Riding the Wind Into a New Life

"The one in bed twelve is pitiful. His wife comes every day, but she's never once stepped inside to see him."

"I know. She goes straight to the room next door every day, to check on Freddy."

Outside the door, I could hear the nurses gossiping.

I'd broken bones in multiple places in a car crash, and I'd been lying in the ICU for seven days.

I was unconscious, but my mind was still lucid enough to hear the nurses calling Kristen's phone, over and over.

She never once came to see me.

She'd been at someone else's side. Someone more important.

The salvation I thought I had was nothing but a lie.

I fought to open my eyes with everything I had, but all I could see was a flat line on the monitor.

When I opened my eyes again, the sunlight was almost too bright.

I was sitting at my old desk, the one I'd used all through school. The calendar on it showed three months left until the day I'd give up my study-abroad spot for Natalie.

This time, I called the international exchange office at school. "I'm confirming my spot in this year's exchange program," I said. "Thank you for the opportunity."

On the other end, my advisor sounded relieved. "I'm glad you came around. A chance like this doesn't come twice."

He was right. It really didn't.

Giving up my future for a woman had been idiotic, plain and simple.

After I hung up, I called a real estate agent and put the house my parents had left me up for sale. I had one condition: cash, and fast.

No sooner had I finished than Natalie Landers called.

Her voice was cool. "Rex, there's a problem with Freddy's final year project. You're good at this. Go help him."

Freddy, again. He always found some way to wedge himself between us.

In my last life, that request from her had cost me three sleepless nights redoing his project from a rough draft into a finished one.

And in the end, only his name had gone on the award.

Natalie's excuse to me was that Freddy's health was poor and he needed the award to pad his resume.

I'd actually believed her, back then.

I gripped my phone and said, "Sure. Send me his files."

Her voice came back through the line, "Good boy."

A cheap compliment, and she thought that was enough to brush me off.

I looked out the window and thought back to the man I used to be. It was almost laughable.

Not long after, Kristen knocked on my door, carrying a container of chicken potpie from the diner I loved.

She set the takeout boxes down on the table one by one, her voice gentle. "Eat while it's hot. I know you've been stressed about Natalie and Freddy lately. Don't wear yourself out."

She always showed up right when Natalie had hurt me, ready to comfort me.

Then, as if it had just occurred to her, she added, "That project of Freddy's really matters. Natalie doesn't have a choice. He's been frail since he was little. He can't handle it alone."