Lost and Found

Aaron Peters was successful man. He taught what he loved. He was a college professor, teaching all sorts of biology classes. He loved to teach the young men and women who took his classes, loved to see their expressions change as he explained a hard concept, or showed them something interesting.

He had followed a friend's advice and invested part of his savings, providing a comfortable fallback for retirement. He was beloved by his students because he cared. He took grade disputes and tried to judge them fairly. He tried to keep the students engaged. He made the extra effort.

And yet, he wasn't happy. If you asked a student what Dr. Peters did, they would probably say he was either out on the town, or on a date. The females at his college seemed to flock to him. He was unfailingly courteous, treated the women like a true "southern gentleman". Yet, he never dated, hadn't dated for close to 12 years, if anyone had asked.

If anyone made it past his dating history and asked why he hadn't dated in 12 years, his answer was a simple one.

"I lost the girl who still has my heart"

~~~~~6 years ago~~~~~

Aaron Peters had his hand on the door of the church, fighting between his head and his heart. Finally, deciding a course of action, he opened the door and stepped into the church. He saw the pastor and the guests, the bride and groom standing at the altar. He kept walking, hearing the words he needed to hear.

"I object!" he said, nearly shouting it as loud as he could. He saw everyone turn their face. The groom looked pissed, the bride, surprised. The guests all shot him venom-laden glances. He could tell he was not welcome, but he had to say it.

"I'm sorry for interrupting this service, but I have to say something first. Jen, I'm in love with you. I have since the second grade when we first met. I tried to tell you multiple times, but you never seemed to understand how I meant it. I know I have no right to say this, but you needed to know how I felt, honestly for once," Aaron said, shaking like a leaf. He could feel the hateful glares from the groom and the congregation.

When he saw that Jen wasn't going anywhere, his heart felt like it was crushed. Here he was, a 22 year old man, crying in front of everyone. He did the only thing he could think of. He turned around and ran.

~~Present Day~~

"What have we got?!"

"GSW to the upper right abdominal area, no major organs seem to be hit, hemorrhaging seems to have slowed down, BP is 88 over 60..." the medic kept calling out readings they had taken of the victim as they made their way to the hospital and although it didn't look like she was paying attention, Dr. Jennifer Thomas made a mental note of everything said as she checked the victim's stats for herself.

If one asked, it was a typical night in the ER of Valley Medical, yet this is what Jen lived off of..the rush of the action around her, not knowing what sort of surprises would be gracing the ER that night...

She loved what she did. She had thrived off of helping others, being able to care for them, get them back onto the road to recovery...yet something was missing in her life. And only Jen knew what it was. But yet, she never talked about it. She preferred to keep her private life seperate from her professional life...

http://www.wpri.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/jeri-ryan.jpg

~~~6 years earlier~~~

"What the hell was all that about Jennifer?!"
"I can't believe that man had the gull to do that to you on your wedding day!!"

Everyone was talking at once and Jennifer didn't hear one word of it all. All she could think about was how Aaron had barged in and said those things to her...in front of all those people!

But Jen wasn't mad about that...she was more upset that he only said something to her then and not before...

Wait...what the hell was she thinking...she wasn't stupid...she had seen all the signs but had assumed it would all go away. After all, Aaron deserved someone better...someone who would make him happy..not her. They were best friends..friends since they were children..they had been through thick and thin and this was how she acted when he poured his heart out?!

"Jennifer?!" She heard her mother's shrill scream and it was only then Jen snapped out of it all.

"I can't do it." Was all she said as she walked out on her own wedding.

"Dr. Peters, can you explain this concept?" one of the students in the small, upper level lecture said. Aaron loved these lectures. They were laid back and he could interact with students since it was a smaller lecture. It allowed him to really get into the lectures, as well as understand his students. It was part of why he was so well liked in his subject area.

"Certainly Grace. It just means that..."as Aaron was explaining what was second nature in his mind, his thoughts were elsewhere. He didn't mean to slip out of the lecture, but he couldn't help remembering the little girl who he grew up with, and eventually fell in love with. He didn't always reminisce, but it was happening more often.

After class, Aaron was walking downtown. He liked to walk as he was thinking about things. Sometimes, he just got lost thinking about the past, wondering what might have been. This particular night saw Aaron walking down main street. It was pretty late, especially for a Tuesday. As his mind wound down, he decided to get a drink.

The local watering hole, The Drunk Skunk, was a favorite place to hang out and have a drink. It had a laid back atmosphere, and when parties were thrown, they were some of the best. Aaron hadn't come here often, but when he did, he always enjoyed it. As he sat down at the bar, he noticed a gorgeous young blonde. The more he looked at her, the more haunting his thoughts became.

"No, it couldn't be Jennifer Thomas," he said to himself, not realizing how loud he said it. He shook the cobwebs from his thoughts and ordered a beer, before grabbing a stool a few seats down from the blonde. He didn't mean to, but his mind kept thinking about Jen Thomas, and how much this girl looked like her the last time Aaron saw her. "It can't be Jen," he said, a little bit louder, not realizing he was talking out his thoughts.