AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Little footsteps lead away from the truck. I follow them, taking off as fast as I can. They wrap around the building. When I turn the corner, my chest cracks wide open.
Across a frozen lake, I spot that light-pink hair on the ground.
Little Dove.
I take off running, numb to the cold air, snow falling down on me.
I can’t lose her. Fuck, I can’t fucking lose her.
My throat tightens, and my breaths quicken as I continue to race across the ice.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
I didn’t fall in love to have her ripped from me. I didn’t let her in, just to be torn apart. I didn’t tell her that I would keep her safe, only to fail her now.
The hole in the ice slows my steps, and I realize it might not be as thick as I thought. My pace remains fast, but my steps are gentle, almost gliding instead of running.
My baby, my Little Dove, is the best thing that has ever come into my life, ever happened to me. I used to think that was an odd phrase, that it sounded off, because people don’t happen to someone else. But I just didn’t understand it before.
Morgan happened to me. I didn’t just meet her and decide to love her, and that was that. No. She slammed into my life and changed absolutely everything. The way I looked at the sport I’d always loved, at the pain of my past, and at how I saw myself. The time I’d spent without her in my life seemed dull in comparison to life with her.
There is no way I can go back to life without her.
Closing the distance to her, I gently place my hand on her chest and focus. Holding my breath, I wait to see hers. The second I feel her inhale, I scoop her up and run as fast as I can to the house by the lake. I would go back to the library, but it’s too far. She needs to get warm as soon as possible. She is soaking wet and stone cold in my arms.
“Morgan? Baby?” I cry out to her as tears run down my cheeks. “Wake up, baby. Wake up. I’ve got you.”
Racing to the little house, I fly up the porch, brace Morgan’s weight on one arm, and pound on the door.
“Help us! Please! Open the door! Please!” I cry out louder and louder. “Hello!”
Someone runs to the door and throws it open.
Susan.
“Oh my Lord, what happened?” Susan shouts as she ushers us inside.
My breaths are choppy and ragged as I try to explain, “We were staying at the library. Her ex showed up. He knocked me out. I came to and found her soaked on the ice. Please help her.” My voice cracks. “I can’t lose her.”
“It’s okay. She’s still breathing. But we need to warm her up,” Susan tells me, helping me lay Morgan on the rug in her living room.
“We need to get these wet clothes off of her. Go to the kitchen and grab the scissors in my knife block,” she orders.
Nodding, I rush to the kitchen and find the scissors. I return to her side as fast as possible and hand Susan the scissors as she talks to someone on the phone.
“Hi. A girl fell through the ice on the lake near my house. We need an ambulance right away.” Susan gives them her address, and they assure her that help is on the way.
She cuts the bottom of my hoodie all the way to the neck and peels it off of Morgan’s delicate frame. She is so lifeless as Susan cuts through her leggings and strips the pieces off of her.
“Grab those blankets,” Susan says, pointing to the stack of blankets on the couch.
Reaching over, I grab the blankets and follow what she’s doing. Draping them over Morgan, layering them, and covering every inch of her, aside from her face.
“We need to slowly raise her temperature. If we go too fast, it can be deadly.”
Deadly.
As she lays the final blanket over her, I rock back onto my ass and wrap my arms around my knees as cries burst from my chest. “Morgan, please don’t leave me. Please. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
