Chapter 5

Fiona’s POV…

Upon hearing the voice, I couldn’t believe my ears or eyes! The goddess has finally heard my cries. The stranger is awake; now his family will reward me handsomely for saving his life. I would do well to take him to his home as soon as possible; I didn’t have anything to feed him, nor did I have any more money for his treatment.

Oh! The goddess be praised! It’s a miracle he woke up so soon.

I hurriedly wiped my face using my hands and walked over to where he was. He’d sat up on my bed and looked around his surroundings strangely.

“Hello,” I said to him in a friendly manner. “My name is Fiona.”

I expected him to respond with something, but he just stared at me strangely, like he’d seen a ghost.

“What’s your name?” I asked him.

He closed his eyes as if trying to think of something, and then, “I... I don’t know.”

Is this some kind of expensive joke? How can a person not know their name?

I didn’t wish to sound harsh, but I desperately needed him to tell me something, anything that would help me locate his home so that his family could take over his responsibility and I could get my money back.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Where are you from?”

He only gave the same answer as before, “I don’t know.”

“What do you know then? Tell me anything about you. I found you lying in the woods unconscious. Do you know how you got there?”

“I don’t know… The last thing I saw before I blanked out was darkness, extreme darkness…. I don’t know anything before that.”

I was thankful for the long response, but not only was I frustrated that it brought me nowhere to know who he was, it also made me scared.

Seems I have brought a mad person into my house!

I got up and put on my shoes. I didn’t think before I ran out of the house searching for Inna. Only she would be able to tell me what was going on with the patient. It may be one of her herbs that made him act this way, or maybe he was a lunatic right before time. I just prayed it would be the former, and I also prayed that whatever herbs they were would wear off soon. This stranger was my only chance of survival.

***

I watched as Inna quietly examined him, she checked his temperature using the back of her palm, and then she checked the stitched-up area on his stomach. It still appeared red and swollen, but according to her, it would heal up soon.

I was mostly bothered by what her diagnosis of the strange behaviour would be; that was all I needed to know before I decided whether to drop him off. So much for getting all the money I spent on him back.

I watched as Inna began asking him questions, “So tell me, dear. Do you feel any pain?”

“Only where I got the stitches.”

She nodded her head, “that one is normal. I’m afraid we can’t do anything about that. Can’t afford enough painkillers to keep you sedated. But apart from that, are you feeling anything unusual?”

“No. I guess not.”

“That’s good. So now, about what happened earlier, what was it you said you remembered before you blacked out?”

“Darkness. Nothing but darkness, and then a pain so intense I felt my life getting sucked out of me. It felt as if something was killing me from the inside.”

Inna noted, “must be the poison. Anything else?”

“No. That’s all I remember before I closed my eyes.”

“And you say you don’t remember your name or even where you come from? Nothing?”

The stranger nodded his head, giving a positive answer to all of Inna’s questions.

Inna then got up from the stool. “Okay, dear, from the way you responded to all my questions without difficulty, it seems you are fine. No signs of insanity anywhere.” She let out the last sentence before she could stop herself.

“Wait. Did you think I was mad?”

“No, but someone did.”

I passed a glare in Inna’s direction as if to stop her from exposing me. She mind-linked me back.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell him anything.”

“Tell me what?” The stranger asked aloud.

Great goddess!!! Did he just tap into our mind-link? Ordinary omegas would never have such ability! It made me fear who this certain stranger could be. No doubt he would be of much higher ranking than we were.

“Ummm… Nothing…” I quickly said to save myself. “Inna will be taking her leave now. Let me escort her outside.”

I hurriedly pulled her hand and led her out of the house. Then I led her far away to a place I was sure our voices would not be heard.

“Did you see what just happened?” I asked her.

“Of course! Shocked me as much as it did you. He’s certainly not from around here. You’d better be careful around him and don’t mind-link anything he shouldn’t find out.”

“If he’s so powerful, how come he’s suffering from such mind damage?”

“It’s not mind damage, more like memory loss.”

I raised a brow, “memory loss? How come?”

“He was given a very strong lethal poison that nearly killed him. Memory loss happened to be one of its effects. His high rank explains how he was able to survive. An omega would have been long dead under the same circumstances.”

So what do you think he is? A gamma or a beta? Or even…” I gasped. “An alpha?”

Inna shook her head. “We can’t make conclusions until we become sure of his identity. Until the goddess regrants his memory, I’m afraid you will have no clue how to get him home.”

I nearly dropped to the floor, “what do I do now? I can’t keep holding on to him any longer! I am in debt and poor as hell. I don’t even have anything to feed him nor myself for the next couple of days.”

“I am sorry, Fiona. I don’t know why this happened, but I think the goddess chose you to save this man’s life for a reason. Maybe he needs protection from his family because the person who gave him that poison definitely knew what they were doing.”

“I can’t any longer. The goddess should find someone else! I can barely fend for myself not to talk of another person.”

Inna then brought up a suggestion. “Since he can’t return home now and you’re in debt. Maybe you could convince him to do some light labour to earn money for you both. He should be able to do something if he takes his medication properly, but not too much strenuous work!”

I thought of her idea; it actually sounded good in my ears. “That’s a wonderful idea, Inna. Thank you!”

“Good. He can search for work tomorrow, but let him eat well and rest for tonight.”

“Eat well and rest, huh? I can offer him my bed to rest, but not food. I’m afraid I don’t have that, even for myself.”

“Don’t worry about tonight, dear. I still have some leftover bread and cheese in my cupboard. It’s not so fresh, but safe to eat. If you don’t mind that, I can give it to you. It will be enough to feed you both for the night.”

“Thank you so much, Inna. Honestly, I don’t have many options at this point, so anything will do.”

“Well then, let’s go and get it.”

***

While we ate, I watched him handle the bread and cheese on his plate. The food seemed okay in my mouth, but to him, it felt as if he was eating from a pile of dirt.

No doubt, he was from a wealthy home, and no doubt, he was a stranger to poor men’s food.

I tried to start a conversation with him as I cleared up the plates.

“So now that you don’t know your name, and you have to be identified until you regain your memory, how about we do something about that?”

He raised a brow, “You want to give me a name?”

I nodded, “yes, just something temporary to call you while you are here. It doesn’t have to stick.”

“Okay. You can go ahead to give me a name. I can’t think of anything that will be fitting enough. Can you do that for me?

Of course, I would. I thought for a few moments for a new name for my guest. I didn’t think of anything deep or too complex, just something simple enough to call him until he remembered his real name.

“I will call you Chan!”