Tara looked at Cain intently, waiting for the others to leave. He kept his gaze on them as they filed out, but the moment the room fell silent, his attention shifted back to her. Tara's expression alone was enough to prompt him to speak.
"Can we talk about this when you get better?" Cain started.
"Why not now?" Tara replied, her piercing gaze never leaving him.
"You just got out of an accident. The more you take in right now, the worse your headache will get. So can we talk about our argument when you're better? I promise," Cain said, a quiet plea in his tone.
Tara was already exhausted from all the roundabout excuses. She simply nodded, then lay back on the bed. "Don't think this is over," she said.
Cain didn't respond. He only watched, waiting until she finally drifted off to sleep.
Once she was asleep, Cain stepped out of the wardroom and found the others waiting for him outside.
"So, how did it go?" Jade asked.
"What do you think happened?" Cain replied coldly.
"Seems like it didn't go well," Jade said, retreating to a seat a little farther from the wardroom.
"Can someone explain what just happened in there?" Cain asked, his tone still cold.
"Who's going to do the explaining?" Jade asked, glancing at the others.
"I will," Kalon said. "So the issue is like this…"
Flashback
Kalon, Kahan, and Jade followed the doctor into his office.
"Please, have a seat," the doctor said.
Kalon and Kahan sat down, while Jade remained standing due to the lack of chairs.
"Do you need me to get you a chair? This might take a while," the doctor offered.
"I'm fine," Jade replied with a curt smile.
"As I mentioned earlier, she's physically fine, but she has temporary memory loss," the doctor began.
"We understand that part, doctor, but why does she remember Cain and not any of us?" Kahan asked, worry evident in his voice.
"That's what I was about to explain," the doctor said. "Her memory loss is temporary, which is both good and bad. From what we can tell, she only remembers brief moments before the accident—specifically, the last person she saw before losing consciousness."
"What are you trying to say, doctor?" Jade asked, concern creeping into his voice.
"As you've seen, the patient experiences a relapse when she tries to recall her past. That suggests her brain is rejecting those memories for now. I would advise against forcing it. Instead… you may need to create a narrative—something she can accept—so she can form new, stable memories in her current state. That might help her recover faster, though ultimately, time and patience are key."
The room fell silent.
"To be honest, I don't care what needs to be done. Just tell us how to ensure my best friend gets better," Kalon said, her voice firm with concern.
The doctor looked at each of them before replying, "The story should revolve around the person she last saw. He needs to stay close to her, make her feel safe, and ensure her environment doesn't feel suspicious. Any instability could trigger another relapse."
"Anything else we should know?" Jade asked.
"For now, that's the most important thing," the doctor replied.
"We'll take our leave then," Kahan said, as they all began to stand.
Outside the office, the three of them gathered in the hallway.
"What do you think we should do?" Kahan asked, sitting down.
"I'm not sure any of you will like my idea," Jade said, leaning against the wall.
Kalon raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"
"Since the story has to center around Cain… why don't we tell Tara that he's her boyfriend?" Jade said nonchalantly.
"No, no, no. Why not just say they're siblings?" Kahan said in a panicked tone.
Kalon and Jade both looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.
"Tara lost her memory, Kahan—not her reasoning," Kalon said.
"What do you mean? I think she'd believe they're siblings more than boyfriend and girlfriend," Kahan insisted.
"Kahan, I know you like Tara, and this isn't easy for you," Kalon said with a tired sigh. "But Jade's right. She'll believe his version more. And it's only for a few weeks… just bear with it."
End of Flashback
"So you're telling me I'm the boyfriend just because I was the last person she saw… and now I have to stay with her until she regains her memory?" Cain asked, amused.
"Basically," Kalon replied.
"And what makes you think I'll agree to that?" Cain asked.
Everyone froze.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tiana asked.
"None of you thought it was necessary to ask me. Now you're telling me to pretend to be her boyfriend. Did it never occur to you that I might not want to get involved?" Cain said.
The silence that followed was heavy.
"So what are you saying? You won't help? Because I'm certainly not letting that happen," Kalon said coldly.
"Are you threatening me?" Cain asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"If it were a threat, you'd already know," Kalon replied just as coldly, before turning and walking away.
Kahan and Tiana said nothing. They simply followed her.
Cain remained where he was until Jade stepped forward.
"You need to do this—not just to help her, but to fulfill what we came here for," Jade said quietly, before walking away as well.
Cain didn't respond. He simply turned and looked through the window at Tara, resting peacefully on the other side.
"Guess I'm playing this game after all," he murmured, before walking off in the opposite direction.