me. They were worried over me. I could see the fear in their eyes, and it made me feel sick.
I wanted to scream.
In my head, I was comforting myself that this was all wrong, that it was some sort of massive mistake, but everyone in front of me was saying otherwise. My parents had informed me that Elliot and I broke up; my dad said he had cancer and I could see that he was telling the truth based on his appearance. Boris Johnson was no longer the mayor of London, he was now the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Everything that I had heard – and seen – matched up with what everyone was telling me.
I felt like I was a stranger in my own body, in my own life, and I didn’t know who to believe because I couldn’t even believe myself. The reality I thought I was living was no longer my own. I felt lost. I needed Elliot, I needed to speak to him, but when I looked at Anderson – who was still speaking to my doctor – his words suddenly replayed in my head. He’d said I had made it clear years ago that I didn’t want to be near Elliot and that he had hurt me in some way. I was seemingly married to this man, so there had to be a reason why he would say that.
I was so confused. I didn’t know who or what to believe.
“Why is this happening to me?” I wept. “What’d I do to deserve this?”
Dad leaned down, careful to avoid the mess I’d made, and gently kissed my head. “Don’t do this to yourself. You want someone to blame, something that can make sense of all of this, but sometimes bad things just happen, sweetheart.”
I wiped my cheeks. “But this didn’t just happen, Dad. I’m not like this because I woke up one morning and just suddenly lost my memory. I was in an accident, an accident I know nothing about, you . . . you have to tell me what happened.”
My parents shared a look and I didn’t miss the expression of dread and worry that passed between them. I didn’t think I could handle any more surprises, but I needed to know what had happened to me. Having no memory of what I’d been through left me feeling naked and vulnerable.
“Please,” I pressed as my head fell back against my pillow. “I need to know why I’m lying in this bed with an entirely different life than what I think I have. I deserve to know, and you both should be the people to tell me. You’re my parents.”
“A car accident,” Mum suddenly said. “You were in a car accident.”
My eyes widened. “But I can’t drive . . . can I?”
“No, you can’t drive.” Dad scrubbed his face with his hands. “You were in the passenger seat of a taxi when the accident occurred. Black ice on the road caused the accident. The driver is fine.”
My head swam as I processed what my parents were saying. Questions seemed to pile on top of one another, but before I had a chance to ask one, another person ran into the room. A person who made my whole body respond with a jump.
“Elliot!”
My heart practically burst the second I clapped eyes on him, then an ache took root. My Elliot . . . he looked so different. To me, it felt like I had just seen him, but he wasn’t as I remembered him. His chocolate-brown hair that used to be neat all over was longer – shaggy atop of his head while tightly trimmed to the sides of his scalp. He had thick facial hair now and he seemed bulkier, but I wasn’t sure if it was weight he’d gained or muscle. He seemed so much bigger, his presence that of a grown man. He looked tired and just as shocked to see me as I was him, but what caught me off guard the most about him were his ocean-blue eyes.
They were no longer lit with a passion for life. They appeared dull, empty . . . dead.
It frightened me.
“Elliot,” I repeated. “Everything is so wrong.”
He took a step towards me but Anderson got in his way.
“She’s confused,” Anderson stated. “Don’t come in here and take advantage of my wife, McKenna. You know she doesn’t want you any more.”
I gasped, shocked to hear those words leave Anderson’s mouth.