✔️Soundtrack to My Youth (18+)

Turn Back Time

Sam 2020

"I believe you did hear Veronica say your name Mr Lions but you have to understand that people slip in and out of comas all the time" Dr Papskin said as he updated Veronica's chart. It had been an hour since I had heard my girl speak my name for the first time in a week but my elation started to diminish as the seconds ticked by without any more progress. "Her vitals were strong, her pupils were responsive to light which is a great sign" He adds, attempting to boost my moral which had taken a nose dive when there was no further activity.

"Thank you Doctor, I'm sorry I wasted your time" I really thought that this was it, when I called out to the nurses station to page Charlotte and Dr Papskin I thought for sure that they'd come running into the room and find Veronica awake and talking.

"You didn't waste my time Sam, Veronica is my patient, any change in her condition, big or small, I want to know about" He assures me politely. Although I haven't seen much of him in the days that followed since the accident he does have Charlotte reporting back to him often and checks in between surgeries and answers all the questions I throw at him, which is a ton.

"The fact that she spoke, that's a good sign right?" The brochures for the long care facilities sat in a pile on the table next to where Veronica lay, a reminder of how bad things could really be but I was clinging to any shred of hope that Veronica would be able to wake up from this unharmed.

"It really is, it would indicate that her speech was not compromised and the fact that she spoke your name gives me a positive outlook that she may not suffer any long term memory loss, things are certainly looking up Sam"

"I just wish she would wake up already, I need to hear her voice again and to tell her how much I love her"

"Patience Sam, it will happen soon enough" Dr Papskin smiles warmly at me, he doesn't look to be that much older than I am really, but it's hard to tell with doctors, the job makes them look like they age quickly. "I knew your dad when he worked here, really nice guy, very proud of you too, he would often tell me all about you"

"Doesn't surprise me, Dad loves to brag about my days on the field" I chuckle, my father was the first person to support my dream of playing football in the premier league, he never let me give up on what I wanted, no matter how out of reach it seemed or what obstacles life threw my way and he loved to tell everyone in earshot about how proud I'd made him.

"I'm not talking about just your career Sam, he spoke about you and Veronica often too, he was over the moon that you'd found someone like her, 'Sam's one' he used to call her, in so many ways I feel like I know you both because of the stories he'd share" I look at my girl, she was always my one, my only regret was how I treated her before I left for university, I broke her heart and I'm so very lucky that she eventually gave me a second chance. Those days are long behind us now, a distant memory that I never want to revisit.

"I learnt a long time ago that my life is really nothing without her, I can shoot the goal that won my team the World Cup but the achievement is only minuscule compared to how it feels to come home to the person you love and know that they love you back" I walk over to stand beside her bed, stroking her hair, like I do whenever she's sick, she once told me that it's something her dad would do to comfort her and after he died I wanted to be that person who gave her comfort.

"Two divorces later and I'm yet to learn that myself but that's the life of a surgeon, long hours and never being home, relationships suffer because of it" Dr Papskin complains, letting out a long, heavy sigh. I'm all too familiar with the life of a surgeon but Dad made it work for him, both with Mum and Celeste, plus also with me.