When Hugo brought me some medicine, he had forgotten some vitamins, so I had to take a taxi to the hospital to retrieve it. I didn’t expect to run into Frederick and Lucia there. Lucia looked at me with an innocent, aggrieved expression.
“Sophie, Frederick told me about your breakup. Please don’t be angry with him—it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean for my asthma attack to cause problems in your relationship. If it weren’t for the avalanche, I wouldn’t have gotten sick. I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Before I could respond, Frederick quickly jumped in to comfort her. “It’s not your fault. No one can control when they get sick.”
I couldn’t help but scoff. “Not on purpose, huh?”
Frederick turned on me. “Sophie, what are you implying? You think Lucia faked her illness? You saw how serious it was—she was barely breathing! How could that be fake?”
Lucia began to cry as if Frederick’s defense had given her strength. Watching them together took me back to the day we climbed the snowy mountain.