My fingers froze over his brow. "Excuse ?" I asked again, hoping he was joking or ssing with .
"It’s a simple question, woman. Who are you? Why are you here? Why are you kissing ? Why are you fussing over ? Did my parents hire you?" I threw the questions one after the other, knives to my heart.
"You’re joking. Please tell you are joking!" I said nervously, laughing while my hands shook. But I decided to indulge him. "I’m your wife. I am carrying your child."
He laughed coldly. "Wife? Baby? Am I in hell or heaven or in between? I can’t tell... I haven’t been there before.
"Maybe it’s just the dication ssing with your head. You did have head trauma after all?" That must be the explanation, isn’t it?
"It just doesn’t sound like my life. A wife? A baby? The last woman I rember having sex with is... he stopped.
"Let guess, Gwen?"
"Yes! How did you know?"
"Because she is pregnant too. Almost popping!"
"What the fuck!!!" he exclaid, then winced. "Are you both sure the babies are mine? This stuff you’re telling sounds really unreal, like I stepped into soone else’s life."
"It’s a long story, but I probably shouldn’t be the one to explain it to you. When your parents get here, they will."
"Well, I can’t wait. Where did we et?"
"Richard, I need to get your doctor once more. Sothing is really wrong." But what I truly wanted to do was escape from there and cry my heart out.
I closed the door behind and hurried to the nurse’s station. "Get my husband’s doctor, now!"
I went back to the entrance to wait for his doctor, but I couldn’t hold back my tears. He didn’t rember , but he rembered Gwen.
His doctor arrived and asked what was going on.
I gathere the will to speak because I needed to understand what was going on. "He doesn’t rember ."
"Oh, okay. I will just check on him. could you wait in the waiting room?" I nodded and headed away, tears dropping from my eyes like a burst pipe of water. I sat at the waiting room, I wanted to run away. to go back ho, to my parents house. I wanted to be a little girl once more whose father could solve all her problems.
Mr Nuro ca in a few minutes later with Gwen and Martin. "Nita, what happened? Whats wrong? Did sothing happen to Richard?"
"No, he is fine. The doctor is with him now."
"Then why are you here crying?"
"He has so mory issues."
"What?"
"I cant explain it but he doesn’t rember ...yet."
"What do you an he doesn’t rember you?"
"Mrs Nuro?"
"Yeah."
"I know this must be hard..."
"Doctor, tell whats wrong with my son."
"He has dissociative amnesia."
"And whats that?"
"he cant rember a huge chunk of his life. He cannot rember anything from the past two years." He announced.
"the past two years? Then he should rember ... I left the others instantly and raced back into Richard’s room.
"Junior!" I called as soon as I entered.
"yes!"
"You know . You have to rember . I am Benny, nerdy Benny!" I said, hope filling my heart.
Richard chuckled. "Nerdy Benny? From board school!"
"yes!"
"I married you?!"
"Yes!"
"How?"
"Well... it was an arranged marriage." The door opened and Gwen waltzed in moving to his side with her huge bump.
"the doctor advises not to force your mories, sweetie."
Sweetie? "Gwen, get the hell away from my husband right this instant!" I wasn’t having any of this bullshit right now.
"Nita, he is the father of my child. I have every right to be by his side too." She turned to Richard once more. "I have been so afraid, babe!"
"Okay, I need both of you to leave, okay? Just go. I... I... need to think."
"Alright, love." Gwen said sickeningly sweetly. She walked to my side and smiled. "May the best woman win!"
Richard’s dad ca in and rushed to his side. "Hey son!"
"Hi, Dad! Sothing weird is going on, and I need so explanations."
"It’s okay, son. No explanations needed. Doctor says not to load you with too much information. Your mory will co back to you."
"I have one very important question, though... Why the fuck would you and Mum arrange a wife for ?" He turned to look in my direction and snapped. "I told both of you to leave!" he shouted and winced.
I turned in that instant; I would wait, but I won’t force it. He would rember; he had to.
*****
Three weeks later
Richard walked into the ho we shared, looking around like he was grateful sothing was a constant in his already chaotic mind. He took a deep breath as he sat on the sofa in the living room, Martin bringing in stuff from the car as quietly as possible.
I had given him space all these weeks, but nothing had changed. He had thought. He looked at with expressionless eyes. He still didn’t rember . The man who would go to the ends of the world for was gone.
Our families didn’t co ho with us. Gwen had left reluctantly with the Nuros driver. She had been stuck to his side all through his stay in the hospital. It felt like it was a ti for to go forgotten. Even Mrs. Nuro would confuse for Gwen sotis.
"So we live here together now?" he asked.
"Yes. Do you want anything?" I asked.
"and I am guessing the garden out there is your doing?"
"Actually, it’s yours."
"I... ca up with the idea of a garden?" He asked in disbelief.
"It was my idea; you just brought it to life. A present for ."
"Was it your birthday or sothing?"
"No, you just wanted to do sothing nice for ."
"Ah—ah. The more my missing ti gets explained to , the more I believe I have been living soone else’s life."
"Right." I turned to go get him a glass of water, but he held my hand. My world stopped moving. It was the first physical contact we had in weeks. I missed him, and he was right here with . How is that even possible? I looked at his hand on my wrist and felt hot tears stinging my eyes.
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