Untitled Episode
1339 Words
The morning after Andrew woke up felt unreal.
The hospital room was bright, too bright, the sunlight pouring through the curtains and landing across his eyes like a spotlight. He blinked slowly, taking in the unfamiliar space around him. The machines beside him, the tubes in his arm, the smell of disinfectant… none of it made sense.
He turned his head and saw Vivian watching him from a chair beside the bed. Her back was straight, her hands folded neatly on her lap, yet her eyes betrayed exhaustion and fear.
“Good morning,” she said softly.
Andrew stared at her for a long moment. “Are you really my mother?”
Vivian forced a smile. “Yes, Andrew. I am.”
He looked down at his hands, frowning. “I do not remember anything.”
“That is fine,” she said quickly. “It will return with time. All you need to do now is focus on getting stronger.”
A knock sounded at the door before Andrew could respond. A nurse entered with a chart, smiling politely.
“Mr Parker, we need to run a few tests today to check your reflexes and coordination. Nothing painful.”
Andrew nodded silently, still observing her like everything was new. His movements were slow and uncertain, like a man learning to control his body again.
When the nurse stepped out, Andrew turned to Vivian. “Was I… was I a good person?”
Vivian hesitated.
She thought of the arrogant man her son had been. The coldness. The women. The recklessness. The emptiness he carried. She remembered the countless nights he returned home drunk, angry, pushing everyone away.
She remembered the mistakes that molded him into someone she barely recognized.
“No matter who you were,” she said finally, “what matters is who you will become.”
Andrew frowned, confused but accepting.
Vivian reached out and smoothed his hair. “You will not be alone. I will help you remember things slowly. We will take it one step at a time.”
Andrew nodded weakly.
But somewhere deep in his mind, a nagging emptiness lingered. A hollow ache, like a missing piece he could not name.
By afternoon, Vivian met with Andrew’s medical team. They explained that his amnesia was a result of severe trauma and that forcing memories could cause more harm.
Vivian nodded calmly, but her mind had already begun reshaping his future.
Andrew would not remember his old life.
He would not remember the women.
He would not remember the recklessness.
He would not remember the girl from that night.
He would not remember the shame she brought to her gate.
She would protect him from all of it.
When she returned to his room, Andrew was sitting upright, staring at his hands again.
“These do not feel like mine,” he murmured.
Vivian stopped in the doorway, watching him. “Your body remembers faster than your mind. But you will improve.”
He looked up at her. “Who was I? Before all this?”
“You were successful,” Vivian said softly. “Driven. Focused. You ran our company. You were respected.”
Andrew stared at her, trying to search for something familiar in her voice.
“But you were also alone,” she continued, her voice cracking slightly. “Too alone.”
Andrew absorbed her words quietly. “Did I have friends?”
Vivian stiffened. One face came to mind—Gary.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “One in particular. Gary Miller.”
Andrew tilted his head. “Gary…”
“He will visit soon,” Vivian said. “But not today. You are too weak.”
She didn’t want Gary anywhere near him yet. Gary knew too much. Gary remembered everything. Gary could ruin everything.
There were too many truths that needed burying.
Meanwhile, in a small part of the city, Lina Lux sat on a wooden bench outside a small local clinic. She had just finished cleaning the floors as part of her new job, and her back ached with exhaustion. Her stomach had grown slightly, a small curve beneath her dress, but she hid it carefully.
Every morning, she felt the same nausea, the same wave of fear each time her mind drifted to the man responsible for her pregnancy.
He was somewhere out there. Alive. Breathing. Living his life while hers had crumbled.
Lina wiped the sweat from her forehead and picked up her bag. The day was long, but she welcomed the work. Work distracted her from thinking too much.
As she walked past the small stalls on her street, she saw two women whispering and pointing at her belly. Lina hugged her bag close and walked faster.
She wanted to move away from this area soon. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere safer. Somewhere her child would not be judged.
But she needed money for that.
Money she didn’t have.
She reached home and sat on her bed, staring at the faded ceiling. Her hand drifted over her stomach.
“Little one,” she whispered, “I do not know how I will take care of you, but I promise I will try.”
Her eyes stung.
She had no mother.
No support.
No father for her child.
Just a memory—a memory she wished she could erase.
But fate had never been done with her.
Her path was already bending back toward the man she thought she’d never see again.
Back at the hospital, Andrew tried to stand for the first time since waking. His legs trembled. His body felt heavy. A nurse held his arm, guiding him slowly around the room.
Vivian watched anxiously but kept a strong face.
“You are improving,” she said.
“It feels strange,” Andrew murmured. “Like I am walking in another man’s body.”
“You just need time.” Vivian turned to the nurse. “He must not strain himself.”
The nurse nodded.
When they finished, Andrew sank into the chair by the window, staring out at the sky. He watched birds fly across the horizon. Watched cars move below. Watched people walking freely.
“Mother,” he said quietly.
“Yes, Andrew?”
“Did I ever… fall in love?”
Vivian froze.
The question stabbed her.
Her son, who had never cared for any woman except when it benefitted him, now looked at her with innocent, childlike eyes.
She answered without hesitation. “No, Andrew. You did not.”
He nodded slowly. “I feel like… like something is missing.”
Vivian forced a calm breath. “Trauma can make you feel that way. Do not think too much.”
But Andrew kept staring at the sky as if searching for something far beyond it.
A shadow in his memory.
A voice he almost recognized.
A pair of sad eyes.
A hand trembling in the dark.
A soft whisper.
Sometimes he felt like crying without knowing why.
A sound at the door pulled him back.
The doctor walked in with a clipboard. “Tomorrow morning, we will try memory stimulation exercises.”
Vivian stiffened.
She did not want his memories back.
Not the drinking.
Not the recklessness.
Not the sin.
Not the girl.
But she smiled politely. “We appreciate your service, doctor.”
When he left, Andrew sighed. “Maybe this will help.”
Vivian placed a hand on his shoulder. “Whatever happens, do not fear. I am here.”
Andrew managed a small smile. “Thank you… Mother.”
Vivian’s eyes softened. “Rest.”
She watched him close his eyes, and as soon as his breathing slowed, she stepped outside and pulled out her phone.
Her voice hardened.
“Gary… we need to talk.”
Far away, Lina opened the window, letting the evening breeze touch her face.
She didn’t know why, but her heart tightened suddenly, as if her soul recognized something shifting far away.
As if someone she once knew was awakening again.
- Writer
