Delving Deeper

[FIVE]

AHYAN

Her face works in astonishment. She opens her mouth, closes it, opens it, closes it.

God, please don't let this be what I think it is.

"Do you take me for a fool?" She says, looking at me with eyes narrowed like slits.

I breathe in intensely, praying for patience. Then, exhale and give her what I'm hoping is a stern look. Or at least one that says 'don't mess with me'.

I must've failed to do so because Nur's demeanour does not change.

No, she now crosses her arms over her chest, hugging herself and nods. Like she knows it all.

If only she knew.

"What's your name?" She demands, once again turning to me.

Oh. She's crazier than I thought if she thinks I'll tell her anything after talking to me like this.

My chest rises and falls as I try to put a leash on my escalating temper.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" she says, jabbing a finger on my chest.

I move back. One step. Two. Lean against the dresser, cross my feet at the ankles. "Did you just touch me?"

She opens her mouth as if to bellow something back but a look of horror crosses her face as realisation of what she did hits her.

Poor girl. I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. But if only she stops acting like what happened didn't happen, it'll make both of our lives much easier.

She closes her eyes, chewing her bottom lip as if offering a silent prayer of forgiveness.

"You don't have to do that," I tell her coldly and her eyes flutter open. "I told you already. We're married."

Oh, the irony of the situation. I get into this because of her in the first place and now she doesn't remember.

Just as I'm about to fire questions at her, she flops onto the bed, hugs a pillow and props her chin on its very top. Then, to my consternation, a tear slips her eye. She angrily wipes it away.

Aw, man. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with crying girls. Should I go away? No. What is wrong with me? It's my room. If anyone's going, it's her.

Suddenly, she raises her head, her chin lost somewhere in the fluffy pillow and speaks words that unequivocally make no sense.

"Come again?"

She eyes me suspiciously. Oops. I was with her for all of two days and have started speaking like her. God, I think my accent is also somewhere in-between Turkish and British English. Annem will not be proud.

She shakes her head, as if to clear her thoughts. "As much as I don't want to believe you–because seriously, this is insane–I do." She waves her hands around like a madwoman. "It's like there's this small chunk of something missing in my brain, you know?"

I barely keep the words 'I think there's a lot in your brain that's missing', from tumbling out of my mouth. I don't want to awake the she-wolf inside her again.

Against every nerve in my body telling me no, I drag a chair and deftly place it in front of her. Then, I take a seat, my legs thanking me and recline against the wood.

I don't bother telling her 'we're married' again, finally getting what's going on and having absolutely no idea what to do about it. "What do you remember?"

She shrugs awkwardly, swinging her feet.

A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G.

"My name is Nur and I have a-"

I rub my hand over my face. "You're not in Grade 2, okay?" When she shoots me a glare, a rosy colour rising along her face, I try to calm myself. A deep breath. "What is the last thing you remember?"

A speech plays in my head of what a young Nur would have written in a school essay. My name is Nur and I have a good mommy who takes care of me and my daddy loves me. I love my mommy. I love my daddy. I love my brother bobby. I love everyone. Blah blah blah. Oh, and I also have a pet, his name is Tommy.

Laughter bubbles up inside me and I have to clench my fists and mentally remind myself of all the bad things to keep it inside. Of course, that just leads me to being pissed off.

"-and I was at home."

Okay. I think I zoned out of the whole conversation.

"What date do you think today is?" I ask punctiliously.

More feet swinging. "27th December?"

Shoot. So, she doesn't remember that, either.

"Well, hate to break it to you but it's the 1st."

She looks at me with wide eyes. "January?"

I nod. My mind already drifted off to other places.

Fingers wave in front of my face.

"What!?"

She flinches. "Don't talk to me like that."

That's when I notice the moisture in her eyes. When did I become this person? She's clearly going through something worse than what I'm going through.

I'm just pissed off at the fact that she doesn't remember something so important while she literally has no idea what's going on in her life right now.

"Sorry." The word tastes sour in my mouth but she the fact that she relaxes makes it worth saying.

"So, have I been away from my parents for . . ." she counts on her fingers, making me roll my eyes. ". . .four days?"

"No. Today is the second day."

She releases a frustrated breath, pleading with her doe-like hazel eyes. "Please tell me everything. I'm so confused."

Everything.

I don't think I can do that. No way.

"We got married yesterday because of . . . some reasons." She raises her eyebrows at that. "After that, while I was driving, we were talking and you were annoying me–as always–and when I looked from you to the road again, there was this dog in front of me, so I swiveled my car to the left and we bumped into a tree. Th-"

She cuts me off. "Are you saying, that I lost some of my memory because of a dog?" She looks at me in disbelief.

"Hey. It was a very innocent-looking dog that was afraid of being squished under a car." I defend.

Her eyes narrow, jaw ticking. "You know how unrealistic this story sounds, right? For all I know, you're a creep that has locked me in a dungeon cell along with other young girls."

This. Crazy. Girl.

"Stop it. You know I'm telling the truth." An idea pops into my mind. "Let me show you our marriage papers."

She waves a hand in the air just as I'm about to get up. "I believe you. Though you're hiding many things. But-"

"Like what?"

A s***h of a very fake smile. "Oh, you know, why we suddenly decided to get married although we clearly hate each other."

Yeah. No way am I telling her.

"If you would've just let me complete my story, you would've found out many useful things." Nur leans forward in interest. "So, the car accident ironically resulted in you being more injured than I was." I give her a razor-sharp smile. "Since your brain is too fragile-"

Nur bristles. "Your point?"

"My point, princess, is that, after I took you to the hospital and such, the doctor told me that you may have temporary selective amnesia."

I wait for her response, but she just uncoils from the bed.

"Please just take me home."