The Hospital

When I wake up, I know three things. My name is Emma. Someone tried to kill me. And I can’t remember who.

When I blink, my eyelashes brush against scratchy cloth. My fingers twitch, numb and distant. In the distance, sirens wail. I’m in the hospital.

I should be safe here, but I know I’m not. The last thing I remember is running, seeing an arm raised to strike… Why would anyone want to kill me?

Desperately, I piece together my scattered memories. I’m standing with my husband on sugar-white sand, our rings glinting in the sunlight. I’ll get better, and I’ll go home to him, and he will protect me.

But when he visits, his new girlfriend is on his arm. He tells me we got divorced three years ago, and my world falls apart. What else have I forgotten?

The only way I can keep myself safe is to uncover the answers buried deep in my mind. But as I talk to my visitors—listening to the gentle tones of the doctors and nurses, grateful for the care of my friends and family—I start to see the lies that contradict what I remember of my life.

They say it’s just my broken memory. But I know the shocking truth: I can’t trust a word anyone says…