Memory Restored, Love Destroyed Chapter 08
The sharp cry of rejection came from Oliver, who grabbed my hand. “Mom, please! Don’t divorce Dad or stop loving me!
“I’ll do whatever you say and behave. Just don’t leave me behind.”
Jude’s reaction was just as violent.
“Divorce is off the table. I won’t agree to it,” he snapped. “You’re just experiencing a temporary memory loss. Once we get you to the hospital and start the right treatment, everything will go back to the way it was.”
“Please go to the hospital, Mom. Everything will be okay then,” Oliver pleaded through his tears.
I decided that I would do it just this once.
Jude took me to the hospital for a full series of tests and ended up with one conclusion-my condition came from a psychological issue. It was a post-traumatic stress disorder, or specifically, a textbook case of dissociative avoidance.
Rather than treatment, the patient was recommended to be distanced from sources of the trauma.
Jude argued loudly with his colleagues in his office and discarded his usual calm composure. Now, he looked utterly like an unhinged madman.
Watching him made my head hurt, so I turned and walked out of the hospital.
”
“I finally found you!”
I looked up to see Fredric pushing himself off the wall he had been leaning against before he began striding toward me.
“What are you doing at the hospital again? Is everything alright?” I asked.
As he chuckled lightly, his handsome features brightened up with joy.
“I’ve been waiting for you. When you were in the hospital with amnesia, I didn’t have your number and didn’t get the chance to ask the last time I saw you.
“I figured since you worked around hospitals, you’d probably show up again. So, I’ve been coming by every now and then to try my luck and hope to run into you.”
{“Oh? Does Isabel want to see me?” I asked, smiling as I pulled out my phone to exchange numbers with him.
He lowered his gaze and murmured, “She did, and I wanted to see you too.”
His voice was so soft that I barely caught it. “What?”
Fredric cleared his throat, and the tip of his ears flushed red. “Nothing. Are you free now? Do you want to come with me to pick up Isabel?”
I readily agreed, so he took me to her kindergarten gates.
Soon, Isabel came charging out with her little backpack bouncing. “Uncle Fredric! Serena!”
She threw herself into my arms and chattered about how much she had missed me, how she wanted to play with
le, eat good food together, and even take me home.
I tapped her little nose. “Let’s have some good food right now. Shall we start with your favorite pizza?”
“Sure!”
As we sat in the pizzeria, Fredric watched Isabel happily dive into a slice and gave her a playful pinch on the cheek. “If you eat this today, you won’t get it again for a month. No throwing tantrums then.””
Isabel had been hospitalized for stomach issues. The doctor had said to limit junk food, so they had agreed to only have pizza once a month.
“Got it, Uncle Fredric. I don’t want to go back to the hospital either.
“This time was just so you could spend more time with Serena. You’d better work hard to make it count.”
What did that mean?
I looked up at Fredric in confusion and watched as he flushed red from his cheeks to the base of his neck.
Under my gaze, he stumbled over his words and stammered, “I-It’s not-I mean, I do have feelings…”
My eyes widened. “But I’m married.”
Fredric frowned deeply at my words. “Aren’t you planning to get a divorce? After what that man did to you, can’t you bring yourself to leave him?”
During those three months, Fredric had stayed by my side the whole time. He knew everything about my miscarriage to my amnesia.
When he found out Jude was responsible, he had furiously cursed him out. Even now, he had more raw, righteous anger for Jude than I could even muster for myself.
“I asked him for a divorce, but he refused,” I said.
“If he won’t agree to a settlement, we’ll file a contested divorce. I can help you,” Fredric offered and kept his eyes locked on mine with an intense, unwavering focus.
I instinctively looked away to avoid his heated gaze. “We’ll see.”
Despite feeling a little disappointed, he persistently continued, “I just want you to give me a chance to be the next in line, Serena.”
My heart softened at the thought of his three months of careful, meticulous care.
