life. Peter was gay, Kate. He liked you because …well you weren’t like other girls. That’s why for a long while he wasn’t intimate with you. He’d told me…” “What ?... What ?.... No.” Kate got hysterical, she bit her lips and kept shaking her head as if the truth would change. Tears welled up in her beautiful brown eyes. “No. No. No. No.” “My God, Kate. Calm down. You’re hyperventilating.” I reached over to touch her but she flinched and backed away. “Don’t touch me.” Her voice was course and acidic. “Kate!” “Stay away from me! You creep! You and those idiot jocks made this shit up, didn’t you? How could you talk ill of the dead like that! Peter loved me. Only me!” Tears gushed down her face like a heavy rainfall. “Kate!” “Don’t touch me,” she screamed, pulling herself away from me. I didn’t know why I hadn’t realize before but she had grabbed her jacket to make an exit. She fumbled with the sliding door, breathing shallow and fast. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Kate?” “Get. Away. From. Me!” she pulled herself from my grasp almost stumbling backwards. She eventually fell on her ass but she got up fast and headed away. To where? I had no idea! Maybe she thought she could run from the truth. “Kate! No!” Kate opened up the door to the SUV and ran outside, gusts of blowing snow blew into the car. “Shit! Fuck! It’s cold! Kate!” I hadn’t realized that I was still half-naked. I quickly pulled on my hoodie and grabbed my jeans and pulled them on as fast as I could. “Kate!” I cried out, fuming mad. What the hell was she doing? She was going to kill herself out there. I quickly pulled my boots on and slammed the door shut of the SUV and took off, running after Kate. The wind was strong and forceful, practically pushing me back. “Kate!” The visibility was crap! I could barely see a thing in front of me. This was crazy. What was she thinking? Running off like that in this freaking blizzard! I hurried as fast as I could on foot, sloshing through the thick white snow hills after her. God, she was fast on foot. Adrenaline could do wonders to the body. “Hey!” I shouted out when I spotted her stumbling. She wasn’t far ahead of me now. But she was standing wobbling before she toppled over into a snow bank. “Kate! No!” I reached out to grab her but it was too late, she’d slid down the slippery snow bank and into a hidden small lake. The ice was too thin and cracked as soon as her body hit the surface. She’d fallen in. I reached out and grabbed her hand but she’d slid out from my grasp. The cold air was frigid. My fingers already felt numb. I knew frostbite in a weather condition like this could happen in seconds but I didn’t care. I had to reach Kate. I had to save her. Shit! Why had I told her the truth now? Was it all worth it? I could lose Kate. Her skin was pale and white like the falling snow, her fingers felt like icicles. I was feeling numb by the minute. Kate’s fingers slid from mine, she’d gone into the water first. “Kate!” I shouted out but I could barely hear my own voice. Was I dying? Was I already dead? I didn’t give a shit—as long as Kate would be okay. But that wasn’t going to happen, was it? It was too late.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kate Samuels
Oh, God! Where am I? How long have I been out of it? How long have I been here? Ouch! My head is killing me. I was lying down on a narrow bed in a room with warm air. I felt weak, paralysed. Was I heavily sedated? Was I dead? My eyelids felt too heavy to open but I heard the sound of beeping from some machine and the humming sound of what sounded like an air conditioner but only it wasn’t. It was too warm. My neck was secured in some sort of brace. The aroma of pine disinfectant wafted past my nostrils—that distinctive hospital cleaning product smell. Was I in a hospital bed? I racked my brain trying to figure out what