Awakening

TEN YEARS LATER

Matt Kane sat silently at the head of the Boardroom, his face its usual unsmiling mask. The people around him continued their discussion, risking the occasional glance at his grim visage.

"And so, Mr. Kane, with this projection, we can look at doubling our profits…" Matt nodded curtly as the voices droned on. Outwardly, he was present at the meeting but inside he was miles away, lost in his own thoughts. Matt Kane was 28, one of the youngest and most successful CEOs of his generation. He had run Kane Industries with ruthless purpose and a single-minded focus since his father retired prematurely two years ago. He was rumored to have a heart of stone and ice in his veins, but the reality, Matt thought humorlessly, was that he did not have a heart at all.

His mind went back to that fateful day three years back when he had lost a part of himself, perhaps forever. If only he could remember something, he thought for the millionth time, ANYTHING from before that day, maybe he could get closure and move on… He felt the familiar headache coming on as he pushed his mind to give him some clue of what his life had been before a truck had plowed into his car, destroying his beloved convertible completely and destroying him at the same time, more subtly and insidiously, but nonetheless just as completely.

"What do you think, Mr. Kane?"

Matt returned to the present, slipping into his ice persona without missing a beat. "I agree. Start working on it immediately." Without waiting for a response, he stood up and strode out of the Boardroom, back to his office.

Candy opened her eyes to the warm sun streaming in through the blinds. "A nice, bright summer morning," she thought sleepily. Then her eyes snapped wide open. Where was she? This wasn't Matt's and her apartment, or even their room at the Kane's mansion. She noticed the quiet hum of machines around her and realized that, once again, she was in a hospital of some sort.

She lay back on the pillows, her heart thumping painfully as images, each more horrifying than the other, began playing in her mind in an unforgiving sequence. One of the machines began beeping loudly as a tidal wave of panic washed over her.

"Matt! No! MATT!!" Candy screamed as the truck rammed into the blue convertible.

A doctor rushed into the room, followed by two nurses.

"Relax, now, it's all okay," he murmured, jabbing a needle into her arm with practiced efficiency. "Amazing…after all these years, she just wakes up -" Candy heard him say before oblivion claimed her.

When Candy opened her eyes next, the first thing she saw were the worried faces of Melinda and Rich.

"Candy!" Melinda exclaimed, rushing over to her bedside.

"Candy, sweetheart, we're so happy to see you awake!" Rich said, taking her hand in his. "We thought, after all this time…" His voice trailed off.

"What happened, Uncle Rich?" Candy asked, noticing for the first time that both of them looked older, lines of worry and strain etched on their faces. Then, memories of the accident flooded her mind once again. She felt the panic rise in her but quelled it firmly. She couldn't freak out, not now.

"Uncle Rich, Aunt Mel, where is Matt?" she asked anxiously, looking from one to the other of them. "How is he?"

Matt's parents glanced at each other, hesitating.

"Please, tell me – is Matt okay?" Candy tried to sit up in alarm. If anything had happened to Matt in that awful accident…No! she couldn't bear to even think of losing Matt.

"Candy, Candy – Matt is fine," Melinda said hurriedly, gently laying her back on the pillows. "Matt is absolutely okay, just that he…"

"He what, Aunt Mel? Please, tell me what happened! You're starting to freak me out!"

"Candy, how much do you remember of what happened?" Rich asked, looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite understand.

"I – I -" Candy swallowed hard, resolutely pushing back the nausea welling in her throat. "I remember we had an accident," she said weakly. "A – a truck rammed into us…it was horrible…the car flipped over and over…we hit a tree…" She paused, her breath coming in short, panicked bursts.

"Candy, calm down, take deep breaths," Melinda said soothingly, stroking her head. "It's okay, it's all over now, just calm down…"

The doctor came in just then. "Ah, you're awake again, I see," he said, smiling at Candy. "You're quite the medical miracle, Ms. Clarke."

Before Candy could ask him the million questions buzzing in her head, he began examining her. Then he turned to the Kanes.

"We'll need to do a few scans and tests, just to make sure everything is okay," he said. "But as far as I'm concerned, you could probably take her home tomorrow."

As soon as the doctor left, Candy looked at the Kanes. "Please, just tell me, is everything okay with Matt? C-can I see him?"

Rich and Melinda looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Candy, honey, why don't you just rest a bit now?" Melinda said. "We have plenty of time to talk later. Matt is absolutely fine, I promise."

Candy would have protested further but all at once she felt exhausted from everything that had happened. "Okay, Aunt Mel," she mumbled, drifting off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The rest of the day passed for Candy in a blur of tests, scans, and various doctors poking and prodding her and seemingly asking her the same questions over and again. Melinda and Rich hovered about in the background, but of Matt, she saw nothing.

