Coming Home for Christmas

Yes, that's right, I'm back. I don't know for how long, but I missed writing again. So, those of you that know my stories, and even those first timers reading me, I sometimes take a long slow burn to get to the really dirty good stuff. I promise you no lack of sex, flirting and fun. But you need to read to get there. I promise, while it may be a little longer, those of us that need a longer story and buildup will appreciate this. I like to build my characters. 😊 Please read, vote, comment and enjoy.

It was midday when I arrived back home in Ohio, I had been gone for several years, living, and working across a few different states. Nothing spectacular, just a trainer for a company who was good at what I did and bounced around from office to office to bring each team up to speed on their training regimen. Like I stated nothing to get overly excited about, I just happened to be the one that got sent to basically every compliance training needed for our industry and then got to bring them all back to each site and train up the staff. The one stop shop trainer as the corporate bosses liked to chuckle when they scheduled and called me to a new site.

The boring stuff behind us, I had been working non-stop for about 6 years, hadn't really taken more than a weekend off, and that was usually flying to another city to set up. On the rare instances that I was "home", based out of NOVA, I'd relax and sleep in and depending on the season, try to find a pick-up soccer game or go catch a movie. No consistent girlfriend or at least no longstanding girlfriend, a few friends with benefits, but I travelled too much to get involved in a cohabitation type relationship. I wasn't going to be around to be supportive on a day-to-day basis, I might have to leave with a day or two notice and I loved having my own space and time to relax when and how I wanted to.

At 30 I knew it was about time to start considering finding a woman to really settle down and intertwine my life with, I still felt young and free, I was still a big kid trapped in a man's body at this point. Usually feeling like I was an imposter when I was doing training or dealing with the corporate heads and bosses at each site I travelled to. The only person I was close to was my younger sister, who was an oopsie baby on my parent's part, born 9 years after me. We were close as she would call and talk to me no matter the time of day or what was going on if she had life questions. It could be about boys, our parents, or something in school.

While close to her in that manner I had not been home in probably 7 or 8 years, not even at Christmas and graduation for her. I had been training at the time and couldn't take the days off. Christmas usually was just spent with a phone call home and me relaxing on my couch or spending some time with one of those fwb's. Which brings me to why I was driving home now after so long.

My little sister's birthday was the day after Christmas, and she begged me to come home for this year as she was finally turning 21 and could drink legally. "Look Greg," she began, "none of my friends really believe I have an older brother anymore, no one has ever seen you other than your picture. You're like that boyfriend or girlfriend nerdy people make up just so they are left alone about dating."

Mom chimed in from somewhere near her, "Maybe that's because you have that picture of him on your nightstand at college," this was followed by a quick giggle.

"Oh my god mom, shut up." Gwen sniped at her mom. You could hear the good nature in her voice, almost a slightly guilty exasperated response.

I could tell she vacated the area of our mother, hearing a door click as she must have gone into another room, "Mom might not be completely wrong. I may have just told a few girls you were my boyfriend, so they just left me alone," she jabbered nervously, "please don't be mad, I just got tired of them trying to set me up and wanted to focus on graduating."

I smiled to myself, letting her panic for a minute before I replied, "Oh Gwenivere, my little pixie, you do what you must in order to survive and graduate. But, if you try hitting on me at home I'm telling mom," I told her with a smirk on my face.

"You're such an ass Greg. Maybe, I'll flirt and just tease you as much as I can and work it so I can get a couple updated pictures for the nightstand."

We both laughed and she changed the subject asking if I could possibly make it as her birthday and Christmas gift this year. I told her I'd check my schedule and get back to them. Silently smiling to myself, knowing I had already scheduled a few weeks off to just enjoy the trip home and spend some time with family and not have a rushed trip back and forth. It was about a 10-hour drive home and as I fly all the time everywhere for work, I decided to drive and not be in a hurry for once. I was going to tell them I didn't think I could get the time off, but I might fly in just for Christmas or her birthday if I could schedule it at the last minute. Then surprise them all. I just realized I hadn't seen a good picture of my sister since her high school graduation, she had on her cap and gown and her body was non-descript at best hidden beneath that gown and in my head, she was the same little 13- or 14-year-old I had last seen when I graduated college, and my parents wished me well.

