Chapter Seven: Rebecca
588 Words
CHAPTER SEVEN: REBECCA
One year later.
Ember wanted to travel.
She sat on the bus, head down, holding her ticket tightly.
“The bus is leaving now,” the driver announced.
The bus started moving.
“Wait! I need to get off!” she said, waving her hand.
The bus stopped. She got off and ran toward the company building.
She crossed the road.
Clink.
Her necklace fell.
She stopped. Ran back and bent down to pick it up.
Screech.
A car.
Everything went dark.
The necklace was still in her hand.
Blood on the ground.
People gathered around her.
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Hospital.
Oxygen mask. Eyes closed.
Her parents and brother were crying outside the door.
“What do we do?” her mother sobbed, hitting her husband’s chest. “My daughter…”
Days passed.
Dawn.
Ember slowly opened her eyes.
A nurse rushed in. “Ember! Can you hear me?” She pressed a button. “Room 320 is awake.”
“Ember.” “Ember.”
Her mother and brother rushed in and grabbed her hands.
“Are you awake?” her mother asked, crying. “Are you okay? Do you recognize me?”
Ember looked at her, confused.
“No… why are you dressed like that? I’m not dead yet.”
Her mother broke down.
“Ember… your dad was just here. He left before you woke up.”
---
Days passed.
She tried to remember.
But she didn’t know her name. Didn’t know her family. Didn’t remember the past.
The only thing she remembered was the necklace.
Weeks later, she was discharged and went home.
She sat next to her mom in the living room, both watching TV.
“Mom,” she said.
Her mom stood up quickly. “You remembered?”
“No…” Ember sat back down. “Then how did you know I was talking to you?”
“You told me to call you that.”
“What’s my name?”
“Emb—”
“Rebecca,” her mother cut in. “Your name is Rebecca.”
“Rebecca… okay.” Ember stood up and walked away.
The moment she left, her brother turned to their mom.
“Mom, why did you do that? The doctor said she might remember. What if she remembers Wade?”
Her mother’s face went cold. “To forget that brat.”
“Wade? Mom, what if she finds out you lied? The doctor said she needs something to remember. What if it’s him?”
“We’re her family,” her mother said sharply. “She doesn’t need him. And besides, Rebecca is her second name.”
---
Two years later.
She still didn’t remember.
But she didn’t forget her dream.
She kept the name Rebecca.
She remembered someone giving her a necklace, but not his face.
She went to college. Graduated.
One night, she was watching TV with her mom and brother.
A commercial came on.
A man in a suit.
Wade. CEO of Gotop Education.
“That’s my dream company,” Rebecca said, pointing and smiling.
Her brother froze. “Ah… Mom.”
Her mom didn’t look away. “Forget it. She hasn’t remembered him yet.”
Rebecca turned to her mom.
“I’m sending in an application. I heard they’re hiring instructors. I have an interview tomorrow.”
Her mother choked on her water. “What?!”
Rebecca kept smiling at the TV. At Wade.
“Yes, Mom. I’m going.”
A life touched by regret can fall apart at any moment.
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