When something bothers you it helps to write about it. I had been thinking about the original SCK amnesia plot. I know that they changes writers but it just bothered me so much. Everyone was so out of character. Serkan was a huge jerk, he wasn't his logic loving self. This is the man that requires proof to believe and he's just going to believe Selin? Pfft - no
Then there's Engin and his half-hearted attempts to get Serkan to believe Eda. Pyril jumping ship and running back to Selin after she had become very close to Eda and Aydan, the biggest disappointment of all. You are a mother to Eda and you don't tell her that Serkan is alive? You let Selin dictate his life? C'mon, since when?
This will be shorter than some of my other ones (I think) but I needed to get it out of my head. I hope you enjoy. Please let me know your thoughts!
Even Eda, she's strong and then she's not and then she does a fake engagement?
p.s. you will not see Deniz
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"Doctor? The coma patient in bed two seems to be showing signs that he is regaining consciousness. The past several times that I have been in to do his vitals there been more movement in his extremities as well as eye movements."
The doctor looked up from the chart. The patient had been brought in six weeks ago by fishermen, found floating near some debris. He had no identification on him and the authorities had not recovered any significant pieces of to identify what he was in that wrecked. He was wearing a tuxedo under the floatation device so they assumed that he may have been at a party on a boat and had an accident.
They had done surgery to repair the damage to his body, his lingering nerve and tendon damage to his hands would require therapy but all other injuries had healed. His only identification was a ring on his right ring finger with the name 'Eda Yildiz' inscribed in it.
"Let me know as soon as he does wake up. We'll be able to do a better assessment then."
In Istanbul Eda Yildiz pulled up to the ArtLife office in Serkan's black BMW. She had accepted the award for the ecological hotel design that they created for Fikret bey months ago. The project wasn't completed yet, but Fikret bey wanted to submit the innovative design for the Green Architectural Awards with Eda and Serkan as co-designers. It was bittersweet for Eda, this was the first project that she worked on with Serkan and it meant so much to the both of them. Fikret bey wanted to do it to honor Serkan.
They had been searching for him for weeks. There had been no sign of the plane and no report of a downed plane by either the Italian or Turkish government. Eda and Aydan had been in daily contact with the agencies looking for any scrap of information. Sometimes it was just the two of them meeting, sometimes Engin or Ferit came along. Eda was at her wits end. Aydan had been so supportive of her, more supportive than her aunt. Hala wanted Eda to give up the search and move on, they were barely speaking these days other than through Melo.
Eda had moved to the apartment that she shared with Serkan permanently. It was where she felt the closest to him. Here no one would see her break down at the end of every day or hear the nightmares she had every night as she dreamed of him. This was life's cruel cosmic joke on her. First it stole her parents from her, now it stole Serkan from her. The only difference was that she just knew that Serkan was alive, she felt it in her bones. She just had to find him.
Aydan and Seyfi went to ArtLife every day. Aydan went to the office so she could feel close to Serkan but so she could be close to Eda. Aydan and Eda were as close as mother and daughter now both deriving strength from other. Aydan spent time with Engin and Pyril too, they were like family and she needed them all so much.
This core group of people needed each other. Relying on the positivity that Eda provided but she was finding it hard to keep her spirits up the longer Serkan was missing. They all were.
Engin, Pyril, Ceren, Ferit, and Melo were all worried about Eda. They knew that she believed that Serkan was alive and they were trying to have the same faith that she did but it was hard. They were all afraid of what would happen if they found out that Serkan was gone.
Serkan had the foresight to put a directive in place should he become incapacitated that put Eda and his mother in charge of his shares, but that was putting an undue burden on Eda. The negative effects that the additional pressure of managing Serkan's portion of the business were showing, Eda wasn't sleeping and she wasn't eating.
Ferit was helping Eda and Aydan with the holding and Engin and Pyril were helping with ArtLife, but there was still so much to be done.
The investors were demanding but Eda was holding her own with them, she had won over even the harshest of critics. Ferit had to admit that she was doing a good job, even Aydan was doing well learning the holding business. It had served as a diversion for both of them.
The work at ArtLife was a different story. While Eda was still a student she couldn't officially manage any project on her own. Idil Hanim had become a temporary partner with them and worked with Eda on the landscape design. Engin had to step up with more of the architectural design in Serkan's absence and they were pushing all of their team. Eda was the face of ArtLife, client's loved her. Where the client's respected Serkan's brilliance it was Eda's charisma that now won them over.
Eda's talent was bringing in clients and ArtLife had a waiting list of projects for landscape design. She had put a pause on her final semester when Serkan's plane went missing so the added pressure of her unfinished degree was also weighing on her. She just couldn't contemplate finishing her classes with everything that was happening right now.
Engin was working long hours, but Eda was working longer hours. She couldn't keep it up, he and Pyril had talked about it and he resolved to talk to her tonight before he left.
It was 8:30 when Engin was getting ready to leave, he saw that the lights were still on in the conference room, "Eda? Can we talk?"
"Engin? I thought that you had gone home, why are you still here?"
He came in and sat next to her, "Yenge, why are you still here? You should have left hours ago."
