"um, excuse me." matt was woken up by a voice. he was still in the hospital chair. he glances at the time: 8:06 pm. he'd been asleep for an hour. matt look's around for the voice. he could've imagined it, but she sounded exactly like his evelyn.

"i'm down here." the voice says. matt's head turns toward the bed so quickly, his neck almost snapped. eyes filling with tears, the boy had no words except to stare in shock at the girl in front of him.

"ev..." he breathed. not knowing what to do except stare. the girl looked confused and a little.., creeped out?

"yeah, hi. are you my doctor, or..." she trailed off, waiting for an answer.

are you my doctor?

matt could swear he felt his heart shatter right then and there. his breath became shaky and his vision blurred.

"i'm sorry." he choked out before hurrying out of the room, pushing past nick and chris who had witnessed the whole thing. unable to contain himself, matt ran into the nearest bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and started to cry.

"matt?" chris walked into the bathroom. he saw his brother crying by the sink and felt a rush of sympathy for his brother. without saying anything, chris engulfed his brother in a giant bear hug.

"why didn't she recognize me?" matt asked, pulling away and looking at chris. "she thought i was the doctor. do i fucking look like a doctor?" he started breathing heavily. chris knew he was near having a panic attack.

"hey, hey, hey, come here, matt." chris led him outside to one of the chairs in the waiting room. "just breathe. everything's gonna be okay, matt. i promise. nick called the doctor over and he's checking her right now. do you wanna go back in there?"

"what if she thinks i'm a total weirdo. the way i ran out like that?"

"you had every right to leave like that, matt. no one's gonna think you're a weirdo."

"matt!" nick had caught up to them. he took a deep breath. "she's asking for you."

"want me to come with you?" chris asked. matt thinks for a moment before nodding. chris puts his arm around matt's shoulder as the two start walking. "i'm here for you, bro."

— — — — —

matt walked into the room. evelyn's father was here now, accompanied by the doctor.

"hey matt." mike mallard gave him a hug. "thank you for staying with her when i couldn't" he added. matt smiled, weakly.

"it was no problem. i wanted to stay." he looked down at the floor. mr. mallard pat him on the shoulder, gently.

"i'll leave you guys alone." he says, leaving the room

"hi." evelyn says.

"hey." matt replies. chris also waves.

"um, your other brother and my dad told me that you're– that you're my boyfriend?" she sounded unsure and looked at the doctor for help, who nodded.

"yeah, i am. do you really not remember me?" matt asked. evelyn grimaces and shakes her head.

"no, i'm sorry. i only remembered my dad. i can't seem to remember anything that happened after the age of twelve."

they met when they were thirteen.

"oh." was all matt could say.

"i'll be outside if you need me." the doctor says, sensing the awkwardness. chris salutes him on the way out, making evelyn laugh a little.

oh how matt missed her laugh.

"retrograde amnesia is what he called it." evelyn explains. "i'm guessing since i can't remember you guys, we met after i was twelve?"

"thirteen." chris confirms. evelyn nods.

"the doctor guy said not to bring up any full memories. you can say that something happened but don't go into detail because i have to do that on my own. like if i ask how we meet, you say, for example, we had class together. and that's it."

"and can we bring up relationships?" chris asked for matt. evelyn's eyes darted to matt for a second before answering.

"yeah. there's a lot of restrictions for what i'm allowed to know, but he explained every scenario and everything to me, my dad, and that guy." she pointed to nick who had now entered the room. "so we can all stop you from saying the wrong thing."

"call me nick." nick responds. he points to matt and chris. "that's chris in the back there. and that's matt."

"matt." evelyn repeats. her eyes widen and she smiles. "do i happen to call you mattyb?" she asks. matt looks at chris and nick before looking back at her.

"um, yeah. that's your nickname for me." he looks at nick, who gives a slight nod. "i call you ev or evie."

"i remember calling someone mattyb. but that's it. i'm glad it's you and not some other random matt."

"yeah." matt laughed, weakly. "do you remember rory and elle?" he asks.

"i do!" evelyn's smile brightens. "they're my best friends. are they here?"

"no." nick replies, softly. "visiting hours are almost over. but i'll let them know you're awake and they'll come tomorrow."

"that would be great! thank you nick!" evelyn smiles again. her smile falters when she notices matt's distant expression.

"hey, chris and nick, can you leave me and matt alone for a second?" she asks. the boys don't hesitate for a second, nodding and leaving the room. "come here, matt." evelyn motions him to come towards her. matt walks over, sitting on the same chair by the bed.

"how did we meet?" she asks. matt remembers how he was told to answer questions like these.

"we met through elle. we knew of each other for a long time but didn't actually meet until we were thirteen." the girl nods.

"i remember elle saying she was friends with someone named nick who's a triplet." evelyn replies. "it matches up. when did we start dating?"

"last year." matt said. "your eighteenth birthday." 

"august eleventh?" she asks. matt nods. evelyn checks the date on her phone. it's august tenth. the girl's breath hitches as she realizes how hard this must be for matt. from the way he ran out of the room earlier, she could tell the two had something special. before the accident.

"tomorrow." matt confirms her thoughts. "i had a whole plan to surprise you and everything." he says, sadly. evelyn instantly feels bad. 

"you can still do it." she offers. "i'll... pretend." matt shakes his head.

"i can't do it without triggering memories. i'm sorry, ev." this is all my fault, he almost says, but he didn't.

"it's okay, matt." she looked as if she was about to say something else when the nurse walked in.

"i'm sorry, matt but visiting hours are over. i'll see you tomorrow." she says before walking out again.

"see you tomorrow, mattyb." evelyn waves. matt smiles a real smile.

"see you tomorrow, ev."

maha speaks :)

LOLOLOL