CHAPTER 5: THE WOMAN WHO FORGOT HIM
928 Words
John continued moving forward.
But every step he took felt like a new battle.
His body was exhausted.
His injured arm had swollen, and the cloth he had wrapped around it had changed color from the dried blood.
He knew he still wasn’t safe.
Those three men were not ordinary people.
They had shown something that frightened him more than their guns...
Persistence.
A normal killer might give up after losing their target.
But those men were different.
They were searching.
John stood beside a worn-out building and looked back.
There was no one there.
But his heart refused to calm down.
He remembered what the Tall Man had said:
"The boss said this job must be completed today."
Those words kept echoing in his mind.
"Who wants me dead?"
"What did I do?"
He placed a hand on his head.
A sharp pain struck him.
Dizziness followed.
For a brief moment, he saw his wife's face.
Her smile.
Her voice.
Then he saw his child running toward him.
"Dad!"
John opened his eyes quickly.
"No..."
He whispered.
"I can't die."
"Not until I know the truth."
"Not until I know what happened to them."
His family was the only reason he was still standing.
Meanwhile...
Inside the dump.
The Tall Man stood watching the path where John had disappeared.
The Thin Man returned, angry.
"No one is there."
The Short Man kicked a can lying on the ground.
"He escaped us."
The Tall Man did not answer immediately.
He looked at the small trace of blood left on the corner of the wall.
Then he said:
"No."
"Sometimes a dying man looks like he is already dead."
"But this one..."
He paused for a moment.
"This one is still fighting."
The Thin Man looked at him.
"What do we do now?"
The Tall Man adjusted his glove.
"We go back."
"Because if he is still alive..."
"He will go to one place."
The Short Man asked:
"His family?"
The Tall Man smiled beneath the cloth covering his face.
"Yes."
After a long walk...
John finally saw it.
His house.
His heart started racing.
He wasn’t just seeing a large gate.
He was seeing his life.
The place where he laughed with his family.
The place where he ate meals with his wife.
The place where he held his child in his arms.
His eyes began to fill with tears.
"I made it..."
He whispered.
"Home."
"Finally, I’m home."
He moved toward the gate.
But before he could knock...
The guard inside saw him on the camera.
A dirty man.
Torn clothes.
A face worn down by suffering.
A bleeding arm.
The guard frowned.
"Who is that?"
Another guard came to look.
"He looks like a beggar."
John couldn’t hear them.
He was only waiting for the door to open.
After a short while, the gate opened slightly.
Two guards appeared.
"What do you want?"
John lifted his head.
With all the strength he had left, he smiled.
"I came home."
The guards looked at each other.
"Home?"
John stepped forward.
"Yes."
"I’m John."
Silence.
Then one of the guards started laughing mockingly.
"John?"
"Sir, leave before you cause trouble."
John looked shocked.
"You don’t recognize me?"
"I lived here."
"The head guard has known me for many years."
But his words sounded like those of a man who had lost his mind.
One of the guards pushed him back.
"Leave."
John trembled.
Not because he had been pushed.
But because of the pain inside his heart.
"You can't tell me you don't know me..."
"This is my house."
"My family is here."
The guards held him more firmly.
"Leave before we throw you out."
John felt his eyes filling with tears.
"Please..."
"Just tell me where my wife is."
But no one listened.
Suddenly...
A woman’s voice came from inside.
"What is happening?"
Everything stopped.
John turned quickly.
His eyes widened.
He saw her.
His wife.
The woman he had been searching for since he woke up in the dump.
For a second, he forgot all his pain.
He forgot the blood.
He forgot the people hunting him.
He only saw the person he loved.
"My love..."
His voice trembled.
"Oh my God..."
"I found you."
He moved toward her.
"I was so afraid..."
"I thought I would never see you again."
His wife looked at him in confusion.
John opened his arms.
He wanted to hug her.
But...
His wife stepped back.
One step.
That step hurt him more than any wound.
John froze.
"My love?"
The woman looked at him with fear.
"I'm sorry..."
"Who are you?"
Those words pierced John’s heart like a bullet.
"No..."
He shook his head.
"It's me."
"John."
"Your husband."
"I went through something terrible."
"People are trying to kill me."
"I was afraid I would never see you again."
"Thank God you are safe."
But his wife continued looking at him as if she had no idea what he was saying.
As if she was standing in front of a stranger.
John saw fear in her eyes.
Not love.
Not happiness.
Fear.
The guards moved closer.
His wife whispered:
"I'm sorry..."
"But I don't know this man."
John felt the world spinning.
The person he had fought so hard to return to...
He had come back to a place where he was not even recognized.
He looked at his hands.
His clothes.
His face that seemed unfamiliar even to himself.
Then one question hit him with overwhelming force:
"If even my wife doesn't recognize me... who am I now?"
- Writer