Eda turned to him with tear filled eyes, "Where am I going to go Engin? Home? To an empty apartment where all I'm going to do is miss Serkan? My aunt's house? Where she's going to pretend that he doesn't exist anymore? At least here I can work where I feel him all around me and I don't feel so alone."
Engin stood up and gathered Eda into his arms and just held her while she cried, he couldn't hold back his tears either, "Oh Eda, you aren't alone. We're here for you. Pyril and I, Ceren, Ferit, Melo, Leyla. We're all here for you. Come home with me. Pyril and I want you to spend time with us, don't be alone. I'm not taking no for an answer, come home with me, please? We're worried about you."
Eda stepped back and wiped her face with the back of her hands, "That's sweet of you Engin."
"No, Eda. I meant what I said, I'm not taking no for an answer. You're coming home with me tonight, Pyril is waiting for us." Engin grabbed Eda's purse and steered her out of the building to his waiting car.
"Engin, I'm not the best company."
"It doesn't matter. Let us take care of you for once. You've been struggling to take care of everyone else and the company for weeks now. I know that you're doing everything so that when Serkan comes back it's in top shape but you're neglecting yourself."
"I'm doing the best I can Engin. I just miss him so damned much. I know he's out there. I just don't understand why we can't find him. We've talked to all the authorities, it's like he's vanished into thin air."
Engin didn't have an answer for her. He didn't understand it either, he had been in many of the meetings with Eda and Aydan when they met with the government agencies but there was nothing to be found. Aydan had hired a private investigator and still there were no results. Eda was right, how did he just vanish?
He pulled up to the house that he and Pyril shared, she had been waiting for them and opened the door as soon as they pulled up, "Eda, I'm so glad that Engin was able to convince you to come."
Eda smiled at Pyril, "Engin didn't give me much choice, he still has my purse."
Pyril was never a hugger but she couldn't not hug Eda. Her heart was breaking for her every day. She had grown so fond of Eda over the past six months. Pyril remembered when she first met her, how her opinion of her was colored by Selin. She was ashamed of herself, she was better than that. When Serkan accused Eda of theft, that was when the blinders were torn from her eyes, she knew that Eda was a good person, that she would never have done what Serkan accused her of doing. Pyril also knew that Serkan had deep feelings for Eda when he made the accusations, she knew it all along. She saw what a mess he was. What a mess they both were. And then there was Selin, who was happy that the two of them were in pain. Pyril just shook her head thinking about it.
She had known Serkan since University and had never seen him act how he did around a woman the way he was with Eda even from the very beginning. She knew that Selin was torn up with jealousy, she had tried to counsel her, tried to encourage her relationship with Ferit. Selin was a hopeless case. Oh, she had been there for the five years that Selin and Serkan had 'dated' if that's what you could call it. It was a sexless, passionless, business arrangement.
Eda was so good for Serkan. She made him happy and that was a word that Pyril had never used with Serkan before. Happy. He laughed and smiled. But before the laughter there was the jealousy. Pyril shook her head thinking about that, only a man head over heels in love with someone would be jealous and Serkan was jealous. Even when he broke up with Eda being a noble idiot because of his father he was still jealous of every man that came within five feet of her.
The thing she was most grateful for about Eda was her friendship. Eda's friends were now her friends. Ceren made Engin and her relationship possible, she finally got the two of them to get their heads out of the sand. But Eda? She listened to her, they actually talked about real life things. Before this mess they made time to do girls night and just have fun. Eda knew she loved karaoke so they almost always ended up at the karaoke bar. Eda didn't talk at her like Selin did, she talked with her and to her. Eda was a true friend and her friend needed her now more than ever.
Pyril pulled Eda into the house, "I made dinner. Something light, I wasn't sure what you would like but I hope you enjoy it."
Eda smiled at her, "Thank you Pyril, I appreciate your efforts."
Engin and Pyril showered Eda with attention and love. They didn't pretend like Serkan was dead. No, they talked about the business like he was coming back, which was what Eda needed. They talked about what Serkan was like during University. Stories that Eda had never heard before. Eda wasn't surprised to learn that he wasn't particularly social but he had his close friends. Engin and Pyril talked about how they basically created ArtLife in University and implemented it after graduating.
"I don't understand how Serkan still got two more degrees if you started up ArtLife," said Eda.
"Yenge, are you kidding? You know he never sleeps! He was always up at 5:00 and went to bed at like 1:00 in the morning. He was crazy busy. You know how smart he is though."
"I do, Serkan has one of the finest minds."
"Eda, you're going to sleep here tonight. We aren't taking no for an answer. I can go with you to the apartment in the morning so you can get showered and changed okay?"
She knew that Engin and Pyril were concerned for her and she loved them for it, "Alright, I can stay here."
They were woken shortly before 3:00 by the sobbing screams coming from their guest room. Pyril had heard them before, they were the same screams from the wedding day. She put her hand on Engin's arm, "I'll go to her. This is why she isn't sleeping. I'm sure she is having nightmares every night. Oh Engin, what are we going to do for Eda?"
