ed was the crushing pain

g from overwork, a fool

whatever it

ssica. No tears,

nto a dusty box in the gara

d Peterson, her lover,

holding each o

d, the one I funded to become

ed Chad

ilt with my sweat and

' trips" were es

raining" trips were vi

l cut deepe

it, then a blind

the familiar cold of the la

the day I "sa

fe, my first life

ailing, her eyes

stood frozen on the dock,

in, saved her, ruined my

this

g it look like I

saw my

nd, sending him stumbling in

Chad!" some

kwardly, final

pulled the

ing, but alive. Chad wa

e. "Mike, why didn

d at me. There was a flicker,

She reme

ned we

voice shaky. "Chad's her boyfriend, a

urmured, so

his wasn't the Mike she kn

his knee, groaning. He'd hit

ssica cor

that?" she hisse

t, Jessica?"

d Chad, he's hurt because of

t a strong swimmer.

ze to the Petersons.

even reborn,

d at her, my

have crumbled, ea

t nothing but

ange, the hard

e said, a strange note in

I said. "

like this.