—CHRISTIAN—My sleep was broken when I felt a movement between my hands and I shot up straight. I looked at Jennifer and she was still sleeping peacefully. I drew a disappointed breath thinking that it must be my dream to think that she had moved a little but then I again felt a movement between my hands and looked down at her hand that I had been clasping since the afternoon. The movement was so small that it happened in a bare second and it would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't been holding that hand. With my bated breaths and quickened up heartbeat, I placed her hand on the bed slowly and pulled my hands back to me before fixating my eyes on her hand. I stared at her hand for a long moment but there was not any movement. “ Please, Princess. Give me a goddamn sign.” I whispered desperately and kept staring at the hand. A small negative part was telling me to stop and quit the stupidity but the bigger part inside me was telling me to continue staring. I wasn't even blinking to n
—CHRISTIAN—“Unfortunately, due to the extent of the trauma, it has affected a critical part of the brain responsible for various functions. In medical terms, we refer to this as a loss of half of the patient's life. Partial memory loss.” “ What? You mean she lost her memories?” Cally breathed out painfully while I couldn't even muster a word out of shock. “ Not completely. The brain is a complex organ, and when such injuries occur, they can impact not only physical abilities but also cognitive and emotional functions. And its effects on every person are different. In this case, Mr. Brown has lost half of her memories.” Cally gasped, stumbling back and Alex sported her, his face covered with the same shock as well. “ How much?” The doctor faced me again when I asked with a controlled voice trying to keep my tone stable. “ We can't tell right now. But she does remember her parents as she had been calling them before going unconscious again.” He informed me and my eyes snapped up.
—JENNIFER—A small, muffled sound that felt as if it was coming from afar broke my sleep and I slowly tried to open my eyes. It felt a little difficult to do that small act. The voice came again and I think I caught a word ‘princess’ or something while something gentle brushed against my forehead.It took another more minute to gather the strength that I needed to open my eyes and when I did, I found a white painted wall in front of me. It was a blur . I moved my eyes to look around and everything was blurry. Then I realised that it's actually me who was unable to focus. I felt something off with myself, but couldn't concentrate on my brain to solve this because of the headache. Ah, the headache. It kicked again. I slowly moved my eyes and looked around the room to try understanding something, anything, and it didn't feel like home. Home? The word got stuck in my head and before I could consider it, I felt a gentle tug at my hand. I looked at my side to find a man sitting near me.
—CHRISTIAN—I paced impatiently outside the ICU and stopped when I heard approaching footsteps. I turned to face towards the direction and saw Jennifer's parents running towards me. With Alex and Cally behind them. “ Where is she? Where's Jennifer? What happen-. “ First you have to Calm down, Please “ They started asking the questions as soon as they reached me. Interrupting them, I grabbed both of their hands and made them sit down on a visiting bench. “ What's going on, Christian?” Her father asked, with concern. “ I'll explain everything. But please, you need to keep yourself calm and listen to me carefully.” I told them and they gave me a hurried nod, clearly desperate to meet their daughter. “ When she ran from the house, she got hit by a car.” Her mother gasped out of shock while Uncle literally froze into his place. “ But she's fine now. The doctors said that she's out of danger now.” I informed them further, making them release their sucked up breaths. “ But because of t
—JENNIFER—When I opened my eyes this time, I was less drowsy and a bit more concentrated unlike the last time. The headache was still the same though, but thankfully, this time there was no man sitting beside me, holding my hand and calling me princess. Wait? Was that actually real?Ah,no. Jennifer. You gotta step out of your books girl. I blinked my eyes a few times to push away the flashes of that man that I was now sure as hell was fictional. I laughed at myself. Even in this situation, I can't stop being dramatic. “ Hello Jennifer; You seem happy. Mind sharing?” I heard a feminine voice from beside me and turned my face to look at her. It was a female doctor, smiling down at me.Last time there was a male doctor. Hah! Clearly it was a hallucination because of the injuries on my head. “ I was just hallucinating.” I replied. My voice was still weak. “ What exactly?” The doctor placed her elbows on her knees and placed her chin on her joined hands. “ That I had a husband. T
—CHRISTIAN—“ But?” I asked as a cue when she took a pause. “ But, it wouldn't be a very severe shock for her to take.” The doctor said, making me stare at her in confusion. “ What does that mean, Doctor?” I asked. “ Let me explain. When the brain gets damaged, It gets sensitive to a few things. Like memories. In this case, she has lost half of her life. The last thing she remembers is that she was going to celebrate passing their first year in graduation with her best friend. Now everything that happened afterwards can cause her shock according to how severe that incident was.” She took a pause and Alex spoke up. “ You mean, the bigger the incident will be, the bigger that shock will be.” He guessed. “ Exactly. And even though suddenly knowing that you are married is shocking. It does seem to have a big effect on her. Which tells that her brain or body have some weird kind of acceptance towards this thing. As if she had been expecting it even when she wasn't married and not grad
—JENNIFER—It's been a few days since I was in the hospital. My uneasiness was leaving me and I had finally started to feel a little less disoriented.Life was going back to usual but the only unusual thing that was happening was me feeling that someone was being around me. Someone besides Mom, Dad and Cally. Whenever I'm sleeping, I feel that strong yet gentle hold on my hand. A presence that stays with me like a shadow and leaves me the moment I open my eyes, but never before a light brush of gentle feathers against my forehead. The lingering touch and a familiar cologne, a mixture of sandalwood and cinnamon keeps me thinking about it for hours until I go back to sleep and everything happens all over again.It was one afternoon when I woke up from sleep and felt a sudden urge to go to the bathroom. I couldn't find anyone around me to ask for help so I decided to go myself since I wasn't physically that week now. Unfortunately when I stepped out of the bathroom my feet slipped and
—JENNIFER—“You are so dead, Alex!” She advanced towards him but my laughter died down at the name she used to address him. As if realising it, she also stopped and turned to face me. Hesitation and realisation washed over her face as I looked at her through my confused frown. “ Alex?” I repeated the name and she looked at me guilty. The lightened up mood swiftly turned into stress as everyone's face washed with concern. “ What's going on here?” I asked, looking at everyone for the explanation. “ Jenni, Please calm down. I’ve been trying to tell you something.” Cally quickly reached up to me and clasped my hand in between both of her hands.“ No, Cally. You guys just lied to me. Who's he and what the hell is going on?” I asked, pulling my hand back from her hold. “ At least listen to me once, will you?” She asked, heaving a defeated sigh and looked at me expectantly. “ I'm listening. Just don't lie, please. Tell me the truth.” I said, fed up with the confusion going in and arou