Chapter three

Enid’s POV

This has to be some joke.

My hands push the door open, and I stride in, my phone still pressed against my ear. "There has to be some mix-up," I murmur as I throw my purse onto the white leather couch, my heels clacking against the ground.

"Of course, you will have an excuse," she barks, causing me to jerk away from the phone. "Let me guess. You spent the entire evening begging Adrien to take you back, didn't you? Was that the reason you insisted on putting on that dress?"

The irony was alarming.

“Mon, I was there…”

“Stop lying to me, Enid!” she snaps, her tone getting way more serious. “You were not there. And it is fine if you didn’t plan on going, but you could have at least informed me so Thane wouldn’t have waited for you all night.”

“Thane?”

“Yes. Thane Corvel. Your blind date.”

"I don't know what you are talking about, Mom." I take the turning that leads into the hallway. "But you can tell this Thane that he is playing some game that I won't be a part of. I was at the blind date, and that is all you need to know. In fact, we are getting married tomorrow, just as you wanted."

The silence that follows is so loud that I think my mother has dropped the call. But a scratch sounds on the other side before her voice comes on again.

“Enid, think about what you are doing properly. Are you home? I am coming there right now to see you.”

"It is late, Mom." My feet lead me into my huge bedroom, and I saunter into the bathroom, placing the phone on the mirror through the suction at the back. "We can talk tomorrow after the wedding. And if you don't mind, you can come around to the courthouse to be one of the witnesses. How great will that be?"

“Enid!”

“Goodnight, then.”

I end the call and shrug out of my dress, stepping into the shower. Today has been a lot for me, from begging my cheating boyfriend to take me back to walking in on him cheating again. How stupid can I be, wanting someone who has made me feel disrespected a million times?

When the warm water hits my skin, I sigh in bliss, the tension rolling off my shoulders. And then, without warning, his face comes into my mind, shredding all the other thoughts into oblivion.

Cassian.

Just what was I thinking, asking him to marry me?

Because I was not in correspondence with him directly, I cannot reach him to cancel our appointment at the courthouse for tomorrow. And calling my mother is out of the question. I don’t think I can bear to hear her voice a third time today.

The question creeps into my mind. Do I really not want to get married to Cassian?

My hand reaches for the shower gel when the sharp ache in my belly hits. Under the water, my body jerks forward, and my legs threaten to give up underneath me. The ache travels through me in torrents, and before I know it, a scream escapes my lips.

“Enid!”

"In here," I groan weakly, leaning on the wall and clutching my belly. It doesn't matter that I am supposed to be alone in the house or that I remember locking my doors before coming in.

I hear my room door push open, and the sense of security washes through me.

"Who is there?" I yell with as much energy as I possess, wincing as the pain gets more intense. Turning off the shower, I move out from underneath it, grabbing a bathrobe from the hook. "You'd better answer if you don't want me calling the cops."

I probably sound like a weak child threatening an adult. A part of me wants to let it go when the pain triples. I reach for the handle at the same time it rattles from inside.

And his voice echoes around the space, making me halt abruptly. “Cassian?”

“Are you dressed? I heard you scream.”

My lips part to respond, but nothing comes out. I feel the darkness approaching, slowly at first, and then, suddenly, with so much force that there is nothing I can do to stop it.

And just as suddenly as it started, it pushes my feet from underneath me, and the last thing I see before my eyes flutter close are those dark brown eyes.

The same ones that seem to haunt my vision in the darkness I am trapped in.

I don't know how long I am out for, but the next time I open my eyes, it is to the insistent thrum of something beside me. It pierces into the silence of my unconsciousness, and I pull my eyes open.

A sharp wince slides out of my lips as the bright lights hit. My eyes flutter closed at once. I hear someone beside me. A deep breath.

When I open my eyes again and turn to the side, I see a strange face with warm eyes gazing down at me. He is in a lab coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

“Welcome back,” he murmurs, smiling.

“How long have I been out?”  My eyes scan the space, looking for that pair of brown eyes. There is no one in here, other than the both of us.

"A couple of hours," the doctor replies. "I gave you something to reduce the pain, and that contributed to you being asleep this long."

“Where is he?”

The doctor angles his head. “Who?”

“The person who brought me here. Cassian.”

I have to be running insane at this moment, with how he peers his eyes in my direction. “You came in here by yourself, Miss. Sauntered in through the waiting room and insisted you had to see a doctor.”

That makes no sense.

I sit up at once, my forehead creasing in confusion. “No,” I mutter insistently, shaking my head. “He was at my home and ….”

The doctor gives me a look as he pushes away from me.

“What?”

"Perhaps, it is your amnesia acting up. We would have to conduct a test to be sure, but…"

“Amnesia?”

The doctor nods. "You were diagnosed with it four years ago."

"I wasn't," I whisper, blood roaring in my ear. "There has to be some mix-up."

The doctor moves to the file on the stand beside the bed, checking the name scribbled on top before flipping to a page in the middle.

"I am right," he says. "You were diagnosed with partial amnesia. Another doctor signed off on it."

Why the hell am I just finding out about that?

“What time is it?”

“10 am.”

“Shit!” The wedding!

“What is it, Miss Enid?”

“I have to be discharged right now.”