The whirlwind energy with which Reyona did things in the following days was a thing of marvel to her family.
Not just the pace at which she was getting everything done but the changes in her as well.
Though her amnesia was still a thing of concern for them all, the change in her behaviour was even more surprising to them.
Spontaneous actions were something that none of them could relate to Reyona before, but in the few days after they left Maxwell's place, they could see that there had been a significant change in Reyona's attitude.
Formerly, Reyona planned everything down to the last detail and hardly gave room for any off-the-cuff actions, but they could see that that had somehow changed.
For one, when Reyona was going through a file that her secretary had delivered to the house one day, Toria complained that she had been cooped up in the house since morning.
She accused Reyona of her intention to bore her to death with paperwork, and she declared, "Let's go shopping till we drop!"
Reyona did not answer her at first, as she marked up where she was working.
"Rey!" Toria had called again just to bother her.
But then Reyona, having pushed the folders aside, reached for the double walking canes she used at times instead of the crutches and said, "Okay, let's do it."
Toria was still gaping at her as Reyona went to her room to dress up.
Then Reyona had not only shopped with her without any complaint that day; she went ahead to get colourful clothes that amazed Toria, including evening gowns she had no intention of wearing anytime soon
Instances like this over the weeks made Toria's family call her doctor aside to ask if amnesia could cause attitude change as well.
"Not a thing I have encountered since I have started practising; no. If there is any attitude an amnesia patient is exhibiting, then it must have been there all along," the doctor had responded.
Still, they were not so sure.
Reyona had been like that all along? It was hard to believe for any of them.
Though her parents remembered how bright and lively she had been as a kid.
"But all that had changed," Carlisle said as his expression changed.
They both remembered when it changed and they looked at themselves as Gladys said, "She was never the same after." Tears formed in Gladys's eyes as she said "Carl, I think she never really got over our separation, and it affects..."
Reyona joined them where they were seated in the kitchen at that time and they quickly changed the conversation.
They haven't discussed it again since then.
Or at least if they did, it was not in Toria's presence.
She knew how their parents had always blamed themselves for the way things ended between them.
Toria couldn't imagine how hurtful that must have been for Reyona, especially with how messy things had ended, according to what her parents had told her.
Toria had been spared that pain as they gave birth to her after the divorce.
The tension between her dad and mom had reduced by then too, and they had both been present in her life until she went to school.
She knew it must have been disheartening for someone like Reyona. She wished her sister had not had to face such pain alone and could understand why Reyona had been very determined to make sure that her marriage never failed.
It was the reason why she had cut that bastard so much slack even before she discovered the cheating.
As much as Toria hated what led to the change of behaviour, she admitted to herself and her parents that she loved this new Reyona.
They don't talk about Reyona's changes in her presence, but when she was not there, it was all they could talk about.
"Did you see the way she..."
"I can't believe she..."
"I remember that I once asked her to do that with me and she said she would rather keel over first…"
Toria even joked. "Who knew that what one needed for a little habit revamp is amnesia?"
Her mother had chided her for not joking about something so devastating, yet even she did not deny that Reyona's amnesia seemed to have its benefits.
The energy with which she did everything amazed them as well.
She got in touch with the agent the same day they arrived at Sylby's house, and the doctor arrived just as the agent was leaving.
The doctor advised that she leave the splint on for a week longer, and he set her up with a chiropractor, who started her session with Reyona the next day.
She commissioned a health-related interior designer who converted a portion of Sylby's large living room into a training area where she exercised her legs with the use of walking sticks and the help of her chiropractor.
When her family complained that she was pushing herself too hard the first day they sat in during her session, she banished them from the living room for the duration of her exercise every day.
By the time the doctor removed the splints, her coordination was better, and the chiropractor commended her for being the most determined client she had ever had.
Even at that, she implored Reyona to take good care of herself by eating well and resting well too.
Advice that Reyona took to heart as she employed a nutritionist cook, who cooked up meals that were mostly for the quick healing of bones.
Reyona ate the meals with precision and such determination that Toria declared loudly that she might be becoming a health maniac.
The cook only came in to make the meals and left, just like the woman Reyona hired to clean.
Though she hired help, which was a surprise to her family, they could see that she was still not willing to share much of her space with people who were not family.
The same way she tackled her recovery was how she tackled her work.
She asked her employees to put her up to speed on what she could not remember.
After her exercise every morning; she would eat, dress up like she was going to work, and coop herself up in the dining room with whoever she chose to work with that day.
By lunchtime, she would join her family to eat. Whoever was around that day might join them if the latter chose, after which they would close for the day.
Reyona would spend some time with her mother, then she would go back to reading anything she had chosen for the evening just to catch up on things she had missed in general.
It was as if she were working with an internal clock.
Yet when Gladys worried that she might be doing all this to cover the pain of her divorce, Carlisle disagreed. "I don't think so. I think she is just so determined to not let the amnesia steal the past years from her the ways the marriage had done."
That evening, they were having a drink on one of the open terraces when they heard the sound of Reyona approaching.
The walking stick made her approach distinct.
She had jokingly called it "Her Reyona alarm."
"Master!" Toria said with an affected monk tone as she folded her hands together and bowed as she had seen them do in movies. "I see that you finally decided to check up on us mortals."
Reyona smiled as she said, "How are you doing, my sinful mortals? Have you chosen to accept the path of light yet?"
Their parents smiled as Toria said, "By path of light, if you meant staring at numbers upon numbers until my eyes bleed, no, I am not interested."
Reyona picked up Toria's drink and sipped. Then she drank more when her sister said, "Hey, that is mine! Get yours!"
She placed the empty goblet on the table as she asked. "Quick question, please. Who is Fiona? She seems to know that Ruth is dead, and she wants to meet me."
The silence that followed her question made her look from one of them to the other.
"Okay. I know that look," she said, folding her arms when she saw her sister trying to look everywhere but at her.
"Toria? Spill."