The audience rose to its feet, calling out his name. He saw the finish line, adrenaline pumping furiously through his body. His dream only few strides away…
***
Adrian Black woke up drenched in sweat. He fumbled in the dark, searching for balance while the pain attacked his half-conscious mind like shards of glass. He gasped for breath. Fists clenching.
The sensation of the smooth fabric under his fingertips was familiar and helped him to relax. He was in bed.
He closed his eyes hoping to erase the traumatizing pictures haunting his dreams. It’d been too real.
Deep breaths. It was just a nightmare.
He was safe, wasn’t he? Slowly his heart rate turned back to normal. Apart from the sharp headache he wasn’t in any other kind of pain. And he…
Adrian’s body stiffened when a pale, delicate arm peeked through the darkness and curled around his middle. His heart rate instantly spiked.
What the…?
The hand ran up and down his chest and a woman’s full head of blonde waves came into view, moving to the nook of his neck. Snuggling. He couldn’t see her face, but there was something familiar with the way she moved so easily into his body. That familiarity, however, did nothing to calm his racing thoughts.
He held his breath, unable to move an inch, afraid to wake her.
“I’m here, Adrian…” she whispered through her sleepy haze. “You’re safe…” Her body relaxed against his, drifting off again. He assumed. Hoped.
Adrian squeezed his eyes shut, trying to remember who…what…where…
What was this woman doing in his bed? How could he not remember?
He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the darkness and carefully raised his head. A sheen of light crawled through the window in the corner. The room was familiar. But it wasn’t his bedroom. This wasn’t his bed.
He swallowed hard and attempted to move, while trying not to wake the woman. It was harder than he expected with her head pressed against his chest.
This made no sense. The only woman in his life was Sienna Quinn, the woman of his dreams. This woman was not Sienna.
He dropped his head back down onto the pillow, digging deep into his memory bank, desperately filling the massive gaps.
He had been on his way to meet Sienna. He had been planning on proposing that night. To her. And then…
“Adrian…”
He stiffened when the woman rose and turned on the lamp on the nightstand. He closed his eyes, blinded by the sharp light, his head throbbing in pain.
“You’re shivering…” She sat up with a worried expression and cupped his face. “It was only a dream…” She brought out a cold cloth from the nightstand and dapped his perspiring forehead. “The doctor said vivid dreams are side effects of the medicine…”
Medicine?
As Adrian finally took a closer look at the woman, fractions of memories pieced together in his mind. “Elysia?”
She chuckled lightly and pressed her soft lips against his. “Who else?”
Sienna…
“Why are you here?” The question escaped his lips before he could stop himself. He didn’t know why Elysia Rivers, the barista from the corner café, was in his bed…well not his bed, but a bed…somewhere.
“What do you mean?” She sat back on her heels, frowning, then resumed to gently press the cloth to his face.
He tried to sit upright but his legs refused to obey. Maybe it was the aftermath from the nightmare. Or the shock of discovering a stranger in his bed. Or maybe it was the pulsating pain in his temple that rendered him immobile and unable to remember.
He quickly skimmed the room. “Where…am I?”
Elysia tilted her head, and a sad expression draped over her face. “You don’t remember, do you?” It wasn’t a question meant to be answered, but Adrian shook his head all the same. She adjusted the covers around his motionless legs and sighed deeply.
“This is our room, Adrian…I’m your wife…” Elysia’s attempt at a smile did nothing to calm his uneasy nerves or the nausea building up in his gut.
No way…
As Sienna’s name tumbled from Adrian’s lips, Elysia’s expression darkened. She angrily jumped off the bed and crossed her arms defensively.
“Well, she made herself scarce when she realized your running days were over…” The words were meant to cause pain, like a blunt blade, which they did. “…She never loved you, not like me…but I’m not running, and you’re not going anywhere…” She thrust her left hand in his face forcing him to acknowledge the ring.
What had she just said? Was she telling the truth?
His legs weren’t functioning as they should. Why?
He was a runner, an athlete, at the top of his game…
“You forgot, didn’t you?” Elysia’s voice, slightly milder, pulled him back from the horrific realization of his condition. She returned to his bedside. He wanted to pull away from her touch, but the warning look she sent his way made him pause, and give in. “You were on your way to propose…to me, but…the car crashed…” Her teary eyes glistened in the darkened room. “The doctor said you wouldn’t be able to walk again because of the injury to your lower spinal cord…”
The rush of blood muffled Elysia’s voice. All he heard was, paralyzed…spinal cord…physiotherapy…post-traumatic amnesia…the devastating news crushing his life-long dream.
His dream of winning an Olympic gold was over.
Sienna had left him.
He was married to a stranger.
Maybe he was still sleeping…maybe this was the nightmare…
“You need rest…you’ll feel better in the morning,” Elysia purred. And as swift as a cat she closed in.
He didn’t even know what had hit him until something sharp pierced his neck. His vision blurred and Elysia’s face faded away.
For a split second before drifting off, Adrian saw Sienna’s comforting smile flash before his eyes. One last thought lingered in his mind before darkness took over…
It was only a dream. Right?
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