I don't want to make it sound like I had bad parents, quite the opposite, they loved and supported me all through life, I just had an internship that had turned into a job upon graduation, and I was to start the following Monday in Virginia and would be heading out immediately after pictures and dinner with the fam. I knew if I ever needed anything my parents would be there in a flash, I did talk to the folks about 2 or 3 times a month just to check in. My sister, however, was probably 4 or 5 times a week thing. We just didn't send pictures or anything like that. Strange now that I think that it had been that long since I had seen my sister in person.

So, I set out 3 days before Christmas and headed home, coming into our small town I remembered every road and didn't really need the gps, the town had changed over the years, new buildings and stores popping up while others closed and had disappeared completely. Being December in Ohio, it was cold, and they must've had some fresh snow overnight the evening prior. It looked like the roads were all salted and cleared. As I approached the center of town and came to one of the few stoplights in town, I noticed a young woman crossing the street as the light changed. I watched her start cross in front of my truck and she smiled and then out of the corner of my eye I saw it...

I didn't have time to think about what I was doing; I pushed the gas pedal and turned the wheel to put my truck fully between the girl and the semi that must've hit black ice and slid through the intersection. The last thing I remember is hearing the crunch and creak of metal as my driver's door started to sink in on impact, after that everything went black. I do take that back; I did catch a glimpse of the young woman in a green coat jump up on to the curve and see the look of horror on her face just before everything went black. This all happened in milliseconds, and didn't register how stupid what I did was, only that I couldn't let a beauty like that die the horrid death she was about to. As I said we were from a small town, the type where everyone knows most other families and I couldn't imagine the severe loss of someone before Christmas.

As the darkness overcame me, I thought about my poor parents and sister, saving someone else for Christmas may have just ruined their Christmas, hopefully they'd understand...

"Doctor, I think he's finally waking up," I heard as the world started to slowly come in to focus."

"Excuse me," I stated, "Can we turn off those fucking bright lights overhead, pretty please."

The voice replied, "Well at least he's verbal and not speaking gibberish, give me a minute to check your vitals dear and then I'll turn them down."

I heard her push a couple buttons, the beeps gave it away, and then the light in front of my eyelids dimmed. Slowly I cracked each eye open. Oh my god, even with the light dimmed it still felt overwhelmingly bright in that room. I gave it a few more minutes and then tried again, it was still bright, but my eyes had adjusted a little.

"Thank you for turning down the lights, um, can you tell me where I am."

"The doctor is on his way, I'll let him explain it to you, oh hell if you know a doctor is on the way, I guess I can tell you, you are in the hospital. But that's it for now." she offered.

"Well Gregory," the doctor said entering the room, "you had us all scared for a while."

I sat there thinking for a moment, was he talking to me? Did I know him, as I scanned my thoughts, I couldn't even identify myself. Oh damn, I think I have...I couldn't even remember the word for what this was.

"Sir, Doctor, I'm guessing I'm Gregory, and I can't tell if it's your normal demeanor or if you do actually know me, but I have no idea who I am, or you are for that matter."

As I looked at his face, I watched his expression change, and he got a bit of a frown. "I was worried about that with the trauma and swelling you suffered, but this could only be temporary. You are just waking up; it's been two days since the accident, and I hope you know you are being lauded as a hero and even better not a martyr."

"Accident?" I asked.

"Oh, my boy, you swerved into traffic to save your, um a young woman from being for lack of a better term, smooshed by a semi. She would have surely died immediately had that truck hit her. According to those that saw it, she had just cleared your truck and was on her way to the sidewalk when the semi hit black ice and slid towards her. You must have just hit the gas and swerved in the way taking the brunt force of the semi. Luckily, he wasn't speeding, wasn't drinking, wasn't doing anything stupid, just hit black ice and couldn't stop." The doctor relayed the information to me.

