After a life-changing accident, I woke up with no memory and a guy by my side who said he was my fiancé. I didn’t remember him, but I went along with it, until my dog’s weird behavior made me question everything. Was this guy really who he claimed to be, or someone else entirely?
You never think something awful will happen to you. It was just a normal evening. I was driving home after hanging out with a friend, blasting music, singing along, feeling on top of the world.
But in a split second, everything flipped. A car came flying around a corner and smashed into me. That crash was the last thing I could recall.
I woke up in the hospital, and the doctors told me I’d been out cold for over a week. They said I was lucky to not be paralyzed after a wreck like that. Lucky didn’t feel like the right word.
My memory was all messed up. I could remember my family, my best friends, my dog.
Some stuff stuck with me, but I drew a blank on where I worked. I couldn’t picture my home address, even though I knew what the house looked like.
The big thing, though? I didn’t remember him. The guy who, according to the doctors, never left my side while I was in a coma.
The guy I saw when I opened my eyes. The guy who said he was my fiancé. Zane, that’s what he called himself. I looked at him and saw a total stranger.
“Why doesn’t she remember me? She knows her family, her friends, why not me?” Zane asked the doctor.
“With memory loss like this, sometimes only certain things slip away,” the doctor explained.
“We’ve been together for almost a year and a half. We’re engaged. We were picking out wedding stuff. What do I do now?” Zane asked.
“Talk to her about your time together, show her pictures, it might jog her memory,” the doctor suggested.
“Might? What if it doesn’t work?” Zane pushed.
“She fell for you once; maybe she will again,” the doctor said before walking out.
After that, Zane always showed up with something. He brought photos of us, little gifts he said he’d given me, and told stories about how we met, our dates, moving in together. But…
“I’m sorry, none of this rings a bell,” I told him.
“It’s okay, we’ll figure it out together,” Zane said, grabbing my hand.
My mom wouldn’t let it go, even while I was stuck in the hospital.
“I can’t believe you never told me about Zane!” she said.
“Mom, I don’t remember anything. What do you want me to say?” I shot back.
“Zane said you were gonna tell me after he proposed, but the accident happened first. I’m not sure I believe that. You’ve always kept things to yourself,” my mom said.
This went on for days. Zane’s stories, Mom’s nagging, until the doctor finally said I could go home.
Zane drove me from the hospital to what he said was our house.
I was dying to see Rusty, my dog. I’d missed that little goofball so much it was hard to put into words.
As we got close to the house, I could hear Rusty barking like crazy, probably just as excited to see me as I was to see him.
But the second Zane opened the door, Rusty bolted out, barking his head off and trying to nip at him.
Rusty’d never acted this way with someone he knew.
“Get him off me! Calm him down!” Zane shouted, pushing Rusty away.
“Rusty! Come here!” I called, but he wasn’t listening. “Come here!” I said, sharper this time.
Rusty ran to me, tail wagging, but still barking at Zane. “Hush, buddy,” I said, picking him up.
He quieted down for a second, but when I got closer to Zane, he went nuts again, squirming to get free.
“Put him in the backyard,” Zane said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because he’s trying to chomp me!” Zane said, like it was obvious.
“I don’t get it. You said we live together. Why’s he freaking out like this?” I asked.
“I don’t know, he’s never liked me. While you were in the hospital, I stayed with you, and your mom took care of him. Maybe he forgot me,” Zane explained.
I gave him a look but didn’t say anything. I took Rusty to the backyard and played with him for about an hour.
I’d missed him so much, and he clearly missed me too. Zane’s excuse didn’t add up.
I’d been gone, but Rusty hadn’t forgotten me. I went inside, and the second I did, Rusty started barking again, non-stop. My head was pounding.
“This is so weird,” I said.
“What?” Zane asked.
“Rusty’s acting nuts. He’s never like this,” I said.
“He’s a dog. Good luck figuring out why they do anything,” Zane said.
“Where’s my phone?” I asked. I hadn’t thought about it in the hospital, but now I needed it.
“It got smashed in the crash. I’ll grab you a new one tomorrow,” Zane said.
“Okay, ‘cause I want to see Chloe,” I said.
