Chapter Three~

Regina's POV~

My eyes flutter open, and I am in a panic.

I don't know where I am.

I don't know who I am.

I can't remember anything.

And then I see her.

And something shifts within me.

She is there, sitting across from my bed, her head looking out one of the large hospital windows.

Waves of blonde hair fall down her face and back. Her figure is small and weak, and her face looks broken. I feel a jab in my heart. What made her this way? Only a person that suffered great trials should look that pained.

I make a movement, and her head whips in my direction.

Her dead eyes spark to life as soon as she sees me. The most gorgeous smile alights across her face and tears sting her eyes.

"Regina?" she whispers.

She gets up, slowly approaching me, as if I'm a dream that will fade away if she touches me too soon.

She takes my hand in hers, slowly, gently, savoring every moment that her skin is connected with mine.

And I feel alive. My innards that felt dead and raw when I awoke now rage with life and passion.

It lights within me like a spark of lightning. I can't tear my eyes away from her face, not only because she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seens, but also because of this feeling inside my chest. I feel like I'm waking up from a terrible dream and she's the reality that makes me feel safe again. I feel like I've been lost for years and she's the home I'm welcomed to. I feel like a desert deprived of rain for centuries, and she is the burst of thunder that sends her lifeline of rain pouring out of herself to revive me.

I feel like I was lost.

And now I am found again.

I do not know who she is. My brain cannot collect the thoughts of who she once was. But my soul knows. It dances and expands and shouts. It is alive again. It knows her. It knows her as well as it knows myself (which, admittedly, isn't very much at the moment).

There is something special about this woman.

Something is dancing in my chest. My heart feels happy, my brain fogs over with joy, and my soul starts working to the beat of life again. Everything inside me changes when she touches me. My thoughts start silently screaming, pulling me towards her, filling me with memories I cannot remember.

One thing is certain; this woman was important to me.

If only I knew why.

Just like that, the joy of the movement fades away. Someone has poured water over my fire and all that remains are wet ashes.

I feel cold inside. Because I cannot remember anything. I can't remember why she's making me feel this way. And everything just feels oh so wrong.

She sees my face change, and hers does too. She knows now that something is wrong, and I can see her dying behind her eyes.

"Regina?" she says again, but this time her words are weak, worried, broken. She knows that I don't remember her.

I can tell that she wants to reach out to me, to touch me again, to feel alive and good again as she did just a few seconds ago. And I do too. I would do anything to feel that way again. But neither of us make a movement.

A small blonde nurse bustles through the doors, freezes when she sees that I'm awake, and then rushes back out of the room to let a doctor know that I'm conscious again.

"Where am I?" it's the first words I've spoken, and my throat burns with every word. I close my eyes and the pain that envelopes my entire body finally registers.

"You're in the hospital. You were in a car accident…. You don't remember?"

I shake my head, but keep my eyes closed. I can't bear to see the hurt on her face. I can already hear it in her voice.

"How long have I been here?"

She answers sadly, "Seven days. We didn't think you'd wake up."

There's pain in her voice, but relief too. She's obviously joyed that I did.

"Who am I?" I ask, my eyes fluttering open. But we both know that that's a question only I can answer for myself.