It was as she was on her way back home that it happened. Spencer was on the same road she had taken every day for the last two years, ever since she had started work as a French teacher in her former high school, Rosewood High. Even before that, she had taken the road five days a week while attending as a student, so she should have been used to it, and she thought she was.
The rain was battering down on the windshield, the window wipers not able to move quick enough to make any reasonable difference. She was struggling to see through the window anyway and the darkness of the sky due to the late hour and the weather made it even worse.
"Be careful with corners, always manipulate them carefully," her driving instructor had warned her on one of her first lessons, but Spencer had never taken the ailing older man very seriously until now. She was the youngest in a family of two girls, so she was used to manipulating people, in particular her father who had always had a soft spot for his youngest.
Spencer realized now that she should have listened to that advice and followed it, as she began to regret taking a short cut in order to get home to her husband quicker. He was making a 'special' dinner for their 2 year wedding anniversary, although Spencer knew it would be his now infamous spaghetti, the only thing he really knew how to make that didn't already come half made.
She was coming up to the second corner in a row when it happened. The truck speeding towards her was coming too fast to allow Spencer any time to react and even if she wanted to, she was frozen in fear, unable to move.
Spencer's hands slipped from the wheel slightly as the impact hit her, slamming her body forward towards the steering wheel before forcing her back to the chair.
The car spun out of control and she could feel the seat belt digging into her as the vehicle started to rotate with her still in her it.
The impact of her head slamming against the seat made her feel nauseous but she was unable to continue with this feeling as she drifted in and out of consciousness, eventually shutting her eyes and feeling something dragging her somewhere she knew she didn't want to be taken.
The wave hit Spencer in a rush as she opened her eyes, the light burning her eyes like the sun on a hot Summer's day. She tried to move her hand in order to shield her eyes from the torture, but something was restraining her.
Her eyes, though still not completely open, fluttered down to her hands where they lay on the bed.
The mattress was unfamiliar, uncomfortable and she didn't recognize the sheets, which were a strange shade of blue that she was sure she had seen once before. But that wasn't the main thing troubling her: someone was holding her hand as it sat immobile on the bed, clutching it in their palm, despite the long wire that Spencer could see sticking out of her usually clean hand.
The left hand currently embracing her right was wearing a simple silver band on the fourth finger, the size, the roughness of the knuckles and nails all indicating that it was a man who had encased her hand in his.
She finally managed to open her eyes fully, the confusion overruling all her senses even though her brain was telling her she needed to rest. The white of the walls was overpowering, forcing her eyes shut again, only for her to open them once more, remaining open this time.
She could now see she was in the hospital, but she couldn't remember why.
"My wife, she's awake!" shouted a voice on her right, she assumed this was the voice of the man still holding her hand. She didn't recognize the voice though, strangely.
After an attempt to move her head ended with her head further into the pillow than before as a blinding pain filled her every sense and left her unable to think of anything else, she settled for simply moving her eyes towards the right where she could finally see the face she had attempted to picture in her mind. The real thing was a shock to say the least.
Toby Cavanaugh was by her bedside. Toby Cavanaugh was holding her hand. Toby Cavanaugh was calling her his wife.
But this was not the Toby Cavanaugh she remembered. The man next to her was older looking, wiser, his hair was much shorter and was no longer covering his eyes. His eyes, which she had never noticed were so bright and blue before, were full of concern, most likely at the confused, flustered look that Spencer could just tell was on her face at that moment.
"Where am I?" Spencer could hear that her voice came out as a croak but the people currently around her bed seemed to hear her regardless. She had gained more company since she had woken up; she was now surrounded by her parents, her sister, a doctor and two nurses. Still, Toby held her hand by her side which she assumed was meant to comfort her, but right now it was confusing her, making her feel uncomfortable.
"Spencer, sweetie, you're in the hospital. There was an accident and you've been in a coma for a few days, but my God I'm so glad to see you!" her mother cooed from the end of the bed, shuffling round to reach for her free hand and grasping it tightly in her own.
"What happened exactly?"
The doctor chose this moment to speak up.
"You're car was hit by a truck while you were inside and you suffered a major blow to the head. You also suffered a broken leg in two places, which will require you to attend some physical therapy sessions. But the major worry is the head injury, and although you're awake now we'll still have to do tests to see if there was any lasting damage. I'm afraid you're not out of the woods yet, Mrs Cavanaugh. We'll be back later to check on you." The doctor then left along with the both nurses leaving just Spencer's family and husband.
Mrs Cavanaugh.
The words echoed in her head. Mrs Cavanaugh. Mrs Cavanaugh.
