Everything You Forgot

Teniola woke up screaming.

The waiter standing beside her almost dropped the glass of water in his hand.

“Madam… madam… can you hear me?”

She blinked repeatedly.

The café ceiling came back into focus.

People were gathered around her table.

Someone had called for first aid.

Another person was already saying, “Maybe na low sugar.”

Nobody knew the truth.

Nobody knew that what knocked Teniola to the ground wasn’t sickness.

It was memory.

She sat up slowly.

The first face she saw was Kola’s.

His eyes were wet.

Not because he was panicking.

Because he had seen this happen before.

“You fainted like this that day too,” he said quietly.

Teniola stared at him.

That sentence unlocked another piece.

Not a full memory.

Just flashes.

A hospital bed.

The smell of antiseptic.

Her mother’s voice praying loudly.

Someone squeezing her hand.

Kola.

She closed her eyes.

“No…”

Kola leaned closer.

“Don’t fight it anymore.”

“I can’t.”

“You already are.”

They left the café after things settled down.

Kola drove.

Teniola didn’t ask where they were going.

For the first time since all this started…

She wasn’t trying to escape.

She was tired.

Tired of not knowing.

The car was silent until they reached a quiet street in Yaba.

Kola parked in front of a two-storey building.

The paint had faded.

The signboard above the gate looked old.

Teniola frowned.

“What place is this?”

He looked at her.

“You’ve been here before.”

“I haven’t.”

“You have.”

She looked at the building again.

Nothing.

No memory.

Until she noticed the blue gate.

One corner had been welded.

Crooked.

Instantly…

A sharp pain shot through her head.

A picture appeared.

Rain.

She was standing in front of this same gate.

Crying.

Holding her stomach.

She grabbed the dashboard.

“Kola…”

“I know.”

“I’ve seen this place.”

“You didn’t just see it.”

He swallowed.

“You lived here.”

She turned sharply.

“What?”

“This was our first apartment.”

Her mouth fell open.

“No.”

“We rented it after we got engaged.”

Teniola got out of the car before he could stop her.

She walked slowly toward the gate.

Everything looked strangely familiar.

The mango tree outside.

The cracked flower pot.

The old woman selling roasted plantain across the street.

Her breathing became uneven.

Then the landlady stepped out.

Older now.

Grey hair wrapped neatly in a scarf.

She looked at Teniola for barely three seconds.

Then her eyes widened.

“My God…”

Teniola froze.

The woman covered her mouth.

“Teni?”

Kola lowered his head quietly.

The woman hurried over.

“I’ve been praying for this day.”

Teniola looked confused.

“You know me?”

The woman held both her hands.

“Know you?”

Tears filled her eyes.

“My daughter, you lived here.”

Everything became still.

The woman looked between Teniola and Kola.

Then smiled sadly.

“I used to tell everybody that the two of you behaved like old people.”

Kola laughed softly through tears.

“You always complained that we never argued.”

The woman nodded.

“You two would cook together every Friday.”

Another flash.

Kitchen.

Burnt jollof.

Kola laughing until he almost fell down.

Teniola smiling.

The memory vanished again.

She staggered backward.

“It’s coming…”

They sat inside the empty apartment.

It had been renovated.

Different furniture.

Fresh paint.

But the layout hadn’t changed.

Teniola stood in what used to be the sitting room.

Her eyes drifted toward the window.

Then suddenly…

She remembered.

Not everything.

Just enough.

“Kola…”

He looked up immediately.

“You proposed…”

His eyes widened.

“At this window.”

He couldn’t speak.

“You dropped the ring.”

He smiled through tears.

“And you laughed at me.”

“You said…” Her voice trembled.

“…you said if I said no, you’d still ask again tomorrow.”

Kola nodded slowly.

“I did.”

Teniola covered her face.

The memories were arriving faster now.

Happy ones.

Warm ones.

The kind that made losing them even more painful.

She looked at him.

“We were happy.”

“We were.”

“So…”

Her voice broke.

“…what destroyed us?”

Silence.

Kola’s smile disappeared.

He had been dreading that question.

He stood slowly.

Walked toward the window.

His back remained turned.

“It wasn’t one thing.”

“Tell me.”

“It was one night.”

She waited.

He finally faced her.

“The baby was already eight weeks.”

Teniola’s heartbeat quickened.

“We argued.”

“About what?”

“You got a job offer in Abuja.”

Another flash.

An email.

A promotion.

Excitement.

Fear.

“I wanted us to move together.”

He nodded.

“You wanted to leave immediately.”

“And you didn’t?”

“I had just started my business.”

Pieces.

More pieces.

They were arguing.

Not shouting.

Just hurting each other.

Then…

Another image.

A car.

Rain.

Headlights.

Her breathing stopped.

“Kola…”

He closed his eyes.

“You remember the rain.”

“I… I drove away.”

“Yes.”

“You ran after me.”

“Yes.”

Tears rolled freely down her cheeks now.

“My God…”

Her hands started shaking violently.

“I was angry.”

“You were.”

“I wasn’t answering your calls.”

“You switched off your phone.”

Her knees weakened.

Then…

One final image crashed into her mind.

A loud horn.

Blinding headlights.

A trailer.

Metal twisting.

Glass exploding.

Blood.

So much blood.

Teniola screamed.

“I crashed!”

She collapsed onto the floor.

Her whole body shaking.

“I crashed…”

Kola rushed to hold her.

“You survived.”

She looked up at him with horror.

“The baby…”

He couldn’t answer.

His silence answered instead.

She cried harder than she ever had in her life.

“No… no… no…”

Then another terrifying thought entered her mind.

She grabbed Kola’s shirt.

“You were there.”

“Yes.”

“You reached the hospital.”

“Yes.”

“I remember…”

She looked at him in disbelief.

“I blamed you.”

Kola’s tears finally fell.

“You said if I hadn’t argued with you…”

His voice cracked completely.

“…none of it would have happened.”

Teniola covered her mouth.

Another memory.

Hospital corridor.

She screaming at him.

“Leave me alone!”

Her mother pulling Kola away.

The slap.

Everything.

Everything came back.

She stared at him like she was seeing him for the first time.

“Oh God…”

Her voice was barely audible.

“I remember now.”

Kola nodded slowly.

“I know.”

She reached for his hand.

But before she could touch him…

His phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

His expression changed immediately.

Fear.

Real fear.

He answered.

“Hello?”

He didn’t speak again for several seconds.

Then he whispered,

“What do you mean she’s awake?”

Teniola frowned.

“Who?”

Kola slowly lowered the phone.

His face had turned pale.

“There was someone else in the car that night.”

Teniola felt her heart stop.

“What?”

Kola looked directly into her eyes.

“The only witness.”

A long silence followed.

Then he said the words that shattered everything Teniola thought she had finally understood.

“And she has been in a coma for five years.”

To be continued…