Imagination is the key to the enigma _TOME 1_ by Fatéma-zahra Benmoussa

Chapter 4 : Dr. Beatrice - Part 5

Beatrice hit her own reflection in the water, messing it up, then started weeping. Estelle, once again jumped to the rescue, and hugged her tightly.

-Estelle : "sh..sh.. now now Bea, I'm here for ya! It's okay. Why are you crying?"

-Beatrice : "*sniff sniff* I.. I am to blame..*sniff*"

The two birds came closer to Beatrice, and did some funny movements, which Estelle's taken notice of before saying : "I can understand from your state that it was pretty dangerous, but whatever that had happened, is already done. Now's the time for you to share with me your worries. I've always been the one to burden you with mines. What happened to Anna? Look at these cute birdies! I bet they don't want you to cry too. They're definitely trying to make you feel better! Look!"

Beatrice smiled when she saw their little dance, then felt calmer few moments later. She then proceeded to thank her best friend for her attempts of cheering her up, and willingness to listen to the whole thing.

-Beatrice took a deep breath: "When Anna woke up, she kept staring at the ceiling. Her gaze was empty. When we sat around her bed, she looked at us astonished and asked us the following questions: 'who are you?', 'where am i', 'Perchance, could you tell me who am I?' *Estelle gasped* Yes, Stella. That's exactly how we've also reacted back then. The fact that Flo had memory loss never even crossed the vets' minds, as they were all focused on how she's gotten over her grief quite instantly, and started to behave like her own kind again, taking care of her own needs. They were all expecting her to die because she totally refused to eat before. So, seeing her alive, and well- 'healthy' was like a miracle to them. THAT WAS THEIR EXCUSE! Their misdiagnosis caused Anna's memory loss.

Unfortunately, her close relatives attempted to make her remember her own identity by pushing a little too hard, and too soon. All my efforts trying to stop them went down the drain. And since her brain cells were still exhausted under the significantly powerful effect of the medication, she couldn't bear it. So, she had a permanent brain arrest. I let you imagine how bad her family abhorred me after that. They couldn't do anything against me though, because she'd already signed a legal agreement AND theirs.

I asked my sponsor for an additional funding to carry on with my research and try to fix the formula, only to be, surprisingly, met with an utter refusal! Apparently, the school doesn't support the graduates' projects! Yeah! They unanimously agreed to give me the 'doctor' title, even with everything that had happened! Not only that! NO! Something worse had happened: Can you IMAGINE that the administrative board had even allowed my dangerous grey pill to be put in pharmacies. Of course, I was SO against it!

Later though, they've justified the reason why my invention was seen as harmless but rather miraculous, by saying that Anna's death was an 'unfortunate accident' due to her family's insistence, and not to the pill itself. According to them, her cells had to relax for a while before slowly exposing her to the truth, little by little. 

In short, nothing I said, made them change their minds. It truly felt like I didn't have a say in the matter! So, to make me shut up, they promised me to take that nightmare out of the stores. That calmed me, indeed. But the deep guild drove me to completely change my vocation, which is why, at fifteen I enrolled into the Engineering Inclination School, where we've met. What you know, now, is that I became a doctor/engineer at the age of eighteen. The thing you still don't know though, is that lately, I've discovered that the same sponsor had STOLEN my invention and used it as is!"

It was a lot to digest for Estelle, who suddenly felt a lump in her own throat, then swallowed hard.

She took in a deep breath before saying : "OMG! That's totally wild! Do you- uh happen to know whom it was used on?"

Beatrice avoided her best friend's gaze, mustered up her courage, and said : "Y-yes matter of fact I do! Let me tell you the name of the sponsor first : Dr. Max Saflas. Rings a bell?"

-Estelle: "Wait a minute! The day of the accident, m-my case was assigned TO that Dr. Max Saflas, and um- "

Beatrice held Estelle's hands tightly, looked her in the eye and asked her : " Do you trust me?"

-Estelle : "Of course I do! Why the question again?"

She handed her a purple pill, then told her: "Today, you will know everything. Take this, and you will understand!"

Without any delay, Estelle obeyed and swallowed the medication. In a short time, she felt so dizzy, she had to sit down. She then, started to see numerous very clear pictures. They were her long lost past memories, rushing through her mind and taking back their own places. She muffled a cry : "The user was- ME?"

-Beatrice: "Indeed. See, I've gathered information after you have told me about the accident day's odd things: Fast healing physical wounds, memory loss, Dr.Max and more. So, I've found a logical link between your case and Anna's. That's how I became sure of the fact that he WAS the one who broke-in the archives and took a copy of the original formula. The jerk denied the theft when I pointed at him, but then again I had no proof but my gut feeling. So, I was laughed at by everyone.

Nevertheless, I've come to find out that I was right all along recently. And thanks to my inheritance money, I managed to correct the formula, in a way that fixes the first pill's dangerous side effects.

Finally! I think you understand, now, why I've been so sneaky about everything concerning your memories' recovery. I was afraid you'd face Anna's fate if I were to tell you rashly."

///END OF THE PART///

What do you think about beatrice's story? What did Estelle remember? That's what we'll discover later.

I hope you enjoyed reading this part. Stay tuned! I will see you tomorrow. Don't forget, vote with the little star and share your opinion with me in the comments. Have a nice day! ^_^ ~Faty.B