What Remains

***CHAPTER 3***

The room felt too quiet.

Not peaceful—just empty.

Matthew lay there, staring at the ceiling long after the nurse had left. The faint beeping of the monitor beside him was the only thing reminding him that time was still moving.

An accident.

That’s what she said.

He tried to remember it again.

Rain.

Lights.

A sound—loud, sharp—

And then nothing.

His fingers twitched slightly against the stiff hospital sheets. He lifted his hand just enough to look at it, as if it might hold answers. It didn’t. Just pale skin, a bandage wrapped around his wrist, and a faint tremble he couldn’t quite control.

“…Why does it feel like I’m forgetting something?” he murmured.

The words slipped out before he could stop them.

Not everything was gone.

He knew his name. His age. Random, disconnected facts about his life. But anything that felt important—anything that should have had weight—was just… missing.

Like pages torn out of a book.

The door opened quietly.

A man stepped in—tired eyes, neatly dressed, expression carefully composed.

“Matthew.”

Matthew turned his head slightly.

“…Dad?”

The word felt right.

Familiar.

But the feeling behind it… didn’t.

Relief flickered across his father’s face as he moved closer. “You’re awake. That’s—” He paused, exhaling softly. “That’s good.”

There was a moment of silence.

Matthew studied him, trying to match the face in front of him with something he felt.

He couldn’t.

“Do you remember what happened?” his father asked gently.

Matthew hesitated.

“…No.”

The answer came easier than expected.

“I remember… being in a car, I think,” he added slowly. “And rain.”

His father nodded, like he had expected that.

“That’s normal,” he said. “The doctors said memory loss is possible after something like this.”

Something like this.

Matthew swallowed.

“…Was I alone?”

The question came out again.

This time, his father didn’t answer immediately.

“You were found at the scene,” he said carefully. “Emergency services brought you in.”

That wasn’t what Matthew asked.

He frowned slightly, something uneasy settling in his chest.

“That’s not—” He stopped, pressing his lips together. “I mean… was there anyone else?”

His father’s expression shifted—just for a second.

Then it was gone.

“The important thing is that you’re safe,” he said firmly.

Matthew stared at him.

The same words.

Again.

Safe.

But it didn’t feel like safety.

It felt like avoidance.

Later that night, the room felt even quieter

The lights were dimmed, casting soft shadows across the walls. The hallway outside was silent, save for the occasional distant footsteps.

Matthew couldn’t sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, something flickered at the edge of his mind.

Not clear enough to see.

But enough to feel.

Voices.

Laughter.

A warmth that didn’t exist in this room.

His chest tightened.

“…There was someone,” he whispered.

More than one.

He was sure of it.

He didn’t know how—but he knew.

His fingers curled slightly into the bedsheet as frustration built, sharp and sudden.

“Why can’t I remember…?”

The question broke in the quiet.

No answer came.

Only the steady, indifferent beeping beside him.

Somewhere else, in another hospital room—

Jason sat upright in bed, staring at his hands like they didn’t belong to him.

His fingers moved slightly, instinctively tapping against the blanket.

A rhythm.

He didn’t know why.

In a different part of the city—

Kevin woke with a sharp inhale, his heart racing for no clear reason.

Beside him, an empty chair.

But the feeling of someone being there lingered.

Allen stood by a window, watching rain trail down the glass.

He didn’t know why it made his chest ache.

And Cammie—

Cammie sat in silence.

Wide awake.

Tears slipping quietly down her face.

Because unlike the others—

She remembered everything.

...****************...

End of the chapter

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