His fingers crept along his side and, touching the flare gun, he pulled it out of the backpack. It was preloaded, but his shaky, weak hands struggled to release the safety.

His eyes refused to stay open and he could hear Erika’s voice saying she didn’t know how to make their relationship work.

He needed to stay alive to show her. Show her how much he loved her, how much he was willing to sacrifice for her.

He needed to survive.

Gripping the flare gun with both hands, he extended his arms toward the sky, ignoring the tearing sensation in his body, and pulled the trigger.

The loud bang was the last thing he heard as his eyes closed and his head fell back against the cold, hard ground and his body went limp.

Suddenly, his life was in the hands of his search and rescue crew.

* * *

ERIKA STARED AT the resignation letter in one hand and the offer of employment from Wild River Community Hospital in the other.

Her past. And her future.

If she could just summon the balls to actually go see her father and deliver the news.

Dr. Smyth had been surprised to hear from her the week before, but it hadn’t taken the hospital long to put together an offer. They were eager to have her join their staff. And while it wasn’t the salary she was making in Anchorage, there were other benefits that came with the job in Wild River.

Like Reed.

Since the holidays, things had gotten a whole lot clearer. Her feelings had started screaming louder than her common sense. She’d spent a lot of time thinking about her future, and he was the one constant she knew she wanted.

She missed Reed. She loved him. She was moving to Wild River to be with him.

At least, she hoped so.

What if he didn’t want her now? What if she’d hurt him too much? Could he forgive her for letting him walk away?

She hadn’t heard from him since that day in the elevator. She’d spent hours thinking about him and staring at Cassie’s Facebook photos of him, trying to summon the nerve to send him a Friend Request, but it seemed lame. She wanted to be so much more than friends.

She could have called or texted him but she’d needed to get her head on straight, make her final decision and then move forward with it.

With him. If he’d still have her.