Chapter 2
1234 Words
Aria
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The sound pulled me out of darkness slowly, painfully.
My body felt heavy, like I had been buried beneath concrete. Every breath burned faintly in my chest. My head throbbed in slow, brutal pulses.
I frowned weakly.
The air smelled strange.
Too clean, too cold.
Antiseptic.
Hospital.
My lashes fluttered open.
White ceiling, soft lights.
A quiet room blurred in and out of focus as my vision struggled to steady itself. For a moment, I just stared upward, confused by how empty my mind felt.
Then pain rushed back all at once.
I inhaled sharply.
A dull ache spread through my ribs. My throat burned dry. Even my fingers hurt when they twitched slightly against the sheets beneath me.
What happened?
The thought came instinctively.
But nothing followed it.
My brows pulled together faintly.
I tried harder.
Only emptiness.
No memory.
No answer.
A strange panic crept slowly into my chest.
I swallowed painfully and pushed myself up slightly before a sharp pain shot through my side hard enough to force a weak gasp from my lips.
“Easy.”
The unfamiliar voice startled me.
I turned quickly toward the doorway.
A nurse stepped inside carrying a tray of medicine. Relief softened her face the moment she noticed my open eyes.
“Oh thank God,” she breathed. “You’re awake.”
Awake?
My gaze shifted around the room again slowly.
The steady beep of the heart monitor suddenly sounded louder.
The IV attached to my arm.
The bandages wrapped around my wrist.
Fear curled coldly in my stomach.
“What…” My voice came out hoarse and fragile. “…what happened to me?”
The nurse hesitated briefly.
“You were in a car accident,” she said gently.
Car accident.
The words echoed strangely in my head.
Rain.
A dark road.
Bright headlights.
Then—
Pain stabbed suddenly through my skull.
I winced sharply, gripping the sheets tighter.
“Don’t force yourself,” the nurse said quickly. “Your memory may still be unstable.”
Memory?
My heartbeat quickened instantly.
“What do you mean unstable?”
The nurse’s expression shifted slightly.
Before she could answer, the door opened again.
And the entire room changed.
A tall man stepped inside wearing a black coat still damp from the rain outside.
His presence filled the space immediately.
Sharp features, cold gray eyes, controlled movements.
Dangerously handsome but unfamiliar.
Completely unfamiliar.
He stopped the second his gaze landed on me.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The nurse looked between us awkwardly before quietly stepping out of the room.
The man walked closer slowly, the faint scent of smoke and expensive cologne reaching me before he did.
Something twisted strangely in my chest at that scent.
His eyes searched my face carefully.
“You’re awake.”
His voice was deep and calm, but there was tension buried underneath it now.
I could hear it.
I stared at him blankly.
“…who are you?”
The question dropped between us like a stone.
Something shifted in his expression, not pain or shock.
Something unreadable.
“My name is Lucien Vaughn.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Nothing at all.
My fingers curled slightly into the blanket.
He continued quietly,
“I’m your husband.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
I blinked slowly.
“…my what?”
“Your husband.”
No.
No, that didn’t feel right.
I stared harder at him, searching desperately for something familiar in his face.
No warmth.
No memories.
No connection.
Just a stranger standing beside my hospital bed calling himself my husband.
“I think you’re mistaken,” I whispered.
Lucien’s jaw tightened slightly.
“The doctors said memory loss was possible after the accident.”
Memory loss.
The words made my stomach drop.
I looked down at my shaking hands.
No wonder everything felt empty.
My mind raced desperately, trying to grab onto something.
A name.
A face.
A memory.
Panic rose fast inside my chest.
“…who am I?” I asked quietly.
Lucien answered immediately.
“Your name is Aria Vaughn.”
The name sounded foreign on his lips.
Aria Vaughn.
Was that really me?
I looked back at him carefully.
“You’re really my husband?”
“Yes.”
Again that calm answer.
A strange unease settled low in my stomach.
Shouldn’t he look relieved?
Shouldn’t he look emotional?
Instead, he looked almost detached.
Like this was another situation he simply needed to manage.
I swallowed slowly.
“I don’t remember you.”
Something dark flickered briefly through his eyes before disappearing just as quickly.
“You will eventually.”
But somehow… I didn’t think he sounded hopeful about that.
Rain tapped softly against the windows now, quieter than before.
The sound made something twist painfully inside my chest.
Rain.
Suddenly—
Headlights.
A violent impact.
My breath caught sharply.
I saw it for only a second.
Then it vanished again.
I pressed trembling fingers against my temple.
“What’s wrong?” Lucien asked immediately.
“There was…” I frowned weakly. “A car.”
His expression changed instantly.
But I could see fear in his eyes.
It disappeared so quickly I almost thought I imagined it.
“What car?” he asked carefully.
I shook my head slowly.
“I don’t know.”
And that terrified me.
Because somewhere deep inside me, beneath the emptiness and confusion, my body remembered fear even if my mind didn’t.
Lucien stepped closer this time.
Too close.
Instinctively, I moved back.
The reaction surprised both of us.
A strange silence followed.
His gaze locked onto mine.
Then finally—
“Aria.”
Something about the way he said my name made my chest tighten uncomfortably.
But not in a good way.
I looked away first.
“I’m tired,” I whispered.
Lucien studied me for another long second before giving a short nod.
“You should rest.”
Relief slipped through me the moment he stepped back.
That feeling alone frightened me.
Why was I relieved to have distance from my own husband?
Lucien reached for his phone as it buzzed quietly in his pocket.
His expression hardened slightly after reading whatever message appeared on the screen.
Then he looked back at me.
“I’ll return later.”
I nodded quickly before I could stop myself.
Again that strange flicker crossed his face but he said nothing more. He turned and walked toward the door.
The moment his hand touched the handle, the words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Wait.”
Lucien paused.
I stared at his back, my pulse quickening.
“…was I happy?”
Slowly, he turned back toward me.
For the first time since he entered the room, he looked caught off guard.
The silence stretched painfully.
Too long.
And somehow… that silence gave me my answer before he even spoke.
“You had everything you needed,” he said finally.
Not yes.
Not:
You were happy.
Just:
You had everything you needed.
A hollow feeling spread quietly through my chest.
Lucien opened the door and left.
The soft click echoed loudly in the silent room.
I stared at the empty doorway long after he was gone.
Then slowly, my fingers tightened around the blanket.
Because deep down, beneath the confusion and missing memories…
I already knew one thing.
Something had gone terribly wrong long before the accident.
- Writer
