The first thing Lena remembered was dying.
Not even the accident.
Not the sound of metals crushing against metals.
Not the sound of the glass exploding around her.
She remembered only death.
She remembered the feeling of it.
The strange weightlessness in her body. The cold air against her face. The sensation of falling even though she couldn’t remember where exactly she was actually falling from.
And then she heard a voice
A man’s voice.
“Lena, look at me.”
She tried.
But she couldn’t.
“Please, stay awake.”
There was something desperate about his voice.
Something broken.
Then suddenly everything eventually went black.
Lena opened her eyes.
White ceilings.
That was the first thing she saw.
A perfectly white ceiling with a small fluorescent light buzzing above her.
She blinked once.
Twice.
Her throat felt like sandpaper.
She even tried moving her arm but immediately she actually regretted it.
Pain shot through her ribs.
A soft machine beside her began beeping faster.
“She’s awake.”
A woman’s voice.
Footsteps rushed towards her.
A nurse appeared above her, smiling with obvious relief.
“Can you hear me?”
Lena stared at her.
“Where am I?”
St. Mary’s Hospital.”
Hospital?
The words settled somewhere in her mind’ but it didn’t bring anything with it.
No memories.
No images.
No reason for why she was there.
“What happened?”
The nurse hesitated.
“You were in an accident.”
Lena frowned.
What accident?”
The nurse exchanged a glance with the doctor who had just entered the room.
And that was when Lena sensed that something was wrong.
People don’t look at you like that when everything is fine.
The doctor approached her slowly.
“I’m Dr. Morgan. You’ve been unconscious for six days.”
“Six..”
Her voice cracked.
“Six days?”
He nodded.
“You suffered a concussion, several fractures and some memory disruptions. We’re optimistic that your memory will gradually return.
Memory disruption.
Lena closed her eyes.
She tried to remember her name.
Nothing.
Her home.
Nothing.
Her parents.
Nothing.
Her friends.
Nothing.
The harder she tried to remember, the more her head hurt.
Then a face appeared in her head.
Dark hair.
Grey eyes.
A sharp jaw.
A hand reaching towards her through the darkness.
“Lena.”
Her eyes snapped open.
“There’s a man.”
The doctor looked at the nurse.
“What man?”
“I don’t know.”
Her heart began pounding.
“I don’t know who he is.”
The nurses expression changed.
“He hasn’t left the hospital since the day you were brought in.”
Lena swallowed.
“Who?”
Before anyone could answer, the door opened.
And he walked in.
He was tall.
Too tall.
Dressed completely in black, with dark hair that looked like he had run his fingers through it too many times. His face was calm, almost expressionless.
But his eyes weren’t.
His grey eyes locked onto hers.
And something inside Lena went cold.
He stopped walking.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then his lips parted.
“Lena.”
Her fingers frightened around the blanket.
She didn’t know him.
She was certain of that.
But the way he said her name made her feel as if she should.
As if she’d heard it from him a thousand times.
The doctor cleared his throat.
“Adrian, perhaps you should give her some time.”
Adrian didn’t look away from her.
“Does she remember anything?”
“No.”
Something flickered across his face.
Pain.
Then it disappeared.
He stepped closer.
Lena instinctively moved backwards.
He noticed.
I mean of course he noticed..
He stopped immediately.
“I’m Adrian.”
She stared at him.
“Do I know you?”
Silence.
The question seemed to hit him more than anything else that had happened already.
Finally, he nodded.
“Yes, you did.”
Lena frowned.
“Did?”
His jaw tightened.
“We were together.”
Her heart skipped.
Together?
She looked at the doctor.
The at the nurse.
Neither corrected him.
She looked back at Adrian.
“I don’t remember you.”
“I know.”
There was something terrifyingly quiet about the way he said it.
Lena studied his face.
“You said we were together.”
“We were.”
“For how long?”
“Two years.”
Two years.
She felt dizzy.
Two years of her life were missing.
Two years that apparently involved this stranger.
Adrian reached into his pocket.
He pulled out his phone.
“I can show you.”
He unlocked it and opened a photograph.
He turned the screen towards her and the. Lena froze.
It was her.
She was standing beside Adrian and smiling.
Actually smiling.
Her head rested against his shoulder.
His arm was wrapped around her waist.
They looked happy.
Comfortable.
In love.
She looked at the photograph again.
“I don’t remember this.”
Adrian’s expression didn’t change.
“You used to hate taking pictures.”
Lena looked at him sharply.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I knew you.”
The words made her uncomfortable.
Knew.
Past tense again.
She looked down at the photograph.
There was something else.
A bracelet around her wrist.
Thin silver chain.
A tiny black pendant.
She touched her wrist instinctively.
The bracelet wasn’t there.
“Where is this?”
“The bracelet, he asked?”
He went completely still.
Lena noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You know where it is.”
Adrian slipped his phone back into his pocket.
“You lost it.”
“When?”
“The night of the accident.”
Her stomach twisted.
“Do you know what happened?”
His eyes met hers.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
The room became silent.
Adrian looked at the doctor.
And then back at her.
“You weren’t alone.”
“Who was with me?”
His expression hardened.
“I don’t think you’re ready.”
“I’m asking you.”
“Lena.”
“Who was with me?”
Adrian took a breath.
“You were with me.”
She stared at him.
“Then why can’t I remember you?”
He didn’t answer.
And somehow, his silence frightened her more than any answer could have.
That night, Lena couldn’t sleep.
Rain tapped against the hospital window.
The room was dark, except for the faint glows from the machines.
She turned onto her side and stared at the clock.
2:17 A.M.
For some reasons, the time felt familiar.
Her eyes became heavy.
Then..
A sound.
A whisper.
“Lena.”
Her eyes opened.
Nobody was there.
She sat up slowly her heart racing.
The room was empty.
Then her phone vibrated.
She froze.
Her phone.
She hadn’t even known she’d had one.
It was lying on the bedside table.
A message appeared on the screen.
UNKOWN NUMBER.
Lena stared at it.
Don’t trust Adrian her breathing stopped.
Then a photograph appeared.
She opened it.
It was a picture of her.
Standing beside Adrian.
But this wasn’t the photograph he had shown her.
This picture had been taken at night.
Both of them looked terrified.
Behind them was a dark road.
And in the distance.
A car.
Her car.
Lena zoomed in.
There was something written across the windshield.
Three words.
YOU REMEMBERED WRONG.
Her hands began to shake.
Another message appeared.
You asked me to warn you.
Lena stared at the screen.
Warn me about what?
The reply came immediately.
About the boy you’re going to fall in love with again.
Her blood ran cold.
A final message appeared.
If you want to live this time, stay away from Adrian.
Lena dropped the phone.
And somewhere outside her hospital room.
Someone laughed..
