Chapter 5
1/6
It was day six of my hospital stay when Harris finally texted me.
I had him saved in my phone as “Most Trusted Person,” so when he sent me an address, I didn’t think twice. I threw on some clothes and headed straight there.
“Ms. Miller, remember me?” Harris’ voice was soft, his eyes looking at me with nothing but kindness.
My guard was completely down around him. “Sorry, but I don’t,” I admitted.
“That’s okay. I asked you to meet me today to fulfill a promise between us.” Harris handed me a card, and I stared at him, totally confused.
“This card contains all your savings from over the years. The plane ticket is for Harbor City. My promise is now fulfilled.” Harris stood up, fixing me with that gentle gaze of his. “Ms. Miller, I wish you an amazing life.”
I clutched the card and ticket tightly, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.
I never went back to the hospital–just took the ticket and money and bounced.
The hospital staff freaked out when they couldn’t find me. My
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parents and James turned the place upside down searching for me, but I was long gone.
Elizabeth panicked first. She did a lap around my hospital room and realized there wasn’t a single trace of me left. The room looked like nobody had ever been there.
She grabbed James‘ hand, her voice breaking as she asked, “How could this happen? Where did Feona go?”
James had no answers. All he could do was try to calm her down, putting on a brave face as he said, “Don’t worry. Feona’s going to be fine.”
But empty words wouldn’t cut it. Elizabeth didn’t trust a single thing coming out of James‘ mouth. She pushed his hand away and started frantically searching the hospital room, desperate to find any clue about where I might have gone.
In the middle of this chaos, Kevin remained eerily calm. He narrowed his eyes and declared with finality, “Stop looking. That ungrateful brat probably ran back home. She’s just a country hick who barely knows anyone in the city. Where else would she go?
“She must have realized her little sick act was busted. Now she’s
too embarrassed to face us.”
“Shut up!” Elizabeth snapped, tears welling in her eyes. “If Feona went home, the housekeeper would’ve called us by now. We haven’t heard a peep, which means she obviously didn’t go there!
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endures
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“She’s your daughter! Your own flesh and blood! You’re the one who dumped her in the countryside because you thought she was a burden. How dare you call her a hick!”
Kevin froze, completely thrown by Elizabeth’s sudden outburst. He couldn’t make sense of it.
“You were right there with me calling her a hick back then,” he shot back. “What’s with the crazy flip–flopping now? That girl’s always been wild. Now she’s even faking amnesia! As far as I’m concerned, she can be wherever she wants. If she drops dead somewhere, it’s not my problem!”
Elizabeth stared at Kevin in utter disbelief. She was about to tear into him when James suddenly called out, “Sir, ma’am! Come look at this!”
James had discovered a medical chart in the bedside drawer. Elizabeth rushed over and snatched it from him, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she flipped through the pages.
“Amnesia?” Her voice cracked. “When did Feona develop
amnesia…?”
The room fell silent. Elizabeth could barely speak, and Kevin’s expression transformed from contempt to shock as he stared at the black and white diagnosis clearly stating “confirmed case of amnesia“. For once, he had absolutely nothing to say.
He’d never actually considered I might have real amnesia. All those accusations, all that name–calling–it had come from a
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place of absolute certainty that I was faking it.
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Now, faced with the truth that I genuinely couldn’t remember, he was stunned into silence. I could practically see the heat rising in his cheeks as he remembered how convinced he’d been that I was just putting on an act.
The three of them wasted no time tracking down Harris, who’d been treating me. They practically burst into his office, desperate for answers.
“Dr. Clark, what’s happening to my daughter?” Elizabeth’s voice cracked as she spoke, her normally perfect hair coming loose after hours of running around. Her eyes were rimmed with red. “What exactly is this amnesia?”
She couldn’t even finish her sentence before breaking down completely.
Kevin and James stared at Harris with identical expressions of raw panic, silently begging for good news.
Harris looked at James with a complicated expression before shifting his gaze to my parents. He hesitated for what felt like forever before finally speaking up.
“Ms. Miller specifically asked me, before her memory loss, to keep her whereabouts hidden from you. Out of respect for my patient’s wishes, I can’t tell you where she’s gone.”
He took a deep breath before continuing, “About a month ago, Ms. Miller was diagnosed with severe hereditary amnesia.
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Without medication and consistent treatment, she would lose all her memories within seven days.”
My parents exchanged shocked glances the moment Harris finished speaking. “That can’t be right,” Kevin protested. “Neither of us has any memory issues. How could this possibly be hereditary?”
Harris answered calmly, “It’s what we call a recessive genetic trait. It skipped your generation.”
My parents looked like they’d been slapped. Kevin’s legs gave out, and if James hadn’t caught him, he would’ve collapsed right there on the hospital floor.
“Her grandmother has memory loss too? How is that even possible?” Kevin muttered, his voice barely audible.
He’d rarely visited his mom since she’d fallen ill, so he had no clue what she was actually suffering from.
Harris studied the three of them, taking in their shocked expressions before continuing, “The patient was actively
pursuing treatment, but about a week ago, she suddenly decided to stop altogether.”
“Why would she do that?” Kevin demanded, anxiety sharpening
his voice.
This time, Harris didn’t answer directly. Instead, he shifted his cool gaze toward James and said, “That’s something you might want to ask yourselves.”
Chapter 5
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