The following morning…
A ray of sunlight filtered through the curtains, gently illuminating the hospital room.
Jade's eyelashes fluttered.
Slowly…
She opened her emerald-green eyes.
Everything felt… strange.
The white ceiling.
The smell of antiseptic.
The rhythmic beeping beside her bed.
She frowned.
"…Mom?"
Madame Lee, who had been dozing off in the chair beside the bed, instantly lifted her head.
The moment she saw Jade awake, tears flooded her eyes.
"Jade!"
She rushed forward and embraced her carefully.
"My baby…"
"You finally woke up."
Jade blinked in confusion.
"M-Mom…"
She awkwardly patted her mother's back.
"You're crushing me."
Gabriel, who had been standing by the window, immediately turned around.
A relieved smile spread across his face.
"Welcome back, troublemaker."
Jade looked from her mother to Gabriel.
Both of them had red, puffy eyes.
She frowned.
"…Why are you both looking at me like I just came back from the dead?"
Neither of them answered.
Instead…
They laughed through their tears.
Jade narrowed her eyes.
"Okay…"
"That's officially creepy."
She glanced around the room.
"First question."
"Why am I in a hospital?"
"Second…"
She pointed at the heart monitor.
"Why am I connected to enough machines to launch a spaceship?"
Madame Lee's smile slowly faded.
"Jade…"
"What is the last thing you remember?"
Jade tilted her head, thinking.
"Hmm…"
A few seconds passed.
Then her eyes lit up.
"Oh!"
"I remember Gabriel dragging me to that fancy rich people's gala."
She looked at Gabriel and rolled her eyes.
"We were supposed to work there as waiters."
"I was even complaining about wearing those ridiculous shoes."
She chuckled.
"That's literally the last thing I remember."
Silence.
The smile disappeared from Gabriel's face.
Madame Lee slowly looked at him.
Gabriel looked back at her.
Neither of them spoke.
Something…
Was terribly wrong.
Jade frowned.
"…Why are you looking at each other?"
"Did I say something weird?"
Before anyone could answer…
The door slowly opened.
Daniel stepped inside.
The room instantly fell silent.
His brownish crimson eyes met Jade's.
For five years…
He had dreamed of this moment.
Jade looked at him from head to toe.
Her brows lifted in genuine admiration.
"…Wow."
She blinked once.
Then looked at her mother.
"Mom…"
She lowered her voice dramatically.
"Who's the ridiculously handsome guy?"
Another silence.
Jade looked back at Daniel.
She smiled innocently.
"…Please don't tell me he's the doctor."
She pointed discreetly at him.
"Because if he is…"
"I suddenly feel like staying in the hospital a little longer."
Gabriel choked back a laugh.
Madame Lee covered her mouth, torn between crying and laughing.
Daniel…
Froze where he stood.
The smile that had slowly appeared on his face…
Vanished.
She didn't recognize him.
Not at all.
.
.
.
Daniel couldn't hold himself back any longer.
He knew Gabriel was inside.
He knew he would have to face Madame Lee again.
He knew another confrontation could break out at any moment.
But none of that mattered anymore.
He just…
Wanted to see Jade.
Slowly, he pushed the door open.
The room instantly fell silent.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Daniel's crimson eyes searched the room until they found her.
Jade.
She was awake.
His heart skipped a beat.
For five years…
He had dreamed of this exact moment.
Their eyes met.
Jade looked at him curiously, studying his face from head to toe.
Then, a playful smile spread across her lips.
"…Wow."
She tilted her head.
"Who's this handsome guy?"
Daniel froze.
The smile on his face disappeared.
"…Mom," Jade continued innocently, "are you sure he's not some celebrity? He's way too handsome to be a regular visitor."
She looked back at Daniel, completely unaware of the storm raging inside him.
"Seriously…"
"Do I know you?"
Those four words…
Pierced Daniel's heart more deeply than any blade ever could.
.
.
.
Dr Anderson's office.
The atmosphere inside the hospital was heavy.
Only a few minutes ago…
Everyone had been celebrating Jade's awakening.
Now…
They were drowning in another shock.
The doctor's office fell into complete silence.
Madame Lee sat beside Gabriel, her hands tightly clasped together.
Daniel stood near the window, unable to bring himself to sit.
No one spoke.
Dr. Anderson adjusted the medical file in front of him before finally breaking the silence.
"I understand that all of you are confused."
His calm voice filled the room.
"What happened to Miss Lee is uncommon…"
"…but not impossible."
He looked at each of them before continuing.
"After remaining in a coma for five years, the brain doesn't simply 'wake up' and function exactly as it did before."
He picked up a model of the human brain from his desk.
"Our memories are not stored in a single place."
"They are organized through complex neural networks."
"When a person experiences severe trauma—whether physical or emotional—those networks can be disrupted."
Gabriel frowned.
"So… she has amnesia?"
Dr. Anderson nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"But not the typical kind."
He pointed to different areas of the brain model.
"In many patients, memory loss affects a period of time."
"They may forget months… or even years."
"However…"
He paused.
"There are also cases of selective retrograde amnesia."
Everyone remained silent.
The doctor continued.
"In selective retrograde amnesia, the brain doesn't erase memories chronologically."
"Instead…"
"It loses access to specific groups of memories that are linked together."
Gabriel frowned even more.
"You mean…"
The doctor nodded.
"Miss Lee remembers her childhood."
"She remembers her mother."
"She remembers you."
"She remembers who she is."
He closed the file.
"But every memory connected to Mr. Daniel Ooman appears to be inaccessible."
Silence.
The words hung heavily in the room.
Madame Lee slowly turned toward Daniel.
The doctor continued.
"This doesn't necessarily mean those memories have been destroyed."
"They may simply be… unreachable."
He folded his hands.
"The human brain has remarkable defense mechanisms."
"When a traumatic event is deeply associated with certain memories…"
"…the brain may unconsciously isolate them in order to protect itself."
Daniel finally spoke.
His voice was low.
"Will she remember?"
Dr. Anderson sighed.
"I wish I could give you a definite answer."
"But medicine cannot."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Some patients recover those memories within days."
"Others need months."
"And some…"
He hesitated.
"…never recover them."
The room became unbearably silent.
Gabriel slowly lowered his head.
Madame Lee's eyes filled with tears once again.
Daniel stood motionless.
His face remained expressionless.
But inside…
It felt as though his heart had shattered for the second time.
The woman he loved…
Had come back to life.
Yet every memory of the life they had shared together…
Had vanished.