Echoes of Serenity

The buttons and notches didn't look strange and confusing anymore and it was the first time I was allowed to drive unsupervised on the streets of Seattle. If my husband knew about this he would fire the entirety of my security team in an instant. A wary laughter escaped my lips as I thought about defying him. I rounded a familiar turn and the breeze whipped my hair around, it felt strangely liberating. The brand new present I got for him sat on the passenger seat, I glanced at it briefly before I pressed down on the gas pedal. It was a velvety burgundy and pink watch with floral designs, it looked quite feminine, but I had a feeling he would love it. There wasn't much I could buy for a man that already had pretty much everything. I eyed the beautiful pink diamond ring on my red and black manicured finger. It looked beautiful and right, it was like a fever dream and I almost couldn't believe I was married to Christian, it felt good, like missing piece of me had finally clicked into place. My phone pinged suddenly and I panicked for some reason, my hold on the steering wheel faltered and my car swerved sharply to the right with a loud screech. Luckily enough I was able to steady the wheels before I could run into a giggling couple. My heart pounded violently in my chest and I started to consider the fact that maybe driving was not for me and I had made a massive mistake. I was far from ready to be driving unsupervised. A car horned loudly behind me causing me to jolt and I snapped out of my daze. My heart still drummed in my chest. I could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. I contemplated calling my driver to pick me up. I grabbed my phone and dialed his number swiftly but before he was able to pick up the phone a massive force shoved me forward, and as if the world had slowed down, I saw myself slowly breaking through the windshield, I had forgotten to wear a seatbelt, how foolish of me. Those were the thoughts I had as my head slammed violently on the asphalt. White hot pain shot through the entirety of my body. It felt as though all two hundred and three bones in my body had broken and I felt the wetness of blood on my cheek. Red clouded my vision before the world went black. •••••••• I was hurting everywhere, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to hear, all I could feel was pain. My eyes blinked open, my eyelids could not open all the way for some reason. I saw shapes and colours, moving around in my field of vision, but I could not make out anything I was seeing, it was as though my eyes could not send the right signals to my brain. I heard the sounds of people talking but I could not make out what they were saying. Pain had become sickeningly familiar. I moved in and out of consciousness for what could have been seconds or days, I couldn't tell. Soon enough all I could see was the darkness and uncertainty of unconsciousness. My heart ached and I had the unsettling feeling that I had lost something of great importance, I tried to remember what it was but I could not seem to think of anything at all, that part of my memory was like a blank room. Like someone had reached into my head and yanked out a part of me. I felt hollow. •••••••••• My eyes fluttered open and I felt no pain this time. I looked around to see where I was. It was a hospital, I looked down to see I was wearing a baby blue hospital gown. Confusion clouded my eyes as I looked at all the beeping machines beside me. “welcome back Mrs. Lockwood.“ A feminine voice said. I snapped my head up swiftly to see a pink cheeked, dark haired woman. I could tell she was a nurse by looking at her attire. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “ who is that? ” I questioned as I looked at her with confused eyes. My eyes caught the shiny ring on my finger. It was a pink diamond, I lifted my hand to my face in order to inspect the ring closely. “where did this come from?“ I asked the nurse. She looked at me with what could only be described as pity. “oh my dear, the doctor said you hit your head pretty bad and that you might have a minor amnesia but who would have thought you would forget your own husband” the nurse explained. I recalled the accident, it was a traumatizing experience for me and I was a hundred percent certain that I would never go anywhere near a steering wheel again. But I did not recall a husband, I was never married, I could not remember any wedding Was this some sick prank? I looked outside the window and the crescent moon was high in the sky, it was probably around midnight. “my family?“ I asked in a croaked voice. The nurse stepped out of the room without saying a word and came back a few moments later with my mother. My eyes filled with tears when I saw her. “mom” I croaked out. Without a word she ran to envelope me in a suffocating embrace. “you have no idea how happy I am to see you awake, darling” mom said. I took a moment to look at her. She was always perfectly dressed to the tip of her fingers, but now she looked like a distressed mother. “what happened?“ I asked “I know I was in an accident, but-” “the doctor said you are extremely lucky to be alive.” mom said wiping her tears with a paper towel. “A truck ran into you.” she explained. “we are still on the lookout for that son of a bitch.” “where was I driving to? I can't recall for some reason” I asked. I knew one thing for sure, I was going to meet someone very important, someone that meant the world to me. My mother narrowed her sea blue eyes as she gave me a thorough look. “from the location of the accident, it was gathered that you were on your way to the Lockwood manor” she stated. Confusion gathered in my brows as I thought deeply. “what on earth would I be doing at the Lockwood manor?“ I spat out the question, it sounded meaner than I intended. “why, that is where you live, with Christian.” mom said, looking at me as if I had a few loose screws. “are you alright, darling? Do I need to get the doctor?“ I shook my head absentmindedly, I could barely hear what she was saying after I heard the name Christian. My greatest enemy, the source my night terrors and insomnia. Was he my husband? No, he couldn't possibly be, never in a billion lifetimes will I choose to marry that creature.