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ELENA DUVAL

“Elena,”

“Elena?”

“She's pulling through,” 

I flapped my lashes as a drone of a few voices invaded my mind. Gosh. They were too loud. I wanted to silence them all. To shut them all. To get some peace and put an end to the pain I was feeling all over my body. And the darkness that surrounded me promised to give me just that. Relieve from the pain and torture I felt.

Once again, I stopped fighting. I let the weakness and pain in my bones swallow me completely until I was numb to them and I was falling back into the deep, endless pit of darkness.

“We are losing her again!” A sharp voice pierced through the darkness in nothing but a whisper but I could feel the fear coated in the voice. “Stay with me,” It was begging for the impossible. I have lost every strength I had to fight. I just wanted it all to end.

I was at peace. I had embraced the darkness and all its promises, not looking back. Not having any regrets.

“Elena,” I heard. The sound of my name. “Elena,” It was a low drawl. A different voice. It was low, but somehow it managed to reach me down the pit, stirring the darkness around me, and calling out to my soul. “Elena, fight,” I could feel the breath of whisper against my ear. “Stay with me, Elena,” It spoke again, with the same familiar words, but something felt different. It was compelling. “You have to fight back Elena, don't cave into the darkness. I'm right here. I'm with you,”

His voice was like a lifeline tied around my waist, refusing me the freedom of plunging to my death. “I won't let anything happen to you, I swear on my life. Come back to me, Elena. Please,” Those simple words weighed heavily on me. It was as if they held silent promises within them. One I wanted to uncover.

And then I became curious. I wanted to know who that voice belonged to. Before I knew it, I was already floating to the surface, reaching for the light that was eager to receive me.

Slowly, I summoned enough strength to push open my eyes, but it didn't last long as it closed again. I made another attempt but it was futile. I wanted to hear that voice again. I had to.

“We have her!” 

I groaned internally at the loud voice that attempted to make my eardrums explode. Not that voice.

I wanted his voice.

“She's coming through,” Another voice sounded, but unfortunately, it wasn't the one I wanted to hear.

Please speak to me again. Say something. Anything.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on mine, it was cold yet comforting. It gave me a small squeeze. “Elena? Open your eyes, now. Come on. Look at me,”

That voice. It was him again. I tried to move my fingers but they felt impossibly stiff. I mustered enough strength again and my dense black lashes twitched. I gripped his hand so tightly that I was scared I might have cut off the circulation in his thumb. And then with excruciating effort, I opened my eyes.

The first thing I saw was a blurry vision of a woman in a white lab coat. She was speaking to me but I couldn't make out anything she was saying. After a few seconds, my vision steadied and then I saw him. I knew instantly that it was him. The one that kept me from plunging into the darkness. 

And he was a sight to behold. He had hair the color of brandy, brown with licks of red fire burning through it. His lips were thin and his eyes were a beautiful shade of gray beneath the twin slashes of his eyebrows.

My gaze was locked to his, as he pierced mine with an unreadable expression. He looked so familiar but when I tried to remember, I was greeted with a heavy throbbing against my skull.

I groaned as the woman in the lab coat and her nurses surrounded me.

“Mr Castello, please stand back we need to check up on her,”

I tightened my grip on him. I didn't care what the doctor said. I lifted my eyes to him which had never shifted away from me, pleading silently. I didn't want to let go.

“Mr Castello—” The doctor started, but his deep yet deadly cold voice silenced her, almost sending a shiver down my spine.

“I'm not in your way, Dr Quinn. You have access to all of her except her right hand and as long as she wants me holding it, I'm going to hold on to it,”

The doctor nodded with a slight bow, and soon I was blinded by a pinprick of light and while the doctor and nurses inspected me thoroughly, I focussed on the man beside me. He looked so familiar.

Where had I seen him before?

He was tall and had broad shoulders and lean sinewy forearms. He was wearing an Italian-tailored suit, with a black long jacket over it. The expensive scent of his cologne filtered into my nostrils with every breath.

God, he was beautiful. He would have looked almost like an angel if he didn't have that frosty and deadly stare on and a stoic expression face.

Who was he? I still couldn't remember.

A motor vibrated beneath me, raising half of my bed and lifting me into a sitting position. The doctor settled on the edge of the bed and tucked her hand under my chin to steer my attention to her.

“Do you know who you are?” The doctor asked and I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Stupid question. Of course, I knew who I was. I nodded because it was easier than speaking.

The doctor smiled encouragingly. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Elena Angela Duval,” I said in a scratchy voice.

“How old are you?” 

I sighed, mustering enough strength to speak again. “Twenty,” I said, and there was a beat of silence for a minute.

The doctor sent a glance to the man to my right and I followed her gaze to find his stare still on me with those cold, deadly eyes.

“Do you know why you are here?” The doctor asked cautiously and as I tried to remember again, I was greeted by a blasting ache in my skull.

I groaned in pain. “I can't remember,”

Another silence stalked for a minute before the doctor spoke again. “You don't remember the accident?”

“What accident?” This time I was the first to send a glance at the man next to me, before bringing my attention back to the doctor.

“Elena, you were in a fatal car accident a week ago, and you've been in a coma since then,” The doctor gently placed her hand on my left hand, squeezing it.

“What?” I tried to lean forward but a fresh wave of pain tore through me and I cried in pain.

