Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Pretty Little Liars franchise.
_
"Can you see this light, Mrs. Cavanaugh?" asked Dr. Brig as he shined the pen-sized LED flashlight into her pupils.
"Yes."
Dr. Brigg scribbled something on his notepad in the chicken-scratch handwriting that seemed to be a requirement for all doctors and stood in thought for a moment.
"Any kind of conclusion, doctor?" Spencer implored.
He took one final look at his notepad before answering her. "The good news is you should slowly be gaining back your memory over time. It could take anywhere between four and six months for you to regain all of your memories, but regular brain activities such as crosswords or Sudoku will increase your chances, as well as seeing old tokens or mementoes."
Spencer nodded. "Toby mentioned something about bringing some of my things over, seeing if it jogged my memory."
"Ah. I wondered why he was gone. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time he's left the hospital."
Guilt crossed Spencer. "It is?"
Dr. Brigg nodded. "He's camped out these past few nights on the couch over there. Wouldn't leave your side. Not until you asked him to, he didn't."
If Dr. Brigg knew how guilty that made Spencer feel, he would have stopped long go.
"It's almost 8; he should be back soon…"
Spencer didn't have to wait much longer; within minutes, Toby returned to Spencer's room with a heavy-looking backpack slung over his shoulder.
He smiled before greeting her. "Good morning, Spencer."
She nodded politely in response. "Morning."
"I brought a few things back from our apartment, things that might rekindle some sort of memories." Toby explained as he sat at the edge of the hospital bed.
Spencer sat up, intently watching Toby pull a book out of the backpack.
"Recognize this?" He asked, passing it off to her.
Upon further inspection, Spencer saw that the title of the book was in French, L'attrape Coeurs.
After turning it over in her hands a few times, she spoke: "This is the French edition of Catcher in the Rye, isn't it?"
Toby confirmed her notion with something just above a murmur. "It is. What's the significance?"
"It…" She tried, running her fingers across the cover. "I saw you reading this before. I mean, not in French, but, I know you read it."
"I did, yes. But why is it important that this is the French edition?" Toby asked.
Spencer knew he was only trying to help, but it she hated feeling so helpless and without knowledge.
Spencer searched the foreign bookstore for a French copy of Catcher in the Rye.
"I bought this in the foreign bookstore, the one down the road from Rosewood High." Spencer recollected.
"Do you remember why?" Toby wondered.
There was a big, spacious porch, though Spencer couldn't have picked up a stronger sense of foreboding. In her mind's eye, it was familiar, so familiar, but exactly where she was wasn't clear until she watched herself knock on the door and meet a familiar eye.
"I took it to your house. I was there to tutor you, wasn't I?"
Toby couldn't hide his joy. "You did."
A Scrabble board reading 'Goofball', one pair of truck keys, and a snapshot of a motel room later, Spencer could feel bits of memory seaming them back together. Certainly, many aspects of her forgotten life still did not make sense, but she was content with the knowledge she had gained. But most of all, she valued the memories of Toby and his sweet nature. How Spencer had forgotten such a thing, she did not know.
"I have some home videos that might help you." Toby announced as he pulled a laptop out of his backpack.
He booted the computer and clicked on a little frame.
Spencer scooted closer to him and craned her neck to watch as the screen turned to an image of Spencer, older than she remembered being, but younger than she was currently, walking into what appeared to be a small, but well-maintained apartment. The screen was half-obscured by a shudder-like thing, as though the camera was hidden in a closet.
"Toby?" Video-Spencer called. "Where are you?"
"Down here, by the couch!"
Spencer watched herself come down by Toby, where he sat arranging a game of Scrabble.
She chuckled. "Haven't seen you with a game of Scrabble in a while. What's the occasion?"
"Well, not only do you graduate tomorrow, but tonight is the sixth month anniversary of you moving in." He explained. "I wanted to do something special.
Onscreen, Spencer chuckled and kissed Toby full on the lips. "I love you so much." Her off-screen counterpart blushed.
The two played Scrabble for a good couple of minutes, when Toby suddenly picked up all of the pieces he was saving and spread them across the board.
"Toby, I'm pretty sure that's against like, 10 rules –" But she stopped when she saw what the tiles spelled out.
I LOVE YOU SPENCER
MARRY ME
Both Spencers made the same noise of pleasant surprise, though the younger woman was more active in her acceptance of his proposal: She lunged across the Scrabble board to Toby, shouting "Yes!" the whole time.
She settled her head into the crook of her new fiancée's neck and he put a modest, but glimmering ring on her finger.
"I'm sorry there are no fireworks, or professional dancers, or -"
Spencer kissed him so he'd stop talking. "For the record, a good proposal doesn't need anything like that."
The screen faded to black, and Toby couldn't help but notice the small smile remaining on Spencer's face.
"Do you have the wedding?" She asked.
Toby nodded. "I sure do."
For a wedding funded on the conservative salaries of two young, minimum-wage-working college students, Spencer thought it was beautiful.
She and Toby stood at the top of a skyscraper somewhere, where the sky was an even more vibrant shade of blue than something found on default computer wallpaper. Little whisps of pure white cloud were scattered here and about, giving the sunlight a sort of filter.
Spencer's cream dress was strapless and all lace, the seam of which highlighted her slim silhouette. On one side was Hanna, Emily, and Aria, all beaming in their mint-colored frocks.
Toby was handsome in his black tuxedo, and to his side stood a couple of groomsmen Spencer did not recognize.
There was, however, no audience.
"There's no one there." The off-screen Spencer remarked at the videos end.
Toby smiled. "That's the funny thing about eloping."
"Why did we elope?"
He shuffled a bit. "Remember what I said about your parents not being exactly in favor of us?"
Spencer nodded.
"They didn't find out we got married until we sent them postcards." He chuckled. "Boy, when they found out… I hope you remember that soon, it was hilarious."
Spencer smiled politely. "Me, too.
"Anything else you'd like to know?"
"Actually, yes." Spencer prepared herself to answer the question that had been on her mind since she woke. "Toby? Who's A?"
_ Sorry for the cliff hanger, especially since I won't have any time to write between now and December... But, hey, I updated!