AncilKate took out a debit card from her pocket and said, “I don’t think money should be a problem for the…umm… characters.”
“How much money is on that?” I asked.
“Two hundred thousand and change,” Kate boasted. “I got it as a birthday gift from Tom. The only time I got to spend a full day with him was on my birthday. Having a boyfriend isn’t any fun when he’s never around. I don’t think that he would even notice if I left.” Kate’s boasting then turned to a heavy sigh.
“Well, I can guarantee that I will never neglect you.”
“I know. I know,” Kate said, looking into the dark forest beside her. “You’re better than that.”
“I’m guessing that you’ve forgiven me.”
“I haven’t forgiven you,” Kate said before turning her attention away from the forest surrounding her and back to me. “I’m just willing to forget due to the unforeseen circumstances we both found ourselves in.”
“Sounds fair enough.”
Kate got up and offered a hand to help me up.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Somewhere far away,” Kate said.
“Now? What about my mom and Samantha?”
“I’m leaving at sunrise no matter what. I can’t take it here anymore. I would be happy if you came along but if you don’t, I’m still going.”
I was now in between a rock and a hard place. The love of my life was going to leave forever and there was very little that I could do to stop her. She was inviting me along but that would mean leaving my mother and my sick… girlfriend. Samantha was still technically my girlfriend because, unlike Kate, Samantha didn’t break up with me. But the whole technicality of Samantha being unable to remember anyone made me think, could she still be my girlfriend if she forgot who I was? My head throbbed just thinking about it. Maybe calling Samantha my girlfriend was just me trying to prolong a moment in time that had already passed. But then, there was my mom and William. I would feel guilty leaving them but maybe my mom could have used the time to get to know William better. I was sure that I’d be back but I needed to at least say goodbye.
“Can I at least say goodbye?” I asked Kate.
“I’ll wait but don’t keep me waiting too long. I fear that If I stay here any longer, I’ll change my mind.”
“Then we should get out of here.”
Kate agreed and we made our way to the car after I kicked the fire out. I had to muster up a lot of strength to walk because my body still ached.
Kate grabbed a backpack from her car, strapped it onto her back, and told me that we would have to get a lift from an oncoming vehicle. It was hardly likely that we would get a lift because the road itself looked lonely like hell in a sinless world but it was worth a try. Kate’s car was full out of gas and there was no point getting into it.
Kate and I walked along the long, thin and winding road which was lined by tall green pine trees. The pine trees had little patches of white on them which meant only one thing; snow. As the sun rose, the small trickles of snow revealed themselves. It was that time of the year again.
No signs of life could be seen along the stretch of road and hopes of getting a lift were diminishing fast. However, after seeing a sign notifying me where we were I called Adam and after about 30 minutes he came to pick us up. He asked us why we were in the forest all alone and I just told him that the fuel in the car went out. Kate was quiet for the whole ride mainly because of the fact that she slept on my lap for most of it. Adam looked through the rearview mirror a couple of times and he gave me a kind of look that I couldn’t really describe but it was the kind of look that meant “you did it you bastard. You got her back and I’m so happy for you, you bastard.”
I asked Adam to drive to the hospital where Samantha was. The chances of her still being there were high. When we got to the hospital, I asked Adam to keep an eye on Kate as she slept then I set off deeper into the hospital.
