IGM Hospital, Malé
When Emily awoke, she needed a moment to orientate herself. But she quickly remembered what had happened and realized that she was in the hospital.
So I didn't die as I feared, she thought. She remembered all that blood and the feeling of weakening from minute to minute. But she had survived... again. Even though she was not particularly religious, it seemed as if someone was watching over her and didn't want her to die. She lifted her hand and saw the tube that led up from the back of her hand to a drip bottle. This sight was familiar to her. It was like the first time she had been taken to the hospital. She reached to her stomach and felt a thick bandage.
"Oh, you're awake!"
Emily tilted her head aside, and saw a young nurse, holding a drip bottle in her hand.
"I'll tell Dr. Kulani that you're awake."
She ran out before Emily could reply. It was not long before the doctor appeared in the room.
"Miss Ross? How are you?" he inquired in a matter-of-fact tone.
Emily cleared her throat before she could answer. "Fine," she croaked. "I live."
Dr. Kulani smiled. "Then my medical team did a good job."
As automatically, her hand reached for the bandage that covered her wound.
"No worries!" he said gently, noticing the gesture. "The baby is doing well."
Emily paused in the middle of her movement. "Baby?" she asked in confusion, looking at the doctor with wide eyes. "What baby?"
Dr. Kulani frowned, then reached for her medical file and read the last entries. "You don't know that you're pregnant?" he asked, surprised.
Emily shook her head mechanically.
The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, the last ultrasound examination has revealed that you are 10 weeks pregnant. Your fiance haven't told you yet?"
Again, she shook her head mutely. She was lost for words. The shock was too great.
How could it be that I'm pregnant and had not even noticed? And why hadn't Aiden told me if he had known all along? she thought.
"As I see, you really didn't know about your condition." Dr. Kulani looked at her empathetically. "I told your fiance two weeks ago, after the first examination. But he asked me not to tell you because he was afraid you were too weak. He wanted to tell you later, personally. Obviously he didn't do it."
Emily laid her hands on her stomach hesitantly. She couldn't believe that something was growing inside her. When she looked up at the doctor, she had tears in her eyes.
"I'll call your fiance and inform him that you're awake," Dr. Kulani said, lightly petting her hand. "Rest now. If needed, call the nurse."
Emily nodded with her hands still placed on her stomach. "And the baby... is it really doing well?" she asked hesitantly. The thought of becoming a mother was so strange, it felt unreal.
"He or she is doing well," Dr. Kulani confirmed. "Your fiance told me you were about to return to the States. I would recommend that you look for a doctor over there who can treat you further."
"My memories...," Emily said softly. "Will I ever remember again?"
The doctor cleared his throat before giving her an answer. "Frankly, the longer the amnesia persists, the chances that you will get your memory back completely, are slim. However, it may be that you can remember particular things. Some patients regain their memory fully; others have to wait years or decades. For some, a particular event can trigger a memory. Other patients have only the presence and the future. You see, there's no general rule. I think you should focus on the future. After all, you have a good reason to live for it."
After Dr. Kulani had left, Emily was still lying in her bed, her hands across her belly. She knew that the doctor was right. She should let the past rest and look ahead. But for some reason she couldn't do it. She was constantly asking herself who had shot her and why. Again and again, she had tried to remember, had tried to make sense of what Aiden had told her, but nothing made sense.
If I had been together with Aiden on the yacht, as he had told me, why hadn't he been on deck with me when the shooter had shot me? Where had he been? And who were the people who had celebrated with him on the yacht? What was the occasion for the celebration? And were they only friends of Aiden, or of me as well? Who was my enemy? Too many unanswered questions. Suddenly something occurred to her. Since she had been shot, they must have called the police, with involvement of the media. But why was no one looking for me? Was that the reason why Aiden had brought me here, to hide me from the police? And if so, what was the reason?
Her head began to throb painfully. Suddenly she felt an urge to find out more about herself. And it was not the first time she wondered, if it had been a mistake to trust the man who had claimed to be her fiance. She reached for the call button and pressed the red one. Immediately the little nurse appeared.