"Where is he?" she wondered for the millionth time as someone collected yet another vial of blood from her. "Why isn't he here with me?"

At last, the doctors pronounced her fit enough to go home. The next morning, Rich and Melinda came to pick her up. Candy was disappointed that Matt had not come, but she smiled brightly at the Kanes, not wanting to worry them more than she had done already. She was a little surprised when they drove her to their mansion rather than Matt's apartment but she said nothing, assuming that Matt would be waiting for her there.

Melinda and Rich led her to the living room. Candy looked around in surprise. "You've redecorated it!" she exclaimed. In fact, now that she came to think of it, there were little changes in the garden too. Not just the house and garden, Candy thought suddenly, Aunt Mel and Uncle Rich looked older, somehow, the lines etched deeper into their faces. Puzzled, she looked at the Kanes. "I – I don't understand…is there something I'm missing?"

Rich sighed. "I know you must have so many questions for us, Candy, but we'll try and explain everything. You see, the accident you had…" He paused, as though unsure how to continue.

"Yes?" Candy asked, her pulse quickening.

"Your accident was three years ago, Candy."

"What??" Candy could not believe her ears. "Three YEARS??"

Melinda nodded sadly. "Yes, honey, it happened three years back. You went into a coma, and Matt…"

"Matt? What happened to Matt? Was he hurt?" Candy couldn't shake off the sense of foreboding as she waited for Melinda to speak.

"Oh, honey, Matt had a few injuries but he recovered absolutely fine." Melinda bit her lip, then continued. "Physically, he's fine, Candy, but he's lost his memory. He doesn't remember anything from before that day."

Candy felt as though the bottom had dropped out of her world. "You – you mean – he – he doesn't remember -" She swallowed hard, then forced herself to continue. "He doesn't remember me?"

Melinda shook her head, tears running down her cheeks. "He didn't remember Rich or me either, honey. He's learned to accept us as his parents again in the last three years."

"Oh, okay, then." Candy felt hope stir in her chest. "We'll just – we can just tell him who I am then, can't we?"

"Sweetheart, it isn't so simple." Rich looked sympathetically at her. "We - we didn't tell Matt anything about you then because we were worried about whether he would be able to stand the shock of losing you on top of everything else. Even today, the doctors have cautioned us against trying to force his memory back as it may be dangerous for him. They think he has suppressed any recollection of the accident and the time before that because he knows in his subconscious that he lost something very dear to him."

"Oh." Candy's heart sank. "So he doesn't remember anything from back then?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

There was silence for a few minutes as Candy tried to absorb everything that had transpired in the past three years.

"There's more we need to tell you." Melinda looked guilt-stricken. "We – we told Matt there was no one in his life earlier – we just wanted him to move on with his life, Candy. We thought we'd already lost you, we couldn't bear to see Matt pine away as well."

Candy felt her heart sink further. "I understand, Aunt Mel," she replied quietly. "I would've wanted that for him as well."

"The thing is, Candy, he's – he's engaged to someone else now."

Melinda's words rang in Candy's ears as the room spun around her.

"Candy!" She heard Rich cry in alarm as she closed her eyes, fighting off the dizziness.

"I – I'm okay, Uncle Rich," she managed faintly. "It's – it's just a shock…Matt…"

"I'm so sorry, Candy," Melinda sobbed. "It's all our fault…we really thought we were doing the best thing for him…"

"Aunt Mel, please – please don't cry, I understand why you did what you did," Candy tried her best to comfort Melinda. Just then, a little boy ran into the room, followed by an older woman.

"Nana!" he cried happily, launching himself into Melinda's lap. "Nana back! Josh missed Nana!"

"I missed you too, baby." Melinda hastily wiped her tears and kissed the little boy's rosy cheek.

"I'm so sorry, ma'am, I just turned my back for a minute and he was off. He saw the car coming so he knew you were back," the older woman said apologetically.

"It's okay, Anna. You can go now." Melinda sighed as the woman left.

Candy stared at the little boy in Melinda's lap, her heart breaking. The little boy looked at her with a big smile. He had a mop of sandy hair and big blue eyes, just like Matt's. Was this Matt's son? With his new fiancée?

"My name is Josh," he said proudly. "Are you my mama?"

"Josh, come with Dada. We'll go to the kitchen and ask Cookie for an ice-cream, okay?" Rich scooped up the excited little boy and went out quickly.

Melinda turned to Candy. "That's the last thing I need to tell you about," she said, looking as though she would break down again. "That's Joshua, Candy – Matt's and your son."