Deja-Vu

Candy did not see much of either Matt or Olivia for the rest of the weekend, except at mealtimes, which she took with the family. She could sense Olivia's disapproval at her presence there, but the brunette said nothing, simply choosing to either ignore her or slight her at every possible opportunity. Candy noticed that she was wary of Matt, though, and was careful to make her spiteful comments only when his attention was occupied elsewhere.

All in all, Candy was almost relieved when the weekend ended. Though she would miss Matt's beloved presence, the stress of dealing with his indifference together with Olivia's poison tongue was nearly too much for her to bear. She said a quick goodbye to them early on Sunday evening before taking a sleepy Josh up to the nursery.

Sometime later, Candy brushed the hair back from the little boy's sleeping face, her heart aching with the love she felt for him. She bent and brushed a featherlight kiss on his forehead, careful not to disturb him.

"Joshua…I love you so much…I feel so much for you," she whispered softly. Mama loves you, baby…I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you and your daddy all these years…"

She saw headlights turn on below and went over to the nursery window. Matt and Olivia stood there near Matt's sleek black Lexus. Candy was about to draw the curtains closed, not wanting to spy on Matt and his fiancée, when Olivia leaned forward and kissed Matt on the lips.

Candy froze, a strong feeling of déja-vu overcoming her. The memory of Matt kissing Cara, right there below her window flashed before her eyes, making her heart clench in pain. She knew that Matt remembered nothing of his past with her, she knew that Matt was planning to marry Olivia, so why did seeing proof of the reality hurt so much? She swayed on her feet, desolation sweeping over her as she watched the beautiful brunette kiss Matt.

Just then, Matt looked up and saw Candy at the window. He saw shock, then utter misery on her face as she watched him kiss his fiancée. Matt's head swam, waves of darkness washing over him as a multitude of images rose in his mind. Surely all this had happened earlier? Him kissing – Olivia? – a blonde? – someone watching him from the window above…

"Uhh…" Matt crumpled to the ground, clutching his head.

"Matt!" he heard her scream as the blackness claimed him.

When next he opened his eyes, he was in his bed. There was a stabbing pain in his temples, making him grimace in agony.

"Matt, are you okay?" Melinda asked anxiously from where she sat at the side of his bed.

"What happened, son?" Rich sounded as worried as he looked.

"Matt, darling!" Olivia's shrill tone made him wince in pain. "You scared the life out of me! I was so worried -"

Then he saw her, hovering in the background, her face white and worried, hands twisting and untwisting, and the voices in the room faded out. Why did she look so concerned? he wondered. Why had she screamed his name as he fell?

Before he could try and figure things out, Dr. Easton bustled into the room. Matt lay quietly as the doctor examined him, his eyes drawn to her pale face again and again. At last the doctor finished and looked around. "He's fine, he just needs to rest for now. I've given him an injection for pain, so we should let him rest." He went off to speak to Rich and Melinda quietly in a corner.

Olivia leaned down and kissed Matt lightly on the forehead. "Get some sleep, darling. I really do need to go home tonight, but if you need anything, just give me a call."

He barely noticed her leave as his gaze returned to the figure in the corner. She advanced slowly, and he thought he saw the glimmer of tears in her huge brown eyes. "Are – are you okay?" she whispered, stretching her hand out as if to touch him before drawing it back.

"I'm okay," he replied quietly, wanting to remove the look of anxiety on her face. It surprised him, this sudden desire to comfort her, to reassure her, to take care of her. "Really, Sarah."

He wanted to puzzle out this unexpected need to protect Sarah, wanted to delve deeper into her obvious concern for him, but the medications began to have their effect and before he could analyze much more, he fell asleep.

The first thing he saw in the darkened room when he opened his eyes again was her slender shape huddled up in a chair next to his bed.

"Sarah?" he asked, strangely comforted to see her there. She was up in an instant, coming up to his side.

"How are you feeling now?" she asked gently.

"Much better…I don't really know what happened…" Matt frowned, trying to recall the moments before he had passed out. "I – I guess I just felt really strange…"

"Hush, don't think about anything right now," she said soothingly, pouring him a glass of water. "Doctor said you need to rest." She must have read the question in his eyes because she flushed and added, "I – I said I would sit here because I didn't want Mrs. Kane to – to get too stressed."

"Thank you," he replied, feeling his eyelids grow heavy again. "Don't…leave me…again…"

Though she was almost certain he was not aware of what he had said, Candy felt a warmth fill her at his words. "I'll never leave you again, Matt," she promised silently. "Never again."