The remaining stem should be just fine. It will branch off, and you'll therefore regain some fullness.

It may be that the other stem snapped and fell off. Since the main stems of Autumnale are woody, they wouldn't be flexible; thus, bending them would likely break the branch.

As for what caused the break, it will probably remain a mystery. (Perhaps it got bumped by an animal in the night?) This morning, I woke up to my own fuchsia mystery: I have a hanging basket filled with a bunch of starts, and one of them -- roots and all -- was lying on the ground. There was a nice, neat hole in the basket where it had been potted! Fortunately, the leaves weren't hadn't yet wilted, so I expect the plant to survive.

Thanks. It's in a hanging basket, so I can't blame the critters. Maybe I was too rough with it and didn't realize it. It looks so pathetic. Now it's freezing and wet out, 40 degrees, 40mph winds, 30degree wind chill and rain in the forcast for the next 10 days. I have about 20 perennials ready to go into the ground and it's drenched. I guess I'll have to hope for the best with everything!

Do you have chipmunks? Don't they dig up plants in that manner?

We have squirrels, though they've never done anything like this before. Then again, I've had tulips and pansies for years, and the deer never munched them until this spring....

By the way, you don't need to take fuchsia inside unless it freezes (and even then, some cultivars can manage). It won't grow vigorously at your temperatures; nevertheless, it shouldn't die from the cold.