Question Girl

Question Girl

I never remembered the world being black. Actually, there were many things I don't remember. The only things I do remember is basic things like the sun, food, toilets. Thank God I didn't forget toilets. It'd be embarrassing to have a leak out in public.

I pushed these thoughts away and tried to gain control of my body. My whole body seemed to be asleep. I managed to curl my fingers but they began to tingle and bothered me. I had decided to go back to being still but someone grabbed my hand, sending a discomforting tingling feeling throughout my body.

"Kevin?" The person who grabbed my hand asked. "Kevin wake up," the feminine voice said soothingly. It must have been a woman.

She began to brush stray strands of hair the the side of my forehead. She repeated my name. This annoyed me for some reason but also caused my heart to feel a dull pain. It wasn't until she squeezed my hand again that I finally opened my eyes.

"Quit it," I said. "My body is asleep and I don't like the tingling feeling that happens when you move it."

The girl did just the opposite. "Oh Kevin!" she cried out then wrapped me up in a hug, making my whole body tingle so much it hurt.

"Who are you?" I asked when she finally pulled away.

I saw that she was rather pretty. I suspected it was mostly because of all the make-up she was wearing. Her blue eyes were surrounded by black eyeliner and gray eyeshadow, matching her winter coat. She had dirty blonde hair tied back into a high ponytail, showing off her cheekbones. Her Barbie face constricted into one of horror.

"Who am I?" she asked. "My name is Eleanor, remember? Oh Kevin, don't tell me you've forgotten everything!"

My eyebrows shot down in puzzlement. "Eleanor?" I repeated. She nodded her head vigorously. "And my name is Kevin?"

Again, her face changed expression. "Don't play around," she snapped. "How can you forget your own name? Especially someone like you who will inherit millions of dollars!"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

She stared at me strangely then got up and headed to a door. "I will go call a doctor," she said and left.

I suddenly noticed that I was in a hospital room. My body was no longer asleep so I rose to a sitting position. I saw that I was dressed with only a hospital robe and my underwear. A needle seemed to be connected from a water sack on a rack beside my bed to the needle buried in my right arm. A few minutes later Eleanor returned with three other people.

"How are you feeling Mr. Hearn?" a man that came with Eleanor asked. Judging by his white lab coat and ID card, he was the doctor Eleanor had called for.

"Are you referring to me, sir?" I asked.

The other two accompanying Eleanor gasped. I turned to them and saw that one of them was man and the other was a woman. The man had blonde hair and light brown eyes. His features resembled those of Eleanor's. The woman was a different story. She was slender and only an inch shorter than Eleanor. She was beautiful, a natural beauty unlike Eleanor's. She had her brown hair loose in a wavy fashion. Her big brown eyes seemed even wider as she stared at me in disbelief.

"Amnesia," the doctor said with a sigh. "Nothing I can do about it, just wait for it to come back over time."

"Me? Amnesia?" I asked but the idea didn't seem that unbelievable. I did forget my name after all.

"Yes but don't worry," Eleanor piped. She walked to me and smiled. "We'll take good care of you until then because I am your fiancé."

They news shocked me but somehow my eyes roamed to the other girl that had come with Eleanor. Her head was turned away and her body was hunched as if she was carrying an unbearable pain.

•••

"You grew up in here but also visited your other houses around the world. You have a younger brother but he's off studying in Harvard," Eleanor said. She's been telling me all about my past. It seems that I was born into a very wealthy family. I wondered if I was a spoiled kid.

"What about that girl over there?" I asked. I motioned to the girl sweeping the floor fifteen feet away. She was the girl that had come with Eleanor to the hospital. For some reason her face was very familiar.

"Who? The maid?" Eleanor asked. "She's nothing just someone who works here. You shouldn't worry about her."

"What's her name," I insisted.

Eleanor pursed her lips but finally told me her name. "Denise."

Denise looked up on cue as if she heard what we were saying. Our eyes met a pained expression crossed her face just like last time. She was also in pain before, maybe it's because of me?

Eleanor placed her hand on my shoulder, making me turn my attention to her. "Don't think much about her," she said. "Wouldn't you want to hear about other things?"

I thought for a second. I had many questions but I should ask important ones first.

"How did you become my fiancé?" I asked.

She paused a moment then answered my question. "Well, we were childhood friends from the start. Our parents had originally wished for us to be married since we were kids but never made it official because they wanted to wait until we were older. But someone got between our marriage," she said and her eyes filled with a familiar emotion, hate.

"She seduced you and convinced you to break off all ties with me. She ruined our friendship not only our love. I found out she was after your money and tried to stop her," she said. "But as you can see, you ended up in the hospital because of her."

I had stopped walking a while ago and had paid close attention to what Eleanor was telling me. When she finished, I was surprised of the kind of life I had been living. There was only thing I wanted to know, the girl who had caused my amnesia.

"Who was she?" I asked.

Eleanor hesitated. "You shouldn't worry about it. I'll keep you safe from her."

I persisted that I should know and keep away from this girl but Eleanor never told me. It made me frustrated and I wondered who was this girl. I imagined her as a snobby spoiled girl. I couldn't quite imagine her right though.

***
Meanwhile, Denise watched Eleanor wrap her arm around Kevin in jealously. She quickly scurried to her room and grabbed her cellphone. She couldn't stand it any longer. Having him forget her was already too much. But she couldn't do anything, everyone was against her. There was only one person she could turn to. She dialed the number quickly, making sure no one was around, especially Eleanor's beefy brother Todd.

