Startled, I looked up from my bed to see Madame stepping inside the room, accompanied by an older man dressed in a doctor's coat. "Baby," Madame called hesitantly, her tone tender and sympathetic. "I've brought a doctor for you." Beside me, her grip tightened on my hand, causing me to flinch. As I gazed into her face, it felt as if I were staring into the eyes of an older version of myself.
"Ms Nancy, please allow me to give you a checkup." The doctor spoke, his words breaking through my thoughts. Ms Nancy. That's not me. I rose to my feet, instinctively moving toward the door.
"Nancy! Baby! Please," Madame begged. Her words stopped me in my track, my toes curling up inside of my shoes. "I know you're upset, afraid and probably don't recognize me, but please trust me! We'll find your voice and memories! Trust mommy, won't you?"
I'm not her! Rage burned up inside of me and I spun towards her, but meeting her teary eyes, my heart softened. Slowly, my clenched fists relaxed as I walked back towards her, taking a seat on the bed.
The doctor examined my throat, his gaze flickering between Madame and me. Confusion etched on his face, he turned to Madame and asked, "Are you sure she recently lost her voice?"
Madame nodded. "Is there something wrong?"
"Based on her symptoms, it appears she might have been born mute..."
"What?!" Madame exclaimed, her voice filled with shock. Panic surged within me, my face paling. Was I going to be exposed now? Well, it's not exactly a bad thing.
"There has to be an error, right...?" Her voice was quivering.
"We need to bring her to the hospital for further examination," the doctor said.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" she exclaimed, reaching out to grab my hand once again. Instinctively, I recoiled, avoiding her touch. Her gaze softened, pleading silently.
"Please, Nancy. I'm begging you. I want nothing more than for you to recover."
Suddenly, Lisa burst into the room, waving files in her hands. "Lady! Lady Lady-... Oh, Madame, sorry for the interruption..."
"What do you have in your hand?" Madame asked.
"Oh... some DNA files."
"What?"
"Lady made me go and test her DNA and blood type to see if she was related to you."
My blood ran cold as I lifted my head, meeting Madame's gaze, which was now brimming with tears.
"Of course you're related to me, Nancy!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "You're my precious, only daughter!" The word "only" echoed in my mind, intermingled with questions.
As I sat up from the bed, Lisa handed me the files, and my hands trembled as I opened them. Part of me hoped that the woman in front of me was not my biological mother. However, as my eyes scanned the papers, reality crumbled beneath me, and I fell to the floor. The room spun around me, tears blurring my vision.
"Nancy!"
"Lady!"
"Miss!"
I felt suffocated. Familiar but also unfamiliar faces, filled with concern, screamed my sister's name before darkness enveloped me.
***
I woke up to hear the uproar of sobbing and yelling and desperate cries outside of my room. Slowly, I pushed myself into a sitting position on the bed. A mixture of voices were outside of the room - Madame's, Lisa's, doctor's, Ronald's and some elderly voices.
I crawled out of the warm quilts and pressed my ear against the door, desperate to make sense of the chaos outside.
"My granddaughter is suffering from amnesia all because of you fools! Irresponsible fools! You don't deserve to have a child!" An elderly voice yelled.
"I know, we are terrible parents," Madame wept, "but what are we going to do now? A reporter caught a footage of Nancy passing out and now the news that Nancy has amnesia is spreading all over the city!"
"We have to protect Nancy!" another voice declared.
Nancy, Nancy, Nancy... Where was the real Nancy? I didn't want to be here. I'm not supposed to be here. I can still remember clearly how they heartlessly ditched me to die in the alley.
My life was a mess. I have no one. Not Anthony. Not Lord. Not my biological parents. Not my sister. I'm all alone.
I slumped back into the bed, tears pouring down my cheeks once again. To them, I'm probably just a forgotten burden.
YOU ARE READING
Misunderstanding
RomanceThe CEO mistook her, Nathalie, a mute girl as someone who killed his mother ____ Gritting my teeth, I seized a jagged shard of glass from the shattered remains on the floor, my trembling hand clutching it tightly, and pointed it to his neck. Stab hi...