"So, doctor, what's the damage to me?" I asked.

"Well let's go with the obvious first, it looks like a bit of amnesia, short- or long-term memory loss possibly, we'll have to give it a little while to see how that works out," he began, "now as to physical injuries, you have some bruised ribs, a broken wrist and some scratches and then a head wound that we did fear might be the end of you when they brought you in. Turns out you must've knocked your head on the steering wheel, and the window, and everything else you could bump onto," he chuckled.

He paused before continuing, "I sincerely hope this is just a temporary thing with amnesia, it's actually quite common when there's severe trauma like you incurred, but besides some swelling of the noggin, you appear quite healthy and in the clear. It took a small number of stitches to close mainly superficial wounds to your head compared to what could have been a truly tragic Christmas gift for your family."

"Oh, so you know my family sir?" I asked him, finally hoping for some semblance of normalcy when you can't remember who you are or anyone else is. I must've known him, or this really was some small town that I was in, because doctors don't talk to you like this anymore, I don't think at least. Who knows, maybe they do and I'm just a little crazy.

"Oh Gregory," he started with a smirk, "I'm your uncle, your dad's brother. That's why they aren't here sitting by your bedside at the moment, I sent them home to get rest, they hadn't left your side since you got to the hospital a few days ago. I made them go home, get a shower, a little sleep and they'd be back in the morning. I had to assure them I'd be here if you'd wake up, so they'd actually leave for a little bit."

"Well, I wish I could remember you right now, but for the moment thank you uncle...um uncle doctor." I laughed to myself and got a smile from him.

"Dan, Doctor Dan, ass, whatever fits your fancy to call me, you really are a hero Greg, did you know the woman you saved?" he asked.

"No clue Dan," I replied, "I tried picturing her in my head as you were talking, I remember a flash of green, a bright smile and a look of horror in her eyes right as my truck was hit and I caught sight of her."

"Ok, let's leave it at that for now. Can you picture of her at all, or can you think back and remember anything before waking up here today?"

I tried to think and remember anything before waking up. I got glimmers of pictures in my head, but nothing concrete I could lock onto. I tried to picture my parents, the truck I knew hit me, anything at all. It was all pretty black. A few blurs almost came through. Nothing at all.

"I can almost picture something, but it's pretty blank." I responded.

"Ok, let's try something else. Close your eyes, can you remember what you look like? Try to picture anything, how tall are you, do you remember if you are thin, fat, athletic, can you remember you look in the mirror or in the shower?" he laughed.

"You mean like nude?" I couldn't help but laugh also, "Well, I can't picture my face, but I don't think that's surprising I think I'm not a vain person, I think I'm in good shape, just laying here and thinking about my body," I ran my right hand down my body, yep, felt pretty solid, not really any fat, I couldn't help myself, I reached down, felt like I had a decent size manhood, at least nothing to be ashamed about, figuring that many nurses and doctors had seen my junk in the last few days.

"Can't blame you for checking Greg, I'm not going to lie, a few of the nurses, have been delighted to provide sponge baths the last two days when they could. Apparently, word got around that you had a nice appendage there. It runs in the family."

His gentle smile put me at ease, if he was my uncle like he said, I'm guessing he was a fun uncle, never really serious ever. If his bedside manner now was any indication, although that could be because I was his nephew, and he didn't feel the need to be over the top professional with me.

"Good to know Uncle Dan," I said, liking that way to refer to him as opposed to just doctor.

"So, how's the head feeling, probably going to be a little sore and you might have a headache for a little while?" he inquired.

I was having a little headache as we talked, plus this was the only time I'd been awake in two days, so I was a little hungry, and feeling sleepy, I'm guessing that was from pain medication. I relayed this to him, he said that I had an iv in for nutrients and stuff for right now, and a catheter too pee since I was unconscious since the accident. He told me that maybe I should close my eyes and get a little more sleep, when I woke up, they could look at getting me food and drink and removing the catheter.

