Chapter 216

Jake's POV

I gasped.

My eyes flew open. The office ceiling came into focus. Dr. Morgan was watching me carefully, pen poised over her notebook.

"What did you see?" she asked.

I couldn't speak. My throat felt raw. My hands were shaking.

"Jake?"

"Her," I finally managed. "I saw her."

"Who?"

"Sadie." Her name came out broken. "That summer. At the drive-in. Every Friday we'd meet. She gave me Coke. I brought her coffee. I got her a lighter. And then..."

I stopped. Covered my face with both hands. My shoulders started shaking.

"I kissed her," I said through my fingers, voice cracking. "I told her she was the first real thing I'd felt in a long time."

Dr. Morgan scribbled something down. "That's a very significant memory. How do you feel?"

I dropped my hands. My eyes were burning.

"She lied."

"What?"

"She said she loved someone else." My voice rose. "She said she'd been in love with another guy. But that guy doesn't exist. Because that guy was me."

I stood up too fast, nearly fell. Dr. Morgan reached out to steady me.

"Jake, you need to calm—"

"Why would she lie?!" I yanked away from her, pacing the room, hands in my hair. "If she loved me... if that summer meant something to her... why leave? Why make up some guy who doesn't exist?!"

Dr. Morgan kept her professional distance. "Memory recovery is just the first step. You need to understand, she might have left for reasons you don't know yet—"

"What reason could make her do this?!" I spun to face her. "What reason could make her pretend we were nothing? Make her disappear? Make her... make her let me think I was some idiot who got played?!"

Dr. Morgan was quiet for a moment. Then: "Maybe she was protecting you."

I froze.

"Protecting me?" I laughed bitterly. "From what? From loving her? From missing her? From lying awake every night thinking about her until I go insane?!"

She shook her head. "I don't know the specifics. But in my experience, when someone chooses to end a relationship with a lie, it's usually because the truth would hurt more."

I stood there. Her words cut through my anger slowly, exposing something deeper underneath.

Fear.

"What kind of truth," I said quietly, "could be worse than her not loving me?"

---

After Dr. Morgan left, I sat alone in the study.

I walked to the drawer in the corner. Opened it.

Inside: a silver Zippo lighter. A folded piece of paper.

I picked up the lighter first. Ran my thumb over the cold metal. Memories flooded back—

"I noticed you're always cold, even in summer."

"For candles."

"It's perfect."

I flicked it open and closed. Click. Click. Click.

That sound used to make me feel in control. Now it just reminded me of summer rain, her kiss, and what I'd told her—

"You're the first real thing I've felt in a long time."

I set the lighter down. Picked up the letter.

Hey Jake,

Thanks for those Friday nights. I know we probably won't see each other again, but I wanted you to know you're the best person I've ever met.

I'll keep that lighter forever.

Hope you're okay.

—A girl who won't tell you her name

Sadie's handwriting.

She'd written this after that summer ended. Before my accident. Before I lost my memory.

She thought we'd never see each other again.

But fate brought us back together.

Except this time, I'd forgotten her.

And she... she chose silence.

No wonder I couldn't throw this letter away.

No wonder I kept carrying this lighter.

My subconscious always remembered her.

Even when my brain forgot, my body, my heart—they remembered.

But why did she leave?

If she loved me... if that summer meant something...

Why lie about loving someone else?

What is she hiding?

I gripped the letter tighter. Knuckles white.

Then I made my decision.

I was going to find her.

No matter where she ran. No matter what secret she was keeping. I'd find her and make her tell me the truth.

Because I finally understood—

She didn't stop loving me.

She was just protecting me.

But I didn't need protection.

I needed her.