Chapter Four

"Yes." Knox nodded at her. "Yes. You are Ashley Knox." He reiterated with tear filled eyes. "You are my Ashley."

"You are my daughter." He announced with tearful glee.

She watched him move near her. Uncertainty flooded her gaze. She looked up at Dr Tony whom she inexplicably had a measure of trust in.

Tony sensed her insecurities and he understood them. He had seen it a thousand times, patients waking up to memories of their life snatched away from. Knowing nothing. Remembering nothing. The feeling was depressing. He nodded silently at her, consenting to the information she had just received.

She turned her gaze away from Tony to regard Knox who had stopped in his tracks. Her countenance had not been welcoming causing him to pause.

"You are my father?" She inquired.

Her innocence burst open the flood gates of Knox tears. He shook violently, collapsing on the bed on which she sat.

She suddenly felt guilty. He was her father and she didn't know him. She imagined how that must hurt. She raised a hand and rested it on his shuddering shoulder. The contact like magic seized his tears.

Knox slowly raised his tear-stained face to glance at her. A tinge of surprise sat in his eyes.

"Tell me about us. Tell me about our relationship." She urged him. If she didn't remember, he did and he could share his memories with her as she tried to make up hers.

Knox's chest rose and fell with each hard breath he took. Excitement was coursing through him and without warning, he enveloped her in a tight hug.

The hug took her by surprise. But slowly, she wrapped her hands around him. Locked in each other arms, they cried and then talked.

That day, all memories of Lillian was forgotten. Lillian died and Ashley Knox was birthed.

★★★★★★★★

It took another week before Ashley was discharged from the hospital. The Knox mansion, like every other thing in her life, was entirely strange. But this was her home as she was told.

"Welcome back home my child." Knox beamed. They strode into the exotic mansion and Ashley gaped at the interior.

It was a beautiful house. Warm, cosy and welcoming. Only until she met her step mother, Helen.

"Oh Helen! Ashley is back home." Knox, her father informed Helen with excitement.

"Ashley?" Helen's voice was adorned with a surprising tinge of disgust.

Ashley walked into the house and was met with three strange faces. A woman and two young men.

Still standing by the door she stared at them curiously and with uncertainty. Like every other face she's met since her surgery, she didn't know them.

She wondered if the woman was her mother and if the young men were her brothers. She turned her eyes to her father for help.

Knox understood immediately what he needed to do. "Ashley, this is Helen. Your stepmom." He introduced, gesturing to the woman.

"Hello." Ashley greeted. She didn't know how her relationship with the woman used to be and so didn't know how to greet her.

Ashley got an incite into the relationship when Helen sneered and nodded her response. Sour. She thought.

Knox stirred her towards the two young men and began the introductions. "This is Paul and he is your step brother, Helen's son." He gestured to the younger man.

Paul walked in front of Ashley and wrapped his hands around her in a hug. "I missed you Ashley." He whispered.

Ashley slowly returned the hug. Her mind piecing things together. So while the relationship with her step mom was sour. She seemed to share something with her step brother. She couldn't be sure if this was all an act. She made a mental note to tread lightly.

When Paul let her go. She turned to the other man. One could tell that he was young too but older than Paul. Ashley began to wonder why her father would introduce the younger son first before the older.

She began to reason maybe like her step mother, she had a sour relationship with her older step brother. But he did seem to have a certain tenderness in his eyes towards her. His face was clouded with so many emotions Ashley couldn't read.

She waited for her father to make the introductions. She looked at Knox expectantly and saw the hesitation in his face. She wondered why he wasn't too eager to introduce the man. It seemed as though he was stalling, giving her time to prepare for something. She readied herself and waited.

"This is DJ… Your fiance."

Ashley's eyes moved from her father and settled on this DJ. She eyed him with scrutiny.

"I was engaged?" She directed her question to her father but her eyes never left DJ's face.

"Yes. It has been a year now." Knox answered. "You might want to talk to him. But if you're not up for it, we can push it to some other time." Knox quickly added. He has been careful not to cause her any form of stress. Tony had told him if she strained her brain too much, she might suffer a migraine which would not be beneficial especially as she just had surgery.

"I want to talk to him." Ashley consented, her scrutinizing stare still resting on DJ.

"Okay then. DJ will show you to your room." Knox gestured for DJ to take Ashley upstairs.

Ashley followed DJ up to her room. She stood at the entrance as the door squeaked open. Her room it was, but very unfamiliar it looked. She let her eyes rove around the interior, taking every item in.

"Do you want to talk somewhere else?" DJ spoke for the first time. His voice was rich and sweet.

"No. This is fine." Ashley willed her legs to move and she entered the room.

She moved to the large mattress and sat on it carefully, still not believing it belonged to her. DJ helped himself to the settee by the corner in the room. They both had a clear view of the other.

"What does DJ mean?" Ashley asked curiously. She didn't know where she got the courage to begin a conversation but she was grateful for it. The silence was getting too loud.

DJ smiled before he responded. "My full name is Dax Jude. DJ is just the initials."

Ashley nodded her understanding. She asked many questions and he filled her curiosity generously. She wanted to be able to share in the memories he told her, but she couldn't and it saddened her.

"I think that's cool… Do you have any siblings?" She asked. It was one of the many questions she had yet to ask.

"Yes. I have a brother. A younger brother."

"Oh!" She nodded. "Have I met him before?"

DJ chuckled lightly. "I don't think so."

"What's his name?" Ashley's eyes gleamed with puzzlement.

"Bruce. His name is Bruce."