Too Late To Love Me I Already Left With His Twins (Lydia and Dave) novel Chapter 287

Lydia POV

Both of them froze.

I frowned.

“What?”

They looked at each other.

Then back at me.

“What?” I asked again.

Eli’s eyes widened.

“You remembered.”

“Remembered what?”

“The café.”

Ava stared at me.

“You just said our favorite café.”

I blinked.

“I did?”

“Yes!”

I looked between them.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You said you forgot us.”

“And everything.”

I swallowed.

“Yeah.”

“So how do you remember our favorite café?”

I opened my mouth.

Then closed it.

I honestly had no idea.

I could picture it.

Not clearly.

But there was something.

A street.

A little café.

A particular table near the window.

The smell of coffee.

Something sweet.

The twins sitting across from me.

It wasn’t a full memory.

It was barely even an image.

More like my brain had reached into some forgotten drawer and accidentally pulled out a label.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

I looked down at my hands.

“I just said it.”

Eli’s face lit up.

“Your memory is coming!”

He turned toward the door.

“Should we call the doctor?”

I laughed.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t feel uncomfortable.”

“But you remembered something.”

“I didn’t remember it.”

“You knew it.”

“I don’t know how.”

“That’s still remembering.”

Ava smiled.

“Maybe your brain is slowly putting things back.”

I looked at her.

“Maybe.”

For some reason, that little word made me hopeful.

Not overwhelmingly hopeful.

Just enough to make my chest feel slightly less heavy.

Eli was already backing toward the door.

“We’ll be back soon.”

I looked at him.

“Where are you going?”

“We’re going for lunch.”

I laughed.

“Okay.”

Ava walked toward me.

For a second, she just stood there.

Then she leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

My entire body went still.

It was such a simple gesture.

So natural.

Like she had done it a thousand times.

And maybe she had.

She pulled back.

“See you soon, Mom.”

Then she left.

I watched them disappear through the door.

And for the first time since waking up, I didn’t feel completely like a stranger in my own life.

Not completely.

A few minutes later, the door opened again.

This time, it was the doctor.

He walked in with a tablet in his hand and a nurse following behind him.

“Good afternoon, Lydia.”

“Good afternoon.”

He smiled.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better.”

“Any headache?”

“A little.”

“Any dizziness?”

“No.”

“Nausea?”

“No.”

“Blurred vision?”

“No.”

“Good.”

He came closer and began another neurological assessment.

He checked my pupils with the light again, asked me to follow his finger with my eyes, tested my grip, asked me to push against his hands and pull back.

Then came the questions.

“What is your name?”

“Lydia.”

“Do you know where you are?”

“In a hospital.”

He smiled.

“Do you know which hospital?”

“Greadow Hospital.”

“Good. What country?”

I answered.

“Do you know the date?”

I paused.

He gave me the answer.

“Okay.”

He nodded.

“Do you remember the accident?”

“No.”

“Do you remember waking up?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember the people who visited you?”

“Forget it.”

Dave opened his mouth.

“Lydia, I—”

Before he could finish, the door suddenly swung open.

A man came running into the ward.

And when I say running, I mean actually running.

He looked…

Oh.

He looked dangerously good.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

hair slightly messy like he’d run his hands through it too many times.

His shirt was rumpled, his breathing was uneven, and there was something frantic in his eyes that made me immediately wonder who the hell he was.

He looked around the room.

Then his eyes landed on me.

“Lydia.”

Before I could react, he crossed the remaining distance between us and wrapped his arms around me.

I froze.

Completely.

My first reaction wasn’t warmth.

It wasn’t recognition.

It wasn’t Oh my God, you’re here.

It was simply:

Who the hell is this dude?

I barely knew who I was.

I had only just discovered that I apparently had two children, an ex-husband, a career, a company, an I*******m account, and ten missing years of my life.

And now some dangerously attractive man had decided that the appropriate way to greet me was to invade my personal space.

I stiffened.

Apparently, he noticed.

He immediately released me and stepped back.

“Sorry, sorry.”

His expression changed instantly.

“I’m sorry. I just…”

He took a breath.

“Hi.”

I stared at him.

He smiled.

And somehow, despite everything, I liked his smile.

There was something ridiculously boyish about it.

Like one of those teenage lover boys who had just seen the girl he liked after thinking he’d lost her forever.

Except he was very much not a teenager.

“I’m just so excited to see you,” he said.

He held out his hand.

“I’m Theo.”

I stared at his hand.

Then his face.

Theo.

The name sounded familiar.

Not in my memory.

Just…

Familiar.

He gave me another smile.

And against my better judgment, I found myself smiling back.

Interesting.

Maybe this memory-loss thing was going to be a lot more complicated than I thought.

I looked at him properly.

“Are you…”

I paused.

Then stared straight into his eyes.

“Who exactly are you to me?”