For Better, For Worse: The Serpent's Contract Wife

Chapter 143: The Accident

I winced when a headache formed so hard I thought my head was gonna get sawed off.

"Anastasia."

I heard the echo of Zade’s voice calling out to me, but I had lost touch with everything, doing my hardest to remember the accident, but all I heard were pitched tires screeching and then a crash.

A car accident. Yes, that’s right, I got involved in a car accident.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but then I felt warm hands holding me tightly.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw a wall of chest in front of me, and my hands were pressed against it.

I slowly lift my gaze to Zade, watching me intensely.

"The doctor..." I murmured. "It was Dr. Keller, wasn’t it?"

Zade didn’t say a word as he lifted me into his arms and carried me out. I held on to him, my gaze lingering on the paintings until they slowly disappeared from view.

~☆~

Present Day

"Zade told me we had known each other two years ago, Apparently, we were together," I said, sighing as I rubbed my temples.

We could have talked more, but it was all too much to process. I spent the day sleeping, pretty much what I did for the last few days.

I avoided Zade, too, for the sake of it. I just couldn’t face him. I mean, it was one thing to find out that the man I had spent two years hating was actually my boyfriend or something, if that was even the right word to use.

What were the chances that the man I’d spent years imagining a million ways to kill was the very man I’d once been romantically involved with?

"What else?" Dr. Keller asked, leaning back in his seat, and I suddenly realized I had lost myself there.

"He asked if I remembered the accident, and that was it," I said. "There wasn’t much talking after that."

"Do you remember the accident?"

"I’m trying, but I can’t. All I know is that I opened my eyes and found myself in a hospital bed. I mean, you’re my doctor, you can tell me what happened."

"I’m concerned revisiting such a traumatic event may be too much for you."

"What is this, an evaluation?"

"Yes, it is," he admitted, "But your memories are beginning to surface on their own, so I think we can start somewhere."

He reached for a file resting from the pile, and my eyes connected with it.

"You came to me for a reason. To learn about the accident... what happened and why you couldn’t remember."

"Yes," I replied softly.

"Then I think it’s time you saw it for yourself." He slid the file across the desk toward me.

I swallowed hard before reaching for it.

"Two years ago, you were involved in a car accident," he began.

My fingers trembled as I opened the file. The medical report stared at me, and my breath caught.

"You were in a critical condition, and we did everything we could to stabilize you," he explained.

There was a long pause as I took in what he had just told me, my eyes skimming through the report. There were so many things I couldn’t follow up on, but his words brought clarity.

"When you regained consciousness, it became clear that you were experiencing retrograde amnesia. At the time, there was a possibility that your memories would never return."

I closed the file, keeping my gaze pinned on Dr. Keller, and even though he examined me closely, I did my best to appear blank as I processed everything, goosebumps rising on my skin.

"I carried out a series of neurological and cognitive assessments, as I was required to. They confirmed that you had lost access to memories from events leading to the accident."

He held my gaze, and I didn’t waver.

"We couldn’t determine the full extent of the memory loss. Only that there were... gaps."

That explained why I didn’t remember Zade from two years ago or ever being with him.

I had thought I was involved in an accident when meeting up with Jacob; at least that was what I recalled. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

"Your father, Mr. Morri, was told you needed time to recover. He knew you’d suffered a head injury, but Mr. Salvero took charge of your medical care. He kept the information about your condition limited."

That was why my father or Jacob knew nothing about this. Zade must have made it a secret but why?

"Thank you, Dr. Keller," I said, setting the file aside. "For telling me this."

"You’re welcome, Mrs. Salvero." He offered a reassuring smile.

"Is this all?"

"Pardon?"

"Is this everything you know about this?"

Dr. Keller was quiet for a moment, and my chest tightened at the possibility that we had just scratched the surface and there was something else I should know.

"Based on the evaluation I carried out after the incident during the hunt, I don’t believe it’s in your best interest to discuss everything today."

He was talking about our last meeting. He must have known I lied when I said nothing else happened when Lisa tried to shoot me.

"I don’t want to overwhelm you or interfere with the progress you’re making," he added.

"What does that mean?" I questioned.

"It means we’ll walk through this step by step, and eventually we’ll get there. I know you’re looking for answers, and you deserve them. But we can’t rush into the most painful part before we’ve understood everything that led you there."

I could only offer a nod, even though I wanted to scream at him to give more answers; I knew deep down I couldn’t handle it.

It took everything to keep myself from falling apart right now. I’m falling apart. But I didn’t wanna do it in front of him.

"I have to go." I grabbed my purse and pushed to my feet.

"I hope we can continue these sessions, Mrs. Salvero. With everything, I think it’s best to monitor your progress. Perhaps we should schedule regular appointments."

"And if I’m not ready for more answers?"

A gentle smile touched his lips. "Then we skip that, and talk."