"Aaron"

Aaron felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes.

"Hey, wake up" Rose said as she gently pushed Aaron by his shoulder. Aaron sat up from his position, which was next to Elaine. He had slept while sitting on the stool and his whole back was complaining.

"Hey"

"You should head back home. You secretary couldn't reach your phone so she left a message with Dante. You have a press conference today and that is important."

Aaron grabbed his phone and saw it was out of charge.

"I can't leave her"

"I am here with her don't worry. You need to go. Shower and have breakfast before you leave please" Rose said and Aaron nodded and left.

He reached his penthouse though his heart and mind was still at the hospital. He knew he needed to get this press conference because he had to clear his name which Olivia had tarnished and he wasn't going to let that woman walk all over him.

He plugged in his phone and quickly showered.

As soon as he reached his office he was greeted by Cecelia.

"Good morning sir" She said as she handed him a coffee and a sandwich.

Aaron held up the sandwich and raised his eyebrow.

"Mrs. Steele insisted."

"Thank you."

"The press conference is set up in conference room 10"

"Prep them up. I will be there shortly."

"Okay"

Aaron washed down the sandwich with the coffee and grabbed the file he needed for the press conference.

"We are all set sir" Robert, his VP, greeted him at the door of the conference room.

"Let's get this over with" Aaron muttered and strode into the conference room.

An hour later the true story was out in the open. Aaron had stated all the facts without cutting or holding anything back. He ran a hand through his hair as he got into the back seat of his car and told the driver to head back to the hospital.

He was also anticipating a call from an enraged Olivia but he would handle her when the time came. Right now, Elaine was his priority.

The next day Aaron paced in the waiting room while the doctors brought Elaine out of the medically induced coma. Dante and Rose were sitting on the chairs.

"Sit down please. You are making me dizzy" Rose said as she watched Aaron wear down the carpet.

"What if she doesn't let me near her ever again?"

"Why would you say that?" Rose said as she got up and came next to Aaron.

"Don't tell you are blaming yourself" Dante said.

"It is my fault. I should have never flown out to Milan that night and none of this would have happened!" Aaron shot out exasperated.

"Look man, don't berate yourself like that. It is not going to help you or her alright?"

"Dante is right" Rose said as she gave him a concerned look.

"I will not be able to live if she doesn't forgive me or let me back into her life!"

"This is all very hard and is going to take time but don't do this to yourself. Everything will be okay." Rose said in a calm voice.

"Elaine is awake." Sam said as she walked into the waiting room. She had been waiting outside the room.

All of them rushed to the room's door as the doctor came out.

"She is still in a delicate condition. She will need a therapy and for that I have paged Dr. Paige Simmons. She will be here shortly. Till then please only one person at a time and do not stress her or say anything that might affect her negatively.'

"Thank you" Aaron said

"You go" Sam said and his legs froze. What if she screamed when she saw him? What if she told him to leave and never come near her ever again?

"Go in" Rose gently pushed him.

Aaron opened the door and stepped in. He paused at the door and looked at Elaine. She was sitting up and looking out of the window. She didn't turn to look at him.

"Elaine?"

She didn't respond or look at him.

Elaine felt dazed. It was like she was no longer connected to her body. She knew she was in the hospital but she didn't want to focus on the surroundings. She was happy with just blocking everything out. She felt content with her present state of mind which was blank.

Aaron walked further into the room and paused next to her bed. He wanted to reach out and gather her into his arms but he didn't want to startle her or say anything that might push her over the edge.

"Love, it is me Aaron..."

Why wasn't she looking at him or saying anything.

"How are you feeling?" Aaron said again, his heart nearly beating out of his chest.

"Mr. Clark"

Aaron turned around to his name being called.

"I am Dr. Paige Simmons, the psychiatrist."

"She isn't replying to me or even looking at me" Aaron said desperately, he was scared now.

"Let me assess her please."

Dr. Simmons took a seat next to her bed and faced her.

"Hello dear, can you please tell me your name."

"Elaine Sparks" Dr. Simmons asked her age, address, profession to which Elaine replied aptly.

"And you are where right now?" the doctor continued.

"Hospital"

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I don't know"

"Do you remember the last thing that occurred before you woke up at the hospital?

"Yeah. I was at this bar, The Insight, then I passed out. I don't really recall anything after that.

"Can you recall the day or date?"

"It was a week after my brother passed away"

Aaron's heart froze. He felt chilled to his core.

"Can you please—' The doctor continued but was cut off by Aaron.

"She is talking about a week ago. I met her that day after she passed out"

"Alright thank you Elaine." The doctor smiled at her and stood up and Elaine simply went back to staring out of the window again. Her face had remained expressionless and her tone was monotonous through out her exchange with the doctor.

"Can I please talk with you outside?' Dr. Simmons said to Aaron.

Aaron nodded and followed the doctor outside.

"What is going on?"

"Elaine is suffering from psychogenic amnesia. It is a type of retrograde amnesia meaning the patient's brain blocked out or forgets certain timeline events prior to an emotional trauma. Her brain has blocked out an entire week including the night of the assault."

"She will remember?"

"I can not comment on that Mr. Clark. It depends on how badly her emotional stability was rattled. The brain is simply protecting itself from the painful events. She might remember them, she might not. Only time and the outcome of therapy sessions will tell. She might also suffer from post traumatic distress syndrome. We must look out for that as well. I am going to talk to Dr. Germann and work out a schedule. The sooner we start with the therapy session, the better."

Aaron stumbled back and grabbed the chair.

Elaine was no longer able to remember him. She didn't know who he was.

!