THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 304: Please Forgive Mom.

Lauren closed her eyes and pinched herself hard.

Wincing from the pain, she opened her eyes again and reality still stared her cruelly in the face.

"Who did I offend to be punished this way?"

With a sudden surge of emotions, she sprang to her feet and dashed out through the door.

As soon as she stepped out of the room, she leaned heavily against the cool, hard wall in the brightly lit corridor, overcome by emotion, her tears overflowed without stop, streaming down her cheeks.

Sarah and her husband happened to be returning from home and saw Lauren in this state.

Without hesitation, they rushed to her side, their hearts pounding with worry.

"Lauren, what’s wrong?" Sarah asked, her voice filled with urgency.

David placed a comforting hand on Lauren’s shoulder, his eyes searching her face for answers. "Is Steffan okay? Did something happen?"

Lauren looked up, her eyes red-rimmed from crying, and opened her mouth to speak but the words got stuck in her mouth. All she could do was point in the direction of the ward.

Without another word, they rushed into Steffan’s ward, their fear mounting in leaps and bounds.

Inside the room, they found Steffan propped up in bed, his expression confused but otherwise stable. Instant relief flooded through them at the sight of their son.

"Son, you’re awake?" Sarah said as they both rushed to his side.

"Mom. Dad," Steffan greeted, looking from one to the other in relief. Finally, someone he knew showed up.

"How do you feel son?" David asked.

"Weak with a little pain in my head. What happened to me?"

"You had an accident while you were..." Sarah trailed off as she suddenly remembered the weeping Lauren they had seen outside and turned to the doctor who was attending to Steffan.

"What happened? Why was Lauren crying?" she asked, her voice trembling with apprehension.

Dr Sullivan sighed, his expression grave as he explained the situation to Sarah and David.

"It seems that Steffan has amnesia."

"Amnesia? Isn’t that the same as memory loss?" Sarah’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Yes," Dr Sullivan affirmed. "But it is not uncommon after the huge impact of the fall on his head. Luckily, the blood clot in his brain was detected early enough and removed."

David stared at his son who had gone back to sleep. "Are you saying he will be out of it soon?"

"It may be temporary and improve over time as the brain heals or permanent as the case may be, but let’s hope for the best."

"If he’s having amnesia, why then does he remember us and not Lauren?" Sarah asked, her heart heavy for both Lauren and Stefan.

"He doesn’t seem to remember me either," Dr Sullivan said with a wry smile.

He has taken Steffan as the son whom he never had and to find out that he didn’t exist in his memory was hurtful. He could fully relate to how Lauren felt at the moment.

’Poor child.’ The worst thing that can happen to any woman is to know that your fiancé can’t remember you.

"How is that even possible? Why would he remember some people and not others?" Sarah complained.

"Medically, it’s called selective amnesia, it’s a condition where certain memories are affected while others remain intact."

"Selective amnesia? But I’m still confused. Why can he remember us, his parents, and not Lauren, his fiancée? If there’s anyone he should not forget, it’s his fiancé whom he almost got married to. Does it mean he didn’t love her enough?"

"Don’t say such stupid things," David cautioned his wife. "What if Lauren hears you?" He said and darted his eyes to the doorway and just as he had feared, she was standing there by the door, soullessly staring at them.

Seeing the rueful expression on her husband’s face, Sarah also turned to check the door and a gasp instantly escaped her mouth.

"What have I done?" Sarah instantly hurried after Lauren who was disappearing fast from her view.

Dr Sullivan pointed with his chin to the door, "Aren’t you going with her?"

"Nah, she will sort herself out. She can handle Lauren alone without my input."

"Is what my wife said the truth?" David didn’t want to believe it but he needed clarification.

"No, no that’s not the case. However, it’s difficult to say exactly why certain memories are affected and others aren’t. It could be due to the emotional impact of the memories or the specific areas of the brain that were affected during the surgery."

"Is there anything we can do to help him regain his memory?" David asked.

"Like I said before, in some cases, memories may gradually return over time with therapy and support. So at this point, the best thing we can do is provide a supportive environment for him and give him time to process and recover."

"But the person I am more concerned about is Lauren. She needs to be constantly reassured in these trying times, especially after hearing what your wife just said."

David nodded in agreement. "We’ll try our best to support her. She is a good child that Steffan must not miss."

"I think so too," Dr Sullivan said.

"Thanks, Doctor. I’m greatly relieved," David said.

"No need to thank me. I’m also doing this for myself. Steffan is one of our best hands in Medstar and anything that affects him affects the entire Medstar hospital."

"Moreso, Steffan is not just your son but also mine. I see him more like a son than a colleague, and I don’t mind using anything at my disposal to ensure he pulls through this."

"I don’t know what to say again. But thank you, Doc."

"You’re welcome," Dr Sullivan smiled and patted David’s shoulder before excusing himself from Steffan’s ward.

Sarah found Lauren sitting alone in the hospital waiting area, her eyes red-rimmed from crying.

"Lauren, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I was just grasping for answers, and I spoke without thinking. Please forgive Mom for the nonsense she sprouted."

"Lauren cleaned her eyes and stared deep into Sarah’s. "There’s nothing to forgive, Mom, you could be right, after all."

"No, my dear. I was wrong. Steffan loves you dearly. You know that, don’t you?"

"Then explain to me why he chose to forget me. Why can’t he remember me? We were supposed to get married..." She broke down once again sobbing uncontrollably. "God, what did I do wrong?" She muttered in between sobs.

Sarah’s heart was shattered at how Lauren was suffering and couldn’t help but hate herself and her actions in the past.

"You did nothing wrong, my child. You are the sweetest soul I’ve ever seen and any man would die to have you, just like my stupid son," she added with a dry chuckle.

"But he still forgot about me... Maybe my love was too weak to leave an impact on him, that’s why he can’t remember me."

Sarah raised her hands to stroke Lauren’s hair. "That’s not true, dear. Sometimes these things happen, Lauren. It’s not your fault, and it doesn’t change how much you mean to Steffan."

"And If there’s anybody to blame, that person should be me. I’m to blame, Lauren," Sarah said, stifling a sob.

"If only I didn’t force him to marry that witch, all these wouldn’t have happened."

Lauren’s heaving body stopped all of a sudden.

Breaking free from Sarah’s arms, she looked up, her tear-streaked eyes searching Sarah’s face.

"What do you mean Mom, and who are you talking about?"

"Benita. I wanted him to marry Benita, my best friend’s daughter by all means even when he insisted he didn’t like her."

"I relented for some time, but when he still didn’t come home with any woman, I resumed my pestering."

She shook her head as she remembered all what she had done then.

"I made Benita believe that I would never accept any other woman except her.

Because of my relationship with her mother, I believed she was the best candidate for my son. Until you came into the scene and Benita’s flaws were exposed.

"I apologized and advised her to move on with someone else when it was obvious that Steffan was serious about you."

"As expected my friend, her mother didn’t take it lightly and promised to deal with me for wasting her daughter’s time, but we later settled the issue. I didn’t know Benita was not yet reconciled after two good years and never expected her to retaliate with this cruel method."

"I’m sorry sweetheart. Blame me if you need to blame anybody. But don’t leave me alone in this. I can never find a better partner for my son. Please have pity on this poor soul." Sarah broke down in tears and Lauren ended up being the one to console her and not the other way round.

"It’s okay, Mom," Lauren said in a broken voice. She couldn’t get angry with her. After all, Sarah had been good to her from day one, even though she was not the partner she personally selected for her son.