Evie lays on the ground, her hands and chest convulsing as though a bolt of lightning was trying to pass through the little girl. Chace pulls out his phone and calls someone. When they don't respond, he lets out a cry of fear and defeat.
"Daniel's not answering" he sighs, before making another phone call, "I need an ambulance"
I fell to my knees beside the child, who laid with her eyes closed, still seizing. Time moves slowly. The only thing moving at regular paste being that child. Everything else — myself included, seems to freeze. Even when the ambulance arrives, I stand frozen. Chace takes a ride in the ambulance as I remain frozen in that living room still watching the living room floor where she laid.
Even when Caroline arrives at my apartment, I don't answer the door. I remain still. When the door swings open and she calls my name, I don't move.
"Halia, please" Caroline begs. "I know it's a lot to take in right now but I will explain everything to you on the way to the hospital"
I look over to my sister and nod slowly. Walking to her car felt as though I was both in and out of reality. My sister opens the car door for me, letting me sit in the passenger seat.
The first ten minutes of the car ride are completely silent. While I stare out the window in fear, Caroline begins to explain to me what I just saw.
"Evie is special needs, Halia," she tells me. "She's been having seizures since she was born and has been completely non-verbal up until a couple of months ago. Now she says only Momma and Dadda...say something, please"
Tears fall from my cheeks.
"I don't belong here" I admit, my face frozen and my eyes widen. "I just woke up here. I'm in the wrong time. I want to go back...to the girl I used to be before all this. I don't want to be his wife or her mother. I just want to go home" I bury my face in my palms and weep.
"I thought you were getting your memories back...I thought you were okay with all this" Caroline widens her eyes.
I shake my head.
"I remember events. Small events that don't feel real. I feel like I'm watching them happen from the outside, not watching them happen to me" my throat burns.
Suddenly the passenger side door swings open slowly. Daniel stands beside me with sadness in his eyes.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
I look up at him with tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Please, I don't want to go in there" I beg.
He nods "you don't have to if you don't want to"
"Thank you" I sniff.
"coffee?" he hands me a medium-sized takeaway cup.
I shake my head "I don't like coffee"
"Try it, Halia," Caroline says from beside me.
I shrug, taking a small sip. "Mmm," I pause, "why haven't I remembered her? I've started to remember all of you, even the one we lost...but not Evie"
"I don't know, Halia" Daniel admits, "I'm not going to tell you there's a medical explanation when there's not...just know, that despite all this, you love her"
I think I had all this right the first time. I think I need to figure all this out on my own. I need to start from the beginning.
"Are you ready to go inside?" Caroline asks.
"You guys go ahead, I'm going to stay here," I tell them.
They nod and leave my sight. That's when I pull out my phone.
Let's build my timeline.
2015:
August is the last I remember.
2016:
-Found out about the affair between mum and my college professor.
-Mum and Dad divorce.
- starts dating Dean.
- I drop out of college.
- started volunteering at hospital
- Mets Daniel and Chace
- breaks up with Dean??
2017:
- Marries Chace
- Pregnant with Evie
2018:
- Mum left Hank.
- Evie was born in April
2019
- ?
2020
- gets pregnant
2021
- miscarriage
- Chace and I separate
- accident
I look at my timeline in confusion. How long were Chace and I together for before we married? Or maybe Evie happened before we married? How long was me and Dean together for? How long after the breakup did I start dating Chace?
Were there any significant events in my life between 2019 and 2020?
I open the cloud to try and find pictures between 2019 and 2020. In 2019, I just find pictures and videos of my life with Chace and baby Evie. Our adventures together. I look happy. I furrow my brows when I browse through 2020's pictures and videos. There's hardly anything here. Just pictures of Evie at our apartment. That's when I find a picture of Chace and I together — wearing surgical masks. Why are we wearing surgical masks?
That's when I realise. I never did google 2020, did I? So I do...
2020 Events...
Australia bushfire. Prince Harry and Meghan quit royal family. Covid-19 pandemic. My heart sinks. Pandemic? Stock market crash...Black lives matter. Joe Biden wins the presidential election.
I heart beats a million miles per hour as I google Covid-19. I sob as I read what's happened to the world.
We were in self-isolation 2020. that's why there are no photos.
I sigh.
God, I wish there was someone who been there through it all who can help me put all the pieces together. There's Caroline. But I don't trust this Caroline. Wait there is someone else. I get out of Caroline's car slowly and run on to the street to hail a cab.
YOU ARE READING
Reminiscent
RomantikWhen Halia Montgomery is hit by a car, she is left with a six-year gap in her memory and a group of strangers who claim to be her family. Everything that she once knew is gone, not knowing who she has become or why her family are so determined to s...
