Antonio - Ashlee Price Page 0,18

it. Even the police didn't seem to know anything. Mitch took me to the next town to ask for the help of his friend, a sergeant, but he couldn't pull up any information either. Mitch went to the nearby hospitals, too, to look for the woman who brought me to Summerset and to inquire if there were any other burn victims at that time, but that also yielded no results. It was almost as if the fire never happened.

Desperate, I patiently scoured social media for the profiles of people named Antonio - hundreds, since I didn't have a last name. None of them seemed remotely like me.

Finally, Mitch suggested I go through therapy. I went. I saw a cognitive specialist five times. Each time, she tried something else. Nothing worked. Every time I felt like I was on the brink of remembering something, I'd just stumble back. It's like reaching for something on a top shelf. Just when you're about to reach it, the ladder you're perched on disappears and you fall.

I felt trapped in a maze. No matter which route I took, I just kept running into one dead end after another. So I stopped. I told Mitch and Abby not to waste any more time and money. I told them I'd just wait for my memories to return.

They haven't. Sometimes, I get flashbacks and vivid dreams, pieces of the puzzle I once was. I write them down as soon as I can and try to make sense of them, but I can't. All I can come up with are theories with no way to confirm them.

It is a shame.

Yet I taught myself to look on the bright side, to be grateful for my new home and family, to make the most of the new opportunities I'd been given. I made friends. I treated Mitch and Abby like my own parents. I studied and became a doctor. I've made a place for myself here in Summerset. I finally feel like I belong here.

Or so I thought. But there's an uneasiness inside me that won't go away. There's a hole in my chest that won't be filled. There's a voice in my head saying I don't belong anywhere and never will. And since yesterday, since Triss arrived, it's grown louder. Is it because her presence, her circumstances remind me of how I used to be?

My leg collides with the back of the couch, bringing my thoughts to an end. I rub it as I make my way to the front door.

Outside, Sally seems to be having a chat with the woman who lives next door, Irene. Her husband, Dave, on the other hand, is talking to Ned, whose presence slightly puzzles me. What is he doing here again?

"Hey." Ned waves at me and comes over. "Is John alright?"

"He's getting better," I answer. "You on patrol?"

"Yup. Everything seems fine. Even Otto and his gang have been quiet for a while now."

"That's good."

I can't count the number of times I've treated those guys for injuries from fights and overdoses. If they're behaving, that's good news for me.

"How's the woman with the baby?" Ned asks me.

"Her name is Triss," I inform him.

"Triss," he repeats. "Last name?"

I shake my head because I haven't asked. I haven't asked her for any personal details, actually, because I don't see the point. Nor do I want to risk scaring her away.

"She was better when I left. She'll be fine. Her baby, too."

"And they'll be staying with you?"

I hear the hint of disapproval in Ned's voice.

"That's not a crime, is it?" I ask him.

He lets out a deep sigh and scratches the back of his head. "I was hoping you were joking when you said you were going to take them in."

My eyebrows furrow. "Since when do I tell jokes?"

"Right." He lowers his arm to anchor his hand on his hip. "Anyway, are you sure about this? You don't know anything about this woman. What if she steals from you or burns the house down? Worse, what if she turns out to be some psychopath and tries to kill you?"

"Wow," I say sarcastically. "I didn't know you were that bored."

He frowns.

"I already told you the woman's harmless," I answer his question.

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Ironically, even though I have no clue who I really am or what kind of person I used to be, I've proven to be very good at judging other people's characters.

"Even so, I still don't think this is a good idea," Ned tells