Matteo squinted his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of color in the sea of white. His feet sunk into the deep snow, making the climb harder than it needed to be.
"Alia!" Matteo scread out, cupping his mouth with his hands so that his desperate call would travel further. He strained his ears, hoping to hear her reply. However, it was futile. His voice was swallowed by the flurry of snow, and he could hear nothing but the howling wind.
"Alia!" He called out again, but just like before, there was no answer. His fingers protested, now a bright red at being exposed to the harsh winds, and he reluctantly tucked them into the pockets of his jacket, allowing them to rest in the ager warmth provided.
It had been excessively foolish to rush out without ensuring he was properly geared up. But with Alia’s life hanging by a thread that steadily frayed with every single second that passed, his own well-being had taken a back seat.
So what if he lost his fingers to frostbite? He had ten in total, and he didn’t need all of them. Alia’s life was more important.
He blinked quickly, trying to get the wind out of his eyes so he could spot a sign of life.
If Alia was stuck at the mountain, knowing her resourcefulness, she would have left so sort of marker for a rescuer to find. But with the way the snow was falling, even a mark left in the snow would have been covered in no ti at all.
Matteo cursed under his breath, and continued his climb, while screaming Alia’s na at periodic intervals. He wanted to rush to where Alia was, but he also dared not rush through his search, for fear of missing Alia on the way.
Fifteen minutes had passed. Matteo’s fingers were numb from the cold, but all he could think about was how bad a state Alia would be left in.
Then Matteo’s eyes caught sight of a strange item jutting in the distance, the rounded corner at odds with the jagged rocks lining the path.
His heart raced and he quickly jogged towards it. Now that it was in front of him, it looked too thick to be a fallen tree branch. He bent down to dig away at the snow that had nearly buried it whole with his bare hands, gritting his teeth as his fingers scread in pain as they were forced to touch the freezing snow.
But slowly, surely, he finally pulled it out.
His breath caught in his throat.
It was Alia’s snowboard. For it to be stuck here, without her, ant that Alia had most likely fallen on the way down. He checked the buckles― nothing was torn, which ant that Alia most likely took it off on her own, rather than it being ripped away from her feet.
Small rcies. He quickly looked at the surrounding area, using the snowboard to scrape away the snow.
The board hit sothing solid.
He heard the slightest groan of pain.
"Alia! Is that you?" Matteo exclaid, frantic.
He leaned down and redoubled his efforts, and was rewarded with Alia’s shivering figure, the face on her skin was a bright red. She had been exposed to the cold for too long, and if he dawdled any longer, she would lose her nose for good.
"Alia? Can you hear ?" Matteo knelt down, his knees collapsing out of relief. He reached for Alia, only to hiss in surprise as she fell straight into his arms without resistance.
Her eyes were glassy and unfocused, and she seed to be staring at sothing behind Matteo than at Matteo himself.
"Ma... Ma..." Alia mumbled weakly, and Matteo’s heart sank.
Alia was now hallucinating her deceased mother. Desperate, he dug through the survival pack for anything he could use to help her. There was food and water, but Alia had gone past the need for food or water. She was delirious at this point.
Desperate, he found several hot packs stuffed inside and quickly shoved them into Alia’s hands. She barely stirred, but her eyes flickered weakly at the sudden warmth. Good enough. He then took said hot packs and stuffed them down her inner layers, so as to give her more warmth. His fingers once again protested at the preferential treatnt Alia was getting in comparison.
"You... You’re here..." Alia whispered.
"Yes, I am," Matteo said, cupping her face tenderly. "Alia, do you know who I am? Do you know what happened?"
Alia blinked slowly, as though her eyelids were incredibly heavy. "I... I’m... sleepy..."
"No! Don’t sleep!" Matteo exclaid, horrified. If Alia fell asleep, she might never wake up again.
However, Alia seed not to detect his urgency. She rely let out a tiny hum and closed her eyes. Matteo quickly shook her awake.
They had no ti to waste. He had to get her back.
"Alia, hold onto , okay? I’ll get the both of us out of here," Matteo promised fervently. The snow had obscured his footprints, but he knew the way back. "You have to stay awake. Promise ?"
Alia let out another quiet hum. Matteo quickly gathered her in his arms and began the agonizing trek back to the resort
"Alia, stay awake!" Matteo called out. "Focus on my words!"
"...What?" Alia mumbled, her vision hazy. "Who are you?"
Just great. Alia’s mind wasn’t working now.
"I’m Matteo," Matteo said. At least Alia seed to be paying attention to his words, even though she didn’t look like she understood them, or believed them. He had to keep talking to maintain her focus.
"I’m your future husband."
Her lips pursed together.
"Believe , I’ve wanted to marry you for a very long ti," Matteo said, fear loosening his tongue. "If not for the fact that Caleb Walton found you before I did, we would already have a family together."
Alia’s eyes squinted. The gears in her head were stuck. None of this man’s words were making sense.
"It’s fine if you don’t believe now," Matteo declared. The resort was so close. "When you’re all better... When we’re married, I’ll tell you everything. I promise. But Alia, you have to live!"
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