while I've been checking his vitals etcetera. I've found that he finds it easier to understand things when they're written down. Today I gave him a sheet with ways to work out who each of you are. Did he look at it when you visited, Emerson?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, good. Now, obviously, there's a long way to go, and as I said, it's only been a week and he's still suffering from the accident, but I think this is something worth pursuing."

"He still remembers how to read, then?"

The doctor hums. "Yes. He, fortunately, is still capable of eating, reading, and using the bathroom. I'm yet to try and see if he can write, but it's a start. My hope is that we can use these fundamentals to build his understanding of who you are and so on. Does that sound okay? Do any of you have any questions?"

Andy decides he has one. "Will he ever be able to remember the past? Like...things he did before this?"

"I can't say. Right now, the best thing to do is to re-familiarise him with you. I'd say you'd have the highest chance of jogging some memories once he starts realising who you are."

"Okay."

"Is he in pain?" Sebastian asks, rather desperately.

The doctor shakes her head. "He's on strong painkillers while his head heals. They could also be contributing to the confusion and drowsiness."

"How come he doesn't remember what a hospital is but has no issue with saying the f word?"

"The f word?" Doctor Sanchez asks.

Andy sighs. "The homophobic slur. I'm not saying it."

"Oh, right. I don't know. I can guess, but that's all."

The man urges her to continue.

"My best bet is that he's remembering things that his brain deems 'important', if that makes sense. Was there anyone in his childhood who said that word a lot?"

Andy looks towards the brothers, who share glances. "He had a homophobic friend group in school," Emerson says quietly. "They probably said it all the time."

The woman nods. "That's the only explanation I could give you. In simple terms, he's only remembering the 'important' things, and because it was said so much when he was an impressionable teenager, that word is unfortunately one of those 'important' things."

"He said it to me, too," Sebastian tells Andy, "when I mentioned you being his husband. I don't think he realised how bad it is to say it. When I told him not to, he just seemed confused."

"Same," the eldest mumbles, "he was so confused."

"The confusion should hopefully begin to subside once he becomes more familiar with you guys. He thinks you're strangers every time he sees you, he's going to be confused. If you could bring something with your name and relation to him next time you see him, that will really help. You can remind him to look at it when he forgets who you are. It's good for him to remind himself rather than having you constantly repeating yourselves. That makes him more confused after a while."

"How?" Andy asks.

"His subconscious is aware that he should know you and the constant repeating of who you are makes that so obvious that he gets angry because he hasn't a clue what he's supposed to know. If he reads it and processes it in his own time, he has more of a chance of that information sticking. Does that make sense?"

They all nod.

She smiles. "If there's anything you need to know at all, do ask. I assure you I'll do everything I can do help him."

"Thank you."

"If one of you would like to see him now, do. It's important he's not on his own too much."

The three look at eachother and Sebastian volunteers. He's given a piece of paper and writes down who he is before following her to the room, leaving Andy and Emerson to make their way home.

Remington is sleeping when Sebastian sits down. The man doesn't have to wait long - ten minutes at the most. He stays quiet while his brother wakes. It's a rather startling things to witness. Remington is completely at a loss for a moment. His eyes dart around the room wildly and settle on Sebastian. He seems to calm down then.

"Hi," Sebastian says quietly. He holds the paper towards the boy. "Did you have a good sleep?"

With a yawn, Remington takes the paper. "I had a dream."

"Yeah?"

He nods but doesn't elaborate. Sebastian assumes he can't remember it. "You're my brother," Remington says after reading the note a few times. "I think I remember seeing you before."

Sebastian straightens up but Remington says no more about it.