Bria POV:

The doctor arrived a few minutes later with my mother and he immediately started checking my vitals and asking me a series of questions. He shone a light in my eyes, his expression serious as he took notes on his clipboard.

"How much do you remember about the accident, Bria?" he asked, his tone gentle but probing.

I shook my head, my frustration growing. "Not much. Just... flashes. Lights, pain... that's all".

He nodded, his face grim.

"Memory loss is common after a traumatic brain injury. You suffered a concussion, along with several fractures but, there's something else we need to discuss". He glanced at my mother, who's face was a mask of concerned and worry.

"What is it?"I asked, my heart sinking.

The doctor hesitated, his eyes filled with concern. "Bria, you have amnesia. It appears to be retrograde amnesia, meaning you've lost memories from before the accident. It's hard to say how much or for how long... or if they'll ever return".

I felt the room spin, my body going cold. "I... I don't remember..." I looked at Celine, Mickayla, and my mother, panic clawing at my chest. "I don't remember anything... How... how much did I forget?"

The doctor's voice was calm but firm. "That depends. Memory loss is unpredictable. It could be days, weeks, or even years. And if those memories were tied to something particularly traumatic, they may never return".

Traumatic? My mind raced, trying to grasp at anything faces, names, places but, all I found was emptiness.

" in the meantime we will keep you here for a couple more days until we see that you are fit enough to be discharged after which I would advised you to take a week or 2 of rest and I will also prescribe some vitamins you can take", he said and then he left and I lifted my left hand and saw a ring on my ring finger . It was a simple sliver band with a a singular diamond and as I steared at it, I tried my hardest to remember, something, anything about how I had gotten it or who had given it to me .

Caius, I said his name over and over inside my mind but, still nothing came and the sympathetic looks on my mother's face along with Mickayla and Celine left me feeling entirely hopeless and just wishing above all else that I could just remember even if it was just his voice, something.

A week after I was released from the hospital, I got a call from the police. They asked me if they could come by the house to collect something containing Caius's DNA for testing.

They were trying to identify the bodies recovered from the fire, to see if one of them was him.

They came to the house and collected a toothbrush that belonged to him, and I waited. Days passed, each one heavier than the last. Finally, they called me back.

None of the bodies were his. He wasn't among the dead. But he wasn't anywhere else either.

I didn't know if I should feel relief or grief. I didn't know what to feel at all.

Caius. The name still felt foreign on my tongue and I couldn't remember his face. His voice. Nothing. I could see that it pained Celine that he was probably dead inside the fire and also the fact that I wasn't able to remember him despite the fact that he had not saved her life once but, twice. Listening to her tell me everything made me felt guilty for not being able to remember and I tried . I tried my hardest , closing my eyes, whispering his name , even staying in the house that I had supposedly shared with him , sleeping in what had been our bed but, nothing came to my mind and I couldn't stop thinking about what the doctor had said to me about me not being able to remember if the memories had been traumatic.

Had they been traumatic? Was that why I couldn't remember him or the life we supposedly had together? But, I refused to believe that because he wouldn't have given my sister a kidney or saved her from being raped or killed by god knows how many men if he had been a bad person so I knew he was good , kind and someone who was selfless with an amazing soul and as the days went by I hated myself more and more for not being able to remember him.

One year later......

I sat on my bed, staring at my laptop screen. An email notification blinked at the top corner. The subject line read: "All the reasons I love her" and I stared at the title confused and even more confused on who had sent it and I couldn't reply to it either.

My heart fluttered as I opened it, my eyes scanning the words.

Is it possible that she is affecting me? Because I kissed her today, not because I wanted to but, because I needed to.

A shiver ran down my spine. I read the next line.

She smiled. I never knew I could feel this feeling like a warmth flowing throughout my body until I saw her smile. She is breathtakingly beautiful but, I won't tell her that.

My chest tightened, a strange ache blooming inside me.

She asked me what my favourite color was. I told her she already knew and she said crimson red. But I never thought I could love brown with such an intensity like I do now. It's the color of her eyes and she doesn't know it but, I would gladly murder anyone who makes a tear fall from those eyes.

I touched my cheek, feeling the dampness. I was crying. Why? Why did these words make me feel... this emptiness? This distant longing?

I am in love with her. I am in love with the girl that I swore my only mission was to break and destroy, but she did that to me instead. I can't quite describe the feeling but, whenever she looks at me, for once in my entire life, I want to give, to care, and to make her happy. I always said that love is like poison, but I would gladly take that poison if it meant she loved me as much as I loved her.

I continued reading.

I love her. She doesn't know it yet, but I do, and it scares me because I never thought there would be a day when I could say those words to someone and mean it."

Another entry followed. It was like journal but, one filled with so much love that I couldn't stop the tears and it pained me even more because I didn't remember any of it , I should but, I didn't.

I thought I was taking her soul, but she took mine from the moment her eyes met mine in that church. She carved her name into it.

I closed the laptop, my hands trembling. My heart ached, as if a piece of me was missing, a piece I didn't even know I lost but, no matter how hard I tried, no matter how desperately I searched... I couldn't remember him. I couldn't remember us.

My fingers gripped the edge of the laptop my body trembling as I cried for the man who loved me , for the memories that were stolen from me, for the emptiness that his absence left behind but, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember him. I couldn't remember his touch, his kiss, his voice.

All I had were his words, his love captured on the screen before me , a love I could feel but couldn't recall.

And it shattered me because I couldn't remember... Caius. The man who had given my sister a kidney and saved her twice and a man who loved me with every fiber of his being.

THE END.....

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THE PASTOR'S DAUGHTER. IS CAIUS ALIVE OR IS HE DEAD ? WE WILL NEVER KNOW BUT, WE WILL NEVER FORGET THE MAN WHO SWORE HE WOULD NEVER FALL IN LOVE BUT, BECAME COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY OBSESSED WITH HER TO THE POINT HE GAVE ONE OF HIS KIDNEYS TO HER SISTER , KILLED FOR HER , WENT ON HIS KNEES FOR HER AND BECAME BETTER FOR HER .

I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO PUBLISH A PHYSICAL COPY OF THIS STORY AND I AM CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT SO AS SOON AS IT IS READY I WILL MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON MY TIKTOK @phonenixwrites . Love unu ❤️🫶🫶