I Woke Up Holding My Nurse’s Hand… Then She Whispered, “You Still Don’t Remember Me?”
Chapter 5
Emily took Daniel to a storage locker two days later.
The key he had given her six months earlier opened it.
Inside were boxes.
Documents.
Old photographs.
Hard drives.
Daniel stared.
“Why didn’t you give these to the police?”
Emily looked at him.
“Because I didn’t know what was important.”
Daniel opened the first box.
Architectural plans.
Financial statements.
Emails.
Then he found a notebook.
His handwriting.
He began reading.
Greg is moving company funds.
Daniel’s hands trembled.
He turned the page.
Rachel knows.
Another page.
Someone is following me.
Then:
If anything happens, Emily has the key.
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew all of this?”
“I knew you were afraid.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“You disappeared before I could.”
“What?”
Emily explained.
After the accident, Greg had taken control of Daniel’s company.
He told everyone Daniel had been under enormous stress.
He said Daniel had been planning to leave Chicago.
He even suggested Daniel had been involved in questionable financial dealings.
Daniel stared at her.
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then why stay quiet?”
Emily looked down.
“Because I was scared.”
Daniel closed the notebook.
“You should have told me.”
“You were unconscious.”
“I mean before.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
Daniel stared.
“What happened?”
“You told me not to trust anyone.”
“Even you?”
She shook her head.
“You trusted me.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then why did you leave?”
“I didn’t.”
“What?”
Emily reached into her bag.
She pulled out a letter.
Daniel recognized his handwriting.
Emily, if you’re reading this, something has gone wrong.
He read the rest.
Daniel had written the letter three months before his accident.
He said he had discovered Greg was stealing from the company.
He suspected Rachel was helping him.
He feared the situation would become dangerous.
Then came one sentence that made Daniel stop breathing.
I don’t know what I would do without you.
Daniel looked at Emily.
She cried silently.
“You wrote that.”
“I know.”
“Did I love you?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
“Did you love me?”
She whispered:
“Yes.”
The silence between them felt enormous.
Daniel wanted to remember.
He wanted to see their history.
Their first kiss.
Their first argument.
Every ordinary moment.
But his mind remained empty.
Emily wiped her tears.
“I never needed you to remember me.”
“Then why did you say I still didn’t remember?”
“Because every time you woke up, you looked at me like I was a stranger.”
Daniel reached for her hand.
She hesitated.
Then took it.
The same warmth.
The same strange feeling.
Daniel closed his eyes.
A memory appeared.
Emily laughing in a kitchen.
Daniel cooking badly.
Her stealing food from his plate.
A kiss.
Then another flash.
An argument.
Greg shouting.
A parking garage.
Headlights.
Daniel opened his eyes.
“I remember something.”
Emily looked hopeful.
“What?”
“Your laugh.”
She smiled through tears.
“That’s a start.”
But neither noticed the man standing across the street.
Watching them.
Greg Walker had found them.
And he knew the memories were coming back.
