Chapter 3
"Husband?"
Her voice croaked.
The doctor turned to Remy.
"You see, she lost her memory. I fear she doesn't remember anything."
Remy's eyes widened.
"Not even her own name?"
The doctor shook his head.
"That was why we put out fliers. Nobody had come to claim her."
"What happened to her? Will she be alright."
He sounded deeply concerned and something about the way he looked made the old doctor feel pity for him.
"I don't know. We've done a lot of tests. And frankly, we're not sure what happened to her in the first place."
Remy nodded his head.
"Okay. Can I take her home now?"
The doctor nodded.
"Yes. You just have to provide us with the necessary documents and sign some paperwork."
Remy nodded.
"I will. May I have some moment alone with her first please?"
He glanced at the two men in the room and they wordlessly left.
He looked at Valentina who had silently watched all their interaction.
"Hi."
He greeted her with a wave. He looked around the room, it was bare, except for the hospital bed.
She looked at him again, her eyes raking all over him, taking every inch of him in.
Her husband?
She didn't particularly feel married. Or think that she would be. There was little she remembered but at least that was one of the things she felt she wouldn't be.
Marriage. It sounded strange to her ears.
The man was tall and he had the kind of rugged handsomeness about him that would have ladies swooning. He sat at the edge of her bed and she shifted farther from him a bit.
"You can't be my husband."
She murmured and he raised an eyebrow.
"And why is that?"
His voice was surprisingly soft, non-judgmental. She wondered if that was how he truly was or he was only doing it because she couldn't remember anything or that was how he was.
So far, throughout their brief interaction he had been surprsingly calm. A feature she was not expecting. But then again, it wasn't as if she was expecting a husband.
She shrugged.
"I don't think I'm married."
She touched her finger, where a ring would have been and it felt empty. It didn't feel familiar to her that a wedding band would have been sitting there.
"Do you remember anything? Anything at all?"
Remy asked and she shook her head again.
He looked at her again.
She looked leaner, her face more gaunt and he could see the dark circles around her eyes as he looked at her closer.
Her hair was longer when they had last seen. Past her waist. Not that he particularly cared that she cut it but he wondered why she did in the first place. Valentina loved her hair. She wore it down most of the time and he could remember her running her hands through it all the time when she was frustrated.
"Okay. Maybe when you get home, you'll finally remember something."
"And where is home?"
She asked and he smiled.
"California."
Cali?
For some reason it sounded foreign to her.
She looked up at him, now concerned.
"Are you truly my husband?"
She asked again.
He sighed and he brought out a picture. It was folded but he silently unfolded it for her and placed it on the bed.
"Here."
He pulled out another stuff, an ID and he placed it on the bed too.
She reached for the picture first.
And she saw the two of them. She, in a white plain dress with her hair up and he in a black suit. They were in front of a cake. And it looked like a wedding picture.
She was smiling in the picture and he was too. She had no memory of it and looking at the picture didn't invoke anything in her.
But it was real. And it was her. So she couldn't entirely dismiss it.
It also looked recent. Fairly new.
"When was this?"
She asked as she touched the picture.
"Three months ago. March 15th."
March.
She was married barely three months ago.
Oh wow. She thought as she dropped the picture.
She picked up the ID card.
It was also hers.
Valentina May Combe.
She was twenty - seven years old. Born in the month of September. It was her driver's license. The picture included was a pretty one. Her dark hair framing her face perfectly, her sharp eyeliner visible and a blank expression on her face.
She touched her face.
That was her.
She was Valentina.
"I believe you'd regain your memories faster at home. I think it's important that I take you back home soon."
"I'll go sign all the paperwork. You can pack your things."
He looked around the room and noticed it was empty and she was wearing a hospital gown. There was nothing to pack.
She said no other words as he left, after telling her he'd be back.
Valentina Combe.
She thought again.
Weird truly.
In the hallway the nurses helped Remy fill out the paperwork while chatting endlessly about how it was a miracle Valentina was alive. They seemed impressed with him and he could see it in how frequently they touched his arms or laughed nervously.
He was polite with them, his mind still riddled with unanswered questions.
Like why he couldn't feel the mating bond. Despite the fact that she had been next to him. He wondered if her losing her memory had something to do with it.
