The first bloom after the blizzard “How have you been sleeping, are the dreams still present?” Doctor Singh crossed one leg over the other, balancing the black notebook on her exposed knee.  “The sleeping pills help me for a few hours, but by the early hours of the morning-” Star cut off, Dr. Singh knew the sequence of her dreams, they spend countless sessions recounting the events, trying to desensitize Star to the events that were more a memory than a piece of fiction from a dream.  “Have you ever considered a pet? Often in cases of PTSD, we introduce support animals to help patients, studies have shown that being around animals reduces anxiety and provides a calming presence for humans to latch onto.” Star wanted to smile, but she feared t

When I’m with you When Star’s eyes fluttered open the first thing she noticed was the strong, bare arm draped over her midriff and recalled the dream she had. Similar to the feeling she had when Max held her in the lake, she felt at peace with his warm chest against her back and his long legs intertwined with hers. Sighing with contentedness, she turned in his arms, careful not to wake him, she wrapped her arm around him. The chilly January air didn’t bother him in the least, but just seeing the grey clouds in the sky sent a chill through Star’s body. Max’s long eyelashes kissed the tan skin on his cheeks, gone were the frown lines that seemed to be a constant feature over the past few weeks, his plump lips were slightly parted to allow air to pass through. It seemed the caress of her eyes was enough to break his peaceful sleep, Max groaned softly when he felt his mate so close to him and cracked his eyes open to find her staring at him. For a moment neither of them said a word, th

Sick to the stomach   Star’s heart raced, she could feel her breaths coming out in shallow pants as she observed the man before her with wide eyes.    “I’m sorry, Star.” Even with the proof in front of her, she couldn’t believe it.    “No, you’ve got the wrong guy.” she shook her head and looked at Max with desperate eyes.    “No, we don’t.” Ray’s hard voice met her ears and her eyes shot in his direction, he was standing behind them with his hard eyes focussed on the floor, the clenching of his fists told her how hard it was for him too.    “Ray…” She wheeled towards him and grabbed his hand desperately, “He’s your best friend, Ray.” She shook his a

Forgiveness is equivalent to freedom “Are you going to do it or keep staring at your phone like he’s going to materialize from it?” Star jumped slightly at the intrusion and turned her chair to glare at Ray. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.” The man in question was unmoved by her heated glare and simply crossed his arms and legs as he leaned against the door frame. “Alas, you’re still here. Don’t change the subject.” Realizing arguing with him wouldn’t be worth it, she dropped her gaze to the phone once again. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to hear from me.” She winced, remembering how effortlessly she lied to his face. “I doubt that, he’s been checking up on you since we found you.” Star’s eyebrows pulled together. “Wait, how did you know who I wanted to call?” Ray’s lips lifted into a smirk. “I’d love to come off as mysterious and all-knowing, but I was just with Max. He could feel your distress and told me you’ve been overthinking calling the Sheriff.” Star’s lips p

Meeting the family Max clutched four lone roses in his hands as he walked slowly beside Star, even with the crutches, the weight she put on her legs was painful, but she ignored the pain and looked ahead at the four gravestones in the distance.  “Jeremy had them buried beside my mom, everything happened so fast, I never even gave them a proper funeral.” She whispered when they came to a halt in front of the identical headstones. Thick, well-kept grass covered the area and even after seeing their name on the stone, she found it hard to believe her family was buried beneath her.  “That was nice of him,” Max observed, helping her to kneel down before them to place the flowers in front of each headstone.