Chapter 363
Shocked
Melanie woke up in the hospital again, and this time, there was no shock. No confusion, no panic. Just a dull, familiar stillness. It had almost become a habit by now. Another hospital bed. Another ceiling. Another moment of silence pressing down on her like it was all perfectly normal. Because why wouldn’t it be?
In the past few months, waking up like this-surrounded by white walls, the sterile sting of disinfectant in her nose, machines beeping faintly in the background-had somehow turned into a pattern. As if her body had learned not to fight it anymore. As if this was just how things were now.
But the calm, if it could even be called that, didn’t last long.
Her gaze shifted, and the moment her eyes landed on the man sitting by the bed, something inside her tensed again. He was slouched in the chair, head tilted to the side, nearly asleep. One arm rested on the edge of the bed like he’d been keeping vigil.
And yet, her chest tightened again as she felt a faint sense of panic invade her. She stared at him, even though every part of her wanted to look away. She forced herself to look. Forced herself to take in every detail of the man in front of her.
Her father.
But every time she saw him, she had a panic attack and she still didn’t know why. And now, she was expected to live with him, day after day, pretending to have no memory of what had happened. All so she could find out who wanted her dead.
Her gaze drifted away from him, toward the door at the far end of the room. A flicker of hope lit in her chest. Would Adam come here? Would he find her? Dr. Jung had told her he would inform Adam the moment she returned to the Thomas household. That had been the plan. Adam’s presence was supposed to be her safety net so that Melody would not try anything funny.
But she never reached the Thomas household. So, did Dr Jung continue with the plan or did he change something.
Just then, the door opened with a soft click.
Her breath caught and she felt a moment of excitement. Maybe it was Adam.
But as the figures stepped into the room, her hope shattered almost immediately.
It wasn’t Adam. It was Melody and Marianne Thomas.
Melanie’s face fell before she could mask the reaction. Her fingers clenched the hospital sheets tighter, and she forced herself to sit as she quickly remembered,” Who are you all?”
She watched as Melody and Marianne exchanged a glance and caught their reaction immediately… Marianne Thomas knew that the person pretending to be Melanie was actually Melody… She was sure of it. Just that single exchange of glances had been enough.
Richard Thomas woke up from the noise just then and straightened. Hurriedly, he looked at Melody and said,”Mel! You are okay now. How are you?”
Melanie shook her head and as the man tried to touch her, the revulsion within her had her pulling her hand away instinctively so that she did not even have to ask,” WHo are you?”
Richard Thomas straightened away at her reaction and she saw him cover up the hurt as he said,” Mel. I am your father.”
“My father? I want to see Dr Jung…”
“I’ll have the hospital call him. He is the one who told me how you were kidnapped and lost your memory due to the accident. He’ll be here soon.”
Before Melanie could ask more, Marianne Thomas stepped forward suddenly, her heels clicking against the tiled floor as she rushed to the bedside with wide, tear-filled eyes. Without hesitation, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around Melanie in a tight embrace.
“My daughter,” she whispered in a trembling voice. “Oh, my baby girl… My Melody… I finally have both my daughters back.”
Her voice broke on the last word as tears spilled freely down her cheeks. She pulled Melanie in as though trying to prove to herself that the girl was real and not just a phantom her guilt had conjured. Melanie froze. Why pretend that she was waiting for her when the woman already knew that she was not Melody. But for now, she said nothing. And continued to stare as Marianne Thomas continued with the act.
“You don’t remember, I heard what Richard said jut now… but that’s alright. You’re safe now. You’re home. We’ll get through this, I promise you.”
Then, she turned to Richard Thomas and complained, “You should have told me the moment you got news of her. I could have come sooner. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Richard was about to answer but the woman did not even give her a chance and continued,” Why did you not tell me that you were going to go to the news channels and set up a search? I would have been prepared. You have no idea how shocked I was when I turned on the television and saw Melody’s face flashing on the big screen.”
“Even Melanie was shocked and some people even accosted her, believing that she was Melody..”
That had Richard quickly turn to look at ’Melanie’ and the real Melanie in the bed could not help but narrowe her eyes.. This was quite some manipulation from Marianne. Something she had not seen or expected from this woman in the past. But before she could dwell on it further, the door opened again.
Before she could dwell on it further, the door opened again.
And this time, the moment the handle clicked and the door swung inward, Melanie knew.
It was Adam.
She didn’t even have to see his face. The shift in energy, the quiet presence that seemed to cut through all the noise in the room whenever he was around, she felt it. She turned her head to look at him and their eyes met…
Melanie felt the world around her disappear in the moment. Adam… She looked at him carefully. He had lost weight.. And he looked tired. So tired….