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said it reminded me of the day on the train – those were the same words he’d said that deadly afternoon.
    The next time I opened my eyes, the light was bright. My body shook as I slowly became aware I was in Julian’s bathroom. Trying to figure out what had happened, I lay there on the tiled floor as Julian removed my clothes. A faint sound of running water resonated in my ears. He seemed in a hurry, which I thought was odd because my body had stopped shaking now. I couldn’t feel much at all, just as I’d wanted.
    “If I call the doctor, they’ll take you away,” he said, “but if I can’t warm you up in minutes, you’ll go into hyperthermia.”
    And then it all changed. Julian’s naked body pressed against mine from behind, and I melted into him. The heat nearly burned me, but it was a good kind of scorch. I wiggled myself deeper into the hollow he created with his torso and limbs, letting his arms envelop me as we became one. Part of me wanted this to stop; I didn’t want to feel. But the other part – the instinctive one that fought to survive – emerged. I pressed my back against his chest and twined my limbs with his.
    The water kept running in the tub, and I wondered why we were still on the floor, wrapped in each other.
    “There’s not enough yet,” Julian answered, as if he’d read my thoughts.
    After a moment, he lifted me and stepped into the tub. I held onto him as tightly as possible, pretending we’d been fused into one statue. The last strength I had in me flew to my arms, which I tightened around Julian’s neck. I thought I felt the hairs on his arms stand. My hands slid down to his forearms. The growing goose bumps on his skin were rough. Was he cold as well?
    He lowered me into the tub. My body recoiled at the first touch of water.
    It’s hot! I screamed inside my mind. Yet Julian’s body shivered.
    “It’s cold water, Kendra. Try to relax. We’ll switch the temperature once you warm up.”
    Cold? It sure didn’t feel like it, especially on my feet. In fact, if someone told me they had set them on fire, I’d believe it. They burned so much. But at least the sensation kept my mind occupied and free of the past.
    Julian held me from behind, his big feet resting at the side of the tub. He smoothed my hair and kissed the top of my head. His hands rubbed my arms, pressing in until I saw my purplish stained skin turn to pink. Slowly, I began to feel the temperature change. It wasn’t that hot anymore. In fact, the water began cooling more quickly every second, and I felt an awkward chill course through me. Time seemed to speed up and my mind began to focus again. The marble tiles had a pattern that reminded me of a dried up lake. A cold lake; one on the verge of freezing.
    “I’ll turn on the shower.”
    He opened the drain and twisted the knobs. And I was once again in full shake mode. Why were we in the tub, naked? Why was it so cold in here? Why would Julian put me in iced water?
    But the moment the overhead drops began to hit I couldn’t get enough. He helped me stand up. I wanted it hotter and hotter; each stream scorched my skin with an alarming intensity, but Julian seemed all right with the temperature. Was it just me?
    Finally I looked up. He stood there in front of me, all naked, holding me by my arms. My breasts easily squished against his hard chest. His skin felt so soft and warm and unscathed – unlike mine. I ran my fingers up his arms watching the water trail over his biceps, right around my tips. When I looked up, the trickles down his face looked like tears. Julian’s worried gaze penetrated through me. What was he thinking?
    “I can’t lose you,” he whispered through the water, and then leaned his forehead against mine. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”
    I clung to him like a suction cup to a window, feeling every inch of his skin. His strong arms held most of my weight and his muscles drove into my skin, bending it to form against him. Warmth