Pyril threw on her robe and hurried down to the guest room to find Eda tossing in her bed. Crying, calling out and reaching for Serkan in her sleep.
"Please, Serkan, no, please, don't leave me, please. You promised you'd be right back. Please don't leave me here alone," Eda sobbed.
Sitting next to her on the bed Pyril reached for Eda's shoulder, "Eda, it's Pyril, you're having a bad dream, please wake up."
Eda woke with a start and saw Pyril who had tears streaming down her face, Eda sat up and threw herself into Pyril's arms. The two women held each other tight.
"I miss him so much Pyril, I love him so much and he isn't here with me and I'm trying to be strong but it just hurts so much."
Pyril stroked her hair, "I know Eda. Serkan loves you so much. Just know that I'm always going to be here for you. Always, you can talk to me any time, day or night."
They sat there and rocked until Eda fell back to sleep. Pyril knew she wasn't going to sleep for a while. She went back to her bedroom, Engin was still up.
"How is she?"
His very strong wife just broke down in tears and threw herself on his chest, "Oh Engin, my heart breaks for her. She must go through this every night, no wonder she doesn't want to sleep. I know that Aydan hanim said that even sedated she had nightmares. I don't know what we can do for her. We have got to find him."
"I'll talk to Ferit tomorrow, maybe we can expand the search. He can't have vanished, he has to be somewhere."
The patient in bed two had finally woken up. After seven weeks, the man had finally woken up. The nurse rang the doctor.
"Our coma patient is awake."
The doctor made his way to the patient, "You're finally awake I see. I'm Dr. Zeygar, I've been treating you for the past seven weeks. Can you tell me your name?"
The man looked at him, his voice was gravely from disuse.
"Nurse, some water for him, please."
After several thirsty sips, he tried again, croaking out, "My name is Serkan Bolat."
"It is good to meet you Mr. Bolat, we've been treating you for some time and it is good that you have finally woken."
"What happened? Where am I?"
The doctor looked at him, "We were hoping that you could tell us."
Serkan looked at him, "I don't know what happened. I'm not sure how I got here. Last I remember I was in London."
"Hmmm, London? Well, you were in some kind of accident. You were brought to us by fisherman. You're in Slovenia. When you were brought in you were wearing a tuxedo so they assumed that you had a boating accident."
He searched his memory for an accident, "I don't know, that doesn't sound familiar. I don't remember."
Dr. Zeygar looked at his chart, "Could you tell me what is the last day that you recall then?"
Serkan knew he was in London in March of 2020, he was going back to Istanbul but he had another couple of months, he had to still work with Birol bey, "March 2020."
The doctor was writing in his chart, now he had an additional diagnosis, amnesia.
"Thank you Mr. Bolat. Is there a family member that you would like for us to contact? Or a friend? We would be happy to do that for you."
Serkan thought about it, "My mother is agoraphobic so she can't come. My business partners in Istanbul are probably busy if I've been out of commission for seven weeks but I'll need to call them too to let them know I'm here. I guess an old family friend, her name is Selin Atakan, I can give you her number."
Selin had been in Denmark for several months. To say that she hadn't moved on would have been an understatement. She saw the news of Serkan's plane disappearing, but had not lost sleep over it, no she rejoiced in Eda's distress. She deserved it. Now Eda could be as unhappy as she was. For all of Selin's proclamations of love for Serkan her thoughts were to cause Eda pain, she had no thoughts for Serkan.
Her phone rang with a number in Slovenia, Selin decided to answer it, business was business, "Hello?"
"Is this Selin Atakan?"
"Yes?"
"We're calling on behalf of one of our patient's, a Serkan Bolat. Mr. Bolat has recently woken from a coma and is suffering from amnesia, we did ask if he would like for us to call someone and he gave us your name."
Selin could hardly contain her glee, Serkan had amnesia, it couldn't get any more perfect now could it?
"I'm sorry? Amnesia? Just when does he think it is?"
"His last recollection is that it is late March of 2020."
"I see." Unfortunately they weren't a couple then, but he hadn't met Eda Yildiz, so too bad for her. Selin had to work hard not to laugh.
"Tell me where to come and I will be there later today."
The nurse went back into Serkan's room, "Mr. Bolat? We've contacted Selin Atakan. She said that she would be here later this afternoon. Is there anything else that we can do for you?"
"Yes, is there a phone that I can use to call my mother?"
"Certainly, I'll bring a phone in here for you to use." The nurse left the room.
Serkan's right hand started to shake, he gripped it with the left to still the tremor. When he did, he noticed that he wore a band on his right hand. He held his shaking hand up, why did he have a ring on his right hand? He knew it was common to wear an engagement ring there. He wasn't engaged. He and Selin had broken up well before he went to London, he didn't want what she wanted. He didn't want her. He was relieved when she broke up with him.
He pulled the ring off of his hand and set it on the blanket. He had a faint line where the ring had been as if he had been wearing the ring for months. This didn't make sense. He looked at the ring. It was elegant, simple, something that he would wear he supposed. Something caught his eye on the inside. He held it over to the light, it had a name engraved in it, Eda Yildiz. Who in the world was she? Where did this ring come from?