Prisioner In Your Arms

Bruno and Rina had to leave the room while Emma stayed with Nicole to comfort her. After examining her and conducting some tests, the doctor asked to speak with Emma outside the room, so that Nicole wouldn’t hear. Rina and Bruno were also present when he gave his diagnosis.

“What Mrs. Nicole is experiencing is called dissociative amnesia. It is caused by a traumatic or stressful event, which leads to an inability to remember important information from her life. When this happens, people can forget lived experiences, ranging from minutes to decades. In Mrs. Nicole’s case, her brain is protecting itself from the emotions that cause suffering, and as a result, she has forgotten everything related to those painful experiences.”

“The treatment we will pursue involves memory recovery techniques, including hypnosis sessions combined with some medications. She will also need to undergo psychotherapy, which will help her deal with the experiences that triggered the disorder. This type of amnesia is more common in women than in men.”

“How long do you think it will take for her to regain her memory?” Bruno asked, sounding worried.

“We can’t say for sure. Sometimes it takes a long time, and after the treatment, memories start to resurface like flashes. In other cases, memory recovery happens spontaneously, and occasionally, it can be triggered by another traumatic event.”

Bruno covered his face with both hands, realizing that he wouldn’t be able to be with Nicole all the time as he wanted because he had to find his son.

“I’ll go say goodbye to her. I need to find Santi.”

He entered the room, and Nicole had her gaze fixed on the window. He approached her and took her hand, but she immediately pulled it away.

“Who do you think you are, barging in here and daring to touch my hand? Get out of here immediately,” she said, pointing at the door.

Bruno froze, not knowing what to say. It was best for him to leave as he was upsetting her.

Emma approached him, knowing how difficult everything was.

“You need to give her time. I’ll talk to her. You go find Santi. Tomorrow, when they discharge her, I’ll take her home. I’ll show her all the photos, hoping it helps, but you have to understand that it will be very hard for her to accept. Right now, you are complete strangers to her.”

“I don’t understand how she could forget her own son,” Bruno said.

“She didn’t do it consciously. It was her brain’s reaction to protect her from the pain she was feeling. Let’s hope my grandson is found soon and this nightmare ends. You both deserve to be happy after everything you’ve been through.”

“I think it’s better if I introduce myself as a family friend, not to upset her. When she’s more calm, you can explain everything,” Rina said with infinite sadness.

“You must tell her the truth as soon as possible. You need to warn her about Sergio, Deborah, and Sondra. Right now, they are not her enemies in her mind. I’m sure Sondra was the one who informed Sergio about the house layout.”

Bruno left to meet up with Leandro, Noah, and Gío. They had to hurry to find the child.

“I would like to say goodbye to Nicole.”

“Leandro said, unaware of what had happened.”

René and Mara approached at that moment, noticing their son’s suffering.

“What’s going on, son?” René asked.

“Nicole has lost her memory. She forgot a big part of her past, including all of us and even Santi. The doctor said it’s dissociative amnesia, as if her brain was trying to shield her from all the pain she was feeling. She has forgotten events and people associated with painful experiences in her life.”

There was no point in upsetting Nicole with their presence, so they left. Only Noah said goodbye to her.

Sergio De Santis was in Italy with Deborah and the child. They presented themselves as his grandparents, but since he didn’t know them, he couldn’t stop crying. Deborah fed him and then gave him some drops to keep him asleep.

“You have to find someone to take care of him. I won’t tolerate the screams of that little devil,” Deborah said.

“He’s your grandson. Don’t you feel even a minimum amount of affection?” Sergio asked.

“No, children are extremely bothersome. They only demand, cry, and make a mess. They don’t know how to do anything else.”

Sergio realized in that moment that he had to protect himself from that woman. He understood that she had no love for anyone but herself.

As night fell, Bruno learned that Sergio was in Italy with his son, but after that, he lost track of them. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Meanwhile, Rina, who was still at the hospital, received a call.

“Hello.”

“I hope you don’t try anything to take away my fortune. Otherwise, your beloved grandson will die. I’ll keep him by my side to ensure that nothing is done against me. So get used to the idea that he will live with me from now on. I’ll keep him in a safe place.”

“You’re a damn heartless demon. Give us back our grandson,” Rina exclaimed.

“Shhhh, my dear, no insults. Everything would have been so different if you had loved me. I would have given you my whole life,” Sergio responded.

“I loved you, and you abandoned me when I needed you the most. You thought I would love you forever.”

Sergio remained silent for a moment. What she was saying hurt him.

“The past is buried, so now you know. Don’t do anything against me, and don’t look for him either. If I find out you’re doing anything, I’ll return him to you, but dead.”

Sergio ended the call, leaving Rina in the midst of a nervous crisis. She called Bruno to tell him what Sergio had said.

“That son of a bitch. He will pay dearly for everything he’s doing to us,” Bruno said after hanging up, crying bitterly.

Leandro, Gío, Noah, and René looked at him, unable to understand what was happening.

“What happened?” Leandro asked.

“That son of a bitch, your father, called Rina. If we do anything against him, if we keep searching for Santi, he’ll return him to us dead.”

“Damn it! I’ve been calling him, but his phone is off, and so is Deborah’s. I think they’ve disconnected them. I don’t know what kind of father I have. He’s a monster.”

The atmosphere was tense. Sergio must have had someone close to them as an infiltrator. They had no idea who it could be, but they were certain that someone was feeding him information.

“What are we going to do about this?” Gío asked.

“The most appropriate thing would be for all of us to change our staff, both security and household staff. We should bring them from another country to ensure they have no connection to Sergio,” Bruno suggested.

“I agree with that. We should do it. But even so, we must be careful. My father might send someone to offer them money. I believe he’s capable of anything to preserve his fortune,” Leandro added.

They retired to rest, although they doubted they would be able to sleep. Bruno stayed in the new house. The next day, Emma would take Nicole. Bruno felt helpless, unsure of what to do. He had to think carefully before acting because he didn’t want to do anything wrong that would put his son’s life at risk.

The next morning, Emma was talking to Nicole, attempting to explain.

“The doctor has discharged you, my daughter.”

“That’s great, Mom. I want to see my sister. I imagine she’ll be at home, although I don’t understand why she hasn’t come to see me.”

Emma didn’t know what to say. Telling her the truth at that moment could upset her.

“We won’t go home.”

“Then where are we going?”Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

“You’ll find out when we get there.”

They left the hospital in the company of Noah. Nicole had seen herself in the mirror that morning after bathing and let out a loud scream. She couldn’t recognize her own face and body. What had happened to her that she looked so different? Emma tried to explain, but Nicole refused to accept the reality. She didn’t understand why they were lying to her.

Upon arriving at Bruno’s house, he greeted them at the entrance, with two enormous black circles under his eyes, a sign that he hadn’t slept even a moment.

“Hello, Bruno,” Noah greeted.

“Hello”

Sara came out of the house at that moment.

“My beautiful girl, how wonderful to have you back,” Sara said.

“Nanny? But what happened to you? You look different.”

They moved to the living room, and Bruno just observed her, not daring to speak. She felt uncomfortable under his persistent gaze.

“Why is this man here, Mom?”

“You need to try to stay calm. We are going to explain everything to you right now. You have to listen to us without getting upset. You know that we love you and would never lie to you.”

Sara approached them, carrying two photo albums. She handed them to Emma, who was standing next to Nicole.

“Please, take your time to look at these photos. They are real, and what they capture is completely real.”

She first gave Nicole the album with photos from her wedding. Nicole was surprised. When had all of that happened? It was as if one day she had gone to sleep and woken up in a parallel world.