Cia

Dr. Moore and the nurse exchanged a worried glance and shifted their gaze towards the man who was standing at the door. I rolled my head on the pillow to look at him. He was tall and lean. His white shirt tucked into blue trousers while his dark brown hair was perfectly combed over.

He took three long strides and approached me. "You don't remember your name?" He knitted his brows.

Everything seemed unfamiliar, including my name. I tried to search for my memories in my brain. But there were neither memories nor glimpses of them. Everything was blank. I felt empty.

The more I tried to search for my memories, the more questions popped up in my mind. What was my name? Why was I lying on the hospital bed? What was going on with me? Why couldn't I remember a thing?

Out of all my emotions, fear was heightened. Tears started leaking from the corner of my eyes.

"No." I managed to say. His green eyes grew wide. The same green eyes bored into mine when I first opened my eyes. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Davis. He is your husband," Dr. Moore answered my question.

I stared at the man with wide eyes. He snapped his head in the doctor's direction.

"My husband?" Everyone in the room looked at me. Was I married? I looked down at my hands, which were resting on my stomach. A diamond ring was shining on my left hand.

Gulping hard, I raised my shivering hand to look at the ring clearly. The enormous diamond had a square-cut, which was a princess cut. It was so pretty but... It also confirmed that I was married. The sound of a beeping machine that was connected to me increased rapidly as my heartbeat had become irregular.

"Why can't I remember anything?" A sob broke out from my lips. I closed my eyes, feeling ashamed of crying like a lost child. But I didn't differ from a lost child.

"It's a side-effect of the accident, Mrs. Davis." An accident? I opened my eyes to see Dr. Moore's direct gaze. "But you need to calm down first," Dr. Moore's voice was soft, "everything will be fine." Though his warm smile was reassuring, my tears didn't stop.

Suddenly, I felt a cold palm over my right hand that was on my belly. I glanced between the man and his hand over mine.

"I assure you that everything is going to be fine." His voice was softer than Dr. Moore's. I stared at him blankly. He gave a gentle squeeze on my hand. A wave of comfort washed over me for the first time since I opened my eyes. I didn't know if I should believe his words, but I desperately wanted to believe him.

"Mrs. Davis," I rolled my head on the pillow once again to look at Dr. Moore. "I need you to answer a few questions to know more about your condition. Will you do that?"

I didn't think I was ready for a question-and-answer section right now. But I had to do this to know what was wrong with me.

I nodded.

"Good." Dr. Moore smiled. "Let's begin. Where are we right now?"

"Hospital?"

"Which city?"

My eyes wandered across the room in the hope to find a clue or something. Tears welled up in my eyes again when I couldn't find anything.

"New York City." The man answered for me. "Don't stress out. Ok?"

I gave a small nod.

"What's the color of the sky?" Dr. Moore asked the next question.

I knew this. "Blue."

"Do you know how to climb stairs?"

I thought for a second and nodded. "Yes."

"When I walked into the room, I introduced myself. Do you remember?"

I nodded.

"Good. Can you tell me my name and who I'm?"

"Dr. Moore, a neurologist on staff."

"That's perfect. Here is your condition. Your procedural memory and semantic memory are good. But the problem is with your episodic memory. Your brain lost the information of your life events before the accident, but it's storing the information after the accident. I believe you have a... "

"Retrograde amnesia." The man finished Dr. Moore's sentence.

Amnesia? "Care to elaborate?"

"I promise I'll explain everything later," the man told me.

"Will I get my memories back?" I couldn't hold back to ask the question.

"Maybe, or maybe not," Dr. Moore replied. "We can try occupational and cognitive therapy, some hypnosis, but we don't know. Those memories may return spontaneously or never at all."

What? How was I supposed to live if I didn't know who I was? How could I trust anyone when I couldn't even trust myself?

"Don't panic. You'll get them back." The man assured me, but I didn't find a reason to believe him when the doctor himself wasn't sure.

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I'm going to take your therapy sessions."

"Are you a therapist?"

"Yes, Mrs. Davis. Your husband is one of the best therapists in the city," Dr. Moore replied to my question once again.

"I don't enjoy bragging myself, but I can definitely help you with your therapy if you like," the man said.

I didn't know anyone. It was better to know someone who already knew me. "Okay," I mumbled.

Dr. Moore instructed the nurse to check my vitals and the rest before leaving the room. The man followed him to discuss my treatment and therapy sessions.

