The snow had stopped falling sometime before dawn, leaving the world outside the lodge wrapped in a heavy, suffocating silence. Inside our bedroom the fire had burned down to glowing embers, casting faint orange light across the walls and over the tangled sheets where Victor and I lay. My head rested on his chest, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear, but mine raced like a trapped bird. Sleep had refused to come. Every time I closed my eyes, the same images returned, sharp and cruel, slicing through me all over again.
I saw the hospital room. The white walls. The beeping machines. The doctor’s gentle voice telling me there was no heartbeat. I saw Damien’s face when I told him I was pregnant, the flash of panic in his eyes before he forced a smile. I saw Lisa laughing as she filmed me cryin
