5. Suddenly Engaged

"Don't be a joke, Sir. How could I crash him." Dianne shook her head as she waved her hands in front of her chest.

As the police officer continued to stare at her inquiringly, Dianne grew even more anxious. 'Why am I even suspected of being the perpetrator? Seriously!' she thought to herself.

"Trust me, Sir. I didn't, the front of the car was dented because I hit a street lamp, last night I did leave in a hurry," Dianne protested, her tone starting to get bitter even though she had done nothing wrong. "Even if I was the culprit, then why should I save him?" The girl's eyes widened.

Police Rendy also took out a bag from the box that was brought in by his colleague. He put the bag on the table to show the girl.

How shocked was Dianne to see that what was in the bag marked with evidence was her hammer.

'Die me!' he cursed in her heart.

"We found it in the villa, and your fingerprints were detected on this object," Rendy said, noticing the girl's entire face.

“This is ….” Diane didn't know what to say. She had indeed brought the hammer with her to bully Nicolas as part of her revenge show last night. But who would have thought that this thing would actually burden her?

Dianne could only shake her head and object, but of course, that wasn't enough to free her from the police's temporary suspicion.

"We fear you may be charged with attempted murder, Miss Dianne." Rendy frankly conveys the possibility. “If you confess, at least the sentence will be lighter. You can contact a private attorney or ask a public attorney to accompany you at the next check."

"I swear not to do anything to my boss, Sir!" Dianne's eyes reddened, she of course had to defend herself.

"Then what did you bring this hammer for?" Rendy's tone began to be stern and intimidating.

Really, Dianne felt completely cornered. It is natural for the police to conclude this because almost all the evidence they have found refers to him.

“You had intended to hurt Nicolas from the start, isn’t it? All surveillance camera around the villa is damaged, including your car's dashboard camera," continued Rendy. “Then because you failed to kill Nicolas in the villa, you ended up crashing into him while outside. To avoid accusations, you purposely staged it by going back and pretending to save the victim, isn't that true?”

"THAT'S ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS, SIR!" Dianne objected until she stood up and stomped her feet. She panicked and was also sick of being suspected. “Someone else hit him. You can get my alibi from the victim that I wasn't the culprit!”

"You mean Mr. Nicolas?"

Dianne nodded confidently. "Let's meet him at the hospital now!"

Really, this actually felt like a life-and-death battle.

*****

Dianne ran into the hospital building followed by two police officers escorting her. How relieved the girl was when she heard from the nurse that Nicolas had regained consciousness. That way, she can ask the man that it was not her who hit him.

"I am sorry, Miss. There is a piece of information that you must hear directly from the doctor,” said the nurse in a heavy tone.

The astonished girl just followed the nurse that led her to see the doctor. Initially, the two police escorts, including Police Rendy, wanted to come in but the nurse forbade them because this was related to the confidentiality of patient information. If the police need it for the investigation process, they can submit a formal request to the hospital.

So in the end, Dianne was the only one who entered the room of the doctor who was treating Nicolas.

"What!! Amnesia?!" Diane gaped. She was sure she didn't hear anything wrong when the doctor gave the diagnosis about her boss. Just how many times has the girl had to be shocked in the last 24 hours?

"You mean, amnesia like the one in the movies?" asked Dianne to the doctor. She almost couldn't believe it, it was strange to find this case in her life. "Didn't you say before dawn that his head was just leaking?"

“After waking up, the patient had difficulty remembering. A hard impact on the head and trauma resulting from an accident can indeed make a person experience amnesia. Based on the results of the initial examination, the brain wall was slightly injured due to the hard impact. We will carry out further examinations using a CT scan, MRI, and other tests to monitor progress," explained the doctor in language that was as easy to understand as possible.

“So. he doesn't remember anything?” Diane froze.

"We can't be sure before doing cognitive tests to measure memory. But, Miss Dianne, you don't need to worry because in general, accident patients who have memory loss only experience temporary amnesia," the doctor smiled reassuringly. "Then, now we meet the patient."

By now, Dianne was in Nicolas' ward with the doctor, the nurse, and of course the two inquisitive police officers.

"Sir, can you name who?" the smiling doctor started talking to Nicolas who sat leaning against the head of the bed.

The man who managed to rise from the dead was silent when asked that, his face tried to remember but in the end, he shook his head. He pointed at the patient's nameplate stuck to the bed. "Is my name Nicolas?" he asked hesitantly.

“Yes, that's right,” nodded the 45-year-old doctor kindly and patiently. "Approximately, what do you remember now?"

Nicolas seemed to be forcing his memories back, his forehead wrinkled but then he shook his head again. "I-I can't remember anything. What happened?"

Dianne looked even more dazed. She noticed that apart from the bandage on the leaky forehead, the knee that had been operated on and the neck supported by the cervical collar, from the outside this man seemed to be fine. Who would have thought that Nicolas actually had temporary amnesia?

“He can't even remember his own name,” Dianne thought, staring blankly.

"So, that means you don't remember me either?" asked Dianne again stunned.

Nicolas watched him for a while, the man asked back. "Who are you? Do you know me?"

Really, Dianne did not know what to do. Everything happened so fast and out of control. The two cops standing behind her were busy jotting down their new findings, this phenomenon did nothing to help the girl escape suspicion.

“Nicolas doesn't remember me at all, of course, this man also can't give a statement that I wasn't the culprit who crashed him,' Dianne panicked, which again could only be brought out in her heart. “How is this? What should I do? I don't want to be arrested!”

The girl's eyes happened to glance at the calendar hanging on one side of the wall. The calendar has a wedding-themed wallpaper design, there is a pair of models wearing white suits and wedding dresses, linking arms showing their wedding rings.

A crazy idea suddenly entered Dianne's mind. The girl was sure that this was the only way she could try in this desperate situation. Yes! She is willing to do anything to protect her innocent self.

"Nicolas," Dianne called quickly, putting on a sad face as she sat on the edge of his bed. "How could you not remember me? Please. why did this happen to you?”

Everyone, including the two police officers, gaped at Dianne's next statement.

"Look at me, Darling. I am … your fiancé.”