190 Chapter 190

Pearl opened her eyes and felt a sharp pain stabbing into her head. She closed her eyes again because the light felt like a bomb going off inside of her brain.

She heard voices "Pearl. How are you feeling? It's the doctor."

Doctor? Pearl thought.

"You've been in an accident. You were hit by a car."

She heard. She tried to open her eyes again.

"Can you turn off the lights, please?" She asked. Her voice sounded rough and strained.

She felt the light dim and she opened her eyes to see a doctor looking at her.

"My head hurts." She said.

"Yes. That's normal. You hit it pretty hard. There is some swelling still and it will take some time. We are getting you something for pain." The doctor said.

"Did someone call Paul? Or find him? I should say. I'll need him to give me a ride home. Or can someone call me a cab? I don't have a car of my own." She said.

The room got quiet. Pearl opened her eyes fully and looked around. There were several people standing around that she didn't recognize. Were they all in the accident, too?

She saw an older man, a pretty young woman, and good looking man seemingly her age and... oh my god. She rubbed her eyes, trying to focus on the man standing by her bed beside the doctor. He looked just like the prince of England, Aaron or Erik something. He was holding her hand.

"Pearl. It's Erik. I'm so glad to see you are awake." He said. Fuck, Pearl thought. It is the prince of England. Did he hit me with his car?

"Where am I?" Pearl asked. "You're the prince of England, right? Or did I hit my head so hard I am imagining you?" She said. The doctor motioned everyone to step out for a moment. He brought John into the room.

"John! Hey. What are you doing here? How's Janie?" Pearl said.

The doctor knew what was going on. "Pearl, can you tell me the last memory you have?" He asked.

"Um, yes." She remembered the fight she had with Paul. His cold words. "You don't know me at all. You always make me out to be the bad guy when you're a mess and can't even manage your own emotions. You're the problem. And you need to fix it. It's not always so dramatic, Pearl. You really need to get ahold of yourself." And she was going to leave him. She had it all ready to go. When did she get hit by the car? Was she moving when it happened?

She told the doctor about the fight and what she remembered. John held her hand. "Pearl, that was over a year ago." He said. Her heart raced.

"It was?" She asked. John sat with her and filled her in a little on the last year. Pearl was absolutely convinced she was dreaming all of this.

"Ok, John. I now own the company I work for, I just left a movie star and now I'm dating the prince of England. Oh and we are all rockstars. And I'm super famous. Ha! If this is your idea of a motivating pep talk, you definitely accomplished the goal. When I wake up from this, I am calling you and telling you all about it. We should write a book!" Pearl said. The doctor told her to try to rest a little and he walked John out of the room.

Erik was sitting on a chair, with his head in his hands.

"She has some temporal lobe swelling still. Her memory has been affected. It most likely is only temporary, and she will remember more as the swelling goes down. Give her some time and try not to take anything personal." He said. He told them he was going to keep monitoring her neurologically.

They all thanked him and looked at each other.

"She doesn't remember me." Erik said.

"She doesn't remember any of us. Nothing that's happened in the last year." Dylan said.

"Give it time. We all have to help her and try to bring her back." Jim said.

"She will come back to me. To all of us." Erik said. He asked Dylan to drive him to the palace so he could shower and change. If he was going to have to reintroduce himself to the most incredible woman in the world, he wanted to look and smell better than he currently did.

"We heard that she woke up. That is wonderful. How is she?" Erik's mother asked. He had showered and changed into a clean suit. The press was all around the palace. Pearl's act of heroism was front page news all over the world and reporters were dying for any updates.

"She can't remember anything that happened in the last year. The physician says it is only temporary. I need to make a statement to the press." He said.

"Are you sure you are in the condition to do that?" Frances asked.

"Yes." Erik said.

He walked out to where many reporters had been allowed to gather on the lawn.

"Hello. As many of you know, a tragic accident occurred five days ago. I was helping a child out of the road when a car came toward us, giving myself little time to react. A courageous, strong and incredible woman I have had the privilege to know and love was able to push me out of the way of harm, saving my life and preventing the little boy any injury. She wasn't as fortunate and was hit by the car, causing injury to herself. I am happy to say that she is now in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery. Pearl Clarke is a hero and an angel. I am so incredibly grateful that I can now say guardian angels walk amongst us and that I know mine is by my side. The outpouring of letters and messages have not went unnoticed and all of your support means so much. We appreciate our privacy during her recovery. Thank you."

Erik walked back into the palace and was stopped by his father.

"That went well." He said. "Where are you off to now?" He asked.

"I'm going to introduce myself to the woman I love." Erik said.

"Good luck, son." He said, patting his shoulder.