Whispers of a Forgotten Kiss
When Matteo told me she had opened her eyes, I felt my heart skip a beat.
But when he said she didn’t remember Alessandro, I knew nothing would ever be simple.
I walked quietly into the room.
And I saw her.
Lying there. Fragile. Lost. But awake.
Her eyes turned to me. And in that instant… something shifted.
She lifted herself slightly.
“Lorenzo?”
My throat tightened. A lump burned behind my eyes. But I smiled, softly.
“Hey, Jones.”
She let out a rough, strangled laugh.
“You haven’t changed.”
I moved closer, slowly. Sat on the edge of the bed.
She studied me, as if I were the only familiar thing in a blurred universe.
“I remember you. The last time. We were out… somewhere? A club? In Manhattan?”
I nodded.
“Yeah. A real nightmare getting you inside in that tight dress and twelve-centimeter heels.”
She smiled. Nostalgic. Almost sad.
“I… I remember a man. In the shadows. Watching me.”
She rubbed her temples.
“And then… nothing.”
I took her hand gently. She didn’t resist. Her skin was cold.
“What you lived through afterward, Hope… you don’t need to remember it right now. What matters is you’re here. Alive.”
“Lorenzo…”
Her eyes brimmed with confusion. With unshed tears.
“Who is this man… Alessandro? He looked… shattered. As if I was everything to him. But me… I don’t know him. Nothing. Not even a shiver.”
I pressed my lips together, swallowed the ache, then answered:
“He loves you, Hope. As you loved him. Maybe even stronger. In a way I’ve never seen you love before. But that… that will come back. Or maybe it won’t. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll rebuild it. Together.”
Her fingers trembled as they gripped mine.
“Tell me just one thing. Was I… was I happy?”
I looked at her. For a long time. Then I said:
“You were more alive than ever. Wild. Untamable. Fierce. And happy. But most of all… loved. By me. By him. By all of us. And that’s not a memory your mind will give you. That’s something your heart already knows.”
She closed her eyes. A single tear slipped down her cheek.
And this time, I didn’t catch it.
She needed to feel the absence, to one day feel love again.
I hadn’t gone back into the room since she woke up.
I couldn’t.
Seeing her alive but emptied of me was worse than death.
Then Lorenzo came. Grabbed my arm, wordless, pulling me into the hallway.
“She’ll come back.”
“She doesn’t remember me.”
“She doesn’t remember you yet.”
His gaze was steady, calm, but certain.
“The doctor was clear. It’s temporary. Two months in a coma leaves scars, but her brain is intact. Stable. We need to trigger her senses, Alessandro. Not her mind. Her body has healed. Her emotional memory is still there, buried. You need to help her awaken it.”
I stared at him, almost unable to speak.
“What do you want me to do? Kiss her until she remembers?”
He looked at me. For a long time. Then answered:
“Exactly. Remind her of the taste of your mouth, your scent on her skin, the weight of your stare, the gentleness of your hands. Memory will return through desire. Through shivers. Through what you two lived together. Make her fall in love with you again… through her nerves, not her mind.”
I stayed silent. Then exhaled with a bitter smile.
“You know it’ll break me if it doesn’t work, right?”
He clapped me on the back.
“And it’ll break you even more if you don’t try.”
I looked out the window. Leaves swayed in the wind.
A hospital I didn’t know. A city I didn’t recognize. A void I couldn’t fill.
And then, he entered.
Him. Alessandro.
I had forgotten his name almost instantly… but not the way my heart reacted when I saw him.
He came closer. Sat silently at the edge of the bed.
I looked at him.
“You want to help me remember, don’t you?”
He nodded slowly. His voice rough, low, cutting through me.
“I won’t lie. This is going to feel strange. For you. Maybe overwhelming. Maybe beautiful. But I’ll go slow.”
He leaned closer. His eyes locked on mine. His scent… something inside me tightened. A memory under my skin.
He lifted his hand. Brushed my cheek.
A shiver ran through me.
And then… his lips. Soft. Burning. Deep.
And for an instant, I knew.
I didn’t know where, or when, or how…
But I had kissed him before.
And I had loved it.
My heart raced. My hands trembled against the sheets. My mouth followed his without thinking.
When he pulled back, I was breathless.
“I… I don’t remember,” I whispered. “But… I want to do it again.”
He smiled. The kind of smile you never forget.
“We have all the time in the world, amore mio.”
And that night, for the first time since waking, Hope dreamed of him.
She had fallen asleep against me, slowly, her breathing soft, mouth parted, her fingers still resting on my chest like a memory.
I stroked her cheek. Watched her. Too long.
Then I rose. Quietly. Without a breath.
I wasn’t ready to wake her. Not yet. She needed time.
Me… I just needed to believe that the kiss we shared meant something to her too.
I left. My heart still anchored to that room.
Unaware of what she would face in my absence.