【Countdown: 12 hours remaining.】
Victor drove for hours into the mountains. The air thinned, and snow gathered along the road. By the time he stopped, I could only make out the dark outline of a small, isolated cabin.
He carried me inside. A fire was already burning in the stone hearth.
He put pillows beneath my head on a sheepskin rug. The fire warmed me through the wool. Beyond the picture window, thick snow covered the forest.
For three years, every room had held a chart, a monitor, or someone waiting to judge whether I was sick enough. The cabin held only firewood and snow.
Victor sat beside me with my cold hand between both of his. We watched the fire until I could no longer separate the flames.
【Organ functions ceasing. Deletion sequence entering final stage.】
Something tore t