“Easy dear. You just woke up from a coma, you shouldn't stress yourself too much,” The doctor said, while I sucked in the pain, my mind going haywire.

I was in an accident? And I've been in a coma for a week?

I glanced around the private room, but I couldn't find either Dad or Mum or my sisters.

“Elena—” The doctor started but I cut her off.

“Where's my parents? Why aren't they here? Are they not aware I was in an accident and have been in a coma?” I asked and a grave look fell on the doctor's face. Her lips parted as she sent a glance to the man by my side whose hand had somehow left mine.

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. “What's wrong? Where are they?” I couldn't stop the fast beating of my heart, and soon the monitor beside me started to beep loudly.

Dr Quinn was up from the bed and the man took a step closer but he refrained from touching me.

“Elena you have to be calm or I'll be forced to sedate you,” Dr Quinn advised but I wasn't hearing any of that.

“Then tell me exactly why they aren't here?”

She sent another look at the man. And now they both were being too suspicious.

“I will once you calm down,” She finally bit out. I tried my best to stop the fast beating of my heart, bringing my gaze to Dr Quinn, and requesting answers.

“I need you to tell me the last thing you remember,” She spoke softly.

I shut my eyes, trying to think but all I felt was a pain in my skull. I forced through the blockage in my memory and the last thing I remembered was dinner with Tyler.

“My fiance,” I bit out immediately. “The last thing I remembered was having dinner with my fiance,”

“Your fiance?” The woman took in some air. “You mean Mr—”

“Tyler. Mr Whitman,” I supplied.

“Mr Whitman?” She sounded shocked and worse confused.

I nodded, feeling the close presence of the man next to me. He leaned forward, placing a hand on the bed, while the other was pinned to the pillow right above my head.

His gray eyes pierced mine as if trying to steal a glance into my soul. He leaned more until he was a few breaths away from me.

“What year is it?” He surprised me by asking.

I blinked a few times, sending a glance at Dr Quinn who seemed interested in my answer as well.

“It's Twenty Twenty. Now I'm done answering your questions. I need you to answer mine. Where's my parents? Why aren't they here?” I leveled my gaze at the doctor, but instead, she turned to the man next to me.

“Could we step outside for a second, Mr Castello?”

Mr Castello? The name sounded familiar too. I racked my brain, pushing through the pain in my head, and then I remembered. He was Dimitri Castello. One of Dad's business partners. He visited the mansion a few times.

Without even as much as a response or a nod, the man— Mr Castello stormed out.

“I'll be back soon,” She gave me a tight squeeze before following him.

I sighed, lifting my hand to touch the corner of my head that hurt badly and then I felt the swollen flesh at the side of my face. I glanced around for a mirror, finding one on the table next to my bed.

I reached for it, sucking the pain that soon ensued, and when I pulled up, my face fell right into the small mirror.

My entire body froze and I couldn't seem to recognize the woman in the mirror. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

“What the hell?” My shaking hands pulled up to my face and I felt its roughness against my calloused palm. “What on earth happened to me?” I looked completely hideous. Aside from the purplish gnash on the side of my face, I looked horrible. My once beautiful pristine skin felt so rumpled and rough. My perfect long brown hair looked like it hadn't had a good hair day for a long while. My lashes were completely uncared for, my hands were calloused, my nails were long and dirty and my slender face was covered with so much unnecessary fat. I looked like a whole different person.

I jerked back in shock. Something was wrong.

My heart began to race as I dropped the mirror and picked up my phone, turning it on. I was about to unlock it with my password when I noticed the date and year boldly displayed on the screen. 

I went into another shock. It was as if time still stood for a second and I even blinked countless times and rubbed my eyes hoping my vision was playing a trick on me but the date and year was still the same. It was the sixth day of May, twenty-twenty-two.

How did it suddenly become two years later?

Just right before my accident, I was with Tyler, and we were celebrating my success after finishing up the first draft of the script. Now, I am twenty-twenty-two.

Thankfully, just as I reached the peak of my confusion, Dr Quinn entered the private ward.

“Twenty Twenty-two?” Was the first thing that left my lips as I turned my phone to her as if to back up my claim. “How is this possible? How did I end up here two years later?” I didn't even realize my tears had begun to stream down my cheeks.

“Elena,” Dr Quinn called my name sympathetically. “I need you to be calm and listen to everything I want to tell you—”

“No, I need you to tell me exactly how I ended up in twenty-twenty-two. Please,”

“Remember I told you you were in a fatal accident, and you were in a coma for a week…” She drawled and I nodded, just waiting for her to get right to the point. “I have to run a few more tests on you, but you are likely suffering from amnesia,”

“What?” It came out breathless.

“You've lost two years of your memories, Elena,” Slowly, she settled on the bed.

“Two years? Then where are my parents? Why are they not here? Where am I? What about Tyler? Doesn't he know I'm here?” More tears rolled from my eyes as I felt myself being sucked up in my confusion. And through my blurry eyes, I saw Mr Castello, standing right outside the door, watching me with cold eyes. “And who is he?”

“One question at a time,” Dr Quinn pulled my attention to her. “Your parents…” She hesitated, sending a side glance at Mr Castello.

“... they are not here at the moment. And as for the man right there…” She sent another careful glance at Mr Castello. “He's Dimitri Castello. Your husband,”

I froze. “My what?”