When
Time Stands Still
by
Sara Furlong-Burr
Genre:
Romance
It’s
been nearly a decade since Elle Sloan last saw Luke Hutchins. Close
to ten years since she broke up with him over a single phone call,
providing him with little explanation. Since the end of their
relationship, Elle has done everything she could do to move on,
marrying, proceeding forward with her life, almost allowing herself
to completely forget about Luke.
Almost.
Out
of nowhere, Elle receives a phone call from Luke’s mother. Luke has
been in a horrific car accident and, a month later, has just awoken
from a coma. However, instead of celebrating, his family is stunned
to learn that Luke is suffering from amnesia and only remembers his
life as it was before his breakup with Elle. Not wanting to tell Luke
that he and Elle aren’t together anymore for fear it may compromise
his recovery, Elle is asked by Luke’s family to come to the
hospital to see him. Their hope is that she will slowly be able to
jog his memory and cushion the blow.
Guilt-ridden
over how their relationship ended, Elle readily agrees, finding
herself transported back in time with Luke to the life they once
shared and the future they could have had together.
I heard voices even before I stepped inside of the room. They were soft, but one by one, I was able to discern who was speaking. The first voice struck me like a freight train, catapulting me further back in time with each word he spoke. The second one made my heart skip a beat.
As I walked farther into the room, I saw another vision of my past sitting next to the hospital bed. His attention, at first, was entirely focused on the occupant in the bed, until movement from me diverted his attention to me. He locked eyes with me, surprise on his face quickly turning to an odd combination of contradiction. Anger, excitement, and suspicion all appeared to be waging war and were enough to give me whiplash just looking at him. Peter Monroe—or just Monroe, as he preferred to be called—had been Luke’s best friend since pretty much the dawn of each other’s existence. He’d aged. His boyish good looks had hardened into a man who would have been difficult to recognize to me, save for the same square chin, overly large nose, and mischievous eyes I had remembered so fondly.
Another step inside the room revealed a sight I had fought valiantly to keep from infiltrating my dreams for the last several years. Like Monroe, he didn’t notice my arrival at first, and I was grateful for that because the shock I was feeling at that moment would have undoubtedly transferred onto him. His head was turned, his eyes, from what I could see of them, were closed. Most of his features were facing Monroe, but from what little I could make out of them, he looked exactly how I remembered him. The rest of his body, however, was a different story.
His hair had begun to grow back after having obviously been recently shaved to prep him for surgery. On the side of his head that was visible to me, a bandage was secured to his scalp just above his ear and was wrapped around his head. Both of his legs had been broken and were secured with immobilizers, resembling large boots. He’d been through hell and back physically, and I feared he’d soon go through the same emotionally, all because of me.
Tears fell down my face before I even had the chance to realize they had formed. Not wanting Luke to see me upset, I dabbed my eyes with my sleeve and did my best to maintain my composure before he realized I was there. With a lump in my throat, I took a step closer to the bed, approaching it on the opposite side of Monroe. There another chair sat, which I was grateful for in the event my legs felt like they were going to give out on me. Monroe sat watching me expectantly, silently screaming at me to announce my presence and put an end to the torment Luke must have been going through since regaining consciousness.
Closing my eyes, I took a breath and spoke. “Luke.”
Sara
"Furlong" Burr was born and raised in Michigan and
currently still lives there with her husband, two daughters, a
high-strung Lab, and three judgmental cats. When she's not writing,
Sara enjoys reading, camping, spending time with her family, and
attempting to paint while consuming more amaretto sours than she
cares to admit. She's also an advocate for melanoma awareness, having
been diagnosed with stage 1b melanoma in 2017.
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