I looked at the cast on my left hand, thanking the lord I was right-handed. At least I hoped I was, I know that would suck but I'd get over it. "So, I do remember it was almost Christmas, a few days before when this happened. What's today, Dan? Was my truck totaled?"

"Funny you remember that but not much more, well my boy, at least it is a start. Today is Christmas Eve, and unfortunately your truck had pretty severe damage. I do know that the trucking company already reached out to your parents, they will be covering all medical bills, no matter what your insurance says, and they will also buy you any vehicle within reason you want when you get out of the hospital, probably something comparable to what you were driving, just newer, I'd venture to say with all the bells and whistles you could want," my uncle filled me in.

"Let's just hope someday I remember how to drive," I retorted with a crooked smile.

The world was slowly fading away, I could feel my eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and before I knew it everything else was gone. I do remember dreaming, at least this time I did, I remember seeing the young lady in slow motion, turning to smile at me as she reached the front of my truck, then seeing that truck sliding, and as the semi hit my side of the truck, I came awake, sweating and yelling. I felt a hand on my chest and opened my eyes to the girl who had been in the crosswalk. More natural light was in my room this time and I was guessing it was morning. The beauty stared down at me, tears welled up in her eyes.

She leaned down and hugged me, "I think you were having a nightmare Greg," she whispered as she held tight.

I was perplexed as to why this girl was here but wasn't going to complain at all about a young cute woman holding on tight and happy that I was alive. I slowly got my breathing under control and then leaned back separating from her gently.

"I'm so sorry miss, I don't know who you are but I'm glad you're alright, um, can you tell me why you're here." I asked her quizzically.

The young lady had spoken with the doctor as she was the first one to arrive at visiting hours this morning and he had informed her of what was going on. Normally all that patient/doctor confidentiality stuff would have come into play but not in this small town, and definitely not in this case. He had told her it was best to talk to Greg like she was a stranger or someone who recognized him, but to not give any other greater reference to him, they wanted his memory to come back naturally.

"Oh, my name is Gwen," she smiled sweetly at her big brother, it killed her inside that he didn't recognize her, but she was so proud of him and thankful that he had saved her life. She had recognized him briefly walking past his truck in the crosswalk, shocked she had continued on, not having seen him in so long in person and not expecting to see him until at least Christmas if he made it again at all this year. So, when it registered who it was, she spun back around quickly to hear and see the impact of the semi hitting the truck where she had been a split second before. Gwen knew she'd be dead if he hadn't swerved to prevent the semi from hitting her. The funny thing is he didn't even know it was her, he hadn't gotten a good glimpse of her, and had not seen her in person in years.

Gwen leaned in again and squeezed him tight, ignoring his ribs, even when he grimaced from the pain, "Sorry, sorry, I know the doctor said you had bruised ribs," she smiled so soft and sweetly at him that he decided the pain was worth the hug.

There was something so familiar about this girl, but he couldn't place it. She smelled magnificent, like cinnamon, somewhere in his head bells were going off but he had no idea why. Maybe he knew this girl. Her face was very pretty, and she had long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. As he did a quick scan below her face, he could tell even though she had a Ohio State sweatshirt on that she had a very ample bosom, and that was as far as he got looking, he knew he was probably blushing as he looked back into her eyes as she stood up next to his bed.

"I just wanted to stop in and thank you so much for saving my life, Greg. The doctor said you were having some memory problems. "Oh, and are you ok," she began to question, "you woke up with a start and were sweating. I had just come in and saw you as you jerked up and screamed."

He relayed the dream to her and watched as her face looked horrified upon his revelation that he did remember a little bit, any tiny snippet of a few days ago. They chatted for a few more minutes, her expressing her gratitude again and again.

"I will be attending dinner at your parents' tomorrow afternoon; they invited me over when I came and visited yesterday while they were here." (It was only a little white lie she was telling Greg, she thought to herself. She had an obvious wide-open standing for dinners at his house, hell she even had her own room there. But they had to be careful how much he had forced upon him at once, hopefully his memory would come back soon.)