"Hello?" a male voice asked on the other side of the line.

"It's me," Denise said. "I need your help."

•••

It's been a week since I've woken out of the hospital. My fiancé, had been with me through all of it but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to love her. She seemed kind but was strange at times. She'd get annoyed whenever I mentioned our maid, Denise. She had a brother that was jut like her. His name was Todd and he was two years older than her.

Today I saw them whispering to each other furiously. Eleanor's face resembled the face she made when I mention Denise. Speaking of Denise, I've rarely had time to get to know her. Our longest conversation was when I asked her where the bathroom was a few days ago.

For some reason, whenever I'm with her my heart beats wildly and my head begins to ache. It hurts but even so, I would always search for her.

I glanced at Eleanor and saw she was still discussing with her brother. She has been filling me in on my past for the past week. My name is Kevin Hearn and my dad is some multimillionaire. This villa that I was in belonged to my father. It was a lot to take in but the garden outside the villa seemed strangely familiar. I mostly spent my free time there like I am now. I would watch the plants carefully, witnessing the miracles of life. Today, I was suddenly disturbed by someone tapping my shoulder.

I turned around to see a young man with curly brown hair and grey eyes like mine. He seemed to be trying to grow a beard on his chin. A smile played on his lips but his eyes were cautious.

"Hey there bro," the young man said.

"You are?"

The young man's eyes widened. "You did forget everything...," he whispered.

"Cedric!" Denise called. She spotted us and ran to our direction.

"Hello dear sister," the young man welcomed.

Denise flushed. "I am not your sister Cedric."

"Yet."

I stared between the two. A pang of jealousy roused in my heart as I saw Denise talk to this man so casually. Denise saw my confusion and bowed.

"My apologies for not introducing you properly," Denise said, standing up. "This is Cedric Hearn, your younger brother."

Cedric smiled brilliantly.

"Isn't he in Harvard?" I asked suspiciously.

"I was," Cedric agreed. "I came down here to set some matters straight." He looked me in the eye and took in a deep breath before he continued.

"Kevin!" Eleanor's voice screeched as she interrupted Cedric. She came running towards me out of the house with Todd close to her heels. She panted in exhaustion as she finally reached me.

"Don't listen to them!" she begged. "I'm your fiancé so believe in me."

"Why? What were they going to say?" I asked.

Eleanor gulped. "That this piece of filth," she said, directing a hateful glare towards Denise, "is your real fiancé."

"They never told me anything about that," I said calmly. Cedric smiled with mischief.

Denise didn't smile at Eleanor's unease, instead, she defended herself. "It is true!" she argued. "You are the one who has brainwashed him!"

Eleanor's face changed to a mask of anger. "I have done nothing!" she hissed. Then to me she said softly, "You must not believe her Kevin. If you must know, she was that girl that tore us apart. Do you remember? The one that I had told you about."

Cedric howled with laughter. "What a fantasy!" he shouted between his bursts of laughter.

Eleanor's face flushed in anger and Todd took a menacing step towards Cedric.

"Believe me now brother," Cedric said after he calmed down. "I am telling the truth when I say that this greedy hag that claims to be your fiancé is none other than the girl she claims Denise to be!"

"Lies!" Eleanor screeched.

I held her back before she could pounce at Cedric. "That is enough," I ordered.

She looked up at me desperately. "Kevin..."

WHAM!

Something had hit me hard behind my head. Pain courses through my skull and then everything went black.

•••

I had many dreams and they were all about me. I was a child and running around the garden with my younger brother toddling after me. My tenth birthday passed and I received a play station. My graduation ceremony and my name being called to go up and take my diploma. These were my memories.

I saw me hailing a taxi to take to my brother's graduation. A girl beside me also hailing a taxi and there was only one left. I study her face closely and see that she's Denise. I let her take the taxi and gave her my phone number. She smiles and I run to hail another taxi. The next day I call her and soon we call each other every day and begin to go on dates. With a lot of convincing, my parents finally approve of our engagement.

I open my eyes with a sudden alertness. I see that I am once again in a hospital bed but I'm different from before. I remember who I am and why I'm here. My amnesia is cured.

"Are you okay?" a voice asks.

I turn and see Denise occupying the only chair in the room. And this time I now who she was in my life. I reach out and take her hand. She looks at me in wonder.

"Denise...I love you," I said choking out the words. "I'm sorry I forgot you. I love you so much."

Tears form on her eyes as she understands what happened to me. Her free hand comes up to her face and the tears begin to fall.

"Kevin, I love you. I love you too," she said. She squeezes my hands and begins to cry. She comes closer and cries freely on my arm.

I pull her in and kiss her. It's the kiss that I've been missing these days that she's been so close but so far away. I hold her tight now, never wanting to let her go. I smell the lavender scent on her hair and feel comforted that we're finally as we should be.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Eleanor," she explained. "She made me swear not to say a word. I was so afraid with her brother around."

Anger flooded in me towards the girl who had claimed to be my fiancé when my memory was gone.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"Gone now," Denise promised. "Cedric took care of them."

I reminded myself to thank my brother later. "I'm so sorry," I repeated.

"Enough of that," Denise said as she cradled my face. "You remember me now don't you?"

"Mmm," I agreed and let her pull me into another kiss.