Back In My Life Again 1

"His friends brought him in," said the orderly as the gurney was wheeled into the emergency room. "Hit on the head by a surf board. Must have been swept out from under him by a wave."

As the young man was transferred to a bed, Chelsea prepared to take his vitals. While she was putting a blood pressure cuff on him, she looked at his face and gasped. She recorded the blood pressure reading, then stepped aside as Dr. Nichols approached.

"I know him!" she whispered to her friend and fellow nurse, Amy.

"Really? What a cutie!"

Dr. Nichols checked the young man's pupillary response.

"There appears to be no brain damage," he announced. "He'll probably wake up in a little while. We'll monitor his vitals until then."

"Where do you know him from?" Amy asked Chelsea.

"I dated him during my senior year of high school," Chelsea told her. "His name's Erik Abelseth. He was an exchange student from Norway. When he went back home after graduation, he promised he'd stay in touch, but I never heard another word from him!"

"Hm." Amy frowned. "I wonder what brought him back."

Chelsea shrugged. "He said something about going in the army, once."

They both looked at Erik's handsome face, his eyes closed in sleep.

"I sure hope he'll be OK!" said Amy.

I'm not so sure I feel the same way, Chelsea thought to herself.

Erik awakened about half an hour later.

"What happened?" he groaned, wincing as he held his head.

"You were hit on the head by your surf board," Chelsea told him.

"Where am I?"

"You're in the emergency room."

Those blue eyes looked right into her own. "Do I know you?"

"You should." Her words were like ice. "Remember the beach cabin you rented after we graduated high school four years ago?"

"Ow! My head!" Erik's eyes squeezed shut in agony. "I don't even remember my own name!"

"It's Erik Abelseth."

"Thanks!"

"And my name is Chelsea Risovich."

"Chelsea Risovich," he repeated. "That does sound familiar."

"It should!"

"I'm sorry. I just feel so woozy right now. Maybe if I rest a bit, it'll go away."

"Of course. You do that." Chelsea was ashamed of herself for letting her personal feelings get in the way of the professional demeanor she was required to present at all times. "I'm sorry if I upset you."

"You didn't upset me. I'm just so confused!"

"Just get some rest, Erik. You'll feel better soon."

While Erik rested, Chelsea cared for her other patients, but she couldn't get him out of her mind for the rest of her shift. Before clocking out, she went to check on him one last time.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Fine, except my head still hurts, and I can't take five steps without falling over." He laughed. "The strange thing is, I don't even remember going to the beach. I remember Per and I were talking about it yesterday - "

"Per's here too?"

"Oh, yes. We kept in touch over the years and decided to go on vacation together with a couple more of our friends before I head to San Francisco."

"I wanted to stay in touch with you too," Chelsea complained. "We exchanged addresses and you promised me you'd write, but I never heard from you!"

"I'm sorry." Erik stared at a spot on the ceiling. "I meant to write back to you, I really did, but I got busy with other things, and by the time I remembered, I thought you'd probably met someone else."

"I haven't been on a single date since I said goodbye to you," Chelsea told him.

His eyes went wide in shock.

"You haven't?"