— No documents? No name, no address?
Elena frowned as she looked through the patient’s medical chart. Her voice was calm, but worry showed in her eyes.
— No, — the elderly orderly replied, shaking her head. — They found him in the park, on a bench. His body temperature was almost below zero. A small hematoma on the back of his head. It’s a miracle he didn’t freeze to death in that frost.
Elena shifted her gaze to the man: about forty years old, lying under an IV drip, pale but calm. An ordinary face, slightly touched by the gray in his stubble. Hands neat, well-groomed — clearly not a vagrant.
— He’s been coming to for five days now, but we still can’t establish his identity, — the doctor tiredly rubbed her nose bridge, adjusting her glasses. — The police are checking the databases, but no matches. We’re keeping him for another week, then we send him to a social center.
— May I talk to him? — Elena suddenly asked, surprised at herself. She didn’t understand why this man sparked such interest in her.
— Good morning! How are you today? — Elena entered the ward with a thermometer and medicines.
— Fine, thank you, — the man smiled. — I had a strange dream today… I was in a field among some unusual plants. Touching the leaves, examining them…
— That’s a good sign, — Elena said softly, checking his pulse. — It means your memory might return. What would you like me to call you?
He thought for a moment.
— Andrey. I think that’s my name.
Three days later, he was sitting on the bed, slightly hunched.
— They’re discharging me tomorrow, — he said quietly. — Strange, but what scares me most is not that I don’t remember the past… but that I can’t imagine my future.
Elena looked into his eyes — gray, calm, but deeply confused inside. Then she said firmly:
— I have a spare room. You can live with us. Until you figure things out.
— Who did you bring home? — Elena’s son, Maxim, did not even hide his displeasure. — Seriously, Mom? Some stranger is going to live with us?
— He’s a good person, Max. He just doesn’t have a home right now.
— How do you know he’s good? He doesn’t even know who he is!
— Sometimes you just have to believe, — Elena put her hand on her son’s shoulder. — It’s temporary. And I feel he really deserves trust.
Andrey tried to stay unnoticed, almost like a shadow. He got up earlier than everyone, ate breakfast alone, washed the dishes after himself, helped around the house. Didn’t disturb, didn’t demand anything extra.
Two weeks later Maxim came home downcast.
— I failed the test, — he muttered.
— Maybe I can help? — Andrey unexpectedly offered. — Algebra is like a system. If you understand its language, it gets easier.
Maxim hesitated but handed over his textbook. Andrey flipped through the pages — his gaze changed. More focused.
— Yeah, it’s not that hard. Let’s figure it out together?
Two hours later Maxim looked at Andrey with respect.
— You explain like a teacher.
— Thank you, Elena, — Marina, Elena’s best friend, once said while sipping tea. — Your Andrey literally saved my business. All the plants in a client’s office started to wither — and he restored them in two days. Even figured out that the watering system’s water was spoiled.
— I didn’t know he knew so much about plants, — Elena was surprised.
— He’s like a living encyclopedia! Talks about plants like they’re friends. That they feel water, respond to light… I asked, “Are you a biologist?” And he just shrugged.
That evening Elena told Andrey about it.
— Strange, — he said thoughtfully. — I don’t remember where I know all this from. I just look at a plant — and the words come out. Like opening a book I read once.
— Mom, did you see how Andrey plays the piano? — Maxim excitedly told one evening. — We stopped by a music shop for sheet music, and there was an old piano. He just touched the keys — and started playing! Like a pro!
— I didn’t play, — Andrey said embarrassed. — My fingers just moved on their own. Like remembering a long-forgotten melody.
— That was Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata! — Maxim added, eyes shining.
Day by day Elena noticed Andrey becoming more thoughtful. At night she heard him pacing the room, as if trying to catch something important slipping away.
— I feel I’m about to remember, — he admitted one morning. — Snippets of memories. Faces. Voices. But it’s like a silent film with half the frames lost.
And then everything really started to change.
They lived under one roof for three months. One day, coming back from the market, Elena heard:
— Sergey! Sergey Verkhovsky! — their companion called out, a tall man. — Wait! That’s definitely him!
Andrey turned sharply but kept walking.
— You’re mistaken, — Elena replied calmly. — His name is Andrey.
— No, — the stranger insisted. — This is Sergey Verkhovsky. Associate professor of botany. We met at a conference last year!
Andrey hesitated, looked at Elena.
— I have amnesia. I don’t remember who I am.
The man left his phone number, but Andrey never called him. That evening he sat in the room staring out the window.
— I’m afraid to remember, — he finally said. — What if there’s something terrible in my past? What if I’m not who I seem now?
— Are you afraid you’ll have to leave us? — Elena asked.
Andrey looked at her surprised.
— Yes… Maybe. I’ve grown attached to you. To you. To Maxim.
Late at night, there was a knock at the door. Maxim was already asleep. A middle-aged man with a businesslike expression stood at the door.
— Hello, my name is Nikolai Zimin. I’m a private detective. I’m looking for a scientist-botanist who disappeared a year ago. Someone recognized your guest and informed me. May I talk to him?
Elena went pale but called Andrey.
— Andrey, it’s for you.
He came out and frowned upon seeing the visitor.
— Are you Sergey Verkhovsky? — asked the detective.
— Not sure. I have amnesia after an injury.
— Look here, — Nikolai held out a photo. — This is you.
Andrey looked — it was him in the photo, but different: with a short haircut, glasses, next to a woman with a cold, piercing gaze.