“Uh… probably not a great idea,” Zane replied.
“Why not?” I asked.
“The doctor said you need to take it easy,” Zane said.
“He didn’t say that. What, I can’t even hang out with my friend now?” I asked.
“I’d wait a bit,” Zane said.
This was starting to get under my skin. I didn’t remember Zane, Rusty was acting like he was a total stranger, and now I couldn’t even see my friends.
“I’m gonna sleep in another room, with Rusty, if that’s cool with you,” I said. All of a sudden, sharing a bed with Zane felt off.
“Why can’t he sleep outside?” Zane asked.
“Because he’s an indoor dog. He doesn’t stay outside,” I said.
“We always left him outside,” Zane said.
That made me stop. I’d never leave Rusty outside to sleep. That wasn’t me at all.
I slept in the guest room with Rusty, and Zane took the main bedroom. It felt safer.
Zane got me a new phone, but he changed the number, and I couldn’t get in touch with Chloe.
I also couldn’t remember my social media passwords. I felt stuck, like I was trapped in a box, only leaving the house with Zane.
I kept staring at our photos together, still drawing a blank. Nothing about him felt real, like he’d never been in my life.
But Zane kept saying my memory would come back soon, though I wasn’t so sure.
He also kept pushing to get married quick. He said he loved me so much he couldn’t wait. But how do you marry someone you don’t even know?
One day, I heard Zane arguing with someone at the front door. I couldn’t see who, but he looked pissed.
“I told you, it’s not time yet!” he yelled, slamming the door.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“Wrong address,” Zane said.
An hour later, Zane left for work, and I stayed home, my stomach in knots. I had to figure out what was going on.
Why didn’t I remember him? Why was Rusty losing it around him? Why was he keeping me from my friends?
I went through his stuff, but nothing looked shady.
Then someone knocked on the door. It was Chloe. I ran to hug her.
“I’m freaked out,” I said.
“He wouldn’t let me see you,” Chloe said.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I said.
“Lila, listen close. Zane doesn’t exist,” Chloe said.
“What?” I was stunned.
“I tried looking him up, but there’s no trace of him,” Chloe said.
“But how? I don’t understand…” I said.
“I don’t know, but you never mentioned him, and he never proposed. Either you kept it from everyone, or Zane’s full of it,” Chloe said.
“So what do I do? I don’t think Zane and I were ever a thing. Rusty’s going crazy around him,” I said.
“We can—”
Chloe got cut off when a delivery guy showed up with a big envelope. I signed for it, and we went inside to check it out.
Inside was a marriage contract. Reading it made everything click.
The contract said if we divorced, Zane would get half my stuff.
And that wasn’t chump change—my grandma had been loaded, and she left everything to me.
“Jerk!” Chloe shouted.
“How did he know about my money? How did he even know I had it?” I asked.
“No clue, but we need to call the cops,” Chloe said.
She hid in a room while I waited for Zane. I knew he was back because Rusty started barking like crazy.
“Hey, how’s your day? Get the contract?” Zane asked, walking in.
“Yeah, but… you get half my stuff if we split?” I asked.
“Yeah, but there’s fine print. Did you read it?” Zane said.
“I’m not signing this,” I said.
“Chill, it’s just for a divorce. I’m hoping we’re together forever,” Zane said, leaning in for a kiss. Right then, there was a knock at the door. Chloe had called the cops when Rusty started going off.
“Who’s that?” Zane asked. I shrugged, knowing exactly who it was.
The police grabbed Zane the second he opened the door. It was like something out of a movie.
He screamed, fought, and threw insults at me and Chloe, saying we’d wrecked everything.
“I still don’t get how he knew about my money,” I told the cop.
“We ID’d him. His real name’s Kael. He worked as a caregiver at a senior home,” the officer said.
“My grandma was in a senior home before she passed,” I said.
“That’s probably how he found out about you and used your memory loss to play the fiancé card,” the officer said.
I watched the police car drive off with Zane—Kael—inside. Rusty ran to me, tail wagging, and I scooped him up.
If it wasn’t for Rusty, I might never have started questioning Kael. Who knows how this could’ve ended.