Chapter 243 - 243: Need A Prince To Wake You Up

On the same day, Black Shadow went to the hospital to visit Marie after spending his time with Kelsy. He ensured first that she would no longer pay attention to Marie. He wanted to stop the Azumi Twins from targeting and hurting her again.

For the past few days, visiting Marie in the hospital became his daily routine. As usual, he posed as one of the doctors to avoid suspicion from Marie's parents.

He was always careful and on guard against the members of the Joint Task Force before checking on her. 

Fortunately today there was no sign of her colleagues inside the ward. Black Shadow grabbed the opportunity to go inside her ward.

Compared to before, Marie's appearance was improving day by day. Her color was back to normal unlike the last time he saw the paleness of her face.

Just like what he usually did every time he would come to see her, he would stand on her side and would start talking to her while he was holding her hand.

"Hey, I am here again, Ms. Officer. You're still sleeping. Can you wake up already? You still have many things to do according to your parents." 

Black Shadow smiled at her. There was a gentleness in his eyes as he stared at her.

Beep! Beep!

Still, there was no response from her, he could only hear the beeping sound of the machine beside her.

"Are you still waiting for your prince charming to come in order to wake you up? Do you need a kiss? Are you the sleeping beauty that I heard before in those corny fairytale stories?" 

Black Shadow chuckled in his own joke. If Marie was just awake she would already rant at him for saying that those fairytale stories were corny. She had mentioned to him before that she loved fairytale stories.

"Sorry princess but there's no prince charming here, only a bad boy- a charming and gorgeous bad boy oozing with s.e.x appeal. The typical villain in those detective stories."

Black Shadow brought his free hand closer to her as he caressed her face.

"Can you please wake up already?" He mumbled in a low voice.

There was a gleam of sadness in his eyes as Black Shadow continued to speak.

"I will come again to visit you. At least as of this moment, I can still see you. I don't know what will happen once you wake up. I guess you will try to catch me again."

He squeezed her hand after saying that. He could feel a tinge of pain in his heart.

"I already knew that you just approached me before because of the case you were handling. Despite that, there are things that I am dying to ask you."

He paused for a moment. His eyes were filled with different emotions.

"Is everything about us all lies?"

His grip on her hand tightened.

"If so, then I will not bother you anymore in the future. I will disappear, not ever again to see you. But before that, please wake up. I want us to have a proper goodbye."

His words were as heavy as the feelings he had right now. He wanted her to recover quickly but he was afraid that everything would change between them once she woke up.

Can he still meet her whenever he calls her? Can they still talk with each other like normal people do- laugh and bond together?

He smiled bitterly. He doubted that it would happen again.

After staying for several minutes, Black Shadow decided to leave.

"I think it's time to go now. Don't worry, I will try to come and visit you again, tomorrow."

Black Shadow was about to let go of her hand when suddenly he felt some movement. He was astounded for a moment.

'Did she just move her fingers?' Black Shadow thought to himself as he lowered his gaze to see her hand which he was still holding.

He frowned when he didn't see her fingers move. "Did I just imagine it?" he mumbled to himself.

He shook his head as he chuckled. "I think my mind is just playing tricks on me."

He was about to leave when suddenly he felt another movement in his hand. This time he was sure that he was not imagining things. It really happened. Marie's fingers just moved.

His heart was now beating rapidly inside his chest. Then he averted his gaze to her face only to see Marie's eyes blinking and moving as she peered around her surroundings.

She squinted her eyes several times before her gaze was fixed to Black Shadow's face. They met each other's gaze.

Black Shadow's eyes widened in surprise. He lost the ability to speak as he was consumed by overwhelming joy.

'She wakes up! Finally, she's awake!' His mind was screaming inside him.

Marie frowned as she looked at him. Her eyes were filled with confusion. 

Meanwhile, after Black Shadow recovered from his stupor, he bent over closer to her as he spoke to her.

"Hey, how do you feel?" he asked her.

Because of his happiness, calling her doctor slipped his mind as he was focused on Marie.

Marie just looked at him blankly. He couldn't see any emotion in her eyes except confusion. She raised her hand to remove her oxygen mask but she failed as she still felt very weak.

Black Shadow removed it for her. He was just staring at her, waiting for her to speak up. He missed her voice already. He wanted to hear it badly.

However, the moment Marie spoke up it made Black Shadow become more surprised.

In her low voice, she said to him. "W-Where am I? W-Who are you?"

After hearing that, Black Shadow froze in his spot like a statue.

'Who are you?' Black Shadow repeated her last question in his mind.

Then he realized, 'She didn't recognize me! But w-why?'

He was still in that shocked state when Marie's parents entered the room. They were also surprised at first when they saw Marie who was now fully awake.

But the surprise expression was immediately replaced by happiness as they approached Marie.

"Oh, my dear. Thank God. You are already awake!" Marie's mother exclaimed as she held her other hand.

Marie darted her gaze back and forth between Black Shadow and her parents. But she couldn't recognize either one of them.

"Who are you? D-Do you know me?" she asked them confusedly. 

Now there was a hint of panic in her eyes. She didn't remember her name nor recognize the people surrounding her in that room.

Marie's parents had the same reaction as Black Shadow. Shock, disbelief, and worries were visible on their faces. It was Marie's father who initiated first to ask Black Shadow who in the meantime was pretending as a doctor.

"Doc, what happened to our daughter? Why is it she can't recognize us?"

After hearing his voice Black Shadow was snapped out of his daze. He looked at him worriedly as he answered him.

"I think she has amnesia."

They didn't expect this to happen. In order to find out the true reason why she couldn't recognize them Black Shadow decided to call her doctor as he left her room.

He made sure to remove his doctor's gown before calling the doctor. In just a few minutes, her doctor arrived and he immediately checked on her.

It was a good thing that the patient already woke up from a coma. After conducting several tests her doctor found out that she had amnesia. According to her doctor, this occurrence was normal due to her head injury.

He couldn't guarantee when she would recover her lost memories. But the most important thing was she was able to pass the critical stage and she stayed alive.

After making sure that she was alright Black Shadow left the hospital looking so troubled. He had mixed emotions. He was happy that she woke up but he was sad that she couldn't remember nor recognize him.

Is this a good thing? Not remembering the memories they spent together. How can he ask her the things he wants to know? Is this the end of their connection with each other or it will open a new start for them?

These were some of the questions which were running into his mind as of this moment.