Lost and Found

Lies

Satomi's POV & FLASHBACK

Mr. and Mrs. Fujimori! I am so glad that you were able to make it!" I watched as the doctor came running towards my husband and I, his eyes red and face full of concern.

I tightly grabbed onto the sleeve of my husbands jacket, pulling him closer at an attempt to keep him awake. I don't blame him for wanting to sleep--It's 3:30 in the morning and we were called to come to the hospital. He grunted and greeted the doctor, ready to hear the bad news that awaited us.

My heart only raced from the worry that I felt. Our friend may have had enemies, but to us he was exactly that—a friend. It would break my heart to know that something bad happened to him, but that was the only thing I expected...bad news.

My husband cleared his tired throat and spoke up before I had the chance to. "What happened to Mr. Hirayama?" I clenched my husbands sleeve tighter, not prepared for the worst.

The doctor, whose name I still didn't know, replied with a shaky voice. "I really don't know where to start." His eyes traced the hospital, almost as if it was his first time seeing one. My eyes were watery from lack of sleep and I wanted nothing more than to close them, but I only stared at him waiting for his reply.

"Mr. Hirayama knew that he was ill. He also knew that he didn't have much time left to live. He passed away today. However, that is not the only reason you two were asked to come today...you see, Mr. Hirayama had his will written years in advance. He knew he would die before his daughter was old enough to be on her own." He stopped to take a breath and at this point my husbands eyes were wide awake at the mention of Hirayama's daughter. She was like our own child that we never had.

"Continue!" He yelled, eager to hear everything in one go.

"Daichi..." I cooed, nudging my lover. This wasn't a time to be rude.

The man only bowed his head and continued talking. "His will stated that he wants the Fujimori's to take in his daughter. You two are the only people he's ever trusted. Unfortunately, Mizuki just got out of heart surgery...with no knowledge of what's happened to her Father...let me rephrase that—she has no memory of anyone...not even herself."

My eyes went wide, and my mouth agape. I felt Daichi twitch next to me, he was obviously just as shocked and confused as I was.

"M-memory loss? How is that even possible? She had heart surgery for crying out loud! How does that happen!? Taking her in isn't the problem here...how are we going to explain to her what happened to her Father? The girl's barely 16. First her Mother, now him. Where is she right now!? Is she alright?" My husband was obviously hurt by tonight's sudden news. He tends to resort to anger when he's overcome with too many emotions. I knew there was no way of comforting him at this given moment, so I just let him vent.

"I need you to try and calm down. She's doing fine and her recovery shouldn't take too long. Right now we're just trying to figure out why she suffered memory loss. We believe it's psychological since that's the only sound explanation. Other than that, her surgery was a success...she's just slightly confused."

"How long do you think it will last?" I questioned, my voice barely above a whisper.

He shook his head, "We don't know."

And that was all I needed to hear. I turned to Daichi, who know was calmer than before.

"Honey? Maybe this is a good thing?" I whispered, trying to not let the doctor hear me.

He furrowed his eyebrows, getting ready to shout at me for what I had said.

"Hear me out!" I started before he could interrupt, using my fingers to list

off all of the benefits of her memory loss. "We both know her and love her. She always called us her Aunt and Uncle. And we won't have to see her go through the pain of losing her Father." I paused, thinking of how I was going to word what I was about to say next.

"A-and...we can finally get our daughter back...I can finally have a child." I chocked out, tears welling up and soon ready to fall.

Daichi sternly shook his head. "No! We cannot possibly lie to her like that! Sweetie...I know it hurt when you had the miscarriage! It hurt me, too...But, we can't just give Mizuki a new life like this! We have to let her know who she is, regardless of how painful it will be for her. We have to remind her everyday...that's the only way she'd remember anything. I love her just as much as you do...but I can't lie to her!"

"But you know I've always wanted a child! The doctors told me I could never give birth again! Mizuki wouldn't know that we aren't her real parents. Of course, she'll have no memory of us as the Fujimori's...but—"

"Satomi...she still won't be our child." Daichi countered.

My lips quivered and I shook my head. "She wouldn't know that. Just think of how easy it will be. We'll take her to Osaka and we'll grow to be her parents. Please, Daichi. Can't you agree to do this for me?"

"What about that boy named Tooru? Don't you think he'd want to see her and help her remember?"

I walked over to the corner where there were rows of empty chairs and sat down, Daichi followed behind me.

I painfully spat out, "If he cared he would be here!" I knew I was being selfish, I only wanted to get my way. Tooru did nothing wrong, he was actually a sweet boy. I just didn't want Mizuki to remember anything because I wanted her to be able to call me 'Mom' and actually believe that I was her Mother.

My husband let out a wild huff and shouted, "Fine! But when she ends up remembering—how ever long it may take. It's your fault for lying to her...and mine for agreeing. I love you and I'd do anything for you...but please don't get too caught up in this."

Even though he gave me the okay, I still felt guilty. "She won't remember." That's the last thing I told my husband before leaving him in the waiting room and asking the doctor to escort me to Mizuki.

I filled him in on what happened on the way to her room. He didn't say anything about it, and didn't judge me like Daichi. I asked about changing her name--He told me where I can go to legally do that as well as where I need to go to get legal guardianship over her. He mentioned that it shouldn't be difficult because of her Father's will.

We stopped once we arrived to her room. The doctor gave me a small bow and walked away. I hesitantly place my hand on the door knob, slowly pushing open the door.

She looked at me with a blank expression, yet her eyes were full of confusion.

"Oh my poor baby...I can't believe you don't remember your Mother. It's going to be okay, Mineko. I love you. Your Dad is downstairs...he'll be up here soon." I stretched out my arms to hug her. To my surprise, I felt her small arms wrap around my back.

"Mom?" She whispered. Tears rolled down my cheeks, sliding down my neck. I nodded my head. My emotions were real, but everything else was a lie.

It was one insane, drama-filled night, but at least there was a happy ending.