That day, Milena with Rien constantly by her side, quietly observing with countless thoughts in his mind, stayed in the Bernards's hospital in Manhattan to go through several tests. Aric stayed behind in the hotel with Mister Samuel.
In the evening, after a whole day of examinations, Milena was finally exhausted so Rien coaxed her to sleep in the hospital's VIP suite after dinner. There weren't many words said between them the whole day but Milena stopped being defensive against him and slowly accepted his care and affection so Rien was also happy. He waited three years to finally be with her again. He could always be more patient and understanding for his dearest wife.
He wanted to hold her in his arms but every time he moved closer to her, he would sense her embarrassment and hesitation so he didn't force her. He wanted to hold her hand but she always pulled it back and it broke his heart each time but he understood that he was still a stranger to her.
Milena never meant to hurt him of course, she was remorseful every time she saw the pained expression in his eyes that he quickly hid away with a smile that never reached his eyes. She felt an inexplicable pain in her own heart because she knew how much he could have suffered and was still suffering because of her but she was scared. She was terrified of the strong emotions she was feeling for a man she couldn't remember. She wanted to depend on him but could she really do that? Despite the strong attraction that she felt for him, she also felt a feeling of distrust for him like somewhere deep inside her, although she couldn't remember him, there was a deep-seated love that she realized she might have for him but also a touch of aversion and a feeling of betrayal. She couldn't remember therefore could not understand her feelings towards him so she avoided him.
She laid in bed and closed her eyes while he sat on a chair beside her. Tired of her thoughts and the turmoil of emotions as well as her physical exhaustion, she fell asleep under his longing gaze. He reached out his hand many times to hold her but pulled back each time, afraid that he would wake her and make her upset. Finally, he gave up and just watched her. When he was sure that she was sound asleep, the seigneur quietly left the room, leaving Sophie with Milena in the room to ensure his wife's safety, then walked to Charles Bernard's office.
Seeing him at the door, Charles nodded for him to sit down. A somber look was on his face so Rien immediately knew that he had very serious things to discuss. Although worried about his wife, he calmly took his seat while Charles pushed some documents in front of him.
He picked them up and read. His heart ached when he saw the report on how many scars were still left from her injuries from the accident, the fractures she recovered from and the skin grafting procedures she underwent for her burns. It described an entire year of painful treatment. It told a story of what she had been through during the accident. The burns and deep scar on her back told how he protected their little Aric and used her own body as a shield. The traces of scars on her arms told them how she struggled but failed to save his parents.
There were still a lot of questions left. Many things were unclear and still remained a mystery about the incident and only Milena could answer them when she regained her memories.
As he went through more pages, two things stunned him and he felt inexplicable pain and anger in his heart.
"She's drugged?" Rien asked gravely with a deep frown on his forehead.
Charles nodded, "The drug is repressing her memories. I can tell that it has been given to her without her knowing the real effect for the past three years. She was just told that it helps her with her sleep. She has already suffered a brain injury from the accident and with this drug, it was impossible for her to remember anything from the past. I also suspect that she was hypnotized to alter her memories. That's why she lived these three years with a complete memory of her life since childhood."
"But those are fake." Rien said and Charles nodded again.
"Yes, boss," he replied and called Rien by the name he has been calling him since childhood. Since Rien was older, stronger and smarter than them and held a powerful position, he naturally became the leader of their group of friends. Charles clenched his fist to endure his own anger so as not to aggravate his friend's emotions and continued, "Whoever did this is careful and cruel, the hypnosis should be repeated regularly to keep its effect and the drug wouldn't show immediate side effects but over the years would create dependence. Eventually, she would be listless and would follow anyone. She would live like a living doll without control of her own mind. Anyone could take advantage of her and control her. I think that's their main goal. Right now, it has not done grave damage to her yet, it will take a couple more years of use to make her listless but, unfortunately, she's already dependent. That's why she's having severe headache attacks and fainting spells because she didn't take the pills last night."
"God damn it!" Rien exclaimed angrily and slammed his fist on the desk, making the items on it and Charles jump. He finally couldn't hold his emotions anymore.
"B-but, it's not too late to reverse the dependence." Charles stuttered as he tried to calm his friend down. "I will develop a treatment plan. We can eliminate her body's addiction to the drug within three months and, slowly, she will start recovering her memories. We will have our old Milena back."
"Will she suffer?" Rien barely whispered the question as the pain he imagined she will go through again pierced his own heart.
"I will make the treatment as comfortable as possible for her." Charles answered and Rien believed it. He understood how much Milena means to the man too.
Rien clenched his fists again, crushing the documents in his hand, and took a deep breath. Seeing him acquiesce, Charles mustered his courage to discuss the other piece of news. "Boss, there's another matter."
The seigneur nodded with his eyes closed and said, "I know. We didn't get the chance to talk about it but I saw the results of her checkup in her desk drawer before the accident was reported to me."
Charles saw his friend's pain. It was a very rare moment of the mighty seigneur's weakness. "She was 3 months pregnant with your second child when the accident happened. We didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl."
"I still don't understand why she kept it from me." Rien shook his head and he almost choked on his words. He really didn't understand why but for a couple of months before the accident, Milena had been acting different than usual. He was on a business trip for three weeks but she never took the initiative to call him and when he returned, she always made an excuse to avoid him and sleep in Aric's room. On the times that she couldn't avoid him anymore, she would talk and act as usual around him but he could sense her estrangement. Her hugs were cold, her kisses were half-hearted, and she would find a way to refuse being more intimate with him.
"We found a scar on her lower abdomen. It is consistent to a scar left after a caesarean operation." Charles explained. "The head of the obstetrics and gynecology department confirmed this so we believe that Milena did not lose the child during the accident and was able to deliver the baby. She may have been still in a coma at that time that's why she has no memory of that child too. And even if she did give birth to the child, we can't be sure if the baby is still alive since the delivery is not in any of her records. The existence of this child was deliberately hidden."
Rien didn't say a word as he kept clenching his fists tightly and gritting his teeth. The pain and anger in his heart were about to drive him mad and it took every ounce of self-control in his body to stop himself from going into a murderous rage.
"Boss, I can't give you clear answers regarding this matter now but I think I know who could." Charles said. Rien looked at him and quietly waited for him to continue. "Whoever were around Milena during that time could definitely tell us what happened to the baby."
A beaten-up man bound and bloody on the floor of the hotel room appeared in Rien's mind. He knew.
The seigneur nodded his head and said, "I know what to do." He got up and left Charles's office without another word then walked to Milena's VIP suite.
When he saw her peacefully sleeping face, he trembled and all the emotions in his heart threatened to break free. His feet felt like lead as he took one step after the other closer to her. He sat on the chair beside her bed and didn't know what to do for a while.
Finally, Rien carefully held her hand and bit back the sobs and tears that threatened to overwhelm him at the moment when he finally felt her warmth between his palms. "I'm sorry, my love. I didn't protect you enough. I didn't take care of you enough. You suffered so much. It's all my fault." He sighed heavily and gently kissed her hand then touched to his cheek. "But don't hate me, okay? Please give me a chance to make up for everything. I will definitely make things right for you, Aric and our little angel."