‘’Fiancée?!’’ Oh my god! What trouble have I gotten myself into?
He moved even closer to me. I got a generous sniff of his musk body spray. The smell felt somehow familiar. The sense of satisfaction obtained from his body spray disappeared away once I glanced at his eyes. His eyes were too menacing so that I could only look down to push off the feeling of guilt building up in my mind.
Guilt? Why?
‘’What are you pretending and plotting now?!’’
I was startled by his sudden fit of anger and jerked in surprise. Dr Wei who stood silent all this while moved forward and towards him and finally started speaking.
"Mr Zhou, I’ve already made it clear to you. You can’t agitate her like this when she’s in such a condition. And I also told you that she has amnesia, so it is completely useless for you to stand here and shout for nothing’’
‘Mr Zhou’ quickly rose up and turned towards Dr Wei. Every action of him seemed so threatening and this was no exception. As expected, he reached up to Dr Wei in just 2 long strides and grabbed him by the collar.
"Ah! No! .... Calm down Mr Zhou’’ The plea of Alice was completely ignored by him. Dr Wei didn’t move and stood calmly. Mr Grim Reaper’s face twisted in rage.
"You would say that because you don’t understand how it feels! Do you know how it feels when someone tells you that your fiancée, on whom you were developing a strong crush, never existed?!’’
He didn’t release his grab and turned toward me. His eyes seemed to be teary and looked quite passionately at me. Maybe I saw it wrong? However, in no time, his expression changed into something like hate and disgust.
"And you!....... Everything was just an illusion created by you. I don’t care whatever you call it in our terms. But you clearly fooled me around. So, from the beginning, it wasn't Yi Sha but you! And only you! How could you….!’’
He froze midway in his sentence and looked away from me. He seemed to be going through some kind of pain. Heartache?
As if suddenly coming into his senses, he release the collar of Dr Wei and hurriedly stepped backwards. He quickly adjusted his suit and returned to an emotionless expression and stood gazing at the ground for a while. Then raised his head and looked at us,
"My apologies. I was feeling a bit upset and lost my composure. I’ll better leave now.’’
He turned around to leave, but stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look at me. His eyes were sad and dejected, and he prolonged to look at me with a melancholic look on his face. I could only stare back and when I did that, I clearly felt his gaze quite familiar. He let out a sigh,
"Take rest, and recover well’’, he didn’t wait any longer and headed towards the door.
"Laia, hang in there, I’ll show him out, and Alice, go to check on the other patients. I’ll arrive shortly afterwards.’’ Dr Wei hurried after him, and Alice too left with him. The door clicked after them.
Suddenly everything fell silent. I could only hear the buzzing of the monitors which were recording my vitals.
So….. according to Mr Attractive Grim Reaper, I impersonated his fiancée.
No. He later mentioned that I created some illusion. What exactly was he saying?
Anyway, he didn’t seem as if he was lying. He told that I had something to do with or did something to his fiancée or whatever. So, this woman……Yi Sha, how did I get to know her? The name doesn’t ring any bells…
"Ouch! ...’’
Unexpectedly, the tinnitus came out of nowhere, and the throbbing in the head also returned. Before I could press the buzzer, I felt my head sinking into the pillows and my body going numb. And my vision blacked out.
……………..
I could smell something like food.
Whoa! Food! How long has it been since I had a decent meal?
What is here to eat? Let’s take a look.
I slowly opened my eyes and what I saw wasn’t food but Dr Wei and the same cute intern Alice.
"Finally, you wake up.’’
Slowly raising myself up from the bed, I eyed him inquiringly,
"Finally?’’
"Yesterday when I came to check on you after sending off Mr Zhou, you had fainted. And eventually, you wake up after one day’’
"I tried to recall my memories but I failed and ended up fainting as you said’’
"First, eat up’’
Alice laid the food. The food wasn’t very extraordinary but at least it could relieve my hunger. Only after starting to eat did I realize how hungry I was.
"Dr Wei, I’m leaving. My shift will be over soon’’
"Mmm.’’ He nodded at her and soon shifted his attention towards me. I continued to gobble up everything as ‘decently’ as possible. He pulled a chair close to my bed and sat down.
"Laia, listen carefully. Since you are currently experiencing retrograde amnesia, it’s not advisable for you to force your memories back. Even if you sense something which feels quite familiar, don’t try to ponder about it. It would only do more harm than good.’’
I nodded my head in response. As soon as I completed eating, he helped me put the food platter away and returned back to his position and continued to speak.
"Take good rest for today and tomorrow. Let’s first stabilize your condition beginning from the day after tomorrow and once your condition is fine, we can start to stimulate the process of sparking your lost memories back. Until that, don’t try to recall things. I repeat again- it is really dangerous’’
But while listening to him, I think I felt that he wasn’t explaining the procedure in a formal manner but feeling really concerned about me. Ever since regaining consciousness, I could feel some warmth from him. Even his face carried signs of worry. Thinking back, he even recognized me as Laia. I didn’t at all expect that he’d remember my name. Back in university, we haven’t even interacted much except a few times during a project. He was the typical ‘cool senior’ who was admired by a lot of girls, so I thought he might not notice girls much in detail.
Meanwhile, I noticed him slowly putting up a grin. Oops! I’ve been staring at him all this while. I quickly averted my eyes.
He stood up and walked towards me and leaned closer.
"What? Are you losing yourself in my good looks?’’
"Huh?’’
Wait! Is he joking or flirting?
