Prom
The dance was almost half over when the call came. It was our Senior Prom and my date said he would meet me here at six and it was almost eight.
"Hello?" I said, hoping Phin was okay, he'd never been this late before.
"Is this Ferb Fletcher?" a harsh female voice asked.
"Yes is this about Phin, is he okay?" I asked, knowing somehow that's what this call was about.
"He's at the city hospital and you are listed as his next-of-kin. Can you come down?"
I went cold. Phin was in the hospital? "I…I'll be down there as soon as I can," I stuttered as I made my way to my car.
"Ferb!" I heard Isabella call after me.
"Phin's in the hospital, tell Buford and Baljeet," I called, not even looking over my shoulder.
I was almost at the hospital when I remembered that I needed to call Candace and Perry.
"Ferb, I thought you and Phin were at the prom?" Candace said when she answered the phone.
"I was, Phin was running late and the hospital called. That's all I know."
"Okay, I'll be there soon. Do I need to call Perry?"
"Yeah, I just got to the hospital. Buford, Baljeet, Isabella, and the Fireside Girls are on their way."
"Okay, I'll call Perry and be there soon," Candace said before hanging up.
As I made my way into the hospital, I couldn't stop messing with the plain gold band on my ring finger.
"Can I help you?" the nurse asked me.
"I'm Ferb Fletcher. I'm here to see Phineas Flynn," I said, hoping Phin was okay.
"He's in surgery now, you can wait on the third floor for any news."
"Thank you," I said, turning to the elevators as the others entered the lobby.
Isabella saw me first, "Ferb!" she called leading the others to the elevators, "Ferb, what happened? Why are we here? How's Phin?" she asked, barely taking a breath between each question.
"I don't know much. All I know is he's in surgery. The nurse said we can wait on the third floor for him to get out," I said, twisting the ring on my finger again.
We waited for over an hour before a doctor came into the room.
"Phineas Flynn," the doctor said. Everyone turned to him but only I spoke.
"How is he doc?"
"He's pretty beat up. We had to deliver the baby. How far along was he?"
"35 weeks, what happened to him?"
"Are you the father?"
"Yes, Phineas is my husband. What happened?"
"He was blind-sided while he was driving on Newton Street."
"Can we see him?" I asked, anxious to stop stalling and see my husband.
"Of course, but only one at a time, he hasn't woken up yet. He's in room 304 when you're ready," the doctor said before he left the room.
I left right behind him, heading to Phineas' room.
When I entered the room I saw Phineas lying on the bed. His right arm was in a cast, as was his left leg. His left wrist looked sprained and there was a large bandage on his forehead. But the biggest difference was his stomach. When I had last seen him, not six hours ago, his stomach had been large, and round, and filled with our child. Now it was flat and lifeless.
"Phin, oh Phin, what happened to you?" I asked, going to his side quickly.
I brushed his hair out of his face gently. "Wake up Phin, you had the baby, wake up so we can meet him together," I said, kissing his forehead softly.
Phineas didn't respond, "I love you Phin," I said, after I had sat with him for an hour.
I went back to the waiting room where everyone was still waiting. "He's still out," I said as I entered.
"What about the baby?" Isabella asked, standing and placing a hand on my shoulder.
"I don't know, I was with Phin the whole time," I said, sinking into a chair.
Candace came over to where I was, "Ferb you need to get some sleep, you've had a long day. You can come back in the morning," she said, when she saw I was about to protest. "You'll be no good to anyone if you're this tired."
I nodded my consent and stood to leave.
I had a hard time sleeping that night, I missed Phin's familiar warmth next to me.
I was up before the sun the next morning, putting the finishing touches on the nursery.
It was 9 o'clock when I got to the hospital
"Where is the N.I.C.U.?" I asked the nurse at the desk.
"It's on the third floor, west wing," the nurse said, not looking up from the paperwork.
I quickly made my way to the N.I.C.U., on the other side of the hospital. When I arrived, I just looked in the window for a minute. I saw my son in an instant; he had Phin's head and a shock of bright green hair on top of his head. One of the nurses saw me staring at him and she motioned for me to come in. I hesitantly made my way to the door. The nurse met me at the door
"Is he yours?" she asked, motioning towards my son.
"Yes he is," I said, putting on the scrubs so I could enter the room my son was in.
"He's a tough little boy. What happened to cause him to be born so early?" she asked once I had the scrubs on.
"Phin was in a car wreck last night. It broke his right arm, left leg, and sprained his left wrist," I said, gently placing my hand on my son's incubator.
"Wow, well he's an adorable little boy. Does he have a name?" the nurse asked, looking into the incubator.
"Matthew, his name is Matthew Kyle Flynn-Fletcher," I said, slipping my hand into the incubator to hold his tiny hand.
"Matthew Kyle, that's a good strong name for a strong little boy," she said, writing his name on a card and then sliding it into the slot on the end of the bed. "How's Phin?"
"He's still unconscious. I haven't seen him this morning so he might have woken up, I came here first," I said, my eyes never leaving Matthew. "How's he been doing?"
"Mattie's been doing very well, considering how early he is. We think he'll be able to go home in two weeks, if he keeps improving at this pace."
"I guess he has Phin's determination, once he convinced me to build a beach in the backyard, just to prove a guy on the radio wrong. Phin could jump straight to the moon, if he put his mind to it," I said with a chuckle.
"He sounds like an amazing person."
"He is, I just hope he wakes up soon, I don't want him to miss out on anything with Mattie," I said, rubbing my thumb across the back of Mattie's hand.
"You should go see him," the nurse said.
"I should," I said, removing my hand from the incubator.