"I need a laptop!" Emily said, tersely. "Can you get me one?"
When Aiden entered the hospital a few hours later, Dr. Kulani already expected him.
"I need to talk to you... now!"
Confused and feeling troubled at the same time, Aiden followed the doctor to the his office and took a seat. "What happened? Is something wrong with Amanda?"
Before the doctor replied, he pressed a button on his computer and, when it was booted, pushed some keys and turned the screen to Aiden.
He held his breath for a moment when he saw what the doctor had found.
"That's her, right?" Dr. Kulani pointed to a news article. "She is the missing woman... Emily Grayson?"
Aiden stared at the article and then at the pictures that leaped to his eye: Emily on her wedding day, together with Daniel, holding her gently in his arms. "I... where... I mean... how did you...?"
Dr. Kulani interrupted him before he could finish his stammering. "She found it," he said curtly. "She asked the nurse to bring her a laptop. We are always willing to meet the needs of our patients, so we fulfilled her wish. Afterwards, she lost it completely, tried to rip the infusion out of her arm, and insulted the nurse when she forbade her to get up." He shook his head disapprovingly. "We were just able to hold her back from throwing the laptop against the wall."
Aiden was speechless. Apparently, Emily had regained her old fighting spirit. Perhaps her memory, too? "I-I don't know what to say," he stuttered. "I... I'm sorry."
"You should be!" Dr. Kulani shook his head, disapprovingly. "Why did you lie to her and told her she was your fiancee?"
"Because she is my fiancee!" Aiden exclaimed. "I know I was not quite honest with her. But I just wanted to protect her."
"The article says that she's Emily Grayson, married to Daniel Grayson, a magazine publisher and heir to a big company. Now, who is lying to whom?"
Aiden jumped up from his chair. "I need to see her! I have to explain to her why I did it. The police hasn't found the shooter yet. If I had taken her to a hospital in NY, he'd probably have tried to kill her again. I have brought her here for her own safety. When I learned that she had lost her memory, I hadn't wanted to burden her unnecessarily with her past. Can't you understand?" he looked at the doctor pleadingly.
Dr. Kulani shook his head. "She has a right for the truth." He tapped on the screen. "Like her husband and his family. Do you realize what you did? This is called abduction and deprivation of freedom!"
"I did not hold her against her will!" Aiden clarified. "You probably don't believe me, but we had plans, Emily and I. We were already a couple before, even though she got married to Daniel. She only entered into marriage for the sake of appearance. She wanted to be with me."
Dr. Kulani looked at him thoughtfully. "All that may be so, but you didn't have the right to abduct her and give her a false identity. She is not Amanda Ross, she is Emily Grayson."
"Actually, Amanda Clarke-Grayson", Aiden said, barely above a whisper.
"The baby she's expecting... Are you really the father?" Dr. Kulani continued with his interrogation.
Aiden closed his eyes for a moment. What was the matter of whether he was lying or telling the truth? "I don't know," he confessed.
Dr. Kulani nodded. "I thought so after reading the news article and seeing the pictures."
"Let me see her now... please!" Aiden begged.
"No." Dr. Kulani rose from his chair. "She asked me and the staff not to let you near her. She also asked me to contact the police. She wants to go back to the States as soon as possible, back to her husband and her family."
"The Graysons are not her family!" Aiden protested. "She never wanted to be a part of this family! She hates the Graysons! I beg you, please let me see her! I'll talk to her and explain her everything."
"She is not interested in your explanations. She wants to go home." Dr. Kulani pointed to the door. "The conversation is over! And when you try to enter her room by force, I swear I'll call the police and have you arrested for abduction and deprivation of freedom! Did I make myself clear?"
Aiden nodded, stunned. He couldn't believe how the tables have turned. Mechanically he went outside and pulled his cell phone off his pocket. He had to report to Nolan about the changed situation before he could book a flight back to the Hamptons. Plan A had just as failed as the backup plan. What would the future bring, if there was any future with Emily at all? Crestfallen, he left the hospital and went to his car.