White.
Everything was white.
The ceiling, the walls, the sheets covering my body—even the light filtering through the window seemed to be filtered through a layer of blinding whiteness. It was sterile, cold, and utterly unfamiliar.
I tried to move, but my body felt heavy, as if it were filled with lead. My head throbbed with a dull, persistent ache, and when I tried to recall how I ended up here, my mind was… blank.
Not just empty. Void.
"Water..." I whispered, my voice sounding raspy and foreign, like it belonged to someone else.
Footsteps hurried towards me. The sound was sharp against the quiet room. A face appeared above me, blurry at first, then slowly coming into focus. It was a woman in a white coat, a nurse, wearing a gentle, professional smile.
"You're awake," she said softly, pressing a button on the monitor beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Thirsty," I managed to say.
She helped me sit up slightly and held a cup with a straw to my lips. The cool water was a blessing, soothing my dry throat. As I drank, I looked around the room again. Hospital. I was in a hospital. But why?
"Where… am I?" I asked.
"Baguio General Hospital. You've been asleep for a very long time, miss."
"Asleep?"
"A coma. You've been in a coma for exactly three years."
Three years.
The words hit me like a physical blow. I had been asleep for thirty-six months? While the world kept turning? While time passed me by?
"My head… it hurts," I murmured, pressing a hand to my temple. "I can't… I can't remember anything."
The nurse's expression softened with sympathy. "That's normal, dear. You had a severe head injury. Your memories might take time to come back. Don't force it. Just rest for now."
She adjusted my pillows and checked my IV line. As she moved away, I looked down at my hands. They were pale, a little thinner than I expected, but otherwise fine.
And then I saw it.
On my left hand, resting on the third finger, was a ring.
It wasn't a simple band. It was elegant, with a small but brilliant stone set in white gold. It looked expensive, and it fit perfectly.
My heart gave a strange, startled leap.
A ring. A wedding ring.
I wasn't married. I knew that with absolute certainty, even if I couldn't remember my own name. I wasn't the type to get married. I had plans, dreams, a life I was building… alone, or perhaps with someone else, but definitely not married. And certainly not three years ago!
"Miss?" The nurse was watching me. "Is everything alright?"
"This ring," I said, my voice trembling slightly. "Why am I wearing this?"
"Oh," she smiled, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's your wedding ring, ma'am. Your husband has been here every single day, waiting for you to wake up. He's been very worried."
Husband.
"I… I have a husband?"
"Yes, ma'am. A very kind and handsome gentleman. He's actually outside right now. Would you like me to call him in?"
"No!" The word came out sharper than I intended. I shook my head, panic rising in my chest. "No, not yet. Please. Just… give me a moment."
I needed to think. I needed to remember. But my mind was stuck in the past—the past where I was single, or dating, but definitely not married with a ring on my finger! If I had been asleep for three years, that meant… that meant I got married before the accident? Or did I? Nothing made sense.
"Alright," the nurse said gently. "I'll let him know you're awake but need some time. The doctor will be here shortly to check on you."
She left, closing the door softly behind her.
I was alone again. I stared at the ring, turning my hand this way and that. It sparkled under the lights. A symbol of commitment, of a life shared, of love. But to me, it was just a cold piece of metal on a finger that didn't feel like it belonged to me.
Husband.
Three years.
Amnesia.
The pieces didn't fit. They couldn't fit. Because deep down, buried somewhere beneath the fog in my brain, I knew who I was supposed to be. I knew who I loved.
Or at least, I thought I did.
I closed my eyes, trying to force the memories back. Images flashed, disjointed and confusing. Rain. The screech of tires. Pain. And then… darkness.
Before that?
Smiling faces. Laughter. A warm hand holding mine. A voice that said, "I love you, Aureliana."
Aureliana.
My name. It came to me suddenly, clear as a bell.
I am Aureliana.
And the man I loved… his name was…
Damian.
