Page 179 of Morally Corrupt

"Mr. Hastings, what's today's date?"

"You said I was in a coma for two weeks? Then it should be… September 20th?" He looks hopeful.

"And the year?"

"2010."

"Mr. Hastings, I need you to be calm. It's 2020. It seems that you don't remember the past ten years."

The doctor looks at me and shakes his head, motioning me to step outside.

"You said he was only confused," I say when we're outside the salon.

"Memory loss can happen. His injury was to his temporal lobe, and as such, amnesia is not uncommon."

"When will he remember?"

"I couldn't say. It could be tomorrow, in two months, or…"

"Never," I finish his sentence. He grimaces at me but nods.

"I'm sorry," he says before leaving me.

I slump against the wall, all my fears materializing. He's alive… and yet he doesn't know me. Seven years of memories made together… just gone.

What if he never remembers me?

What if…

But wouldn't that be better for him? Not remembering? He wouldn't know of his friend's betrayal… he wouldn't know his real parentage… and he wouldn't know me.

But what good has it done to him, knowing me? All I've done is lie to him and hurt him, all in the name of my selfish obsession.

Wouldn't he be better without all of this?

There's also the matter of my own father, not that I'd like to claim him as such, killing his parents. Would he even be able to look at me without remembering that glaring detail?

I admit I've been contemplating this since I'd first seen him lying helpless in his hospital bed.

I've had two long weeks to think about our life together. Fourteen days in which I've realized just how much I've depended on Adrian for my happiness.

He's been mine, and so that makes me happy.

But being mine comes with repercussions… countless dangers.

One decision, and I can give him a brand-new life. A life where he doesn't live for revenge. A life he can enjoy.

Without me.

Maybe this is a sign. A sign that I should finally let go.

My feet slide to the floor as a hand goes over my mouth to cover my sobs.

A lifetime without my Adrian. Can I do it? Probably not, but for him, I will try.

He deserves to be happy.

I have seven years' worth of memories to last me a lifetime.

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