Chapter 4 A Secret Affair With The Doctor
FIONA/CIARA
There was no conversation through out the car ride to the hospital.
Lucien drove with both hands gripping the wheel while I sat quietly in the passenger seat staring out the window at a city I didn’t recognize.
Richard and Rita sat in the back seat watching me quietly.
“Mummy?” Rita whispered.
I turned toward her. “Yes?”
“Are you sick?”
My chest tightened at the question because I honestly didn’t know how to answer it.
“I don’t know, sweetheart,” I answered quietly.
Lucien’s grip on the wheel tightened slightly, but he said nothing else.
About ten minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. Lucien parked the car before walking around to open my door himself.
“This way,” he said as he gestured towards the hospital.
I followed him inside while Richard and Rita stayed close to him. The moment we entered the reception, a nurse behind the desk immediately stood up.
“Alpha Lucien,” she greeted respectfully. “Dr. Alaric is waiting for you.”
Alpha?
The word immediately caught my attention, but Lucien was already following the nurse down the hallway.
Richard and Rita held tightly onto his hands while occasionally glancing back at me nervously.
The nurse eventually stopped outside an office and knocked.
“Come in,” a voice calmly answered.
We entered immediately.
The office was neat with shelves full of books and stacks of papers sitting on the desk. A tall man in a white coat stood up when we walked in.
“Alpha Lucien,” he greeted politely before looking at me. “Luna Ciara.”
Luna?
“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Lucien said.
“Of course. Please sit.”
Lucien sat first and I lowered myself into the chair beside him.
“Can you tell me what happened?” the doctor asked.
Lucien leaned forward slightly. “She woke up this morning and didn’t recognize me or the children. She even asked me who I was.”
The doctor looked surprised. “Does she recognize herself?”
“I don’t think so,” Lucien responded, leaning more into his chair.
The doctor turned toward me.
“Ciara, do you know where you are?”
“A hospital.”
“Do you know what city we’re in?”
“No.”
“Do you remember anything before waking up this morning?”
My throat tightened immediately.
“No,” I answered quietly. “Nothing.”
The doctor studied my face for a moment before nodding.
“This is concerning, but not unheard of.”
“What do you think it is?” Lucien asked.
“It could be Transient Global Amnesia. Usually it resolves within twenty-four hours.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
A small smile spread across the doctor's face. “Then we’ll run more tests.”
The doctor stood afterward before looking at Lucien again.
“Alpha Lucien, may I speak with your wife alone for a moment?”
Lucien’s jaw tightened. “Is that necessary?”
“It’ll help me assess her properly.”
Silence stretched briefly before Lucien finally nodded.
“I’ll be outside.”
He motioned toward the children. “Come on.”
Richard and Rita followed him out quietly, and the moment the door closed, silence filled the office.
For a few seconds, the doctor simply stared at me.
Then his entire expression changed.
The professional warmth disappeared as he slowly walked around the desk.
“So,” he said quietly, “you couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”
I frowned. “What?”
“You really want to keep pretending?” He crossed his arms. “Lucien isn’t here anymore.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He laughed softly. “You’ve always been dramatic, Ciara, but this is too much.”
Something immediately felt wrong.
“I think you’re mistaken.”
“The only mistake here is doing this after what happened between us last night.” He lowered his voice afterward. “You know we have to be careful.”
My stomach twisted. “Careful about what?”
“Our arrangement.”
I pressed farther back into the chair. “I don’t have an arrangement with you.”
“Stop pretending.” He stepped closer. “I know you’re upset because Lucien still hasn’t marked you, but we already talked about this.”
I stood immediately. “Don’t come near me.”
His expression shifted from confusion to panic. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Stay away from me!”
“Ciara, calm down. Lucien is right outside. We can’t let him find out about the affair.”
The word immediately made everything click.
Ciara had been sleeping with her doctor behind her husband’s back.
“I’m not Ciara.”
The words escaped before I could stop them.
The doctor froze. “What?”
I realized my mistake immediately.
“I mean… I don’t remember being Ciara. I don’t remember any of this.”
He stared at me for several long seconds.
“You really don’t remember?”
Panic slowly filled his eyes.
“This is bad,” he muttered quietly.
I stared at him carefully. “What did you mean when you said Lucien hasn’t marked me?”
He looked confused by the question. “You’re his wife. He should’ve marked you years ago, but he keeps delaying it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. You never told me.”
I processed that slowly.
A husband who refused to mark his wife.
A wife cheating with her doctor.
Children trapped in the middle.
What kind of life had Ciara been living?
“You can’t tell Lucien about us,” the doctor suddenly said. “Promise me.”
“I don’t even remember there being an us.”
“But if your memories return…”
“If they return,” I interrupted quietly, “I’ll deal with it then.”
I turned toward the door, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Wait.”
I immediately yanked my arm away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Please,” he said quickly. “If Lucien finds out, I could lose everything.”
“Then maybe you should’ve thought about that before sleeping with his wife.”
I walked out immediately afterward.
Lucien stood the moment he saw me.
“What did he say?”
I looked at him quietly.
At this stranger who believed I was his wife.
“He said my memory might return within twenty-four hours,” I lied.
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll need more tests.”
Lucien nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s go home.”
The word home felt strange, but I followed him anyways.
We walked silently through the hospital, and just before reaching the exit, my phone suddenly buzzed inside my hand.
I pulled it out immediately.
A message from an unknown number.
The moment I opened it, my blood went cold.
IT’S DONE. FIONA IS GONE. NOW NOTHING IS STANDING BETWEEN YOU AND LUCIEN’S MARK.
I stared at the message repeatedly while my breathing slowly became uneven.
Fiona is gone?
But I was Fiona.
First Bale and Shania.
Now this.
I slowly lifted my head toward Lucien walking ahead with the children beside him, and dread settled heavily inside my chest when I realized that somehow, his wife had been involved in my murder too.
