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The word victih me Oren had beco," Noel answered, a split second before I blurted, "My husband"

Noel glanced at an to relay information as we fed it to him "Six foot two White male Twenty-two years old He fell in at the waterfall at Rainly Embankment collapsed Search and rescue requested i it relayed in that cal It eneric case nu list of other "victi to get any special treatment at all, as if no one cared that my entire world had just turned upside down, and the love of my life was in immediate fatal trouble

When we reached the spot where I’d last seen hiri, he could’ve already been dragged a mile downstream Damn" He murmured the last part under his breath, so I don’t think ere h my head

Damn

Damn

Damn

As if Oren was already a lost cause

I flipped out all over again, and Noel had to once again pull me to him and deal with my hysteria

They found Oren half an hour later He actually hadn’t gone too far downstrealed in a piece of driftwood that had gotten lodged between two boulders, which in essence trapped Oren in one spot and somehow miraculously kept his head above water, while the current beat over the rest of his body

It took theet someone down to him and call up to us that Oren was still alive but unconscious, and then another hour and a half after that to get him out of the water and onto dry land

I dashed to him, but about half a dozen unifor me the paramedics needed to tend to himand that I wouldn’t want to see him like this, anyway

"Don’t want to see him like what?" I demanded Just how bad off was he? Was he really alive? Why wouldn’t they even let ain

Noel scooped me up and carried me to Oren’s truck, where he drove me to the hospital We daet a peek at Oren once wemedical personnel crowded around him That didn’t cal room, where I paced and Noel talked quietly on his phone, I had a five-minute lull to panic and worry before a nurse ca?"

That was the first time I’d ever been addressed as such Itat my cheeks with both hands

She sentwith a pen "Do you think you could fill out this information for your husband?"

"I’ll try" I took the for hands and sank into the nearest chair At first, the words blurred in front of me But after a few deep breaths, I forced my brain to calm Name, address, and birthday were easy to fill out without any hiccups By the time Noel sat besidethe supportive big brother, I was digging out my wallet to fetch my new insurance card, underwith his social security nuht of asped before he jerked it close for a detailed inspection "Holy shit ThisYou’re I thought you were just" He shook his head and gaped at et close to hier at my license "This is really real?"

I had no patience or storabbed ave the short bark of an answer "Yeah, it’s real"

He continued to stare at me ide eyes as I carefully entered Oren’s insurance infor out the form to the best of my ability, I drew out a breath and finally turned to Noel "We got married in Lake Tahoe"

"Lake Tahoe?" His mouth fell open "He took you to Lake Tahoe with him?"

"We didn’t want to tell you--no, I didn’t want to tell you because you see with the fact I was even seeing hi wasn’t plannedor even ree after we got home"