After checking my vitals and heartbeat, the nurse pulled the clip off my index finger. My physical condition was excellent except for the stiffness of my muscles. The nurse didn't talk much, so I told her I wanted to sit. She just nodded and pressed a button on the side of the bed. She helped me to sit in an upright position.

For a second, I thought she was dumb. But then I heard her say, "Rest well, Mrs. Davis."

Before I could ask her my full name, she left.

I wanted to know at least my full name. Wait? How Do I Look? My eyes searched for a mirror in the room. Since I found nothing on the walls of the room, I decided to go to the bathroom in search of a mirror.

I removed the blanket from my lower body, revealing my barefoot. I scrunched my nose as I glanced at my white hospital gown. Though it was comfortable, I didn't like it.

Slowly, I dragged my legs to the floor. Once my bare foot touched the cold white tile, my hands clutched the edge of the bed as I pulled myself up. The moment I stood on my foot, my legs felt heavier. I tried to lift my right leg to take a step, but the heaviness didn't let me move. My heartbeat increased. My skin became itchy; sweat covered my body. I felt like I was going to faint, but I was fighting to remain standing. It only became hard. My vision blurred. When I was about to collapse, I heard a man's voice. "Cia..."

The next second, a pair of firm hands held my shoulders before I fell on the ground. My hands gripped his arms for the support. I inhaled his light, earthy scent. It was soothing and oddly familiar. He pulled me up and made me stand properly but didn't let go of me. Raising my chin, I stared into his green eyes.

"Was that my first name?" I asked. His brows furrowed. So, I cleared his confusion. "Cia? You called me Cia."

He gave me a sharp nod and made me sit on the bed. When he was pulling back the blanket over my legs, I spoke again. "What's your full name?" He froze for a second and continued to adjust the blanket to cover my lower body. He sat on the stool next to my bed and looked at me.

He noticed that I was waiting for his answer. "Kelvin," he said. "Kelvin Davis."

I nodded slowly.

"Why did you get down from your bed?"

I hesitated before replying, "I forgot how I look. I was going to the bathroom in search of a mirror."

I stared at him to see his reaction. I thought he would laugh at me or pity me, but I didn't expect him to take out his mobile from his trousers. He opened something and handed it to me.

When I looked at it, I understood it was a front camera. My eyes grew wide a little at my reflection. My free left hand reached for my short hair. It was like a boy-cut.

"They shaved your head before brain surgery," Kelvin explained, seeing my reaction.

"How was my hair before?"

He took a few seconds to recall it. He looked at me. "You had wonderful hair. I mean, it's thick, soft, and—" His right hand reached below his chest. "—It was this long."

I shifted my gaze back to the camera to study my features. I had long eyelashes, hazel eyes, round chin, and jaw made an oval shape.

After seeing my reflection for a few minutes, I looked at Kelvin. "Why can't I walk?" I returned the mobile to him.

He took it and shoved back into his pocket. "It's because of the muscle stiffness. You had been lying down on the bed for the past two months. So, you need to do some physical exercises to get back to normal. I discussed it with the doctor. They're going to start from tomorrow."

"Okay."

For the next couple of minutes, none of us spoke anything. He was hardly making eye contact. I had so many questions to ask, but the most important one was at the tip of my tongue.

When he met my gaze again, I couldn't wait anymore. "When did we get married?" He raised a brow. "You're my husband, right?"

Before he could answer, the room door swung open. A young woman with brown hair entered.

"Oh, my god! Did she wake up?" the woman squealed.

"Rose," Kelvin said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to check on her but..." She chuckled, rushing towards me. "I didn't expect her to wake up." she quickly sat on the bed in front of me. Her eyes crinkled as she grinned. I was a little surprised at her behavior. Do I know her? Were we close?

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

Was she talking about my memory loss?

"Kelvin and I tried so hard to save the baby, but—"

"Rose!" Kelvin's scream interrupted her. He grabbed her wrist and started dragging out of the room.

He turned back to look at me. "Don't mind her. She's my friend. You need to rest. I'll come back tomorrow. Take care," He said it all in one breath before leaving me alone in the room.

A hundred questions were already messing up my brain, and this woman walked in and added more to the list. What was she talking about? Baby?

Was I pregnant?

A/N: The book is on Radish under its new name 'Love Beyond The Memories". You can read the next chapters on Radish. Happy Reading. ❤