Chapter 1

Matthew Buchanan opened his eyes slowly, giving them time to adjust to the dim light in his hospital room. He looked down at his hand and smiled, seeing it cradled in a tiny brown hand. His best friend Destiny Evans was asleep in a chair beside his bed. He was glad she was the face he was waking up to; she was his rock and his anchor. He smiled at the sight of her nestled up in the over-sized chair, strands of her shoulder-length braids strewn across her face. She looked so peaceful—and cute. 'Where did that come from?'Matthew always thought Destiny was a pretty girl, but he never outright called her cute before. He was pretty sure thoughts like that were crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed. Destiny's stirring, pulled him away from his thoughts. "Des," he rasped.

"Hmm," she mumbled as she fought to wake up.

"Des. . ." he called out again.

Destiny smiled through a yawn when she realized it was Matthew who'd disturbed her slumber. "You're awake!"

"So are you—finally," Mathew said hoarsely.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, I was joking," he said before coughing.

Destiny grabbed the plastic pitcher off the desk next to Matthew's bed and poured him a glass of water. "Are you in any pain? I can get a doctor."

'I'm fine," he said faintly, completely captivated by the sight of her. This wasn't the same girl he shared sundaes with at the Palace; this girl was older and slightly taller, not to mention curvier in all the right places. Her fitted pink polo and black jeans hugged her body in the most alluring way. Matthew let out a small sigh as he felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment.

"What?" Des asked twirling her braids nervously as Matthew not so covertly took in her figure. He had the same look in his eye as the night they made love. 'Does he remember what we did?' she thought to herself. Matthew's parents warned her that he was suffering from some memory loss, but that was days ago and they weren't even sure if it was permanent.

"Nothing, I'm just glad to see you," Matthew replied as he reached out to touch Destiny's hand.

She backed away from him reflexively, without realizing what she was doing.

"Des, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah—why do you ask?"

"When I reached for your hand just now, you pulled away."

"I'm sorry, I'm just in shock. I can't believe you're awake and talking."

"Me neither, even though I can't remember everything."

"So, you don't remember what happened to you?"

"No, I just have a bunch of fractured memories." Matthew made space on his bed then signaled Destiny to sit next to him.

"So what's the last thing you remember?" She asked plopping down in the space he cleared for her.

"My parents agreeing to let me have the surgery.

"That was two years ago Matthew."

"Yeah that's what my dad said." Matthew looked at Destiny with pleading eyes as he continued, "that's why I was kind of hoping you'd be able to help me piece things together."

"Me?"

"Yeah if you don't mind."

Everything that happened after Matthew won his lawsuit against his parents flashed through Destiny's mind: Bo and Nora stealing Matthew away to London, Matthew breaking her heart, her grandparent's lies, Matthew antagonizing Nate, Matt coming in between her and Darren, Eddie Ford's murder, and the night they had sex.

"You'll help me won't you?" Matthew repeated. "Des…"

Snapping out of a daze she replied "Huh?"

"Are you okay? You zoned out for a minute."

"Uh yeah—of course I'll help you," Destiny smiled. "I'm not sure I'll be much help though."

"I can't think of a better person to help me with this. You're my best friend and you know things about me that my parents certainly don't know."

'You don't know the half of it.' Des thought to herself. Suddenly she covered her mouth as she was stricken by a bout of nausea. 'Oh not again.'

"Des, are you okay?"

"I—I'm going to be sick," she forced out before springing from bed and rushing out of Matthew's room. She ran straight to the restroom and threw up that morning's breakfast. After spewing, she starred at herself in the mirror as she held her stomach. "Can I really be pregnant?" She wondered aloud. Destiny knew she couldn't run from the possibility anymore.

It was time to take a pregnancy test.