Chapter 73 073
EMILY
Ry… Ryan… you can’t… you can’t remember me?
The words left my mouth in a broken whisper, but they sounded too loud in the quiet hospital room. Too desperate. Too sharp. They echoed in my own ears like a glass shattering over and over again.
Ryan stared at me.
Not the way he used to. Not with that warm spark in his blue eyes that always softened when he saw me. Not with the familiar smile that used to tug at the corner of his mouth like he knew something about me that the rest of the world didn’t.
He stared at me the way you look at someone you’ve never met before.
Confused.
Polite.
Careful.
Like he was trying to remember a name that wasn’t there.
My chest tightened so badly it hurt to breathe.
“I… I’m sorry,” he said slowly, voice hoarse from the tubes and whatever medication they had pumped into him. “Should I?”
That question broke something inside me.
Tears blurred my vision so fast I had to blink just to keep him in focus.
“It’s me,” I said quickly, my voice trembling. I shook my head like that might somehow fix it. “Ryan, it’s me. Your Emily.”
For one second I thought I saw recognition flicker across his face.
But it disappeared just as quickly.
His brows pulled together under the bandage wrapped around his head.
“Emily?” he repeated carefully, testing the name like it was unfamiliar on his tongue.
My heart dropped.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes, Ryan. Your Emily.”
Behind him, I heard the soft, deliberate sound of someone clearing their throat.
I knew that sound.
I turned slowly.
Cecilia stood near the foot of the bed, her posture straight and elegant like she was attending a charity gala instead of standing in a hospital recovery room. One hand rested lightly on her designer purse. Miranda hovered behind her, small and quiet, her eyes moving nervously around the room.
Cecilia was looking at one of the doctors.
“Can you page security?” she said calmly.
For a moment I thought I had heard wrong.
My head turned slowly back toward her.
“What?”
The word came out as a quiet laugh. The kind that bubbles out when your brain refuses to believe what you just heard.
“Why?” I asked.
Cecilia didn’t look at me.
She kept her attention on the doctor.
“Why do you need security?” I asked again, louder this time. “So you can push me away completely?”
Still no answer.
My chest tightened with fury.
“So you can chase me out of his life?” I demanded.
That finally made her glance at me.
But she didn’t look angry.
She didn’t look guilty.
She just looked… patient.
Like someone waiting for an inevitable outcome.
Then she looked away again.
The dismissal hurt more than if she had screamed at me.
My throat burned.
Tears rushed down my face again as I turned back toward Ryan.
He was still staring at me, watching this whole exchange like he was observing strangers arguing on television.
He looked uncomfortable.
The doctor cleared his throat.
“Ma’am,” he said gently. “You need to excuse us.”
I shook my head immediately.
“No.”
My voice came out stronger than I expected.
“No,” I repeated. “No way I’m leaving.”
Ryan looked between us, confused.
“I think maybe we should—” he started.
But the doctor gave a small nod to someone behind me.
Before I could react, two nurses stepped forward.
Hands touched my arms.
Firm. Professional.
“Ma’am, we need you to step outside.”
“No!” I jerked away instinctively. “Leave me alone!”
One of them tried to guide me toward the door.
My panic exploded.
“Let go of me!” I shouted.
Ryan’s voice rose weakly from the bed. “Hey, what’s going on?”
But nobody answered him.
The nurses kept pulling.
I fought them, not violently but desperately, trying to twist out of their grip.
“I’m not leaving him!” I cried.
They dragged me toward the door anyway.
“Please,” I begged, my voice cracking. “Please, Ryan—”
But he was just staring at me.
Confused.
Lost.
The door opened behind me and suddenly I was in the hallway.
Then another voice cut through everything.
“Hey! Hey!”
Morgan.
She rushed toward us the second she saw what was happening.
“That’s my friend!” she snapped at the nurses. “Let her go!”
The nurses hesitated.
Morgan stepped between us, placing a protective arm around my shoulders.
“She’s not causing trouble,” Morgan said firmly. “She just found out her husband just had an accident.”
The nurses exchanged a quick look.
One of them nodded.
“Alright,” she said. “But she needs to stay calm.”
They released me.
The second their hands left my arms, my legs gave out.
Morgan caught me before I hit the floor.
And that was it.
The dam inside me shattered.
“He can’t remember,” I sobbed into her shoulder.
My entire body shook as the words spilled out again.
“Mo… he can’t remember me.”
I cried like a child. Loud, ugly sobs that tore through my chest.
Morgan held me tighter.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, rubbing my back in slow circles. “It’s okay, Em. Just breathe.”
But I couldn’t.
How do you breathe when the love of your life looks at you like you’re nobody?
Morgan slowly guided me down the hallway, away from the recovery room.
My feet barely moved on their own.
Everything felt numb except the ache in my chest.
Then footsteps sounded behind us.
Aaron.
He turned the corner just as Morgan helped me sit against the wall.
His eyes immediately went to Morgan.
She gave him a small nod.
Ryan was alive.
Aaron exhaled in relief.
Then his gaze shifted to me.
“What happened?” he asked quietly.
Morgan hesitated for half a second.
Then she said softly, “He can’t remember her.”
The words broke me all over again.
A sob tore out of my throat.
My body folded forward and I slid from the wall onto the floor.
Aaron cursed under his breath.
“Damn.”
Morgan crouched beside me, still rubbing my back as I cried.
Aaron ran a hand through his hair, pacing once down the hallway like he didn’t know what to do.
“I thought you said he was awake,” he muttered.
“He is,” Morgan replied.
“That’s not the problem.”
My crying didn’t stop.
It came in waves, each one stronger than the last.
My chest hurt.
My throat burned.
But the tears kept falling.
Morgan kept petting my back gently, whispering quiet reassurances I barely heard.
I felt hollow.
Like someone had scooped out my insides and left an empty shell behind.
Then I heard a familiar voice again.
Cold.
Sharp.
Satisfied.
“Well.”
Cecilia stepped into the hallway.
She looked composed, like none of this chaos had anything to do with her.
Her gaze landed on me sitting on the floor.
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
“Now you will finally leave my son’s life.”
The words hit like a slap.
But I couldn’t even react.
I didn’t have the strength.
She continued casually, like she was discussing the weather.
“And oh… about the custody.”
Morgan’s head snapped up.
Cecilia’s eyes gleamed.
“I’m going to fight for it now.”
She smirked.
Then she turned and walked away without another word.
Morgan exploded instantly.
“That evil witch,” she snapped under her breath. “I swear to God—”
Aaron muttered a curse too.
But their voices sounded distant.
Muted.
Like I was underwater.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak.
My mind replayed Ryan’s confused face again and again.
Who are you?
The question echoed through my head.
How…
How did this day spiral so fast.