BETWEEN GOODBYE AND FOREVER

Alive

Two weeks earlier, before Annabel received letters that led her back to her past, there was an accident.

Davis Cole was on Manhattan’s highway when it started raining heavily. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands. Suddenly, he lost control. His tires hit an oil-slicked curve, skid and ran into a barrier. The road was unusually silent except for the sound of shattered glass when he hit a metal.

When he opened his eyes, he woke up to the smell of disinfectant and a monitor beeping by his bed in the hospital.

He tried to move, but felt an excruciating pain that restrained him. Then he heard the voice of his wife, " Davis, oh my God, you’re awake, " she said excitedly. His mother, Eleanor Cole, sighed in relief. “Get the doctor,” she said as Davis' brother, Williams, rushed to get the doctor.

After the doctor examined him, he turned to the other side as if not interested in the excited face staring at him with every single breath. After a while, he turned and gave a strange stare at Eleanor and asked, "Where is my wife? Where is Annabel? How did I get here?"

The room was still as Eleanor asked, "What did you say?"

“Where is Annabel?” he whispered again. Victoria’s breath changed as she moved closer, acting calm though her face says otherwise, “I’m your wife, it’s me, Victoria.”

His eyes moved towards her, then he looked away as one trying to recognize her face. “Victoria? No, that’s not true,”

Victoria, whose eyes speak volumes, stood in shock when the doctor interrupted and re-examined Davis gently as he listened to his pulse and asked him some questions calmly.

He turned towards his family and said, "You need to relax. Some patients experience post-traumatic confusion after a concussion. Memory lapses, selective recall. Just give him time; we can’t force any details on him right now to avoid worsening the situation."

Victoria was silent, but her eyes spoke confusion and disgust. Eleanor tapped her soothingly and beckoned to her to follow her. As they walked down the corridor, Eleanor whispered, “I understand how difficult this is for me. It is even harder for me too, but you just have to play along like the doctor advised.”

Victoria turned sharply. “You mean act like I am someone I don’t even know if she is a ghost of an animal?”

“Please, it is only temporary. We almost lost him. If we force the truth on him, it could affect his recovery.” Eleanor pleaded.

Victoria’s look spoke nothing but disdain. “So you want me to pretend to be his mistress? Oh, I see, you know about the affair because you don’t look surprised to me.”

With a tightened face, Eleanor responded, “I am certain he is not having any affair with that girl, but he once adored her. Maybe that memory is a succor to him, and it will help him heal,” she said when Victoria interrupted.

“Or maybe you just can’t stand the fact that your perfect son may mess up your perfect arrangement.”

Eleanor gave no response, but her look speaks volumes.

When Victoria and Eleanor returned to the room, Davis' eyes sparkled as he muttered, "Annabel, you came," and reached out his hands to Victoria.

Williams looked in the direction of his mother, who seemed as shocked as he was, and Victoria forced a smile on her face as he held her hands and responded.

“Yes, I am here.”

He smiled and closed his eyes while Eleanor whispered to Victoria, “Please, just for a while.”

For years, Davis Cole had been in a loveless marriage. At first, he felt obligated to do it. A part of him was convinced that it was a necessary evil. But, it only took a few months into the marriage to realize that the price he paid was far more than the prize. The same prize he really couldn’t boast of. The man whose dying wish led him into the marriage to restore his collapsing business has long gone, and the business empire itself is crashing by the day.

Once, he asked his brother about ‘Cole Industries’. Eleanor walks in excited that he is gradually regaining his memory; other times he seems like he couldn’t remember his own name.

But when he is left alone in the night, he stares at the ceiling thinking of Annabel Rhodes. The woman who had defined love for him in a way he can’t seem to find in another. She was his safe place, the only time he didn’t feel like an heir or a businessman.

His mind travels to her echoing laughter at her old studio, how she touched him, and gets him to stay in the moment when he was worried about what the future holds for him as heir to Cole Industries. She was nothing like Victoria. She was honest and sweet.

The thought of the last time they saw flashed through his mind. The last argument they had before he left quietly. It wasn’t the first time they had such, but Annabel never imagined it was the last he would hear from him.

He closed his eyes and whispered her name, ‘Annabel,’ when a nurse who had walked in to check his drip said softly, “She must be someone special.”

It’s been five days, and Eleanor has successfully convinced Victoria to continue the charade. The doctor also expressed some concern but consented to the arrangement for emotional stability.

Victoria came in the morning with a bouquet of lilies, but unknown to her, it was Annabel’s favorite, and Davis would send it to her at least once a week, especially when she had a hectic week.

"Good morning," she said as Davis turned his head towards her, "Annabel. You came back," he muttered and smiled softly.

For a moment, she wanted to correct him. A part of her wanted to end the drama, but she couldn’t get Eleanor’s plea out of her mind. Besides, she had also thought maybe it could rekindle their fire if he believed she was the woman he desired.

But she couldn’t wave off the thought of the possible repercussions of the deception.

When he was finally moved from the intensive care to a private room, his family were relieved.

“He is improving physically but mentally, it seems he is still not remembering everything, or he is choosing what to remember,” said the doctor.

Eleanor sighs, "At least he is improving. Do whatever it takes, please."

“Will certainly do,” he responded.

As the day gave way to the night, Victoria sat beside him in silence as he slept peacefully, but in his sleep, he whispered her name repeatedly, "Annabel"

She struggled to hold back the tears stored in her socket, but couldn’t for long as they slipped down her cheeks.

Little did Davis know that what began as a lie would soon unlock many secrets.

And somewhere in the city, Annabel worked in her studio, unaware that the past she had buried would crawl back into her life and change everything.