Just Live

Chapter 1

"Anak, please reconsider it. Kahit man lang isama mo ang mga kapatid mo or magsama ka ng kaibigan mo."

Matteo stopped packing his duffel bag and turned to his mother.

"Ma, I wanted to make this trip happen because I want to be able to do something on my own. I can handle it, Mom, I promise."

"But, Matt, paano kung biglang may mangyari sayo? Paano kung kailanganin mo ng tulong and you have no one to ask help from because you're in the middle of nowhere? And, God forbid, paano kapag bigla ka na namang himatayin while you're out there hiking up the mountain?" Marge argued, almost running out of breath for talking too fast to get her objection across.

"Then I'll ask help from the black bears roaming around the mountain," Matteo replied while laughing, hoping to make the mood lighter in the room.

"Matteo," Martin, his father, warned from the door.

"Sorry po," he quickly apologized, turning serious. "Ma, Pa, nothing is going to happen to me. I've been cleared and I promise I won't do anything that's too vigorous for me. Please, Ma, I'm coming right home after this. I'll continue studying, I'll stay put in one place. Just let me go out there."

"Why can't you bring one of your friends with you? Yun lang, anak, okay na ako dun. Hindi na kita pipigilan, magkaron ka lang ng kasama," his mom pleaded again.

Sighing subtly, Matteo sat on his bed to face both of his parents.

"Ma, Pa, almost a year ago, I didn't think I could walk again. I didn't think I could play any sport again. I didn't think I could do anything for myself again, but the fact that I'm here packing my own stuff to go on this trip? Mom, kaya ko na. Not everybody gets a second chance like I did and I want to make the most out of it."

Marge shook her head and walked out of the room. Matteo turned to his father who just gave him a pat on the shoulder and followed his wife. Before turning into the hallway, Martin stopped and looked back at his son.

"Matteo, I know you're gonna be hiking and the phone service is bad in the mountains, but the moment you don't answer or return our phone calls within two hours, I will make sure we send people, including your mother and I, looking for you. No expense spared."

Matteo nodded, "Yes, Pa, understood."

He finished packing and tried to comfort his mother with words during dinner. As a mother, nothing could really lessen her worry and it most likely will still be there until he arrives home safe and healthy.

At the crack of dawn, Matteo got in his four-door Jeep Wrangler and drove out of their garage to begin his four-hour drive to the Rocky Mountains in Western Canada. The drive was quiet and steady considering it was barely four o'clock in the morning, so there weren't many cars on the road. Pine trees lined the highway and he was on the lookout for wildlife possibly crossing the highway.

Almost three hours into the drive, Matteo found himself thinking about that fateful day once more, almost two years ago. The day when his team was hoping for him to win the championship title for them. The day when university agents from Ivy League schools were on the bleachers, watching his every move with numerous offers at every tip of his fingers. All he had to do was finish the game and choose an offer that appealed to him the most. Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to even discuss the offers.

Matteo lost consciousness in the middle of the hockey rink and what they thought to be a head injury turned out to be a ruptured aneurysm. An undetected one, at that. Every second of the trip to the hospital counted, and just when things couldn't get any worse, he suffered a hemorrhagic cerebrovascular accident; a stroke.

The university's top athlete, the well-known Matteo Guidicelli, was out of the public eye for over a year.

Matteo sighed and let out a grateful smile as the sun rose behind him from the East. He was finally back on track and, miraculously, now fully recovered. He took another deep breath as the sight of snow-covered mountains showed up in front of him with turquoise-colored lakes on either side of the highway. It was a little past six in the morning when he pulled over on the side of the road to take a picture of the view and he noticed a lone car also parked not too far ahead.

He shrugged it off, thinking it was another person taking a picture. Matteo took a couple of photos before walking back to his car when he caught a petite figure in the corner of his eyes. A girl was in the lake and was walking towards the middle, the water gradually reaching her knee.

And then, it dawned on him. She's gonna drown herself, he thought.

"Oh shit!" He muttered to himself as he put his phone away and ran into the lake.

"Miss, what are you doing?!" He said as he quickly grabbed the girl by the waist and carried her closer to land.

"What the..??? What are you doing?? Who are you?!?" The girl protested as she squirmed out of his arms. "Put me down!!"

"Not until we get back on land!"

"We ARE on land! This is harassment! I'm gonna file charges!"

"I'm not gonna let you drown yourself, okay?!"

"What?? Why would I drown myself?? Put me down right now, mister! Or I'm seriously going to file charges!"

The girl squirmed some more, making him unsteady. He almost fell backwards with him still carrying her by the waist like a sack of sand so he carefully put her down, not even two meters from where he picked her up.

She turned around and he saw the most beautiful and expressive brown eyes he had ever seen; they reflected how furious she was, but they were beautiful nonetheless. Her cheekbones were perfectly defined on her face and her facial features were striking.

Her beauty left him in a daze and her shouting snapped him out of it.

". . . the heck is your problem?? Mind your own business!!"

"I couldn't just let you drown yourself! Stop shouting!" He yelled back at her.

"Really?? Drown? You think I'd be able to drown myself here?" The girl stood with her hands on her waist, her tone furious and her breathing fast and heavy.

"Yes! You were about to run off to the middle of the lake and drown yourself," Matteo responded to explain his actions.

"Look down," the girl said.

"What?"

"Just look down!" She demanded loudly.

Matteo did as told and looked at his feet. There was nothing unusual, except the water was nice and clear but freezing cold.

"Look back at your car," the girl instructed again, still fuming with anger.

He did as told once more and looked at her confused. Both their cars were still there, more than ten meters away.

"Can't you see that we're already in the middle of the lake and the water hasn't reached our knees yet? This lake is known for being shallow and I was testing how deep the water goes," she said without hiding her annoyance towards him.

Matteo looked around and realized it was, indeed, true. They were standing in the middle of the lake, surrounded by snow-capped mountains, with the water level between his ankle and his knees. With his cheeks blushing, he slowly looked at her and smiled, scratching his head.

"Oh...sorry," he said with a peace sign.

"Susmaryosep," the girl muttered and began walking to her car.

"Wait up! Are you Filipino?" Matteo asked as he followed quickly behind her.

"Hindi!!"