This had to be some sort of joke. Why would Spencer Hastings, model student and (almost) model daughter marry pervert, stalker and possible murderer Toby Cavanaugh. The last thing Spencer remembered about Toby was that she and her friends had accused him of killing Alison.
"Babe, I was so scared! I thought I was going to lose you!" Toby kept hold of her hand, but got out of his seat to brush some stray strands of hair off her slightly bruised face. His eyes searched her face, boring into hers as he looked for something that she wasn't sure of.
He leaned in towards her, his lips puckering as he moved. They pecked her forehead lightly while he gently squeezed her hand.
Spencer leaned away slightly before Toby could kiss her again which concerned the man before her.
"Spence, you're okay, you're safe now. I'm not going to let anything happen to you ever again, I promise you," Toby said, not taking his eyes off of Spencer as she took in everything that was happening.
"I don't understand why you're here! Toby, I barely know you and the things I do know about you tell me that you would not be a good candidate for my husband!"
"What do you mean?" Toby questioned softly, gently reaching forward in an attempt to cup her cheek in his rather large hands.
"I mean that Alison caught you peeping in our windows and you probably killed her for it! Why are you here? And why did the doctors call me Mrs Cavanaugh?" Spencer was shouting now, and her family moved closer to her to provide a sense of comfort as Toby took a step back, visibly upset at the harsh words.
"Spencer, sweetheart, Toby's your husband. You've been married for two years," Veronica said, reaching out to squeeze Spencer's arm, gently enough to comfort her youngest daughter but not hard enough to unsettle her even further. "How old are you Spencer?"
"I'm sixteen, or at least the last thing I remember is being sixteen, but you all look so much older and I'm so confused. Mommy, what's happening? Please mom I need you!" Spencer was crying now, reaching out for her mother and staring at her through clouds of tears in her eyes.
Veronica's heart broke listening to Spencer's sobs, the last time she remembered hearing her cry like this since she was a child was in her senior year after a fight with Toby on their first anniversary that she still doesn't know much more about. She had held her as she cried that night and she would hold her for as long as it would take for her to recover.
"Toby, maybe you should wait outside for now. Send Aria in, she might be of some help," Peter commanded, always one to take charge in difficult situations, no matter how much his heart was breaking. He hated watching his children suffer: while Veronica had always encouraged them to self-soothe when they cried as toddlers, Peter could never resist giving his girls a cuddle, no matter how small and insignificant the cause of their crying was; he had seen it in Spencer during her breakdown and admission to Radley, and in Melissa after Ian's death and the loss of her baby and both of those times he knew that there was nothing he could do that would bring them any comfort.
As they had grown older, his love and cuddles turned into things like expensive gifts and vacations, too 'busy' to find time with two of the most special things in his life.
"I'll be right back," Peter said, following Toby out of the door, unable to process the events of the last half hour while hearing his daughter cry like that.
Aria walked in slowly a few minutes later, and it was obvious by the unsure nature of her facial expression that Toby had told her everything.
"Spencer?" she asked hesitantly, reluctant to move any closer in case she frightened her visibly fragile friend.
"Aria? You look so different." Spencer's eyes strolled up and down Aria's body as a small smile appeared on her face. "Your face has aged, but you haven't grown at all in- what year is it?" Although she smiled at the first part, she grew more confused as she tried to work out the date and how much time had actually passed since her last memories.
"It's the 12th of June 2020," Melissa announced, speaking for the first time since Spencer woke up. Her voice was slightly deeper than Spencer remembered, possibly a result of shouting at children or a husband. She checked quickly and saw that Melissa was indeed wearing a rather large diamond ring and a more simple silver band on her left hand.
"So I'm 25?" she asked softly, reaching her hand sup to feel around her face, wondering if it would feel any different after the 9 years her brain had forgotten about.
"Yes, you turned 25 in April. Toby took you on vacation to New York for the weekend, and you did some shopping and saw a few shows. You brought me an 'I heart New York' t-shirt," Aria explained, sitting gently on the empty space on the right hand side of the bed that had previously been occupied by Toby.
"What about you Melissa? I see rings on your wedding finger, so are you married?" Spencer questioned, and Melissa simply nodded in reply. "To Ian?"
"N-no," she stammered. "Ian and I were married but he um, he passed away a few months later."
"Melissa I am so sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"It's fine Spencer, it was a long time ago." Spencer was surprised by the softness in her sister's voice, used to a rough, angry tone in her presence. But then again they had apparently had an extra nine years to make up.
"Could you ask Toby to come in?" Veronica was surprised at this question but followed through none the less as she exited the room and came back with Toby in tow.