*** 10 Months Ago, Martha’s Vineyard ***

“Mommie!” came a sound from behind them as Nathan and Chloe turned to hear what the commotion was. In that simply word everything seemed to change, the silence cracked as Nathan saw Maddie and Logan running across the pond, flowers tight in his daughter’s grip as Nathan’s mind began to switch gears. No longer did it matter what Chloe had said or did, the center of the ice wasn’t safe, Logan should have known this but now the pair were running as if it was no big deal. The stomping of little feet cracking and bending the ice underneath.

“No!” Nathan shouted as he began running towards the pond leaving Chloe where she stood as he began to make his way to his children, fearing each second as he raced to get to the children.

As the kids watched, it would seem less of an angry father and more of one trying to play, at least Logan hoped as he let go of his sister’s hand. “Daddy watch!” Logan shouted as he smiled wide, his father wasn’t going. He was coming to see them both, it wasn’t ever as bad as it seemed.

*** Now - En Route to Teller Industries Medical Facility ***

“Computer begin recording,” Nathan said as he began to fly the shuttle from the Sabre to the location Aedan had purchased. The medical facility wasn’t as well known as many of Aedan’s other assets, but it had become a life saver for Nathan’s sanity in the months to come.

“Clo Bell, I am not sure if you will get this message before I return, I hope I return with great news… but I know you deserve to know how everything happened… why I haven’t always been the man you married for the last part of a year… it all started that day… I hate that day, I can’t sleep without seeing it… every second in perfect memory… but, maybe this makes up for all of that… maybe I won’t be a monster if I can just save one life.”

*** 10 Months Ago, Martha’s Vineyard ***

The splash of the water echoed in the trees as Nathan went in headfirst as he began to dive. She was dropping fast, too young to swim in a pond this deep, weighted down with all the winter clothing. Nathan’s own coat and shoes had been shed just moments before littering the ice as he felt the icy knifes sting all around him as he went in. He could barely see anything, the ice made everything dark but her pink coat shined bright enough as he grabbed on and began to pull himself back upwards to the surface.

For Nathan, this all seemed to be an eternity, but in fact, it was less than a half-minute of time underwater. For water this cold, for one that small and young, it might as well have been an eternity. As he broke the surface he began to swim to the edge of the ice as he hoisted her on top, his own body freezing and feeling numb as he climbed up on top. “Contact emergency line!” Nathan shouted to Chloe, as he looked over before his eyes glanced down at the small black debris behind her. Her personal com had been shattered by him in a fit of rage as he felt a numbness continue to move over him as he reached into his pants, releasing his own com just took a 10-foot plunge.

“Move, go inside contact there now!” Nathan said quickly as he took Maddie’s blue lifeless body from the ice to the shoreline as he began to unzip the coat as he prepared to do CPR, her pulse was non-existent as he took it in between reps as his mind began to blur. He felt his lips on hers, somehow colder than he felt in the ice as he kept doing more reps. “Come on Maddie come on!” Nathan shouted, a sting of tears falling down his cheeks.

*** Now - En Route to Teller Industries Medical Facility ***

“I have lived with a hatred of myself for a long time after that day, I was angry… I shattered your phone which… every second count in a moment like those, and I didn’t think to take mine out… I… I should have known better. If I hadn’t have blown up, if I had tried to trust you more, if I had been there more… work devoured me… it still does at times. I try to help the galaxy so much, and I let slip the people I love more than myself through my grasp… I hope you can forgive me of that mistake Clo bell, cause I don’t know if I ever will.” Nathan said as he felt a sting of tear begin to hit his cheek as he wiped it past his face.

Harland, CNS