E P I L O G U E

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life:

That word is love."

― Sophocles   

• • •

"I think she's waking up."

"Are you sure?"

"Her eyelids are moving."

"Oh, my goodness. They are! Go get the doctor! Go! Go! Go!"

Everything hurts. 

My head, neck, chest, arms, legs...everything. It takes me a moment to get my eyes to open and when they do, I am greeted by a bright light. I try to shield my eyes from the brightness but it hurts to move. I squint my eyes and look around the room I'm in. There are two chairs to the right side of me and someone's purse is sitting in one of them. I look down at myself and frown when I realize I'm not where I thought I was. I'm wearing a hospital gown and a blanket covers me up.

"Sweetheart?"

I look to my left and my eyes widen. My jaw drops and a gasp escapes. She smiles when she sees me and she brings her hands up to her mouth as she begins to cry. I'm lost for words as she rushes toward me and wraps her arms around me. Her touch sends anger through me and I want her off. I should be happy because she is alive and here but I'm not. I wish I was, but I just can't be happy. My body fights against me and allows her to hug me.

"We didn't know when you were going to wake up. You were unconscious when you were brought in and the doctors said they found you that way in the car."

"M-Mom," I manage to choke out.

She pulls away from the hug and laughs while shaking her head, "I'm just so glad you're all right!"

"How...How is this even possible?" I ask, my breathing quickening. "You were...I...you..."

The door to the room opens and a woman rushes in with two more behind her. They all start examining me and I hear my mother speaking to someone...a man. I look around the doctors to see the man she's having a conversation with. I feel as if I'm about to have a heart attack. He turns to face me and a smile forms on his face. His smile sends chills down my aching spine.

Joe.

I don't understand what's going on. Joe and my mother are alive. I thought they died but here they are right in front of me. One of the doctors says something to me but I completely ignore her. I stare at the two people I thought I would never see again. How are they here? How...How am I here? I look down at myself again and run my fingers along my chest. There isn't a wound there and it barely hurts when I touch it. What the hell is going on? I clearly remember stabbing myself. I remember Louis holding me in his arms and I remember dying. I remember struggling for air and I remember everything fading away. How is all of this happening if we're all supposed to be dead?

"That's my girl," Joe says when the doctors finally exit the room.

He sits down on the edge of the bed and places a hand on top of the blanket where my legs are. I simply stare at him and I have so many questions to ask. I still don't understand how any of us are here...how any of us are breathing. Joe smiles at me but I don't smile back. I look at my mother who's standing in the corner with her phone to her ear. I hear her say my name a couple of times and I begin to wonder who she is talking to and why they are talking about me.

Joe continues, "They said it was a miracle that I made it out with only a couple of cuts and bruises. You, on the other hand, had a lot more injuries than I did. We thought you weren't going to wake up. You were out for so long, Eve. So long."

I stare at him. What is he talking about? He didn't make it out at all! He died and I remember it clearly. I remember hearing him screaming for help when Harry killed him in our bathroom. I choke on air when Harry enters my mind. I tug at my hair and my bottom lip trembles. I'm so confused and I don't know who to ask for help.

"Hey," Joe leans forward and wipes away my tears. "There's no need to cry, okay? We made it out alive and we're going to be all right. Even the driver who hit us made it. That's something, right?"

I speak to him for the first time since he stepped into the room, "We were hit by a car?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? We were going to the movies and the truck in the opposite lane swerved into our lane. You were driving, Eve. That's why you're beaten up pretty bad, I guess. The truck hit the driver's side of your car. I woke up in the room down the hall and I had to stay there for a couple of days before hearing of any news about you. I'm so glad you're okay." 

His eyes are glassy and he leans forward, wrapping his arms around me. I stiffen and my chin sits on top of his shoulder. It takes me a minute before I wrap my arms around him, too, and hug him back. Tears fall out of my eyes and I sob into his shoulder.

It was all just a dream...

None of it ever happened. I never met Louis in the mental institute and I never became his counselor. I never found out about Harry and I never tried to save Louis' life. I never met Zayn and I never found out about his past. These people...they never existed. I only made them up to keep me company until my body decided to wake itself up. My heart aches because deep down, I want these people to be real. I want it all to be real.

"Who was the driver?" I find myself asking.

"I don't know," Joe sighs. "I didn't recognize his name."

"What's his name?"