Yes. Damian. My boyfriend. We had been together for years. We were happy. We were planning a future. We weren't married, certainly not to some stranger the nurse was talking about.
This was all a mistake. A huge, terrible mistake.
I pulled at the ring, trying to take it off, but it wouldn't budge. It was stuck fast, as if it had grown into my skin.
The door opened again.
I looked up, expecting the doctor.
But it wasn't the doctor.
Standing in the doorway was a man.
He was tall, dressed in a sharp, dark grey suit that looked expensive and tailored perfectly to his broad frame. His hair was dark and neatly styled, and his face… his face was striking. Sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and eyes the color of deep, dark obsidian.
He looked incredibly serious, almost stern, but as his gaze landed on me, his expression shattered.
The hardness in his eyes melted into something raw, something so intense it made my breath catch in my throat. Relief, worry, love… all swirling together.
He walked towards the bed, his steps quick but careful, as if he were approaching something fragile that might break.
"Aureliana," he said.
His voice was low, deep, and raspy with emotion. It sent a strange shiver down my spine.
He stopped right beside the bed, looking down at me. His hands hovered in the air for a moment, as if he wanted to touch me but was afraid I would pull away.
"You're awake," he whispered. "Thank God. You're finally awake."
I stared up at him, my heart pounding wildly against my ribs.
He was handsome. Unbelievably so. In any other situation, I would have been intimidated or attracted. But right now, all I felt was fear and confusion.
Because I didn't know him.
Not at all.
"Who are you?" I asked, pulling the sheets up slightly, creating a barrier between us.
The question hung in the air.
The man froze. The hope and joy in his eyes dimmed instantly, replaced by a look of profound shock and pain.
"Aureliana?" he said, his voice tight. "It's me. It's Rhydian."
Rhydian.
The name meant nothing to me.
"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head, feeling tears prick at the corners of my eyes. "I don't… I don't know who that is. I don't know who you are."
His face paled. He reached out, his hand gently covering mine—the hand with the ring. His touch was warm, firm, but incredibly gentle.
"Aureliana, look at me," he said softly, urgently. "I'm your husband. Rhydian Vance. We've been married for almost four years. Do you really not remember?"
Husband. Four years.
"No," I whispered, pulling my hand away slowly. His fingers twitched, as if he hated letting go. "No, that can't be right. I'm not married. My boyfriend… his name is Damian. We were together. I remember him! I was with him!"
The name seemed to land like a punch. Rhydian's jaw clenched, a muscle feathering violently on his cheek. The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly from tender to tense.
"Damian," he repeated the name slowly, his voice cold now, hard. "You remember him?"
"Yes!" I said, desperation rising. "I remember us! I remember my life! But I don't remember you, and I don't remember getting married! I've been asleep for three years! How could I have married you while I was asleep?! This is all wrong!"
I was crying now, the tears flowing freely. Everything was spinning out of control. The man in front of me claimed to be my husband, but my heart and my fragmented memories belonged to someone else entirely. And how could time have passed so fast?
Rhydian stood there silently for a long moment, his expression unreadable. The intensity of his gaze was overwhelming.
Finally, he spoke, his voice low and steady, though his eyes held a storm of emotions I couldn't decipher.
"Your memories are frozen, Aureliana," he said quietly. "They stopped somewhere in the past. But the world kept moving. And your life… your real life… is with me."
He leaned down slightly, bringing his face closer to mine.
"You are my wife," he stated, as if it were a fact written in stone. "And those children outside, waiting to see you… they are yours. Our twins."
Twins?
My mind reeled. I felt like I was going to faint again.
"I don't believe you," I whispered, shaking my head frantically. "I want to go home. I want to see my family. I want to see Damian!"
Rhydian's expression darkened completely at the mention of that name. The warmth was gone, replaced by something colder, harder.
"You are home, Aureliana," he said, his voice dropping an octave, sending a chill through me. "And soon enough… you will remember everything."