“Who are you? Do I know you?” Her words shocked Dustin. Florence and the rest of them exchanged bewildered looks. “You… you don’t recognize me?” Dustin was stunned.
“Should I know you?” Dahlia looked at him coldly. It was like she was looking at a stranger. She looked at him warily as if she wanted Dustin to stay away from her.
“Is something wrong? Let me have a look.” Dustin went forward to check on her pulse. But the moment he touched her, she recoiled instantly, as if his touch burned her.
“What are you doing?” Dahlia looked at him frostily, caution in her eyes. Dustin wasn’t used to how she was treating him like a total stranger. Could she be suffering from… amnesia?
“Dahlia, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me!” Florence was flustered. Looking close to tears, she approached Dahlia and asked, “You can’t have forgotten everything, can you? Don’t you remember me?”
“Mom, what are you saying? Of course, I remember you!” Dahlia looked at her, confused.
“You do? Oh, that’s great! That’s great! It seems like you haven’t lost your memories.”
Florence was overjoyed. “I was worried that you’d forget everything after suffering an impact. to the head. That always happens in movies!”
“Dahlia, do you recognize me, then?” Julie asked tentatively.
“Of course I do.” Dahlia nodded.
“And me?” Victoria asked, too.
“Aunt Victoria, what’s up with all of you? You’re all behaving weirdly.” Dahlia looked at them.
curiously.
“Alright, alright. It’s good that you still remember us. Seems like you’re fine now.”
The three of them heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed like Dahlia wasn’t suffering from anything major.
“You remember all of them but not me?” Dustin’s brows furrowed.
Something seemed off. Dahlia didn’t appear to have hurt her head.
“Are you mistaken? I don’t know you.” Dahlia turned to look at Dustin. She looked at him coldly, like she was wary of him.
Dustin’s face fell. For a moment, he was speechless.”
It was obvious that Dahlia had suffered partial memory loss.
But it didn’t look like she had hurt herself. It looked more like she had closed off her memories of Dustin.
In a way, that was one of the body’s defense mechanisms. When a person has experienced something too unbearable, the body would choose to forget about it.
That was a body’s instinct and a way of coping. There was no treatment for that. Whether or not the patient regains their memory depends on themselves.
“Mom, who’s this? Should I know him?” Dahlia looked at Florence.
“N–no.” An idea struck Florence, and she quickly shook her head.
“He’s an insurance agent. He barged in and insisted on promoting his insurance package. I can’t seem to drive him away. How annoying!”
Then, she shooed Dustin out. “Hey! Why are you still standing here? Go on, get out. Don’t be a nuisance here, or I’ll call the cops!”
She eagerly wished for Dahlia to forget about Dustin so she could start afresh. With her daughter’s looks and assets, it wouldn’t be a stretch for her to marry into royalty.
“You don’t remember me. I guess… it’s a good thing, too.” Dustin forced a smile. He was unsure how to feel about this turn of events.
He and Dahlia had agreed to part on good terms. He had only rushed to the hospital because he had heard she was in a life–threatening condition.
Now that he saw that she was fine, he was at ease.
As for her selective amnesia, he thought it was quite a good thing for both of them. They no longer had to suffer and could live peacefully.
