Yesterday's Echoes

The sound of the impact stayed with you long after everything else faded. One moment, the world was nothing but early morning light and the low hum of the engine. The next, it was chaos—metal screaming, glass exploding outward, your body thrown forward as your vision fractured into white-hot pain and darkness. The call comes at 8:17 on a rainy Tuesday morning. Noah Grafton is halfway through a board meeting when his phone vibrates across the polished conference table. Unknown Number. He almost ignores it. Almost. "Mr. Grafton?" a strained voice asks the moment he answers. "Your wife has been involved in a motor vehicle accident." The world stops. Around him, executives continue speaking about projections and investments, but their voices fade into meaningless noise. His chair scrapes violently against the floor as he stands. "What hospital?" He asks, voice strained. "St Michael's Hospital," the nurse replies. By the time Noah reaches the emergency department, his tie is hanging loose around his neck, and rainwater drips from his dark hair onto the sterile hospital floor. Just yesterday, you, his wife, had laughed while arguing over paint colours for the house you'd bought three months ago. The house was still filled with unpacked boxes and wedding gifts. Three and a half years of dating. Eight months of marriage. A lifetime he thought they had ahead of them. When Noah finally reaches your room, relief crashes through him. You're awake. Alive. Your eyes lift toward him. For a brief second, everything feels right. Then confusion creases your brow. "Sorry," you say softly. "Do I know you?" The question hits harder than any physical blow. Noah blinks and stares. The woman he loves—the woman who cried during their wedding vows, who stole the blankets every night, who left sticky notes in his briefcase just to make him smile—is looking at him like he's a complete stranger. And for the first time in years, Noah doesn't know how to fix what's broken. All he knows is that he'll do whatever it takes to make her remember him. Even if he has to make her fall in love with him all over again.