"How am I supposed to know that, Eve?"

"Do you at least remember what he looked like?"

"Um," Joe scratches the side of his head. "Curly brown hair from what I saw. He was knocked out, so I couldn't get a good look at him."

I pull away from the hug and look into Joe's eyes, "Are you serious?" He opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off. He can't possibly be talking about who I think he is. "Don't you lie to me, Joe. Don't you dare lie to me!"

He looks at my mother before looking back at me, "I'm not...lying to you, babe." The word 'babe' seems weird coming out of his mouth.

"Take me to him," I demand, pulling the blanket off of me and swinging my legs off of the bed. I have a massive headache and I try to push it to the side for this. I have to see him to see for myself if it's true.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Joe tries to force me to lay back down. "You're in a lot of pain and you don't even know the guy—"

"Take me to him!" I shout and the pain in Joe's eyes is obvious. 

I look at my mother and she's staring at the two of us. The phone's still next to her ear but she isn't saying anything. She opens her mouth but quickly shuts it. I look back at Joe and he sighs with defeat. He gets off of the bed and helps me up, leading me out of the room. We walk down the hall and my heartbeat quickens. What am I going to say when I approach him? I can't confront him about before because before never happened.

"Here."

We stop in front of a closed door and I don't hesitate to get it to open. I lay my eyes on the hospital bed and there he is, sitting up, looking as healthy as can be except for the bandages on his forehead. I clear my throat and he quits flipping through the television channels to look at Joe and I.

A bandage covers most of his forehead and a cast covers his left leg. His hair's much longer than it was in my dream, stopping a little after his shoulders. His emerald eyes frighten me, but I don't look away. He looks smaller and his cheekbones stick out like a sore thumb. Parts of his face are black and purple with bruises. How was I able to dream about him and know his name? I had to have seen him before I blacked out during the accident. Did someone say his name during the accident? Nothing makes sense. I swallow hard as he deepens his stare. I came in here determined and I won't leave weak and fragile.

He tilts his head to the side, "Well, you're not the hot nurse."

"No, but—"

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Evelyn," I swallow hard. "And this is Joe."

"So?"

"You don't remember our faces?"

"Should I?" he sounds exhausted.

"We're the people you hit." I explain. "You hit our car and we were in a car accident because of you."

His face twists with anger, "I'd like you to get the hell out of my room."

"Wait—"

"Get out!" he screams. "I want my lawyer!"

"Please!" I beg. "I need to know who was in the car with you!"

"Out!"

"Evelyn, come on." Joe tries to pull me back.

"Wait!" I tell him and look back at Harry. "Tell me who was in the car with you."

"Get out!"

"Evelyn, let's go—"

"Please tell me—"

"Get the hell out before I—"

"Please—"

"Nurse—"

"I need to know about Louis!" I cry and the room is suddenly silent.

Harry's voice is soft, "How do you know him?"

"Please," I beg. "Just tell me if he's here or not."

"Why?"

"Tell me!"

"How do you know him?" Harry snarls.

"I swear to God if you don't tell me where he is!" I yell, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. "I need to know. Please, just tell me where he is. I won't hurt him. I just...need to see him and make sure he is all right. Please."

He sighs and scratches at the bandage wrapped around his head, "He's in the room right next door. Now, get the hell out before I scream for the nurse."

Joe helps me out of the room and it takes everything in me not to run to the next room. The door's already open and I walk inside of the room to find someone laying down on the bed. Their back is facing me and I take a shaky breath. I want to call out his name but my lips remain closed. I can hear him breathing and it is soft and steady. He must be asleep. I take another step into the room and I sniff. I just want to hug him and never let him go. Unfortunately, he doesn't know about my dream. What I thought happened between us never happened.

"Are you going to say something?" Joe asks from behind me.

Louis groans and rolls over to where he's facing me. His face is covered with bruises and one of his eyes is swollen. The eye that isn't swollen is open and looking right at me. He blinks a couple of times but doesn't acknowledge my presence. There's a huge cut above his swollen eye and a couple of stitches pull the torn skin back together. He looks too small for his bed and I hate it. I hate all of this.

Why did I have to wake up?

"Eve," Joe sighs. "Don't just stand there and stare at the man."

"Hello," I say, my eyes watering.

"Hi," his voice is soft.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

"Do I look alright to you?"

