Recognition Failed–1
Sebastian’s POV
“What the fuck, Thea?” Maximus roared, helping Seraphina steady herself. “Why would you push her away?”
Seraphina stared at Thea, her face a mix of shock and heartbreak. Thea didn’t respond, just grabbed her head and started slowly rocking back and forth. A sinking feeling settled in my gut. Something was seriously wrong. Why wasn’t she happy to see her biological parents?
I could sense the answer lurking deep in my consciousness, but I refused to acknowledge it. Call it denial or whatever the hell you want, but I wasn’t ready to accept it. Thea was awake and recovering–that was the only fucking fact I was willing to accept right now.
“Everyone needs to calm down,” the chief physician began. “I’m sure Thea has perfectly valid reasons for her reaction. Agitating her won’t help her recovery.”
Thea looked up. I could see a storm of emotions battling inside her. Her eyes were getting wet, and in that moment, I realized she had no clue what the fuck was happening. She
was confused and scared shitless.
“No, I understand she just woke from a coma, but I want to know why she’s being so rude,” Maximus said, his displeasure evident.
Thea flinched at his words. I silently cursed, stood up, and sat on the bed, pulling her into my arms. She clung to me like her life literally depended on it.
Facing Maximus and Seraphina, tears streaming down her face, she said, “I’m sorry, I really am. But she came at me out of nowhere and I don’t know who she is. She fucking scared me.”
My arms tightened around her, but my eyes widened as we all stared at her in shock. Goddess, please let me have heard wrong. Let my damn ears be malfunctioning for some unknown reason.
“Thea, dear,” the nurse called gently. “You know both of them.”
She shook her head violently, then winced in pain.
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“No, I don’t. I have no idea who they are,” she cried. “Why does everyone think I know them? Should I know them?”
released her, running my hand through my hair. Fuck. This wasn’t what I’d expected when she woke up. I thought things would go back to normal, but this? None of us had seen this coming.
“Who are they, Sebastian?” she asked me, not recognizing her own fucking parents. When she’d woken up and called my name, I thought she’s good. Shit, I guess I was wrong.
“They’re your parents,” I said softly, watching her reaction.
“What?” she practically shrieked. “No, they’re not. Margaret and Derek Sterling are my parents. You know that, Sebastian, why would you say otherwise?”
“He’s not lying. You’re our daughter. I’m Seraphina, and this is Maximus.” Tears streamed down Seraphina’s face, her voice choking.
Thea just shook her head. “No, you’re not. I would know. I would remember something
like that.”
The chief physician interrupted: “Something’s clearly wrong, so let’s run a few tests.”
He walked straight to her, pulling out a small flashlight. He shined it in her eyes, switched it off. Next, he asked her to open her mouth, checking her tongue.
then
“Everything looks normal so far, which is good,” he told us, then focused on Thea. “Do you remember what happened to you?”
“No.”
“Can you tell me the last thing you do remember?”
At first she seemed hesitant, like she was embarrassed or something. Finally, after a
moment, she spoke.
“I was getting ready for bed. It was my anniversary with Sebastian, and I was waiting for
him to come home, but he never showed up.”
My heart clenched painfully. I’d deliberately missed all our anniversaries just to hurt her. She was a romantic at heart, so anniversaries meant everything to her. I knew this. That’s
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why I made sure to miss every fucking one.
“Do you remember when that was? The exact date?” the physician pressed.
“Of course,” she answered, sounding certain, “May 18th, 2021.”
