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)
I could call Officer Paulson. He’d given me his number, but I worried what Crow would do if the police showed up on his property.
“Can you meet me?”
“It’s dangerous to drive the truck down the mountain now. Not from as high up as he is.”
“I know. I can take the snowmobile.” A plan was forming in my head, one that was dangerous and probably stupid, but I needed to do this. I needed to be there for Crow, to give him what he needed without taking him off the mountain he loved so much.
“You’ll get lost.”
Shit, that was true, but… “Wait. What if you turn your location on for me? I can use my phone to follow directions to get down the mountain to you. Only drive up as far as is safe for you, and then…then I’ll make sure Crow’s is turned on for me too, so I can make my way back up to him.”
“He has a phone?”
I ignored that because it wasn’t important, not right now. “I’m so sorry, Melody. I hate that I’m asking so much of you. I didn’t even spend time with you when you asked, and now I’m… I love him.”
“It’s okay. You can make it up to me. What do you need?”
I gave her a list of medications and asked her to also get a humidifier, pulse oximeter, and a few other things. We would be fucked if he needed antibiotics.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Cyrus?”
No, I absolutely wasn’t, but I didn’t know what else to do. I had to try and help Crow while keeping him home before I did anything else. “No, but it’s what he would want. If…if something happens to me and I don’t make it down, you have to call 911 and find a way for them to get up here and help him. Promise me, Melody.” She didn’t answer for a moment, and I begged, “Please…”
“Yes. I promise, but nothing better happen to you. I’d like to actually be able to hang out with you sometime.”
My heart swelled. Her unwavering friendship, without even really knowing me, meant the world to me. “Thank you…I don’t know what to say. I’ve never known someone like you.” Never had a friend like her. Tranquility wasn’t perfect, but it had brought me Melody…it had given me Crow.
“Thank me by not dying and then buying me lunch when you come back down the mountain.”
“Deal.” I chuckled, feeling anything but light.
We made plans. Melody would go to the store and then find a safe place to meet me. When she was there, she would text, and I’d head down. Cell signal was spotty on the mountain. That was a big concern, but I told myself that wouldn’t happen, that it would be okay because we deserved this. Crow deserved to get better, and I couldn’t lose him. I would die if I lost him.
It felt like an eternity before Melody let me know she was on her way up. Crow was still sleeping. I made sure the location on his phone was on and scribbled a quick note to tell him where I was before kissing his cheek. His skin was still on fire, the fever raging on.
“Please be okay.” My tears landed on his cheek. “Please, please, please. I love you. Be okay. I’ll be right back, and I’m going to make you better, Crow. I promise.” And then I walked out, hoping like hell this wasn’t a terrible mistake.
*
I had those hand-warmer things stuffed into my coat, the sleeves, and along my torso. I was lucky I’d paid attention to where Crow kept the keys for the snowmobile. I checked the gas in it, the way I’d seen him do, and topped it off. I still wasn’t the best at driving this thing, and that was absolutely a concern.
I could get lost out there.
The cell could lose signal.
I could crash and freeze to death before anyone got to me.
There were a hundred things that I refused to believe could go wrong because all that mattered was Crow. I’d failed a lot in my life, failed at almost everything I’d done. I made mistake after mistake. I didn’t care what happened to me, but I would save Crow, one way or another.
The air felt like ice against my face. It wasn’t snowing at the moment, but it could pick up again at any time. I climbed onto the machine and checked my phone. I watched it for a good five minutes before I got a text from Melody telling me she was as high up as she could get.
On my way, I replied, then hit the buttons to get directions to her. It wasn’t as if they could tell me which tree to go left or right at, but at least it would help with the general direction. I went to the end of the driveway first. The gate wouldn’t open without plowing the snow, so I would have to go out of the way to travel down to the end of the fence and then back.