Chapter 5 - Awakening to Amnesia and Lies
The morning sun cast long,
bruised shadows across the private recovery suite on the fourth floor of the hospital.
Ethan’s eyes fluttered open slowly,
the heavy lids struggling against the glare of the hospital lights as a low groan escaped his cracked lips.
I stood silently in the corner of the room,
half-hidden in the shadows cast by the window blinds,
watching him wake up from the wreckage of his own deceit.
His head was wrapped in white gauze,
and a heavy orthopedic cast encased his shattered right leg,
but his chest rose and fell with steady,
autonomous breaths.
'Ethan?' a soft,
trembling voice broke the heavy silence.
Mia stepped forward from the visitor's chair by the window,
her face lighting up with a mixture of immense relief and overwhelming anxiety.
Ethan turned his head slowly toward her,
his brow furrowing in deep confusion as his hazy eyes scanned the sterile room,
the medical equipment,
and finally the young woman standing beside his bed.
'Who.
.
.
who are you?' he whispered,
his voice raspy and thin like dry paper scraping across asphalt.
Mia froze,
her smile instantly dissolving into a mask of pure terror.
'Ethan,
stop joking,
' she pleaded,
reaching out to grasp his uninjured hand.
'It's me.
Mia.
Your girlfriend.
The mother of your child.
' Ethan pulled his hand away sharply,
his eyes darting frantically around the room until they finally landed on me standing quietly in the dark corner.
Recognition flickered briefly in his pupils,
followed instantly by a wave of cold,
calculated panic.
'Claire?' he rasped,
his voice cracking.
'Honey.
.
.
what is going on? Why am I here?' I stepped out of the shadows,
walking slowly toward the bed with the clear plastic evidence bag swinging lightly from my fingertips.
The silence in the room grew so profound that the rhythmic ticking of the wall clock sounded like a sledgehammer hitting an anvil.
'Good morning,
Ethan,
' I said,
my voice devoid of any warmth,
carrying the clinical detachment of a coroner inspecting a cadaver.
'You were brought into the emergency department last night after a severe motor vehicle collision.
' Ethan blinked rapidly,
his hand rising to touch the white gauze wrapped around his forehead.
'A crash.
.
.
I remember driving home from the office downtown.
.
.
the rain was blinding.
.
.
and then nothing.
' 'Right,
' I replied,
holding up the clear plastic bag so the two identical leather wallets glided against the plastic.
'You were driving home from the office.
But tell me,
Ethan—which office? The one downtown where your corporate desk is located,
or the one near the suburban subdivision where Mia and your unborn child live?' Ethan’s face drained of what little color it had retained,
his lips parting in a silent gasp as the full weight of his catastrophic exposure crashed down upon him.
He looked from me to Mia,
whose eyes were now burning with a sudden,
furious realization of betrayal.
'You lied to her too,
' Mia whispered,
her voice dropping into a register of deadly,
venomous calm.
'You told her we were separated.
You told me she was divorcing you.
It was all a lie,
wasn't it? Every single word?' Ethan tried to sit up,
groaning in agony as the fractured bones in his leg and his bruised abdomen protested violently against the movement.
'Mia,
wait.
.
.
let me explain,
' he stammered,
panic flooding his voice as he realized his dual empire of deception had collapsed into ruins in a single night.
'It’s not what you think.
.
.
I can explain everything.
' 'Save your breath for the pulmonary specialist,
Ethan,
' I interrupted,
tossing the bag of wallets onto the metal tray table across his bed with a sharp clatter.
'You have plenty of time to practice your alibis while you recover.
Because as of right now,
you are homeless,
you are single,
May you like
and you are entirely on your own.
'