"Sorry," I exhale, suddenly feeling stupid for even coming here. "I'm Evelyn."

"Louis," he responds.

I take another step forward and he raises his eyebrows. He looks as if he is in pain when he does so and he relaxes his facial muscles.

"What happened?"

"Car accident," he responds. "My friend isn't the best driver. What happened to you?"

"Car accident," I shrug my shoulders, not bothering to tell him his friend was the one who hit us. He doesn't need to know that right now.

"Oh."

"Are your friends okay?"

"Yeah, Harry is fine. He came in here earlier. Zayn hasn't woken up, yet, and Niall—Wait, how'd you know it was more than just Harry and I? I didn't mention anyone else."

"I...I...I...You said your friend isn't the best driver. I just assumed more people were in the car."

"Oh," he says. "Who are you again?"

"Evelyn."

It pains me that he forgot my name so easily. I have to keep reminding myself that he does not know me and his love for me never existed. We never spent months together. In fact, he has only known about my existence for a couple of minutes now. I glance back at Joe who looks confused and troubled by all of this. I still love Joe and I'm glad he's alive but my main focus is on the man in the hospital bed. Louis has gained all of my focus.

"Why are you here?" Louis asks me. "I don't know you."

"I know," I exhale. "But...um...I can't really explain it without sounding crazy but something's drawn me into this room."

"And?"

"I have a feeling I'm supposed to get to know you."

"What?"

"What?" Joe practically shrieks.

"What do you say, Louis? Want to be friends?"

He stares at me long and hard and I watch his eye travel to Joe before looking back at me. I'm mentally crossing my fingers, hoping he will agree to this. He lost me in my dream and I don't want to lose him in reality. The palms of my hands become sweaty and my eyes slowly widen. I don't know what I will do if he refuses my offer. I can't move on without him. I need him. Even if he was only in my dream, I feel as if I've known him for so long and I can't lose him. I want to be the girl Louis loved again. I want the relationship we had in my dream. Louis looks me up and down before sitting up on the bed and nodding his head toward the chair beside him.

"Sure, Evelyn, let's be friends. What could go wrong?"

A smile forms on my lips, knowing that this man's going to make me mental all over again.

And this time, though, I'm more than ready.

End.

***

Hello, everyone!

Mental is officially completed and I'm really happy right now. I believe this story turned out the way it was supposed to and I enjoyed writing every single chapter, including the epilogue. I'd like to thank all of you for your support and continuous comments that motivated me to keep moving! Some of your comments were hilarious and every now and then, I go back and reread them just to have a good laugh. I love all of you and thank you all for deciding to come on this journey with me.

For those of you who need an explanation for the ending, I'll be more than welcome to give you one. I believe this is not an ending for Louis and Evelyn and I will let your precious minds decide what they'll future will be like. We'll never know if Evelyn and Louis will actually get the happy ending they deserve and I actually wanted to end Mental this way. It leaves you all wondering what the future has in store for them.

Anyway, on to the explanation of the epilogue and Evelyn's dream. Yes, everything was just one big nightmare Evelyn had. None of it happened. Quite the page turn, eh? Since Harry was the driver of the car that hit Joe and Evelyn, she made him the bad guy in her dream. He hurt them in reality, so he hurt them in her dream. Louis was in the passenger's seat and he made an idiotic choice of letting his drunk friend drive. Therefore, he was "insane" in the dream. He let Harry drive, so, he was the only one who could see Harry at first.

Evelyn knew of the other people in the car but she had no idea how to place them in her dream. They became extras. Once they got into the car accident, Evelyn didn't know if Joe made it out all right or not and she assumed he was dead, killing him off in her dream. Just like in the dream, Evelyn doesn't have a good relationship with her mother and out of anger and frustration, she killed her own mother. Whenever she or Louis mentioned being free, it was never about them getting away from Harry. It was about them warning Evelyn that her dream was almost over, that she would wake up soon. If you need more explaining for the ending, don't hesitate to leave comments or leave me a private message.

Again, thank you all so much for the support! You have been incredible, fantastic readers and I appreciate every single one of you. Without you, Mental wouldn't have made it this far. I will most definitely miss Evelyn, Harry, Louis and especially Zayn! I enjoyed watching their characters progress overtime. Now, I have two questions for you:

Who was your favorite character in Mental?

What was your favorite scene and why?

I love you all.

xxx