Screaming Hearts

A sharp, rhythmic beeping pulled Emilia Hayes from the depths of unconsciousness. The air smelled sterile, laced with the faint scent of antiseptic and something metallic-blood? Her body ached, every muscle stiff as if she had been in a battle she didn't remember fighting.

Her eyes fluttered open, and blinding white light forced her to shut them again. A dull pounding throbbed in her skull. Where was she?

Slowly, she turned her head to the side, her fingers weakly gripping the stiff bedsheets beneath her. Machines surrounded her, their screens flickering with numbers she couldn't comprehend. An IV was taped to her arm. The realization hit her in waves. A hospital. She was in a hospital.

Panic coiled in her chest. She tried to sit up, but a gentle yet firm hand pressed against her shoulder.

"Easy, sweetheart."

The deep voice sent a shiver down her spine. It was warm, intimate, yet completely unfamiliar.

She forced her eyes open again, blinking away the blur. A man sat beside her bed, his sharp blue eyes watching her with an intensity that made her breath hitch. His dark hair was neatly styled, his chiseled jaw tense as if he had been clenching his teeth for hours. He was breathtaking-hauntingly so.

But she didn't know him.

"Who..." Her voiceHer voice cracked, weak from disuse. She tried again. "Who are you?"

The man's expression didn't flicker. If anything, something unreadable passed through his gaze.

His fingers flexed against the bed frame before he spoke.

"Emilia," he said, his voice softer now, as

if he were choosing his words carefully.

"Emilia, it's me. Julian."

The name meant nothing. It rang hollow in her mind, an empty echo with no memories attached.

She licked her dry lips, trying to push through the fog in her head. "I... I don't know you."

Something flickered in his eyes-pain? Frustration? It was gone before she could be sure.

Julian leaned forward slightly, his presence overwhelming. "You were in an accident," he said slowly, watching her reaction. "A car crash. You hit your head, and you've been unconscious for three days."

An accident. A car crash.

Emilia closed her eyes, willing her mind to cooperate, but it was like reaching into a void. No images, no sounds, no sensations-just an aching emptiness where her memories should have been.

Her fingers curled into the sheets. "I... I don't remember."

Julian exhaled, as if he had expected this but still hated hearing it. "The doctors said you might have memory loss. But they also said it should come back with time."

She opened her eyes again, searching his face. "Who are you to me?"

A muscle in his jaw ticked. Then, after a beat, he said, "I'm your fiancé."

The words hit her like a punch to the chest.

She stared at him, her heart pounding. "No... that can't be right."