(It takes a bit longer to upload since I am still trying to figure out where I want the story to go but I hope you all stick around for as long as it takes ;)
English is not my native language, pls excuse any grammatical mistakes)

Chapter 2

Her feet carried her silently through the snow, crunching and leaving a track of footprints on the white ground. Her breath, visible in the cold evening air, was dangling upwards and hung above her head for a few seconds before disappearing into the sky. The time, yes the time seemed to stand still as Lisa made her way towards the lonely horse. On the field. Among thousands of little snow flakes that hit softly against her face.
Paint must have been standing there for a little while already. A thin layer of snow covered his topline and whitened the saddle that lay abandoned on his back. Lisa was still a few meters away but as she approached the horse it didn't move at all.
Not even a glance.
Not even an ear wiggling.
It made her wonder if he was hurt, but the snow fall and the dim lightness made it hard to see if there were any visible injuries. When she reached the horse, her hand stroke gently over his fluffy winter coat. The soft damp hair beneath her fingers.
"Hey boy. What ya' doing here? Are you ok?", she said concerned while reaching out for the reins that hung loosely to the ground. With narrow eyes she scanned the surroundings but couldn't find what she was looking for. The bad feeling that rose with every meter she got closer to Heartland was still there. It was strong and Lisa knew that the real source of it wasn't the horse but the rider that was nowhere to be seen. Something must have happened and the thought of Jack being hurt made her sick. It was way too cold and too late to spend the night injured outside. Various terrible pictures rushed through her mind which didn't make it easier to stay calm.
Her breath was shaky as she inhaled. Exhaled. Unsettled. Worried.
Lisa started to make her way around the horse to check his legs when something dark on the ground caught her eye. The horse's body had been blocking her view on it and only now she was finally able to see it. It took her a moment before she recognized that it wasn't something but someone who was laying face down and motionless in the snow. Someone in an all too familiar winter coat of a red and black check pattern. The all too familiar cowboy hat right next to his head.
Jack.
It went icecold down her spine as she realized that it was him who lay lifeless in the snow.
The more she wanted to run towards him, the more her feet wouldn't let her move at all. She was frozen to the ground and her face pale with terror, she was starring at the lifeless body with wide eyes, his name stuck in her throat. Everything inside of her was screaming in shock but she couldn't get out one single sound. Entirely paralyzed Lisa stood next to the horse.
Only when Paint started to move past her, his belly hit against her back and sent her forward. Stumbling through the deep snow, Lisa rushed over. Down on her knees she came to a halt next to him, her hand on his shoulder, softly shaking.
"Jack", she heard herself whispering in an high pitched tone that didn't sound like her at all.
"Jack!", a bit louder this time and still shaking his arm, but there was no reaction. Nothing that would show her that he was still alive. Nothing.
Yet, the pulse.
She needed to take his pulse.
Her fingers reached for his neck, looking for the right spot right under his jaw bone. The coldness of his skin stroke her. She felt nothing but coldness. Come on. Something. There must be something. Seconds ticked away that felt like an eternity before she finally felt the little pulsation under his skin pumping against her finger. Slowly and weak, but there was definitely some sign of life.
Lisa exhaled loudly. Relief washed over her and finally cleared her mind. She desperately needed a clear head now to make the right decisions for first aid.
Quickly she grabbed for the cell phone in her pocket and hit the button for the emergency number. Her fingers were shaking tremendously.
"Yes, Lisa Stillman here-", she spoke hastily into the phone and passed through all the information the ambulance needed.
Just in time.
The last thing she heard was the man at the other end of the phone who was about to tell her when they were gonna be there - then the battery of her cell died.
She was left alone. With nothing but darkness and snow that surrounded her. Next to the man she loved. Jack.
Carefully Lisa managed to roll him onto his back. She wasn't sure what happened and was afraid to hurt him even more in case of any broken bones. Still, he needed to get off the cold ground. It wasn't easy but she lifted his upper body and moved forward a bit so his torso would lay in her lap, his head against her shoulder. When she grabbed the sides of his jacket to close it over his chest, something slid out the inside pocket and fell to the ground next to him. It shone white and bright in the dark and Lisa could make out the all too familiar curves and lines of her personal handwriting. It was the envelop. The envelop that carried the letter inside that she wrote. Two weeks ago.
Lisa swallowed and reached for the paper that was opened on top.
He had read it.
He knew.
He knew that she missed him.
He knew that she was trying to reach out to him.
And yet, here they were. Destiny brought them back together in the most terrible circumstances. Again she asked herself why. Why was all of this happening? What was the meaning of all those dreadful things?
A single tear slid down her cheek as she put the letter into her pocket, closed Jack's coat and carefully folded his arms over it, leaving her arms around him right there. Her head against his temple.
"Whatever happened, please don't leave me." she sobbed quietly when all of a sudden in the distance a firework started off into the night sky.