Was my suspicion correct? Is he actually treating me with extra concern? I had once doubted it. Not to mention that silly rumour back in university. Some lunatic spread a rumour that senior Wei had a crush on me, and obviously, no one believed that, but instead thought that it was the other way around. And he, instead of clarifying made it even worse by saying ‘she never had a crush on me’ and leaving at once without responding when he was asked whether he had a crush on me. Soon he graduated away and the rumour died out. Meanwhile, his grin was getting wider. Oh shit! I was staring at him again! "I’m just checking if I can remember you clearly’’, I replied without averting my gaze. As soon as I had replied, he again put on a worried look. "I told you not to think back and probe around your memory!’’ Ugh! I forgot that before answering back. Anyways to save me from feeling awkward, I thought of a different topic.
What?! ……Only god knows how badly I want to go back to a coma right now “What, you mean I purposely came here under a fake identity even after knowing that it is a serious crime?” “I don’t know anything about that any more than you. And now I really regret telling you all these.” Saying that he looked at his watch. It must be really late by now. “I think I must leave now. Take rest and sleep sound if you really want your memories back. Okay?” “Mmm.” I nodded and obediently tucked myself in. He seemed satisfied to see me follow what he told. “Goodnight, don’t overthink, just sleep.” “Yes. Good Night” He left the room. Soon a nurse came in. While I was watching her enter, my eyelids drooped heavily, and only then I realized how sleepy I felt. In no time, I was fast asleep. …………….. “Goodmorning Miss Parker!” Cute Alice waved as she entered. Today she was wearing a pink blouse paired with be
“Xue Er! Wake up. Wake up. Have you forgotten what day it is?”“I feel really lazy… Fine, I’ll wake up right now”That was my voice!“Get off the bed right now or you’ll fall asleep once you hang up on my call.”It’s him! the voice which I heard during the hallucination!I immediately shot off from the bed…to find Dr Wei giving me a baffled look.That was a dream.Was that a dream? Or a part of my memory? Then, this is the first time I’m recalling something.Who was that guy who I saw during the stroll? Have I met him before? If so, he might help me remember something.But, Where can I even search for him? If I only didn’t faint back then, I could’ve even asked his name.I drooped down my shoulders in despair.&
What?! I erased Chen Lan's memories? No wonder he didn't recognize me… …… My mind went blank. I had no idea about what I should think about next. Seems like I really loved him in the past….there's no other way, I would torture myself to stop someone from getting hurt. There must be some huge reason for me to do that. But why in the first place did I even fall for him? Didn't I actually vow to myself that I shouldn't recklessly fall in love with anyone, but be a good girl and return to my country to get married to someone from my own culture?! Why the hell would I even have such deep feelings for that Chen Lan? I've never broken my own rules in the past!. So frustrating!!!!! I shook my head hoping that I could clear those thoughts out of my mind. “Laia, are you okay?” I shot open my eyes and saw Dr Wei standi
In a split second, the view of the hospital corridor replaced the posh interior of the hall, and I could see the gossipy onlookers whisper among themselves while Chen Lan still held me firmly. Or it could look more like I was still grabbing onto him. I pushed myself away from him carefully, reminding myself not to lose my balance again. I simply stared at the ground. I knew I must be looking so dumb, but there was no other way I could avoid the eyes of the passers-by and especially Chen Lan. Soon the onlookers moved away. I slowly glanced up at Chen Lan, not sure about what reaction I should give. However, I noticed that he was oddly too calm and appeared so relaxed as if such weird incidents were a daily occurrence to him. And I also noticed that he was openly staring at me. I averted my gaze uneasily and after a few moments, I again sneaked a glance at him to find that he was still staring at me. I decided to break the silence before I get crazy. “T
There must be something wrong with this guy. Furthermore, it was too unrealistic to receive a confession while I'm in this state. I was lost in his eyes again. There was a sudden blur in my vision which returned to normal immediately. The background was different. Whoa! I can't believe this! A rich dark green mountain background. Sturdy metal cables stretched upwards on either side. Facing me was Chen Lan. My hands tightly clasped within his, I was intently gazing at him. Why would I do something cheesily romantic like that? I was walking forward, while Chen Lan was stepping backwards at the same pace as mine without breaking eye contact. I suddenly averted my eyes and looked down. GOOD HEAVENS! How many feet is this?! Looks like 1000ft! Where the hell?! I could feel that extreme fear.
"LAI-A-WAKE-UP!-LAI-A-WAKE-UP!-LAI-A-WAKE-UP!...." "Ugh! leave me alone!" "LAI-A-WAKE-UP!-LAI-A-WAKE-UP!-LAI-A-WAKE-UP!...." These crazy girls! I feel like screaming! "STOP IT!" yelling out like that, I shot up from my bunk-bed and glared at the faces which were staring up at me. I felt so glad that I got the top bunk, not the bottom one. Or else, they'd have made me deaf with their chants. "Laia! don't you remember what day it is?", the short one asked. Before I could even think, "It's freshmen admission!!! There'll be a lot of cute and hot juniors", the tall one answered. "Yaay!", both cheered in unison. There they go again! I quickly climbed down and ran into the bathroom ignoring those two. Today, I had to go to college earlier than usual, so I soon hurried back into the room after cleaning myself up. Both of them were already dressed up. One was packing
Completely startled, I kept leaning back to prevent the tiny gap left between us from getting even smaller. Strangely, I didn't push him away, or hit him or do any sort of action in protest of his provoking behaviour. “You will fall backwards if you keep leaning back like that.” That sentence knocked some sense into me. I pushed him away and frowned at him. My brain began betraying me at that very moment by refusing to generate speech. However, I mustered up some courage and retorted at him, “Such an arrogant kid!” “My apologies, Senior. I startled you.” He was still smiling mischievously, his eyes twinkling with delight like a kid who had been rewarded with ice cream. Looking at his ridiculous expression, I wanted to shout more, but I was already running late, so I turned around for real this time and rushed back along the same corridor which we passed a few minutes ago. Behind me, I heard him shout out, “But it wasn't