Adnan walked into the hospital room his mother told him about, room 324. He didn't bother knocking so when he walked in, Jannah, Aisha and Hajiya Maimuna were taken by surprise but they immediately schooled their expressions so as to not give anything away. They've come a long way to cut it short here, more to go.

Hajiya Maimuna yawed her expression into that of concern and confusion, she is one heck of an actress while Aisha lowered her looks into that of a clueless maid that doesn't know what is going on. She is not wearing her maid uniform, hadn't worn that one in a long time. She is rocking Jannah's old clothes, the ones she's never worn in her life.

Imara on the other hand rushes to her father giggling along the way. Adnan's eyes crawled back to his daughter whom he picked in his arms and cradle her to his shoulder. He didn't visit the hospital when she was born, he was out of the country and only came back when she was seven days old. He had too many important business to deal with then but look at him here after his mother called to tell him his wife is drastically sick and is hospitalized.

What annoyed him though is that, Jannah looks perfectly alright looking around the room weirdly. There's this look in her eyes and glimpse of something abysmal that wasn't there the last time he's seen her. He is feeling it in his body that things have changed, that the Jannah in front of him is totally not the one he's left.

Not bothering to entertain Imara and her many painting rambles, he furthered into the room expressionless. Why did his mother ask him to come back when Jannah is not on the verge of dying? He thought he'd see her with different machines attached to her body to monitor her closely but this? No, he didn't expect his wife to be looking at him like he is some psycho.

She has her legs crossed in front of her, her back on the headboard. She swept her eyes from his head down to his shiny Italian leather shoes that the chandelier in the room is illuminating, with eyes filled with the appreciation many women give him but she did that only when she first saw him after they got married. Since then, she's stopped then why now? What's happening?

Too many questions but the woman currently wearing cerulean hospital gown won't provide the answers not that he would've asked—

"Good afternoon, Sir." Aisha's voice pierced through the air, her eyes on the floor like she wasn't the one planning on how to victimize him.

He gave the usual nod he gives whenever greeted which she didn't see. He made his way to his mother and greeted her indifferently. His eyes are filled with questions he needn't word out because she's already flattened how to explain.

"Outside." He gently placed Imara on the couch his mother is sitting on and left the room, not looking back at Jannah again.

She didn't even greet him today, only watched him like a hawk.

"How rude! He refused to answer my greeting." Aisha pouted inside the room then shrugged and plopped down on the other couch Hajiya Maimuna is not occupying.

Hajiya Maimuna stood up. "He nodded. I'll go outside to explain things the best I can."

"Good luck with that." Aisha widened her eyes when she saw movement by the door thinking it was Adnan, just a nurse passing and staring at Adnan like some voyeur.

Hajiya Maimuna stepped outside to see her son standing by the end of the corridor with his hands tucked inside his pockets. She smiled, her adorable son. She is so proud of him and not only his achievements but the man he's become after everything he's gone through. His father would've been so proud of him, extremely so.

Standing right in front of him, she let her acting skills fall all over her like gossamer mesh. "AD, Jannah has lost her memories. Amnesia of some sort due to stress."

He raised a skeptical brow though his face remained expressionless. "Memory loss? Is this some sort of joke?"

"Do you think I'll joke around with this sort of thing? I got a call from her driver that he's taken her to the hospital so I rushed here. I don't know what happened neither does she but she cannot recall who we are. Not even Imara." Her eyes fell down to hide the fake glossiness, she is so good.

Adnan didn't say a thing for the longest time just staring down at his mother's bent head. He is trying to wrap his head around the fact that his wife just lost her memory. Does that even make any sense? Is this some twisted joke Jannah is playing or what? She is not that type of woman to desperately want attention like this, that is why he agreed to marry her in the first place.

Now she's lost all her memories? Stress? Amnesia? That's ludicrous.

"And what did he tell you? Dr. Abdussalam? When is she going to recover or what surgery needs to be done?" He managed to ask when all he wanted to ask was why she called him just because his wife decided to lost her memories.

It's not like she's got anything related to him with that, just their daughter and that she is married. Nothing else to make a fuse.

"He said there is nothing we can do about it but wait until she convalesce herself." She gave a hopeless shrug, sniffing for more effect.

"Nothing will help? Then you should go to another country and ask for their best neurologists to check on her. I don't trust this place much." He looked around the hospital in severely.

Maybe he should get himself into this business too with best instruments to attract high end energy. Nigeria needs well-heeled hospital with preeminent and culminating apparatus, maybe a few robots too. That sounds like a plan.

Hajiya Maimuna almost panicked. "I think you should talk to him about it. Perhaps he'll be able to tell you more on the amnesia."

Adnan thought about it then gave a curt nod. He pivoted around and she almost thought he was going to see Dr. Abdussalam but he sharply entered Jannah's room. Her eyes widened, she followed right after just in case anything is out of place. Entering the room, she found them all still in their position when she left them so she suspired. Good to go.

"Leave us." He announced to the other occupants of the room, his eyes on Jannah.

She could swear this is the longest he's stared at her since they got married, for about fifteen seconds. His eyes are shark-like, hooded and raw eclipsed with sparsely sweeping eyelashes, wispy brows. He assess and inspected like her she was some convoluted scientific instrument no one knows how to operate. He wasn't handsome in the conventional sense. This man's face was as expressive as a block of granite.

