2

AVA:

The next time I opened my eyes, it was with a sharp jolting headache. My lips pulled apart and a yawn slid out. I glanced around the room with weary eyes, trying to make sense of my surroundings but my hazy vision just wouldn't let me.

Where was I?

I tapped my fingers over my sore forehead, trying to make sense of the sharp jolts of pain thawing my chest. I closed my eyes and blinked. Maybe my vision might get clearer after that. Luckily for me, it did. Taking low purposeful breaths, I tried to assess the room.

Fluorescent lights. Plain walls. And was that a life machine? 

I lowered my gaze instinctively, my heart pounding as I traced the thin tubes from the uv drip to my arms. The reality of where I was hit me like a freight train. 

I was in a hospital. But how did I get here?

I tried to recall how I got here but as I tried the less I recalled. The last memory I had of yesterday was making calls, arranging drinks and making sure Carson's birthday went well. 

Then came the conversation with my mother-in-law. Serving drinks. Sighting Carson. In my hazy recall, the memory of me rushing towards him with wide arms and a bright smile flashed my eyes only for him to nudge off my hands like I was nothing. 

My eyes stung with tears. I tried to recall what happened all through the rest of the night but nothing came. No memories. Nothing. It felt like staring into a black hole. 

I bit hard into my lower lips, trying to recall anything when the door to the hospital room snapped open. I whipped my head up and darted my gaze at the figure of a tall lady who was dressed in a nurse uniform.

As she approached me, her soft, flowery voice beamed in. “Good morning, Ms. Ava.” 

My brows knit closely. “Excuse me nurse but I think you made an error with my name. It's actually Mrs not Ms. I'm actually married.”

I made sure to smile so she wouldn't take offense or find me off putting. The nurse lowered her head to the script in her hand before glancing right back at me. “I just checked and from our record, it's actually Ms. Ava that was recorded.”

I shook my head. It must've been a mistake. It was normal for the staff to have mistaken Ms. For Mrs. “It's totally fine, to correct it, you might actually change it to Mrs as my full name is Mrs Ava Morello.” 

Just as I uttered the words, her eyes scanned mine for a long time before she stared back at the file in her hands and shook her head slowly. “It seems there's a misunderstanding here, the name recorded here is Ms. Ava Malcolm and from our record, you were tagged as single by the person who ushered you here last night when you passed out from excessive shock.”

The nurse's words hit me like a ton of bricks. I tried to wrapped my head around what she had just said. 

After I married Carson, I had given up my family name and was rarely addressed as that except from business partners I worked with. “I came to check up on you—” 

The nurse's voice streaked in and I cut in. “Excuse me nurse, if you don't mind me asking who brought me here? Also, I'd really appreciate it if you don't mind explaining to me how I passed out and what you meant by excessive shock?"

The nurse's expression dimmed. "You don't remember?" 

“It's normal for patients to experience a lack of remembrance towards events." She stepped closer, deepening her smile. “You were brought here by a man, he was tall, young and dashing."

My lips pulled into a smile. That had to be Jason. I opened my lips to say, “That has to be my husband."

Before the words even rolled out of my lips, she interrupted. “Uum... And came with a lady.”

“A lady? How di—” My tone faltered at the last word as I felt anxiety build up in me. Could it really be him? Could It really be Carson?

If yes, what made me faint in the first place?

“How did I get here?” 

“From what I gathered from the nurses, it seemed you lost your consciousness when you caught your husband in bed with another lady.”

I didn't expect her to respond so quickly. It was almost as if she derived joy in telling me that. My jaw crashed down. Tears stung my eyes. I struggled to keep my quivering hands at my sides. 

Shaky puffs of air fisted their way out my lips. 

My lips quivered. I tried to get them to stop quivering, to find a way to tell her that if this was a prank, she had to stop it but just before the words rolled out of my lips, the memories of last night came crashing down on me. 

All of it.

Carson betrayed me with her. Giselle.

A sob tried to crawl out of my lips but I bit back at it, pressing my lips together tightly. The edges of my vision soon blurred. Shakily, I wiped off the tears on my face and stared back at her.

“I am so sorry you had to hear it from me. Frankly, rumours fly."

The sarcasm in my tone was heavy. I wasn't shocked at how fast she switched from nice to uncaring. People change. I learned that the hard way. 

I've only ever loved one man. That man was him. Carson Morrelli. 

I gave him my all including my inherita—

I left the transfer documents on the bed.

I had to get them back and destroy it before he gets to it. 

“Excuse me, I need to leave.” I stuttered. The nurse's eyes darkened, “You can't leave yet ma'am. Your vitals clearly show that you aren't in a good position to—.”

The nurse's voice filled my ears when all of a sudden, she stopped and before I could adjust to the silence that followed her voice, then the door slammed open and an unsettling sensation curled down my spine.

At first, a thought in my head told me it could have probably been one of the people working in the hospital, a nurse or a doctor maybe but as I tried to take another step away from the bed, a scent hit me. 

It was heavy and thick with the soft smell of oud wood. It was identical to the exclusively made perfume I gifted Carson on our last anniversary. "How can I sniff the scent when he's not h—"

My voice faltered. Footsteps. Loud and hard. It filled my ears. My brows furrowed in surprise as I spun around swiftly. 

And there he was—Carson Morrelli, standing by the doorway like he hadn't just shattered me.