SMILE! (DAY 4)

SMILE !

I have no memory of who clicked this picture. I have no memory of even who this man sitting beside me is. Is he a dear friend, a husband…but then why don't I get the feeling that I'm a married woman? There was no wedding band on my finger when I regained my consciousness in a hospital room with strangers around me.

He is looking at me now, worry and concern writ large on his face. Fishing out the wedding ring from his pocket, he says it was removed when I was taken into surgery. He has been saying so for the past one week. Should I believe him? If only I could get one hazy fragment of my past, I would.

I turn my face and he sighs, slumping on a chair nearby. I return the picture to him apologetically. At the back of my mind, I do know that he must have been an acquaintance but in my current state of mind, I wasn't ready to accept just about anything, anyone told me.

And then the inevitable happened. It was time to go home. 'Nolan' is here to do the needful, signing papers and packing my bags. Anxiety swamps me as I'm in a dilemma. Going home with a stranger? I don't even remember who I am.

Nolan is very understanding and doesn't pursue the matter when we reach home. A pounding headache creeps in as I cross the threshold. The house seems vaguely familiar. The stairs…the balcony…that night…everything rushes back like a flood.

But I mustn't…I must keep pretending I haven't regained my memory. I'm safe until I'm an amnesiac. My intuition wasn't unfounded. Nolan had thrown me over that fateful night upon discovering that he was the mastermind behind a national conspiracy.

He's influential, powerful…formidable! He can pull strings. I ask for the picture and carefully slide it back into the silver frame. Some stories are best hidden behind happy photographs.

Someday, when the timing is right….maybe. But just not today. I bury my regained memories for good.

©️ Sangeetha Kamath

Pic Courtesy: Asian Literary Society

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