She's No Beauty Queen

Angel noticed that Eddie was particularly solicitous of her after they went to the beach. He brought her food she liked before the accident and spent whatever time he wasn't in the office by her side with Aria.

She still hadn't managed to figure out what she had been doing on the beach after straining her memory. She had the feeling she needed to go back to know for sure.

But she couldn't get out of bed. Whatever medication she was on now for her epilepsy made her feel off. She tried getting up to go to the bathroom once and ended up having a seizure, which totally freaked out poor Aria who had been sitting on the bed watching Disney movies with her.

Everything felt off. Her glasses prescription. Her medication. Her so-called family. How could that be when she was obviously Angelina Dawson?

"I want to go to the beach again," Angel said firmly when Eddie got home on her third day of being at his house.

He frowned. "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if something happens to you? You could hit your head and drown."

Those words were hauntingly familiar. She was fairly certain she had heard them many times before. A memory flashed through her mind of a middle-aged woman telling her something very similar as she prepared breakfast with children of various ages swarming around her.

Don't go to the beach alone. Don't go to the beach alone. Don't go to the beach alone. The words swirled around endlessly in her head until she finally remembered something and shot straight up, causing a wave of vertigo to come over her.

"The tide pools! My paper! What happened to my backpack?!" she cried.

Angel didn't remember everything but she did remember that she wasn't supposed to go to the tide pools alone because of her epilepsy and had gone anyway. That was what resulted in her getting washed up on the beach with her memory gone.

She was fairly certain she wasn't Angelina Dawson now…but who was she? She couldn't remember anything but her most recent memory before hitting her head.

Edward stared at her blankly. "What are you trying to say? What paper? Why were you at the tide pools? Is that how you got hurt?"

"Yes! I'm a marine biology student; I had to do an observation report and nobody could go with me so I had to go alone and I got swept away by a rip current after wading into the water and hit my head," she babbled.

Talking about it made everything come flooding back so swiftly it made her head hurt. She knew exactly who she was. And she was so screwed. Spring Break was nearly over and she hadn't written her paper or done any of her other homework yet.

Forget that, what about her parents? They were probably freaking out right now since she had been gone for days!

"I have to go home! I'm sorry but I'm not your fiancée. It just came back to me. My name is Lily Bennett. Can I borrow your phone? I need to call my mom. My parents must be really worried right now," she said frantically.

Edward didn't seem to believe her. "That's impossible."

"What?"

"You have to be Angel. I…I ran your DNA against Aria's because I wasn't sure and you were a fifty percent genetic match. That wouldn't be possible unless you were her mother."

Lily was completely baffled. How did that happen? She had never given birth before. She hadn't even had her first kiss because guys thought she was too much of a tomboy and were never interested in her.

"The test must be wrong. I'm not anybody's mother. I only met you for the first time a few days ago in the hospital. I can prove it if you let me borrow your phone. Please, my family has to be worried sick."

Eddie did pull out his phone but he didn't hand it to her. He sent a text message before looking up at her with a piercing glare. "I need to confirm something first. If you are who you say you are I'll give you my phone."

Confirm what? What could he possibly confirm? It's not like he knew anyone that could verify her identity.

Or so she thought. Twenty minutes later that assistant guy from before came rushing into the room. She had completely forgotten about him but he had looked familiar. Still did though she couldn't place where she knew him from.

Eddie gestured toward her impatiently and demanded, "Who is this?"

The assistant looked incredibly confused. "...are you referring to your wife?"

"Say she wasn't Angel. Who is the first person you think of that she could be aside from her?"

"Is this some kind of trick question sir?"

"Just answer it!" Eddie demanded, his eyes flashing angrily.

"Okay! When I first met your wife I thought she was someone I knew in high school because the resemblance was uncanny. If she wasn't her I would have to say she's Lily Bennett. But why…" the assistant faltered. "Lily? Is that really you?"

Lily was so relieved her identity had been verified that she nearly jumped up and hugged him. Except she couldn't do that because she was too weak from taking the wrong medication.

"Yes! I'm Lily! I knew you looked familiar; did we share a class or something? Never mind that; you know who I am so please let me go home!"

Eddie looked like the ground had been pulled out from beneath him. "But that doesn't make sense! The DNA match can't be wrong. And you look exactly like her. The only way that could be possible was if you were identical twins."

Lily blinked at him. She hadn't considered that. The way she knew it, her biological parents had abandoned her—likely due to her frequent seizures as a toddler—and she got picked up by social services before ending up with her family.

"I…she never said. If she was, I don't think her mother ever told her that. And I've seen pictures; they're both blonde so I never would have guessed," Eddie admitted faintly.