Chapter 14：Matthew awakens

The ride back home with Kaiden was silent, a comfortable silence. They were tired from their journey to their beach, so it was normal for them to be silent. They reached their stop. "Alright, I'll see you next time, bye!" Renae said, waving as she stepped out of the train compartment. "What are you talking about? I'm coming with you," Kaiden said, also stepping out the train compartment. Renae was a little shocked at first but smiled as they walked out of the subway.

The train station wasn't far from Renae's house so they reached very soon. "Now I'll see you next time. Thank you for walking me home!" Renae smiled as she looked up at Kaiden. He smiled handsomely and replied, "You're welcome. I'll see you then." After that, Renae entered the house and went to the window. She watched as Kaiden walked towards the train station. She only moved away when she couldn't see Kaiden anymore.

Renae entered her room and jump landed onto her bed, her face stuffed into her pillow. The pillow muffled her squeal as she silently fan-girled. "Do I like... do I like Kaiden? Hahaha... no way. I have feelings for Matt... Yea I definitely have feelings for Matt... but I feel the same way about Kaiden!" She was feeling a little frustrated. Either way, it didn't matter. Right now, her brain was filled with Kaiden. His charismatic aura and his deep voice could make her melt in a second. Her lips curved into a smile as she tightly squeezed her pillow.

After about an hour of staring blankly at her bookshelf-filled walls, she finally got up and quickly showered. Then she changed into her comfy sleepwear, did some reading and tucked herself into bed.

Renae slept in. She only woke up when she received a call from Auntie Ann. "Hello..?" Her voice was raspy as she replied. After all, she had just woken up... or maybe she hasn't. "Hello, Renae. I have great news today!! It's been a little more than a month and... Matthew is awake! He woke up just this morning!!" Auntie Ann exclaimed. Renae was suddenly jolted awake, her earlier sleepiness easily evaporated. "Really?! I just woke up but I'll come right away!!" She replied.

Renae hung up the phone and sprinted into the toilet to freshen up. After which, she changed into casual hoodie and acid-washed shorts. Just as she was about to leave her house, she received a message from Matthew! "Renae, who's Kaiden?" It was only a message but it was obvious he was jealous. "I'll explain when I reach the hospital," Renae replied. She then gave Kaiden a call. "Hello?" "Kaiden, Matt woke up this morning! And he wants to know who you are. Come with me to visit him... again?" She quickly said. Kaiden agreed and they decided to meet up in the hospital lobby and head to Matt's room together.

It didn't take long for them to reach Matthew's hospital room. Renae gently knocked the door and only entered when she heard the voice she missed for so long say to enter. "Matthew!!" Renae almost burst out crying as she called his name. She ran in and jumped straight into his open arms. "Hey, it's been a long time," Matthew said, smiling at the girl in his arms. Renae took in a big sniff of Matthew's familiar scent, their memories flooding back. "I missed you..." She mumbled, unwilling to let him go.

After she unwillingly let Matthew go, she introduced Kaiden to him. "Oh, and Kaiden, meet Matthew." "Matthew, meet Kaiden," Renae said with a grin on her face. "Hey," the duo said to each other. They started some small talk among the 3. Renae found out that Kaiden and Matthew actually had lots in common! As soon as the small talk ended, Matthew and Kaiden started talking about video games. Renae just stared at them since their conversation topic brought no relevance to her. Renae is the only one out of the 3 of them that didn't play video games. This is so unlike Matt — to actually get along so well with someone he just met. He's usually cold to most people. Renae thought to herself while the duo continued their conversation.

Then, there came a knock on the door. It was the doctor. The doctor walked into the room, towards Matt's bed, and asked, "Are you family members of Matthew?" "No, but I can contact them to come now," Renae replied politely. "Ok. I would just like his family members to know that he can be discharged tomorrow." "I will give them a call to inform them." The doctor nodded and left the room.

"That's great news. But I'm sorry I have to settle some family matters," Kaiden said to the both of them, looking down at his phone. "Go ahead. Renae will give me your number later." Matthew said. Renae waved goodbye to Kaiden. Kaiden returned the wave and turned around to leave.

"I'll send you his number when I leave later," She said. "Alright." "So, how've you been?" He asked. "I'm fine. You saw the message on the note I wrote right?" "Yeah, why else would I know of a person named Kaiden? Ok enough about him. Let's talk about us," he said in a serious tone, looking right into Renae's dark brown eyes. "What about us do you want to talk about?" She asked. "We are still friends right? After so long?" Matt asked her. "Yeah why wouldn't we be?" Renae said confused. "I just thought that since you already have new friends, you-" Renae cut him off and said, "That doesn't mean you aren't my friend. You will always be my friend!" "Always?" He asked cheekily which made Renae blush slightly.