Tyler turned around and walked out of the sliding glass doors into the cold night air to make his phone call. I watched him leave without feeling any desire to call him back or ask for an explanation. A young nurse wearing blue scrubs walked up to my chair and gently touched my shoulder.
She told me the radiology department was ready to perform the scan on my neck and head. I stood up and followed her down a long hallway with bright fluorescent lights buzzing overhead.
The hospital floors were made of polished white linoleum, and the squeaking sound of the nurse's rubber shoes echoed loudly in the quiet corridor.
We entered a large room containing a massive white circular machine. A male technician asked me to remove my coat and lie down on the flat metal table sliding out from the center of the machine.
The room felt incredibly cold against my bare arms, and I shivered slightly while I followed his detailed instructions. He placed a thick foam block under my head to keep my neck completely still. He handed me a small plastic button and told me to press it if I experienced any severe pain or panic during the scanning process.
The table slowly moved backward until my head was perfectly positioned inside the circular scanner. The machine whirred loudly and clicked several times as it took detailed images of my brain and cervical spine. I kept my eyes closed and focused on my breathing to remain calm.
My mind constantly replayed Tyler's strange words about calling a man who apparently owned me.
I did not understand what he meant by that statement, yet I knew I had to maintain my fake amnesia no matter what happened next.
If I admitted the truth now, Tyler would know I saw his text messages to Lily, and I would lose all the leverage I currently held.
The scanning process took exactly twenty minutes to complete. The technician slid the table outward and helped me sit up slowly. He told me the images looked clear, but an official doctor needed to review them before I could leave the hospital.
A different nurse escorted me to a private room on the second floor and handed me a thin cotton blanket. She pointed to a small bathroom in the corner and said I could wash my face if I wanted to clean the dried sweat from my forehead.
I walked into the bathroom and turned on the silver faucet. The warm water felt soothing against my skin while I washed my face and neck with antibacterial soap. I looked at my reflection in the mirror above the sink and practiced maintaining a completely blank facial expression.
I needed to look genuinely confused and lost to sell the memory loss to the medical staff. I dried my face with a rough paper towel and walked back to the hospital bed just as a tall doctor walked into the room holding a digital tablet.
"Hello Alexia, I am Doctor Harrison," he said while he pulled a rolling stool closer to the bed and sat down. "I reviewed your scans, and I am very happy to report that you have no bleeding in your brain and no fractures in your neck."
"Thank you very much for checking everything," I replied politely, and I folded my hands together in my lap to stop them from shaking.
"The young man waiting outside told the nursing staff that you do not recognize him and you are experiencing severe memory loss," Doctor Harrison stated while he looked directly into my eyes. "Can you tell me your name and the current year?"
"I know my name is Alexia Winters, and I know the year," I answered carefully because I needed to make the amnesia believable. "But I truly do not know who that man in the waiting room is, and I do not remember how I got to this hospital tonight."
Doctor Harrison frowned slightly and typed a long note into his digital tablet. He explained that sudden traumatic events could sometimes cause temporary psychological amnesia even without physical brain damage.
He shone a light into my eyes one more time and checked my pulse. He decided I was physically stable enough to be discharged, but he insisted I needed to go home with a responsible adult who could monitor my behavior overnight. He left the room to prepare my discharge paperwork and told me my visitor would come inside shortly.
The heavy wooden door opened a few minutes later, and Tyler walked into the private room. He did not ask the doctor about my test results, and he did not look at me when he entered. He walked directly over to the large window and stared out at the dark parking lot.
He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his expensive leather shoe against the linoleum floor in a steady, impatient rhythm. The silence in the room stretched on for several minutes, and the heavy tension made the air feel incredibly suffocating.
"The doctor said I can go home soon," I told Tyler to break the uncomfortable silence. "He wants someone to watch me tonight because I cannot remember anything about my life."
"You are not going back to our apartment," Tyler said sharply without turning his head away from the glass window. "I already packed all of your art supplies into a box this morning because I was planning to kick you out this weekend anyway. Your sudden memory loss just makes this entire process significantly faster for me."
I stared at his back and felt a sudden wave of genuine anger replace the lingering sadness. He had fully planned to make me homeless before the car accident even happened. I wanted to scream at him and call him every terrible name I could think of, yet I forced my mouth to remain tightly shut. I had to commit to the amnesia completely.
I simply looked down at the white cotton blanket and waited for his mysterious phone call to produce a result.
Heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the room. The sound was distinct and powerful, and it was entirely different from the soft squeaking of the nurses' shoes. The brass door handle turned downward, and the heavy door pushed open entirely. A very tall man stepped into the room and immediately commanded all the space within the small area.
He wore a tailored black suit that looked incredibly expensive, and his dark hair was perfectly styled away from his sharp forehead. I recognized him instantly because his face frequently appeared on the front pages of business magazines across the city.
He was Devon Dominico, the notoriously strict and wealthy chief executive officer of Dominico Tech. He possessed a reputation for being absolutely ruthless in business and completely unapproachable in his personal life.
Devon Dominico paused just inside the doorway and looked around the brightly lit hospital room. His jaw was clenched tightly, and his posture was completely rigid. He did not look at Tyler at all. Instead, he locked his dark eyes directly onto my face.
The intensity of his gaze made my heart beat rapidly against my ribs. He closed the wooden door behind him with a firm push and took three long strides toward the side of my hospital bed.
Tyler finally turned away from the window and gestured toward me with his right hand.
"She is entirely yours now, Mr. Dominico," Tyler said with a noticeable tone of profound respect and slight fear. "She hit her head during a minor car crash today, and she claims she does not remember anything about our relationship. I brought her here, and I waited for you just like we agreed."
I looked back and forth between the two men because the situation suddenly felt incredibly dangerous. Tyler had somehow made an agreement with a powerful billionaire regarding my living arrangements. I wanted to jump out of the bed and run away, but my legs felt too heavy to move.
Devon Dominico ignored Tyler completely and stepped closer to the side of my bed. He took off his black leather gloves and placed them neatly on the small tray table next to my water cup. He leaned his tall body over the metal rail of my hospital bed and reached his large hand outward. He gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from my forehead, and his fingers felt remarkably warm against my cold skin.
"She does not even know her own address right now," Tyler added nervously when Devon refused to acknowledge his presence. "The doctor said she is physically healthy, but her memory is completely blank. I signed the release paperwork at the front desk for you."
"You will leave this hospital immediately, and you will never speak to her again," Devon ordered Tyler without turning his head to look at him. "If you ever attempt to contact her or approach her in public, I will personally destroy your entire marketing career and ensure you never work in this city again. Do you understand my instructions?"
"Yes, I understand completely," Tyler answered quickly, and he practically ran out of the room, letting the heavy door slam shut behind him.
I was now entirely alone in the room with one of the most powerful and intimidating men in the entire country. I gripped the edges of the white blanket and stared up at his handsome face. I did not know what to say, and I did not know how to escape the massive trap I had just built for myself.
Devon looked down at me and smiled, and his expression held a very intense and focused determination.
"I came as fast as I could when I heard about the accident," Devon said, and his deep voice was surprisingly soft and filled with a strange, possessive warmth. "You must be so frightened and confused right now, but you do not need to worry about anything else, because I am taking my beautiful fiancée home tonight."