After Hajiya Maimuna, Aisha and Imara left the room, she continued to stare at him without blinking. Drinking him and quaffing down whatever she could get not caring whether she chokes or not through an indiscernible fistula. This is the first time she is seeing him up close with light but she is freaking intimidated with the way he is leaning down his head to look at her on the bed. She feels vulnerable and small.

Seeing as he is not willing to talk after a minute, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, isn't this a nice change of scenery?" She looked around the ivory walls in the room, anything to look away from those eyes.

Adnan's brows both raise at the same time. This really isn't the way Jannah talks. She must've lost her memory indeed. "It's a hospital room."

She gave a sassy smile before replying astutely. "I was being sarcastic."

If he was shocked, he did a great job at hiding it because he still looks emotionless. Her heart thudded hard beneath her chest that she is afraid he might hear it. She slowly sat up on the bed, she won't be lying there while he hovered over her like mommy kangaroo. She might blurt out the truth about the entire amnesia with those fervid eyes watching her every move, it's nauseating.

She swallowed and sat up, bringing her knees up to her chest. She lie her head in them, wrap her arms around her legs and tilt her face to the side to watch him. Her mouth went dry and her chest tightened abruptly, he is freaking handsome up close. Not in the way that makes you feel like dropping your morals but in the way that all nice grooming could be damned for a glimpse of the bad side.

He really is like a scoundrel.

"You've changed." The only change in his face is his eyebrow raising ever so slightly. "How did you lost your memory?"

She flipped her hand dismissively. "I think I just stopped acting the way you wanted me to. And how do I know? I wouldn't want to lost my memory."

After a beat or two, she added. "Heard you are my husband? How unfortunate for me."

Adnan only surveyed her some more and had he studied anything medical stuff, he would've known this was a charade. He is that intelligent. "You bet."

"Why do I have a feeling we were and are not in love?" She asked, her expression yawing taut and disgusted, she is good.

"Love? What's that word again?" He walked around the room hands tucked in his pocket. He is tired of staring at her already? That is bad because she wanted to continue taking him in, to fill up the empty space inside her.

"I knew it! You look like a heartless dragon. I can't believe I got married to someone like you and we have a goddamn daughter." She observed looking terribly queasy. "How did I even allow a man like you to touch me? God, who the hell are my parents and what were they thinking when they got me married to you? What is it you have that they wanted?"

She knows, he does and everybody too.

He swiftly pivoted with a glacial smirk that made all her facade drop, it made her insides raw. "Money."

She gulped, of course. "So they sold me? And I sired you a child. I think we should go our separate ways now. We all have gotten what we wanted. Maybe you are the stress that made me lost my memory."

He only shrugged at her, went to the window and lean on it thinking. Who is this woman? She doesn't sound nor look much like his wife. Is she her duplicate by any chance? There is this weird feeling he had when she didn't look away from his gaze when normally people don't waste another second to look down whenever their gazes meet. What has changed in Jannah?

Feeling agitated at the way things are going, she stood up and came to stand in front of him crossing her arms in front of her. That's totally not Jannah but it'll have to do since she is not acting now, she is being herself.

"How do you treat me in this marriage? Your mother called you the minute she found out I was admitted here but you took your precious time to come here. I want to know just how bad this marriage is. If I can make it work for the sake of my daughter then fine, if I can't, I'll leave. I feel like you have everything to do with my situation right now. Why else would a woman just lost her memory randomly whe—"

He stood straighter, getting her to keep quiet because there is less than a foot now between them. He smells so good, spice and pure manly scent. "You talk too much and I'm afraid, I don't like that."

She gulped again, her eyes still deep inside his. "Yes, well I'm trying to make up for things you haven't said. And I'm afraid, there's a lot."

He almost chortled at the way she is defiantly standing up for herself. It's almost cute. "I'm going to let this slip because you are my wife but usually, I don't take being talked back at lightly."

She snorted in an unladylike way, not able to stop herself. "Then how do you make conversations? Talking all alone like some psychotic idiot?"

This time around an expression did show on his expressionless face, a little bit of astonishment that cleared before she could confirm it was there or not. Did she manage to get beneath his skin already? Whoa, Aisha is totally going to love this a whole lot. He is only astonished though, is that saying much? From Adnan, it sure is.

"I'll leave you now. Have fun recovering." And he disappeared before she could get ahold of the conversation again.

Adnan made his way to Dr. Abdussalam's office and entered yet again without knocking. That's one of his many bad habits.

They exchanged short pleasantries like always before he asked the man to dive right into what's happened to his wife and how they can tackle it. If it's about money, he knows that there is nothing to worry about. They should just treat her with the best they've got and he will sheathe it all, he won't sweat at all.

"...people who have even mild amnesia may experience a diminished quality of life. It may be challenging to perform daily work and social activities due to the difficulty of recalling previous memories and creating new ones. In some cases, lost memories can't be recovered. People with severe amnesia may require round-the-clock supervision." He explained, his eyes not meeting Adnan's from across the table.

"And there is no cure to the disease why?" He tilted his head, his forefinger against his parched peach lips looking so hard.

"It's got no cure, I'm afraid. Although amnesia can be permanent in rare cases, it usually resolves on its own. Living with amnesia and performing day-to-day activities may be challenging, and you may need to rely on help from others. A healthy lifestyle may help lower your risk of amnesia. Just six to eight months or perhaps a year will be alright. She should recover by then."

Adnan was quiet for awhile. "Maybe I should take her abroad."

"That won't be necessary, trust me. It's still going to be the same thing because no one's found the cure to amnesia. They'll only suggest a few therapies here and there. It's better she stays here under your watch."