1 - A Blank Canvas
Elora slowly opened her eyes to the sterile whiteness of a hospital room. She blinked to clear her hazy vision under the harsh hospital lights. Her head throbbed, and a wave of dizziness washed over her. She does a slow scan of the room, and her sights fall on a tall broad, male figure stretched out on the couch, engrossed on a laptop on his thigh. As if he sensed her stare, he looked up immediately and his grey eyes clashed with her green ones. He rushes over to her, a look of shock, surprise and joy on his handsome face.
“Elora, darling, you're awake. Can you hear me?” he asked his voice tinged with relief and affection.
“Where am I?” she replied in a hoarse voice.
“You're in the hospital, darling, you've been here for three months, you were involved in a car accident,” he replies with concern as he looms over her, grasping her hand gently.
“ I don't remember,” she replied, peering into his worried face. “Who are you?”
Cyrus is taken aback by shock and confusion at his wife's words. He looks into her eyes and she has a vacancy, blank look in her eyes and he feels anxious. His expression falters for a moment before he replies.
“I'm Cyrus, your husband,” he replies staring deeply into her eyes.
Husband? The word echoes in Elora’s mind that is just a blank canvas, but she cannot seem to remember him or any memories to go along with his claim.
“I don't remember you,” she replied feeling a pang of guilt at his disheartened and worried expression.
Cyrus presses the button above Elora's bed in a panicked state.
“I need a doctor here right now, my wife just woke up,” he says into the speaker and walks back to hold Elora's hand tenderly.
“Don't worry the doctor will be here soon,” he assures her calmly.
As if on cue, the door opens and the doctor walks into the room accompanied by a nurse. He checks her vital signs and the nurse takes down notes.
“Are you feeling any pains Mrs Walker?” the doctor asks.
“I have a splitting headache and I feel very dizzy,” Elora replies to the doctor slowly.
“That's okay, you’ve been in a coma for three months and have been under heavy medications in those months. Don't worry about the headache, I’ll have the nurse bring you something,” the doctor says with a soft pleasant smile.
He turns and walks up to Cyrus who stands at a corner of the room, his arms folded on his chest and tucked in his underarms, a pointed look on his face.
“What's wrong with my wife, doctor?“ Cyrus asks in a worried tone.
“I believe she's suffering from total amnesia as a result of the accident, but not to worry this is a temporary condition.”
Cyrus looks over at Elora, who is already watching him and the doctor.
“When will she regain her memories?” he asks still staring at her.
“There is no stipulated time with these things, we can't be sure. It could be anytime. Just talk to her about her past. Show her things or places that could jog her memory, but don't push it too much. It won't be good for her health.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Cyrus replies and the doctor leaves the room.
“The doctor says you have temporary amnesia as a result of the accident. But don't worry darling you will remember eventually, “he says tenderly.
Elora just stares at the handsome man before her who claims that he is married to her, but she has no memories of him. He is tall and well built, his rolled up sleeves draw attention to his toned arms. His beautiful brown hair looks messy like he has been running his hands through it. A five-clock stubble is prominent on his chiseled well-defined jawline.
“I already informed our parents, they will be here soon,” Cyrus's voice draws Elora out of her appraisal.
“ You don't know how worried I was over the last three months. I was almost going crazy with grief. Am so happy you are awake and back to me darling,” Cyrus confesses emotionally hovering over Elora, as he tenderly strokes her hair.
Elora looks up at Cyrus and nods slowly with a small smile on her face. She feels somewhat bad about not remembering the worried man who is her husband. Before she could process his words further, the door opened and two figures rushed into the room, their faces filled with concern.
Elise rushed to her daughter's bedside and looked her all over before gently gathering her head to her bosom. She gently wept and thanked the heavens for not taking Elora away from her too.
“Elora, baby, how are you doing? I am so happy you are awake. Your father and I almost had a heart attack from grief, “ Elise said, her voice trembling slightly.
“My baby, my little girl,” she sobs hysterically as she strokes Elora's hair tenderly.
Mr Trevor Weston stood beside his wife as she caressed their only surviving daughter, and he couldn't be any more grateful. It was traumatising losing their other daughter Lenore, but he couldn't put the gratitude he felt right now into words seeing Elora out of her coma. A tragic accident had claimed the life of his other twin daughter Lenore, but at least they still had Elora.
