THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS-Chapter 309: Back To Square One

Two days later, Lauren entered the hospital, still holding her phone to her ear.

"I just got to the hospital, and have not seen him yet," she said to Sarah, Steffan’s mom.

"Yes, I will make sure I inform you as soon as I get to his ward."

"Alright, bye mom."

She bent her head to return her phone to her bag but collided with someone, causing her to stumble back slightly.

Startled, Lauren quickly looked up, ready to apologize, but her words caught in her throat as she laid eyes on the woman before her.

The woman was stunning, with long dark hair cascading over her shoulders and piercing eyes that seemed to hold a mysterious allure.

"I-I’m sorry," Lauren stammered, her voice hesitant as she took a step back.The woman’s smile widened, but there was a glint in her eyes that sent a shiver down Lauren’s spine.

"No need to apologize, darling," the lady replied smoothly, her voice dripping with honeyed charm.

"Just be careful to avoid bumping into others. This is a hospital and you never can tell who is healthy or not," she advised and Lauren couldn’t help but detect a note of sarcasm in her tone.

Unease prickled at the back of Lauren’s mind as she quickly muttered another apology and hurried past the woman,

As Lauren continued down the corridor, she overheard two nurses whispering excitedly about a new doctor who had just been transferred to the hospital.

"I heard she’s incredibly talented," one nurse remarked.

"And did you see how stunning she is?" the other added with a hint of admiration.

"I heard she has been working at the capital and decided to come back home to serve her people. Isn’t that splendid," the first nurse said in a tone bothering on adoration.

"I hope she’s already married. If not, that will automatically reduce our chances of getting one of our handsome doctors’ attention."

"It’s quite unfortunate that some men don’t mind going out with married women if they’re are hot as the new doctor."

Lauren shook her head, a subtle smile dancing around her lips as she greeted them warmly before they realized that someone had heard their conversation.

"Good day, Ms Lauren," they echoed and Lauren just waved in response without turning round. She could conveniently bet on her coffee shop that their next topic was going to shift to her, but she didn’t give a hoot.

She stopped over at Doctor Sullivan’s Office to see him briefly before heading to Steffan’s ward.

After a slight knock, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hello Chief, how is work going?"

Dr Sullivan looked up with a tired expression as he gently massaged his temple. "Hey, Lauren."

"Did I come at a bad time? Maybe I should come back some other day," Lauren said and was about stepping back.

"No, it’s fine. Although it’s been hectic as usual, fortunately, I got a few hours to catch my breath before the next operation which is in three hours. Come on and sit down." He gestures towards one of the chairs and Lauren came forward to sit on it.

"No need to ask why you’re here. I know it’s related to Steffan."

Lauren nodded. And waited for the elderly doctor to take the lead in the conversation.

"We are currently running some tests on Steffan to ascertain some things, especially after what happened yesterday."

Lauren sat up, her expression instantly filled with worry "What happened yesterday, Chief? Did he relapse or develop any complications? How is he now?"

The questions tumbled out of Lauren’s mouth in quick succession with hardly any time for her to breathe in between.

"Relax, dear. It’s none of that. And he is perfectly fine. In fact he is recuperating faster than we imagined."

Lauren calmed down a bit but still not completely relaxed

"So what happened yesterday?" she asked.

"Yesterday, his brother brought his family along when he came to visit and from what his father told me, he doesn’t seem to remember his nephew and still imagined their first daughter as a three year old.

"What are you saying, Chief?

Dr Sullivan took a deep breath. "What I’m saying is that Steffan seemed to have forgotten most of his memory from six years ago. He can only remember things and people from before then and after he woke up."

"How do you mean?" Lauren’s mouth hung open for some time.

"We’ve compared some things since he woke up. For example, he can’t remember you nor his nephew who is barely four years old, but only his niece. And the memory he has of her is when she was three years old. He doesn’t have any memory of me, this hospital or any of the staff which he had been working with since he returned to the country."

"This is strange. Won’t that affect his medical experiences and skills?"

"He still remembers that he is a doctor, so hopefully, it doesn’t seem to be affected. At least for now," Dr Sullivan added cautiously. "Since we’ve not tested him with any patient yet, we can’t truly ascertain that."

"So... what are we going to do about this?"

"Nothing spectacular. All we need to do is to gradually allow him to interact with those of us and places or things he has forgotten about, perhaps with time those memories will come back, but if they don’t, we’ll make his present his past."

Lauren released a deep sigh. ’In other words, I am back to square one. I no longer have a lover,’ she couldn’t help but think.

As if Lauren’s thoughts were written on her face, Dr Sullivan said as he stared at her sympathetically.

"I hope you can be patient with him and not quit. You too make an excellent pair and I can’t see anyone better around him other than you."

"Thank you Doctor, can I see him now?" Lauren said without giving Dr Sullivan any response.

"Of course, go ahead." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Lauren exited the office with a heavy heart. Her initial self infused enthusiasm waning as she walked slowly to Steffan’s ward.

As she stood by the door, she saw a woman hovering over Steffan on the bed.

Her eyes immediately narrowed as she tried to connect her with any of their acquaintance but none fitted with her features.

With a pang of jealousy and curiosity, she pushed open the door slightly and stepped inside and just then, the woman threw back her head and laughed at something Steffan had just said.

Lauren stood frozen in the doorway, she recognized the woman as the same one she had bumped into in the corridor.

What is she doing here and why is she so close to Steffan?

She watched in a stunned silence as Steffan interacted freely with the woman. Despite his memory loss, there was an alarming familiarity in the way they spoke, as if they were old friends catching up after many years apart.

"Steffan, even in this state, you are still very hilarious. I’ve missed you terribly," Lauren heard the woman say in the same honeyed voice she had spoken to her in.

"I missed you too, Dolly. But what are you doing here?"