"I COULDN'T believe he lost his memories."
Charlie muttered beside me. We were both sitting on the wooden bench outside the hospital. It had been a day since Gideon woke up.
"You saw it, Charlie."
"Yeah."
I slightly turned to him.
There was a half-sardonic half-amused smile on his face. "That was the first time he talked to me like that after a decade."
Just like Charlie, I was too stunned when I witnessed Gideon's reaction to seeing Charlie yesterday. Gideon freaking smiled at his brother!
He even asked Charlie for a hug. Can you believe that?
"What are your plans now?" Charlie asked me.
I stared at the full-blown Jacaranda trees in front of us. It was spring. The purple leaves of the trees were already in full bloom.
"Now that Gideon's finally awake, I won't be able to go back to New York just yet."
"You're going to file for a divorce?"
I swallowed. "No. I can't do that right now."
"What?" Charlie turned to me, his forehead in a deep furrow.
"Gideon's not in his right state of mind right now. He's got amnesia, Charlie. I couldn't tell him the truth about our marriage and asked for a divorce. At least, not yet."
"But the doctor told us, right? There's no assurance that he'll recover his memories."
I sighed. "I know that, Charlie. But Amelia asked me for a favor."
His eyes narrowed at me. "What favor?"
"Bianca, I know you've already dead set on leaving my son." She looked at me with pleading eyes. "But please, can you not do it now?"
"Amelia…"
"You heard the doctor, Bianca. Gideon's fragile right now. He just woke up from the accident without any single memory of his past. His legs are not in good condition; he needs therapy to be able to walk again."
Amelia gave me a weak smile.
"My son would be needing all the moral support he could get. He needed people by his side. And you're his wife…"
My lips parted. "Are you asking me not to go back to New York?"
She looked at me. "No. I'm just asking you to delay your plans. You're Gideon's wife, Bianca. Even if you don't love each other, it's your responsibility to take care of him."
I fell silent for a moment. She was right. I'm still Gideon's wife. He's my responsibility.
"Please… I need you by his side while he recovers from the accident. I need you to stay with him while he undergoes his therapy. I already know you may not love each other but I'm sure you care for him, right? You've been together for a couple of months."
I looked at her. I care for his son? Oh, Amelia. If only I could tell you the whole truth.
"Please, stay with him for a while."
"Well…" I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. I nodded. "Alright. I'll stay married to him for a couple of months. I'll be with him when he undergoes therapy. But Amelia… I can't pretend in front of Gideon that I'm in love with him. I can't do that… He must know that we're not really in love with each other. That we only got married because of the baby."
She slowly nodded. "I understand. Just wait until he gets out of the hospital before you tell him about your accident and the baby… The doctor told us we shouldn't force him to remember things."
She touched my arm. "And another thing, Bianca. You've made it clear that you won't pretend to be in love with him. But please, don't mention to him yet that you're already planning a divorce."
"You agreed to what my mother wants?"
I tilted my head at Charlie. "Amelia's right, Charlie. I'm obligated to take care of Gideon. I'm his wife. Besides, he can't walk. He obviously needed someone by his side."
"You don't love him, Bianca," he insisted.
"This is only for a few months, Charlie. Until he could walk again or his memory came back. After that, I'd leave and push for a divorce."
He suddenly looked away. "Well… Gideon… he's different now. He doesn't remember anything."
I sighed. "Yeah."
He slowly met my gaze. There was a tinge of fear in his eyes. I saw him swallow. "And you're going to stay with him, Bianca. What if… you'll fall in love with him?"
"SO THIS is our home?"
Gideon pushed his electric wheelchair and stopped beside the brown leather couch.
His eyes roamed around the receiving room.
"You've been living in this house even before we got married," I told him.
After waking up, he spent seven more days in the hospital before the doctor ordered his release.
We went first to the Henry mansion, but Gideon didn't want to stay there and insisted on going home when he learned he has his own house here in Pasadena.
Well… I think it was a good idea since I knew Charlie was staying at the Henry mansion right now.
"The interior's too dark." His brows furrowed as he looked around.
Just like you, Gideon. I stopped myself from saying.
The house has a black and brown interior. It looked uninviting for a receiving room.
"Who designed this?"
"I didn't know. It was already like this when I moved in here."
His eyes stayed on the wide painting on the wall. "That is Monet," he commented.
I raised my brows a bit.
Well… the doctor told us that people with amnesia remember facts and procedures. Only their memories got erased.
"Amelia told me you're a fan of his art," I told him. "There are two bedrooms upstairs, and two here. In the meantime, we'll occupy one of the bedrooms here." I pointed at the door across the hallway. "Your things were already moved in that room."
He turned to me. "Our wedding photo? Where is it displayed?"
I stiffened. "We only got married in your office. In New York."
His crease deepened. "In my office? Are we too excited to get married that we only did it in my office?" His lips pursed as if amused.
I stopped myself from clenching my teeth.
It's because you cornered me and forced me into marrying you, Gideon.
"Bianca?"
He stared at me. Now he looked confused by my lack of reaction. He took my hand, and I almost flinched with his touch.
I took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something, Gideon."
In the past seven days that I visited him in the hospital, I avoided questions about our marriage.
"About what?"
"About us. Our marriage." I took my hand from him and sat on the sofa beside him.
Gideon adjusted his wheelchair to face me. Confusion was written all over him.
"What about marriage, Bianca?"
I swallowed. "We've only been married for seven months. Four months before the accident happened."
"I already know that…"
I cleared my throat. "We… we didn't really know each other before we got married, Gideon."
His thick eyebrows were almost in one line. "What do you mean?"