Chapter 293: Amnesia

Hayley’s POV:

Her words left me completely stunned. It seemed Christine had truly forgotten all of us. I slowly released my grip on her, staring as I asked, “Christine, what did you say? Don’t you recognize me?”

A collective sigh swept through the room. Christine’s mother, unable to hold back her tears, wiped them away hastily with a tissue. This situation felt so strange. I looked at Christine again, asking more seriously, “Christine, you really don’t recognize me or anyone else in this room?”

Christine nodded, her face clouded with confusion. “I don’t know how I ended up here. They told me they were my family, but I have no memory of them at all.”

I had heard of amnesia before, but this was the first time I’d seen someone close to me suffering from it. Could it have been the head injury Christine sustained during the avalanche that caused this?

Just then, Christopher hurried into the room. As soon as he heard Christine’s words, his footsteps faltered. He looked at Christine with an expression I couldn’t quite understand. Christine lifted her gaze to meet his in puzzlement. They locked eyes—Christine’s look was one of unfamiliarity, a distance between them, while Christopher’s was filled with a complex mixture of emotions.

“You’ve made it?” I asked, my voice breaking the silence.

Christopher tilted his head, looking at me as if to say, what’s going on here? I didn’t know how to explain and sighed helplessly. Christopher stepped toward Christine and asked, “Don’t you remember me?”

Christine glanced at him, then shook her head and asked, “Who are you?”

Christopher’s face fell instantly, the pain evident in his expression. He quickly muttered, “A friend.”

Christine’s face softened with a hint of understanding. She turned to me and said, “I don’t know why, but I feel like I know you.”

I reached out and took her hand tightly. “Because we’re good friends, lifelong friends.”

Christine smiled brightly. “Really? That’s great. I thought I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t realize I had two good friends like you.”

“Christine…” Christopher bit his lip, hesitating. After a pause, he said, “Get some rest. We’ll come back to see you another day.”

I nodded firmly. “We will. We’ll help you get your memories back.”

Christine smiled sweetly and agreed, “Okay, then you can go. I’ll see you both soon.”

After we left Christine’s house, Christopher and I were both struggling to come to terms with the fact that she had lost her memory. Benjamin sat next to me, reaching out and squeezing my hand as if to give me strength.

“Do you have any idea how we can help her recover her memories?” Christopher suddenly asked.

I bit my lip and said, “I’ve read about amnesia online before. It’s different for everyone. Some people recover in just a few days, while others take much longer, and some may never regain their memories.”

Christopher’s gaze darkened. “If only I had been with her back in Smuilia, maybe none of this would have happened.”

I tried to comfort him, “No matter what, what’s done is done. The only thing we can do now is figure out how to help Christine regain her memory.”

“I know what I need to do now,” Christopher said, his voice steady.

At that moment, I came up with an idea too. After parting ways with Christopher, I called Thomas on my way home.