I Remember Nothing, But I Have Four Husbands

"Thanks for your help, dear…"

What?

"I really hate to do this, but I also want a good life!"

Who?

"In our next life, I promise to be your faithful dog."

I do not understand.

"But now, it's better if we don't see each other again."

What is going on?

"Goodbye, …"

No, do not!

…

The woman woke up with a groan.

Her head hurt like no tomorrow. It was a piercing and nauseating pain that almost rendered her unconscious again. She barely managed to ignore the extreme discomfort and opened her eyes with great effort. Thank Heavens for small mercies and it was dark wherever she was, avoiding exacerbating her headache.

After slowly scanning her surroundings, she found herself laying on a really hard... bed(?) It did not feel like a bed; more like a plank of wood with a musty smell. She also noticed she was inside a tiny room that held all sort of strange instruments.

She thought she saw a rusty knife. But with her sight being as blurry as it was, she doubted it was a rusty knife. That only left her to blink away the blurriness to focus better. 

Looking down at the supposed bed, she confirmed it really was a wooden plank. She guessed it was better than lying directly on the floor, but only by a bit. The musty smell came from the few sheets haphazardly put on the plank. The light of a well-used candle barely illuminated the room, but it was enough to let her know the place she was in was not good.

At all.

Where were her-

A bout of sharp pain made her double over herself. She pitifully whined as she held her head and heaved from the excruciating pain. After who knows how long, the pain subsided, leaving a throbbing pulsing in her skull. As she held her head, she was able to notice it was bandaged.

Gingerly touching the wrapping, she found the source of the pain was the side of her head. She hissed at the piercing pain the touch provoked and stopped prodding in favor of looking back at her surroundings.

The place was rough and lacking, not suitable for an injured person, but whoever helped her was a saint in disguise. The only problem she suddenly was aware of was that she could not remember how she ended up with such an injury, nor could she remember who did it.

Most importantly, she could not even remember who she was or where she came from. She could not remember anything about herself; therefore, she could not understand why she was in that situation.

"Leave her here. If lucky, the animals won't eat her."

Her head pulsed, forcing her to tightly shut her eyes to withstand yet another bout of pain.

What was that?

Along with the pain, the voice of a woman came to her mind. The next piece of the puzzle she gathered thanks to the recent flash of memory was that after she was apparently assaulted, she was abandoned to her luck in the wilderness, hoping to be devoured by savage animals. A chill ran down her spine just thinking about it.

Her situation and condition were bad, extremely bad. Despite the migraine, she still could clearly think and conclude that the strike on her head was premeditated, that someone wanted to harm her. Why? Who would do it? What benefit could that person get?

Many more questions roamed her mind but since she could not remember anything, perhaps thinking of the reason was futile. She would only end up with a bag of unanswered questions.

Time to think positively!

First and foremost: she was alive! Also, she was whole, no limbs were missing! Though, she could not say the same of her clothes. Why was she wearing this…

What is this? A shirt? Whose?

She carefully observed her surroundings once again, searching for clues as to who the owner of the room (and the clothes) was.

The room was spooky and old but strangely clean. So, she could affirm that the person who rescued her also cared for her invalid self for however long she remained unconscious. She was alive thanks to her savior, so she had no right to comment on the creepy room and about the musty sheets.

As she righted her mindset, a weird scratching sound came out of nowhere. She looked for the source only to find…

"AAAAHH!"

It is big! Huge! And so gross! 

With great difficulty – the pain not helping at all with her balance –, she stood up and ran towards what seemed to be the door. As she was about to open it, it did on its own. In her rush, she bumped into something hard that threw her back. The impact almost made her lose consciousness from the pain. She did see white and bile rose to her mouth.

Before she could fall and meet the floor, a hand grabbed her and pulled her up. Her feet left the ground as she was carried by muscly and warm arms. The sudden movement forced her to cling onto the person who was carrying her. All shame and decorum were left in that room where the biggest rat she had ever seen scurried around.