Elora studied them, their faces unfamiliar but comforting and felt a sudden connection with them. At this point, she had already gathered that her name was Elora.
“Who are you people?” she croaked out.
Cyrus winced from across the room where he critically watched the moving family reunion. He knew exactly how the elderly couple felt right now, he felt the same way when his wife opened her beautiful green eyes and stared at him blankly like a stranger.
Elora felt the woman tense and they both looked at her with shocked faces.
“We are your parents, dear,” Trevor replied while his wife nodded vigorously at his words.
“I'm afraid she has temporary amnesia. The doctor confirmed it. She doesn't remember anyone or anything including the accident,” Cyrus says.
The couple quickly turns around to Cyrus that even Elora thinks they might have whiplash. Elise is aghast at the news and slaps her hand on her mouth in shock before turning back to her daughter.
“When will she regain her memories?” Trevor asks his son-in-law.
“The doctor said there's no specific time but that she will eventually regain her memory,” Cyrus replies and Trevor nods slowly.
“Elora, dear, I know you don't remember this, but you were involved in an accident with your twin sister Lenore, but we lost her while you ended up here,” Trevor said in a voice thick with emotion and grief. He hated to think of his little girl below the earth but that was the reality.
Elora felt an inexplicable painful ache in her heart at the news. She felt her tears rush down her face. She couldn't remember the twin they talked about, but she felt the pain all the same. She felt a warm hand wipe her tears and looked up into her father's face.
“Don't worry, dear, everything will be fine,” he says tenderly to her.
The room slips into a brief silence almost as if the occupants of the room are remembering the late twin.
Mr Trevor and his wife stayed awhile and talked with Elora while feeding her some information, including showing her some pictures to jug her memory. By the time they left, Elora felt a deeper connection with the couple to comfortably call them mom and dad, despite her still missing memories.
“I'm happy you're beginning to warm up to your parents,” Cyrus said approaching her bedside slowly.
Elora felt herself getting nervous as she was once again left with Cyrus. She tried to recall something, anything about their life together but she kept coming up with nothing. Her mind raced, trying to grasp onto any shred of memory related to Cyrus but nothing came up. No image, no emotions, just a void where her husband's memories should have been. She bit her lip nervously as she looked up at him, sitting at her bedside.
“I'm really sorry I can't remember you,” she says quietly feeling a pang of guilt.
Cyrus looks at her for a few seconds and grabs her dainty hands and entwines them with his large warm ones.
“It's okay, honey, you've been through a lot. Your memories will come back eventually. We'll just take it one step at a time, the most important thing is that you're safe,“ he assures her caressing her hands.
“We'll get through this together darling.”
Before Elora can reply, the door opens and a woman walks into the room. Cyrus goes to greet her, dropping light pecks on her cheeks.
“Hello, mother,” he greets her reverently.
Elora studied the woman, her presence was imposing, her striking grey eyes piercing as she surveyed her condition. She could feel that this woman was not particularly fond of her.
Louise Walker looked at the young woman on the bed, and felt relieved that she got out of her coma when she did. She knew what she was about to do was heartless, but she had always been one to put her family first. It had always helped her make strong decisions and deal with distasteful situations such as this.
“How are you doing Elora?” she asked flatly in a voice devoid of warmth.
Elora blinked trying to gauge the cold woman before her. “I'm not sure,” she replied honestly.
“I can't remember anything,” she adds slowly, watching the woman to see her reaction.
“She has amnesia, Mom,” Cyrus says standing beside his mother.
Louise Walker is surprised by the news but steels herself from showing her emotions. She had to steer their previous agreement back on course. Her lips tightened slightly, before she continued, her tone businesslike.
“Before your accident, we had a conversation, Elora. About the future of the Walker family.”
Cyrus tensed up beside his mother, his heart beating faster. Surely she wasn't going to say what he thought she was.
“Mother, right now is not a good time to-”
Louise cut him off with a raise of her well-manicured finger.
Elora furrowed her brow confused, at what she meant– struggling to recall any such conversation.
“I don't remember,” she replies, feeling frustrated at her own inability to piece together her past.
“It's about the heir,” Mrs Walker states bluntly, her eyes never leaving Elora's face. “Cyrus needs to have an heir to ensure that our family legacy is not lost, and it's your duty as his wife to provide him with an heir.”
Elora's mind raced, trying to process the information.
“You want me to…to have a child?” she asked in surprise.