Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
It felt like it took an eternity just to get to the end of the fence and then head back again. I was going to do my best to follow where the road was. Melody would have to be on it as well, but I didn’t know if I would lose it because of the snow cover. The area being open and without trees would help.
My hands were shaking as I gripped the throttle and sped up. My heart was beating too hard, too fast, too everything, but I willed myself to push through.
I didn’t drive the machine as fast as Crow did. When I tried to go a little faster again, it felt like I was going out of control. I couldn’t hold the phone the whole time, so every little while I would have to stop and check to make sure I was on the right path. The trees were creating a path for me, so I felt like I was. Every time I saw the blinking circle that showed me where Melody was, I breathed a sigh of relief.
It felt like a lifetime before there was a flash of a red truck in the distance, equipped with chains on the tires, waiting for me. Melody jumped out, threw her arms around me, and I wanted to melt into them, wanted to fall to my knees and thank her for being my friend, for mattering to her.
“Thank God. I’ve been worried sick!” She patted me down, held my face the way a mom would.
“I’m fine. I’m okay. I didn’t have any issues. I just need to get the stuff and get back to Crow.”
“Yeah, of course.” She held a bag out to me with her gloved hands. I stuffed it into the empty backpack I’d brought. “I called my cousin. He’s a doctor. We’re close enough that I felt safe telling him I had a friend who is in trouble. I explained the symptoms, and he wrote me a prescription for antibiotics. I nearly had to flash my boobs at the pharmacist to get him to put a rush on them.”
Oh God. She was amazing. She’d gotten me antibiotics. “You’re incredible! I don’t know what to say.”
“Just get home safe to your man and make sure he gets better. That’s the most important thing.”
I hugged her, just needing to be close to her. “Thank you. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
“No worries, but I don’t feel comfortable with you riding back up there…I should try to drive you or something.”
“The snowmobile is made for this. It’s much safer than the truck. I can’t put you in danger like that, Melody. You’ve already done too much for me, and nothing is stopping me from going back up that mountain and getting to Crow.”
“You really love him?” she asked, her voice louder so I could hear her over the wind.
“More than anything,” I admitted before hugging her again.
“What if he won’t take the medicine?”
“He’s going to take it.” Or I would die trying.
And hopefully, he wasn’t allergic to anything I gave him.
Snow started falling again, which sucked. It would make my drive up even harder. It was much more difficult to see with snow falling down around you.
“I have to go.”
“Okay,” she said. “Be safe and let me know when you’re back home.”
I nodded, pulled up directions to Crow, and drove away.
It was as if someone had hit a button and opened up the sky. The snow fell harder and harder, my visibility getting worse, the goggles collecting moisture. Everything in front of me was just fog and white, my stomach twisting, chest aching as I hoped and prayed that if there really was anyone out there, they would make sure I got to Crow. I just needed to get to Crow.
It felt like I’d been traveling up the mountain for a whole day, which clearly wasn’t possible. I stopped to check my phone again, the blinking circle that was home still there but looking too far for comfort.
I got going again, my breathing becoming more difficult, but I was pretty sure that was just because of the fear. I breathed out a sigh of relief when I reached the fence, then followed it until it ended, and I turned toward home again.
My head hurt from my eyes squinting while I tried to see. By the time I noticed the thick, brown barrier in front of me, it was too late. I must have veered off path somehow and hadn’t realized. I didn’t have time to react before the snowmobile rammed into the tree and I went flying.
I’m so sorry, Crow.
My shoulder slammed into a tree, pain shooting through it. All I could think at first was to be thankful it wasn’t my head, or that I hadn’t hurt one of my legs because there was a good chance I was going to have to walk.