— Who is this? — he asked.
— Your wife. Irina. She hired me to find you.
— Wife… — Andrey repeated as if the word was foreign. — I don’t remember her. At all. If I loved her — I should remember, right?
— Tell me how I disappeared, — Andrey asked the next morning.
— A year ago you left for an expedition to a nature reserve. You were supposed to return in three days but went missing. The search lasted long but was unsuccessful. Everyone assumed you died.
— What was I studying?
— Rare plant species. Before leaving, you were working on an important project. Scientific or secret, no one is sure. Your wife should know more.
— Will she come? — Andrey asked with uncertainty in his voice.
— Tomorrow, — Nikolai answered shortly. — She’s already on her way.
After the detective left, Andrey slowly sank into a chair and covered his face with his hands.
— I’m afraid of this meeting, — he said finally, looking at Elena. — Not glad to know my name. Just anxiety. And emptiness inside.
— Didn’t you remember anything? — she asked quietly.
— No. Only fragments: laboratory, microscope, plants… Someone’s scream nearby… It’s like looking at a broken mirror — there’s a reflection, but the whole picture doesn’t come together.
The next morning, there was a call from Marina.
— Lena, don’t be scared, — her friend began. — I found something. About your… Sergey Verkhovsky.
— What exactly?
— An article in a scientific journal. From a year ago. About a scandal in the botanical institute. His colleague Pavel Dmitriev accused Sergey of data falsification. Then published a similar work himself. It’s all confusing but definitely shady.
— Send it to me, please.
— Already sent. Lena… be careful. Something’s wrong here.
Irina Verkhovskaya entered the apartment like a woman confident in herself and her rights. Cold hairstyle, perfect makeup, a calculating look. She didn’t even hug her husband, just inspected him as if checking whether the found object matched her expectations.
— Sergey… I thought you were dead, — she said without much warmth.
They sat in the living room. Elena offered tea but went to the kitchen to hear every word.
— Is it true you remember nothing? — Irina asked.
— Yes. Even you. Sorry.
— It doesn’t matter. The main thing is you’re alive. Now we go home.
— Not so fast, — Andrey’s voice became firmer. — I need to figure things out. What’s the conflict at the institute? Who is Pavel Dmitriev?
Pause. The air between them was tense like a stretched string.
— How do you know? — Irina asked coldly.
— Doesn’t matter. Tell me the truth.
— Just some academic mess. Pavel took part of your research for himself. You were depressed. That’s why you went on the expedition — supposedly to clear your head.
— What kind of research?
— A new plant species. You said it could make an important medicine. Sergey, stop digging into this. You need a doctor, treatment. We leave tomorrow.
That night Elena heard a knock on her door.
— May I come in? — Andrey asked. He looked worried but determined.
— What’s wrong?
— I remembered. Not everything, but the main thing. It wasn’t an accident.
He sat on the edge of the bed holding a worn notebook — the one they found with him.
— This notebook was with me then. I looked at the notes, sketches, formulas every day. Today they made sense. I really discovered a new plant species with unique properties. And Pavel tried to steal my discovery.
— And Irina?
— She was involved, — his voice trembled. — They acted together. I accidentally overheard their conversation right before I left for the expedition. They planned to take credit away from me. I was shocked. I went to the reserve to think it over. And there… rain, slippery path, hit my head. Hypothermia. Amnesia. And a new life.
In the morning Maxim ran into the kitchen, out of breath with excitement.
— Mom! Andrey! I overheard that woman!
— Maxim, that’s not good, — Elena said reflexively.
— Wait! She called some Pavel! Said he “remembered almost everything” and that they have to take him away before he finds evidence!
Andrey took out the notebook.
— Here are my proofs. Formulas, dates, notes. All here. Enough to reclaim my name and expose them.
At that moment Irina entered the apartment, confident as a woman used to getting what she wants.
— Sergey, they’re already waiting for us downstairs. Shall we go?
— No, — he said firmly. — I’m staying.
— What do you mean no? — her smile tightened.
— I remembered everything. You. Pavel. Your game.
— I don’t know what you’re talking about, — she replied coldly.
— Really? — he held out the notebook. — What if I show this to the institute? Or the police? These are documents, dates, notes. Mine, not his.
Irina’s face froze.
— Do you think they’ll believe you? A man with lost memory?
— We’ll see, — he simply replied.
When she left, slamming the door, Elena asked:
— You really won’t go with her?
— No, — he smiled. — You know, I remembered not only the bad things. I remembered I used to live wrong. Work was everything. Home was emptiness. The apartment was a design project, not warmth. You and Maxim became my family. If you allow, I want to stay.
— What’s next?
— I can work at the botanical garden. They’ve been looking for a specialist for a long time. Not prestigious, but real.
— Is that what you want?
— Yes. Maybe for the first time, I’m choosing myself, not an obligation.
Six months later, they sat on the balcony among pots with flowers that Sergey now grew with love. Maxim had just received a diploma for winning a physics olympiad.
— I didn’t think things would turn out like this, — Elena said looking at the sunset. — When I offered you to stay at the hospital, I didn’t imagine a new chapter would begin.
— A paradox, — he smiled. — Lost my memory — found myself.
— Do you regret anything?
— Only that I didn’t come into your life earlier. But maybe it’s not too late.
Elena touched his hand.
— Not too late. We have a whole life ahead.
Like spring awakening the earth, the story bloomed too. Not immediately. Not easily. But — truly.