He truly hoped that wasn't the reason but he couldn't shake that feeling.
And how she had ended up dead in the first place. The Dr had told her that there was no known cause of death and they were planning to carry an autopsy before she came back to life.
So he didn't know what it was but he had some speculations.
It was obvious her death wasn't ordinary. But how was she back to life?
Was that also not ordinary?!
Valentina reluctantly left the hospital with the tall stranger. Even though her mind wasn't at ease. She didn't know the man. Or who he was.
But to be honest she didn't know anyone else either. And nothing was familiar so she couldn't tell.
He wasn't lying about being her husband, but every other information he gave her about him and herself seemed incredulous to her.
She couldn't explain it... but it didn't sound like her.
Or remotely like anything she could do.
But strangely, she found the town familiar.
"Have we been here before?"
She asked as he led her into the car. Remy looked up in confusion.
"Where?"
"This town."
He shook his head.
"Not to my knowledge. We don't live here."
He said and she slowly nodded her head.
"It looks familiar."
She murmured and Remy stared at her.
"It should be. This was the last place you were before you supposedly died."
She wanted to argue that she didn't think that was a factor but decided to let it go.
Inside the car, he pulled out a ring and gave it to her.
"Here. You left in on the dresser."
He murmured and Valentina stared at it.
It was a wedding band.
"Did I take it off?"
She asked and he nodded.
"Yes. It's a bad habit of yours"
He sounded mildly sad about it. And she wondered if their marriage was a happy one. Even though they had both smiled and looked happy in the wedding photos, she wondered if something had changed in those three months.
And if he had something to do with it.
She took it from him and held it in her hands. She turned it in her fingers a few times. It was a simple thin and elegant gold band. It looked lovely.
She wasn't going to wear it, not yet. She pocketed it. She turned to her husband and she saw that he was wearing his own band and his fists tightened against the wheel as he started the car.
She looked outside the window as the car drove off.
After hours of driving, they finally reached Hidden Hills, LA where they pulled up in front of a large sprawling mansion. Valentina rubbed the sleep from her eyes as the car approached the garage. There was a woman standing in front of the house, with another man. She didn't know who they were but they seemed to be smiling at them.
Valentina sat up, she had slept for the entirety of the ride, despite how much she had tried to keep her eyes open and on the road.
He helped her out of the car when the car finally halted, she reluctantly took his hand, although she didn't know why he was trying to treat her like a kid.
"Remy!"
Remy?
She thought. So that was what they called him? He told her his name was Remington. And she had thought, what a strange name for a big guy like him.
The woman ran towards him and threw her hands over him.
"Oh you're back. I was about to send backup."
She broke away quickly and pulled Valentina in for a hug. Valentina stood rigid and shocked as the woman hugged her warmly.
"Oh you found her!"
Mercifully, Remy pried the woman off her.
"Mother..."
He warned slightly. He turned to her.
"This is my mother Ellen."
He pointed at the beaming woman.
"This is Kale."
He pointed to the tall rigid man standing next to him.
"Hello."
She murmured.
His mother looked to him for an explanation.
"I'll explain inside. We've had a long journey. I'm sure Valentina will want to rest."
The woman nodded and they all went into the house.
Valentina admired the house.
Just as she had suspected, he was very wealthy. The house was magnificent and there were people inside it.
She could count at least six people who all kept coming up to her.
Whoever she was, she was important enough for them to care about her. And call her 'Luna'.
Whatever that meant.
Remington was kind enough to tell them to back off, in the most nicest way, he told them she needed rest and she was grateful that he did.
Finally he led her into a large sprawling room with a king sized bed with white sheets and told her that it was their room. He gently closed the door behind her after telling her that she should have some rest.
Rest?
She wondered as she looked around the room.
How could she rest.
She went to the dresser first, seeing the small jars of cream and makeup.
She walked to the walk in closet and found clothes. Both male and female arranged in separate corners of the closet.
Something grabbed her attention and she went back to the room, there was a framed picture on the nightstand table. It was yet another wedding picture of the two of them.
This time they were dancing. The picture looked pretty. And special. She wished she could remember the moment.
But when she touched it she felt nothing.
She dropped it back on the table.
Suddenly feeling very tired and very sad.