"You ok?" The gruff voice of a man spoke from above. Her pain-laden head did its best to move to look at this stranger. 

Oh my!

She even forgot about her throbbing head as she stared at the handsome man come who held her. His narrow, hooded eyes that still held a bit of sleepiness totally captivated her. Her gaze unconsciously traveled down his straight nose towards his lips that were slightly tilted up.

My, can I bite his full bottom lip? It looks really inviting.

"Ethan, look! We finally found the culprit that chewed on our clothes!" A somewhat childish voice that had hints of becoming low interrupted her wild thoughts. Turning, she saw the ugliest animal in the entire world up close and marvelously fainted.

"Hey!"

No, handsome man, let me graciously rest in your arms. Take good care of me and do not let me see that disgusting animal when I wake up.

Good night.

When she opened her eyes again, natural light was coming in from a window. The musty bed had been replaced by a cleaner and bigger one, if still a bit hard like that wooden plank. The haphazard mattress made out of thick sheets helped a bit. The sheets were also better, though they smelled a bit like sweat. Manly sweat.

Sniffing at the sheets, she wondered if they belonged to the handsome man. She stopped when she realized what she was doing. Her head was still throbbing, but it was not like the horrible pain from the day before, which relieved her. The downside was that she still could not remember anything about herself.

Before, she had faint hopes that it was a temporary situation product of the head injury. Yet, it seemed it was actually quite… permanent? It was a bit of a terrifying possibility.

What if I never remember who I am?

She took a deep breath to not let panic set in and tried to focus on something that seemed more important at that moment than being amnesiac: her present situation. She was laying on the aforementioned bed. Quite a huge bed at that. Beside the bed, there was a cabinet, and in front of the bed, there was a partition.

She slowly made her way down the bed, minding her throbbing head, and walked past the partition into an open room. A room that seemed to be the living room… and that was it.

She was in a room divided between the living room and the bedroom by the partition. And, by the looks of it, that was the house. A very quaint house. But it was clean and did not smell bad! So, that it was small did not matter. Though, she felt some things were missing to make it more welcoming. Like…

Like what? No matter how much she tried, she really could not remember what was needed in a house to make it livelier and more livable. She had no idea what kind of lifestyle she had before…

In the middle of her pondering, the door was opened by the vivacious figure of a tall teenager with long black hair tied in a low ponytail, and a nice – if skinny – body. His face looked young and cute with his almond eyes, small nose and thin lips. His skin was the color of wheat. A shade darker perhaps. And his voice also cracked somewhere between his words when he spoke.

"You're awake! That's good. Wanna eat?" Without waiting for her reply, he grabbed her hand and dragged her outside. Ignoring the nauseating pain, she let him led her. She needed answers anyway.

Outside looked a bit better than the simple house.

Coming right out the door, there was a deck where a table and several stools were placed to work as the dining table. Eating with the sight of the clean courtyard seemed interesting, in her opinion. There was a tall tree that gave shade to the yard, while other trees adorned the area around the house. The fence was somewhat flimsy, very rustic.

The teen left her seated at the table and briskly walked towards a small adjacent room to the left. While waiting, she gently rubbed her temples to whisk the pain away. It was impossible, but she managed to soothe it a bit before the teen came back with a bowl in his hands. That only meant the room was the kitchen. Although simple, the place was not that bad.

"Here. Sorry it's just a bit o' watered porridge, but it's all we've for now." The teen apologized while putting the bowl in front of her, then he fidgeted.

Indeed.

Although she could not remember much about her life, she was sure that porridge had a milky consistency and contained a hearty amount of rice and vegetables. The porridge in the bowl was all the opposite. "Thank you." She still appreciated the fact he was feeding her.

The first spoonful of porridge soon disappeared and there was one thing to say about it: it had no flavor. Beggars could not be choosers, though, so the porridge disappeared down her stomach. She was still hungry and felt very tempted to ask for another bowl, but hesitated as she was only a freeloader, a guest.

"Um, do you live alone?"

Since I cannot satiate my hunger, then it is time to fish for some information!