CHAPTER 006

NINA.

I stood before the mirror and felt awed. The reflection indicated a stranger standing at a strange facsimile of me. I reached out and touched my face and my cheekbones; this was certainly a different me. I think I looked like... Lauren Hilton.

"Hello, dear, are you okay?" the elderly woman's voice echoed in a soft, quiet voice.

I was slow in replying to the elderly woman since I was lost in thought.

"Y-y-yes, ma'am," I could hardly order my head as I turned on the tap and washed my hands, trying to clear the fog out of my brain.

As I emerged from the restroom the elderly woman appeared beside me and lent me her support. She clasped my limp hands and guided me to my ward. Her welcoming eyes and smile spoke volumes of reassurance, but my mind was battling with thoughts of the strange person who looked back through the looking glass at me.

"Thank you, ma'am," I said , trying to smile, yet my mind seized upon the reflection in the mirror.

The elderly woman Mrs. Jenkins arranged my bed, "You should rest, dear. Would you like me to get you some water or tea?” The concerners in her speaking tone.

I nodded slowly, struggling eventually to absorb what had just transpired. As she poured out some water and filled the glass, I noted that her name was printed upon a name card sewn to her uniform. "Thank you, Mrs. Jenkins," I whispered, taking a sip.

Mrs. Jenkins sat beside me. Her eyes smiled at me and filled with the most heartwarming kindisms. "You aren't from around here, are you? Are you lost ?"

I considered addressing her, only to find myself apprehensive at all. I was lost, quite so, but it could not compare to the loss engendered by being in an unknown land, where I was not me and resembled someone else.

"Sorry, please can I ask a question," I spoke to Mrs. Jenkins.

"That's fine, dear. What's it you are thinking, dear?" she inquired, conversant with curiosity in her eyes.

I looked at her; I was a bit shaky. "Am I making the right choice?" I said in a hush, really wondering.

"Choice about what, dear? You can trust me. I'm here to help."

I pondered for a few seconds if I should open up to her instead. But there was something invigorating about her sweetness that I really felt like talking to her. "I... I don't know anything," , "I don't know who I am or where I am. And that face in the mirror...it's not me?"

Burning in Mrs. Jenkins' eyes was a lot of hope. "Let's roll it back and start from the beginning. What is your name, dear?"

I froze and determined that I couldn't tell her my name.

“I don't even know it, I lied here. I was out to find those answers, but I couldn't set aside my wisdom either.

"Can you please answer what I asked?" came an urgent pleading from me warm with emotion.

"Okay, I will," she responded.

"What happened before?" I asked her.

"Okay, darling, you just underwent facial surgery," she said.

"Facial surgery?" I replied, eyes popping wide open.

"Yes, please take it easy on yourself," she said while encouragingly holding my hands.

I nodded as I looked at her.

"You were involved in a fatal accident, the face was mangled, and so your husband - that tall man you saw - requested face surgery," she explained.

I was stunned with this info because my mind was slightly spinning. Fatal accident? My husband? And who was this tall man she was mentioning? I looked around, hoping to catch his sight, but Mrs. Jenkins' voice just kept ringing in my mind-"your husband."

As Mrs. Jenkins was talking to me, the door creaked open. The tall handsome man stood there with a little boy.

"Mommy!" he called, running and hugging me.

“I have to pretend, I thought while hugging him.

How are you ? I said to him for a possible explanation in my normal voice.

"I'm alright, Momma. Thank God you are all alive," he said and pecked me on the cheek. Emotion rode in through his action of pulling me close, but I could not shake off the feeling of pretentiousness in it.

The little boy reclined and gazed at me, his enormous eyes beaming with curiosity.

He turned and looked at his father, and my heart seized because he looked awfully familiar. "Let's give Momma some space, son," he said, a tone gentle enough but pulling the boy away.

The little boy held on tight. "I missed you, Momma," he whispered, tears thick in my eyes, as I hugged him back.

"Don't go, , Mom, please " the little boy said hugged so tight

"My dear; I just came back from the doctor who told me that you will be alright in treatment and you will be discharged tonight," said the man.

"To where?" I answered back immediately. I didn't know when it slipped my tongue.

"Ahahaha," the man laughed. "I'm taking you home, honey," he said to me. "I'm your husband, okay, and this is your son," he continued.

Oh my god, what have I done? I thought. I have to fix this mess right now. I smiled. "I know you are my husband. I was just asking where you'd take me... to some other place or back home," I said.

"Another place like where?" he asked, his eyes locked on mine.

I chuckled. "Never mind."

The door burst open forcefully and a nurse came in, with, "I'm sorry to intrude, but there's someone here to see Mrs. Laurel," she said the last word almost inaudibly.

The man's expression became clouded and he changed his face as though disturbed for a fleeting moment. "Who is it?" he asked, his tone tight.

The nurse hesitated. "She says she's your sister, Mrs. Laurel. And she has some urgent news.”