Chapter 168 Chapter 168
“Right, we should all meet up soon to discuss this. They’ve been waiting for their revenge for a long time.”
Hope didn’t know what exactly they were talking about and didn’t really listen since she was busy sending a text to Naomi. She had agreed to keep her friend updated on the situation. So far, not much had changed, though. Hope was worried about Valerie, and she also felt guilty about the situation, wishing she had made more of an effort to stop them from entering the house. Even though she wasn’t a true witch yet, she knew many things about supernatural beings, most importantly that it was better to stay away from them.
“Please wake up soon,” she whispered, clutching her phone as she gazed at Valerie’s ashen face.
—
When she regained consciousness, Valerie felt a painful throbbing in her entire body. Her back and her head hurt the most. Groaning, she attempted to remember what had happened, but she couldn’t explain where the pain came from or where she currently was. She heard soft voices and noticed the typical smell of a hospital surrounding her; a mix between sanitizer and cleaning agent.
It made her panic. Had she been in an accident? Has something bad happened to her? The lack of knowledge about the situation freaked her out and prompted her to open her heavy eyelids. At first, she didn’t see much since her eyes couldn’t handle the brightness of the hospital room yet, but eventually, they got used to it. She lay in a bed, wearing a hospital gown.
When she raised her head, she spotted three people who stared at her as if she had just risen from the dead. A few seconds ticked by, and nobody said anything, too surprised to give a reaction. One of them managed to get over his shock quicker than the others and hurried to her bedside, taking her cold hand. She gazed into his blue eyes, and the first thought that struck her was how gorgeous they were.
“Valerie, you’re awake.” he said, visibly relieved. He heaved a sigh, and his shoulders sank. “I’ve been waiting an eternity for you to wake up. It’s noon already.”
She studied him for another moment without answering, looking at his white hair and the chain that stretched over his nose. Weird. Instinctively, she pulled her hand away from his grasp and rested it on her stomach. He froze, gazing at her in stunned silence. Maybe he looked a bit hurt, but it was hard to tell. Unsure what to do, Valerie looked at her friends Hope and Thorne instead, but they were at a loss for words.
“I understand if you’re mad at me, and I want you to know that I’m very sorry about what happened,” the white-haired man said, regaining her attention. She frowned deeply.
“Who even are you?” she countered, more than a little upset. She didn’t understand why Thorne and Hope would let a stranger enter this room and stand so close to her. A heavy silence fell over the room. The man now looked uncomfortable and distraught at the same time. He furrowed his brows, curled his hands into fists.
“Why would you ask that?” he finally replied. His voice was different from before, glazed with sadness.
“What do you mean?” she said, irritated. “I’ve never seen you before. Why are you here? It’s creeping me out, to be honest.”
“Are you joking?” he asked helplessly. “This isn’t funny, it really isn’t.”
“Would you please leave?” she countered, losing her cool quickly. She didn’t trust this person one bit, and that he was so close made her uncomfortable. She looked at Thorne for help, and thankfully, he reacted immediately.
“Why don’t we tell the nurse you woke up, Valerie? A doctor should speak to you soon,” Thorne said, taking the stranger’s wrist and pulling him out of the room. Hope followed them, sending Valerie a smile over her shoulder. It didn’t reach her eyes.
“We’re back in a moment,” she said, and then they were gone.
As soon as the door was closed behind them, Maxwell lost his nerves. He ran his hand through his hair, cursing under his breath. “Fuck, this can’t happen,” he muttered. “This has to be a cruel joke. Why doesn’t she remember me?”
Thorne didn’t answer, quickly hurrying after the next nurse he saw and informing her that Valerie was awake. Consequently, the nurse sent one of the doctors to the hospital room, but he asked them to wait outside.
Maxwell’s emotions were a wild vortex, a mix between anger and desperation. However, he tried his best to keep them under control. After all, she was able to feel them too, and if she really didn’t remember him, then she wouldn’t remember their bond and anything connected to it either. He didn’t want to make things harder for her than they already were.
“It’s a fucking nightmare,” he said, frustratedly crossing his arms. “What did I do to deserve this?”
“Calm down and wait. Maybe it’s not as bad as it seems,” Thorne said.
“Easy for you to say. She didn’t forget you,” Maxwell replied and threw him an accusing glare.
“Perhaps she injured her head when you fought the blood mage,” Thorne sighed. “Wait for what the doctor will tell us.”
Many minutes passed. To the three of them, it felt like the wait was endless. The longer it held on, the more restless they became. Maxwell leaned against the wall, scowling deeply, while Hope attempted to distract herself with her phone. Thorne was the most composed of them, but even he grew increasingly impatient.
After a grueling thirty minutes, the door finally opened, and the doctor returned. His expression was serious. It was apparent that something was up.
“Are you Valerie’s friends?” he asked right away, and they answered yes, eager to hear an update on the situation.
“I spoke to her just now, and the issue is clear to me. She is suffering from dissociative amnesia. This type of memory loss is typically caused by overwhelming stress or trauma. While she remembers her name and who she is, all recent memories are gone,” the doctor said, taking a look at his notes. “Fortunately, this condition is only temporary. In other cases of dissociative amnesia, patients have recovered all of their memories either on their own or through specific triggers and therapy.”