The wife he forgot, the enemy he married

Chapter8

Angel’s POV

The door closes, and the silence Kathie leaves behind is heavier than her words. I don’t move for a long time, not because I’m shocked or scared, but because I’m remembering the hospital. The way Bradely’s fingers tightened around mine before he even opened his eyes.

He used to sleep like that, holding on. Like he was afraid I would disappear. And then he woke up, and i became the strange woman in his life overnight. I sink into the chair slowly.

Three months until he marries her, I could stop it, that’s the terrifying part, just one conversation of truth, one photograph. I still have everything, the ring receipt, the private engagement video he insisted we never post, the messages, the plans. I could walk into his office tomorrow and say

“You proposed to me.”

“You were trying to protect me.”

“You were scared of something.”

But I won’t, because i don’t even know the enemy, i am fighting against, I don’t know what he was protecting me from, and that scares me more than losing him. That night, the rain hasn’t left my mind in six months. We were arguing, not about love but danger.

“You don’t understand,” he had said, “If they find out”

“Find out what?” I had asked. He never finished the conversation, before he left for his meeting, and never came back to me. The doctors called it an accident. Bradley called it bad luck.

But before that night, he had been tense, watching over his shoulder, moving meetings, cancelling trips, changing routes home.

And he never told me why. He only said, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Now he doesn’t remember saying that. And I don’t know who “they” were.

If I tell him everything now, If I remind him, what if whoever he was protecting me from realizes he remembers? What if the accident wasn’t random? What if forgetting… is what kept us safe? I wrap my arms around myself. Loving him is one thing, risking his life again is another.

My phone buzzes, It’s him. I stare at it for a full five seconds before answering.

“Hello sir?” Silence.

Then his voice. “I shouldn’t have left like that.”

“You didn’t owe me anything, and you really don’t have to apologize for your actions. I am not your fiancée sir.”

“That’s not how it feels.” My chest tightens.

“Are you home sir?” I ask.

“Yes.” A pause.

“She’s asleep.” The detail shouldn’t hurt, but it does.

“I keep replaying tonight,” he says.

“You should stop now sir .”

“I can’t.” Silence settles between us.

“Angel,” he says quietly, “why didn’t you fight for me?”

The question steals my breath.

“What?” “In the hospital,” he continues. “If what you said is true… why didn’t you insist?”

Because you were terrified, because you didn’t remember me, because I saw something in Kathie’s eyes that told me she wouldn’t lose quietly, because I was scared of what you had been trying to shield me from.

I wanted to scream all of these, but i just couldn’t

“I was probably emotional at that point so i didn’t know what i was saying” I say carefully.

“That’s not the full answer.”

“I have said everything.”

“Tell me the truth Angel?” I close my eyes.

“You were already fighting something,” I whisper.

“What does that mean?”

“You were stressed before the accident.”

He goes quiet. “Stressed how?”

“You were cautious, paranoid almost.”

“That doesn’t sound like me.”

“It wasn’t like you,” I agree.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” That part is true.

I don’t. “You’re hiding something,” he says.

“Yes.”

The honesty surprises him.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know what it will trigger.”

“Trigger?”

“Memories. Or worse.”

“Worse than not knowing who I loved?”

The question cuts deep.

“I would rather you marry her safely,” I say softly, “

“What are you so afraid of Angel,” he says slowly.

“I don’t know.”

“And that’s enough for you to risk losing me?” My voice trembles despite myself.

“If losing you means you stay alive… yes.” The words sit between us.

“You don’t get to decide that alone,” he says.

“I’m not deciding. I’m waiting.”

“For what?”

“For you.” He exhales sharply.

“You’re asking me to fall for you without proof.”

“I’m asking you to trust your instincts.”

“And what if my instinct is wrong?”

Silence.

Then softer, he says “You sound sure.”

“I am.”

Another pause.

“Three months,” he says quietly.

The reminder aches. “Yes.”

“If I walk down that aisle,” he continues, “and I still feel this… what then?”

My throat tightens. “Then I’ll disappear.”

The words hurt, but they’re true. “If you marry her and your heart doesn’t settle,” I continue, “I won’t stay and complicate your life.”

“And if I remember before then?” My pulse stutters.

“Then we’ll deal with it.”

“Deal with it how?”

“Carefully.”

He laughs softly, but there’s no humour in it.

“You’re not afraid of losing me,” he says.

“I am not sure that’s an appropriate question to ask your assistant,” I reply.

Silence again.

“you know i don’t believe you right?,” he says slowly.

“I know.”

“But when you said you’d rather lose me than endanger me…” His voice lowers. “That felt real.”

Because it is. “Sir,” I whisper, “I don’t want to steal you from your fiancée.”

“Can you do away with the sir in conversations like this, we are not at work Angel. And you’re not.”

“I don’t want to manipulate you with half truths.”

“You’re not.”

“I don’t want you to take decisions you are not sure about.”

“I’m not confused about wanting to see you,” he says.

That confession sends a quiet warmth through me, dangerous warmth.

“You shouldn’t,” I reply gently.

“Probably.” Neither of us hangs up.

“You said I was protecting you,” he says finally.

“Yes.”

“If that’s true… then maybe remembering you is part of that.” The thought makes my heart race.

Or maybe it’s exactly what puts him back in danger. “I don’t need you to remember everything,” I say carefully.

“What do you need?”

“Just remember yourself.”

A pause. “And if myself leads back to you?”

I close my eyes. “Then I’ll be here.”

“Goodnight, Angel.”

“Goodnight… Sir.”

The call ends, I sit in the dark long after.

Three months to loosing him for life, and I’m gambling everything on instinct. On the belief that love doesn’t disappear with memory. On the hope that whatever he was shielding me from is still dormant.

And if I’m wrong, If the accident wasn’t random, If someone out there knows he’s getting closer to remembering, then keeping the past buried might not save him.

It might only delay the explosion.