I left the N.I.C.U. and quickly made my way to Phineas' room.
"Hey, Phin," I said, entering his room, "I saw Mattie today, he looks just like you, but he has my hair. He's adorable, I wish you could see him," I added, kissing Phineas soft and sweet.
I felt Phin stir as I straightened up. When I looked down I saw his eyes open, slightly blurry with sleep.
"Hey Phin," I said, gently brushing the hair off of his forehead.
"Hi," Phineas said, looking around the room.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, not liking the guarded look in his eyes.
"I'm okay. What happened?" he asked, trying to sit up.
"Hey, careful there Phin, you need to take it easy for a while," I said, trying to keep Phin lying down.
"Okay," Phin said, lying back and place his hands on his stomach. I saw the panic flash in his eyes.
"He's okay. They had to deliver him during the surgery after the accident. I named him Matthew Kyle, just like you wanted. He looks like you, with my hair. He's so small, but the nurse said he's making good progress for early he is. I think it's because he has you determination," I said, laughing lightly.
I could see the relief plain on his face, then something new dawned on his face.
"Phin, what's wrong?" I asked, knowing this new expression was fear.
"Who are you? You know what I was going to name my son, I didn't tell anyone that."
I gave a nervous laugh, "Phin, what do you mean, who am I? I'm Ferb, Mattie's father, your step-brother, your husband," I said, worried.
"I've never see you before in my life. Where's Candace?" Phineas asked, his voice rising in volume.
"Phin, calm down, I'll call her and she'll be down here as soon as she can," I said, slowly backing out of the room.
I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and quickly dialed Candace's number.
"Ferb, how's Phineas?" she asked, when she picked up her phone.
"He doesn't remember me, the first thing he asked me was 'who are you'. He knows about Mattie, but he doesn't know me," I said, tears running down my face.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," she said, hanging up her phone.
I slid down the wall, my head in my hands. I didn't realize how much time had passed until I felt Candace's hand on my shoulder.
"Ferb, what happened?" Candace asked, helping me up.
"I went to see Mattie and then I came here to see if Phin had woken up, he hadn't. I gave him a kiss and he woke up, like Sleeping Beauty," I said, fresh tears on my face.
Candace didn't say anything, she just gave me a hug and entered Phin's room. I followed close behind.
"Hey Phin," she said, moving to the side of Phin's bed.
"Hey Candace," Phin replied, eyeing me.
"How do you feel?" she asked, sitting in the chair next to the bed.
"I've been better," he said, using the remote to lift the bed so he could sit up.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Candace said, a slight laugh in her voice.
"Candace, who is that man? The green-haired one, he claims Mattie has his hair, but I've never seen him before in my life. He said he's my husband, but I don't feel anything for him," Phineas said, lowering his voice so that I could barely hear him.
"Phineas, if you're kidding, this isn't funny," Candace said, looking worried.
"Candace, this isn't a joke, I've never seen him before in my life," Phineas said, his serious tone contradicting everything I knew about Phineas.
"He's Ferb. How can you not remember him? You two have been inseparable since you were four. You've been in love with him since you were 12 and you two dated for six years. On your 18th birthday you two got married and you got pregnant with Mattie. Do you really not remember him?" she asked, looking between the two of us.
"Candace, I swear, I've never seen the man before in my life."
I couldn't take it anymore. Here was Phineas, the love of my life, saying he didn't even know who I was.
I ran out of the room. I didn't make it very far before I broke down and had to stop because I couldn't breathe.
"Ferb?" I heard a cautious voice and footsteps approach me.
I didn't look up, I knew who was approaching me. "He-He doesn't remember me, Perry. He remembers everything but me," I said, looking up at the teal-haired man.
Perry slid down the wall next to me. "Don't worry Ferb, he'll remember, and everything will be back to normal."
"I hope so," I said, reburying my head into my hands.
It's Mattie's fifth birthday. Ferb will be over any minute to help set up for the party.
Ferb lives in a small apartment on the other side of town. Mattie and I live in the house Ferb and I used to live in.
"Mattie, come on. Papa's gonna be here any minute," I called up the stairs. When he didn't reply, I quickly made my way to his room.
When I opened the door, it was like a train hit me.
Matthew was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, putting the finishing touches on a small metal object in his hand.
I stumbled, backwards, out of the room.
Mattie looked up, "Daddy, what's wrong?" he asked, seeing that I was sitting on the floor, head in my hands, sobbing.
I just shook my head, unable to speak.
"Hello? Phineas?" I heard Ferb call through the house.
"We're up here Papa," Mattie called back down the stairs.
I heard Ferb coming up the stairs, felt his shock at seeing me on the floor, crying my eyes out.
"What happened Phin?" I heard Ferb ask as he knelt next to me.
I just looked up at him and smiled, "I remember Ferb, I remember everything," I said, tears of joy running down my face.
Ferb looked shocked, so I reached out, and kissed him with a passion I hadn't felt for almost five years. "I remember," I said, again when I pulled away.
Ferb broke into a huge grin and he kissed me again. "You remember?" he asked, breathless, when he pulled away.
I nodded, fresh tears running down my face.
Ferb stood, pulling me up with him, "You remember!" he said, spinning around, laughing.
I was laughing too. The past five years had been empty without Ferb in them.
"You remembered," Ferb said, setting me down.
"I did," I said, looking into his deep green eyes, "I remembered."
I heard the door open again, "Phineas, Ferb, Mattie, are you here?" I heard Candace call.
I kissed Ferb one last time, "Come on, we have a party to go to," I said, taking his hand in mine.
Ferb just smiled and picked up Mattie in his free arm.
As we made our way down the stairs, I knew, this was the best day, ever.