okay, so this is the long promised alternate ending of "Cold", the AU tragedy i wrote. a lot of this will be the same, but there will be some other added in sections, so... enjoy the story. this time it sort of has a happy ending. well not really. this is the first in a series of three stories. so. here it goes: the untitled alternate to cold, part one. without further ado...

Prologue

"Thank you, Dr. Possible."

I smile and shake hands with my patients, seeing them out of my office and sit back down at my desk, smiling, rather involuntarily, at the family portrait on my desk. My sons' mischievous smiles exactly match their father's. Kimmie's red hair is overshadowed by her radiant smile. Her green eyes are just like her Nana Possible's eyes.

"Dr. Possible? You have a call on line 2. It's the Park Ranger."

Park Ranger? I hurriedly pick up the phone. Why would a park ranger call me? They handle the wilderness, the forests, and the... mountains. Oh God, Kimmie! "Dr. Possible speaking."

"Dr. Possible, we've been unable to reach your husband for some time. We're calling about your daughter, Kim, she is here at Middleton Ski and Resort for the weekend with her classmates."

I try to control my breathing, and I can barely hear over the blood rushing in my ears.

"We're sorry to inform you, but the resort has been evacuated because of an avalanche. It seems that your daughter and one other classmate were on the mountain when the avalanche occurred. Search and rescue—"

The phone slips from my hand.

-kp-

It's so cold. She isn't moving anymore. Her breath comes in sighs of pain, and her eyes are closed. There's a tiny wrinkle between her perfect eyebrows that is slowly smoothing out as she fades away. I can't feel my fingers or my feet anymore. A brief look at them says that they are dark blue from the cold.

It's so cold. The darkness is getting deeper and deeper. I can't see her very well anymore. The rise and fall of her chest was barely visible anyway. I uselessly check my phone with shivering, numb fingers to see if it works. It's been dead for hours. Not that it matters, there's not really any service out here. I knew that but I did it anyway. I needed to at least pretend to not be useless... I hate the cold.

It's so cold. Her body is icy. Her lips are blue. I move closer to her and lay down beside her. I don't know if I can save her. But I love her, and I'll die trying to protect her.

From the cold.