Stranded Memories (Gabenath)

Eleven

A nearly undetectable breeze pushes through the slightly open window yet it's enough for Nathalie to close it shut. Although she keeps the curtains open, the soft golden light illuminates the room nicely.

The coos of her baby make sound through the almost silent bedroom. The only other sound she can hear is the pounding of her uncontrolled heart. Nathalie doesn't want to leave the bedroom, she doesn't want to face Gabriel Agreste.

She isn't exactly sure how she made it to her bedroom last night. The trembling in her knees was threatening to make her collapse. But even as Nathalie ran away from him, it seems as if the gentleness of his kiss has remained lingering on her lips forever.

It's an odd sensation.

That single kiss has caused a wave of unexpected emotions to take over her. However, that doesn't diminish the immense embarrassment crippling inside her chest since the moment she escaped the dimness of the kitchen hours ago.

Maybe it isn't as horrible as it seems. Gabriel certainly didn't seem offended, and even attempted to calm her down, but the mortification was too much for her obliviated brain.

Now she wonders what would've occurred if she had stayed in that kitchen.

What would've he said?

He wasn't upset, and that's for sure. The look on his face showed a slight shock, but also deep affection. No one has ever looked at her that way, not even Henry.

Nathalie thinks about her own feelings. There was a mixture of fear yet intimacy of it all. It was as if her heart had recalled the love she feels for him, even as her brain refuses to leave its hazed state.

Gliding through a world of lost memories, Nathalie has realized that everything beyond these walls are the things she's missing out on.

Things she hadn't noticed before.

She isn't giving her daughter the opportunity to grow up with a real family. Not when she can't even feel comfortable with the baby's father.

Gabriel was right. It was only a kiss, and still she can't leave the room.

If only she'd recall her life with him.

What were they like?

Nathalie has a vague idea from the things he's told her, yet there's so much of their moments together, she's completely unaware of.

How she wishes she'd recover her memory. The sadness of not remembering anything at all hangs heavily over her today. The last time she felt this sad about her oblivious state was back when she was on the farm.

Nathalie's first months of pregnancy were rough on her, and the fact that she couldn't recall anything, made matters worse. Her evenings were spent weeping in agony, but also anger.

Except, those feelings had abandoned her after she hit the endings of her pregnancy. But after last night's events, they've returned with great intensity. That single kiss has come to turn her world of lost memories upside down.

Nathalie reaches into the crib, and retrieves her small Rose. It appears her little daughter woke up with extra energy today. She's eaten already, and Nathalie recently changed her. And now, they're simply locked in their bedroom since she cannot find any courage in herself to leave.

She moves towards the middle of the bedroom, rocking Rose in her arms.

The joyful look on her daughter's face seemingly adds onto her melancholy state, and Nathalie isn't sure why.

Maybe because Rose is so innocent to it all. It's a heartbreaking reminder of the life that awaits them if Nathalie doesn't recover her memories soon.

The tears unwittingly escape her eyes, wetting her cheeks as they roll down. Rose's tiny hand unconsciously pats her mother's cheeks, wiping away the tears. But Nathalie's pale skin remains moist from the wetness of her salty tears causing her hair to stick onto her face rather easily.