Lily burrowed against me, tiny body shaking violently. "Mommy... c-cold..." Her whisper condensed into a frosty plume. I tightened my grip, eyes hardening to glacier ice.
Inside, Sarah’s theatrical moans crescendoed. John hammered on the window every two minutes: "​AMBULANCE HERE YET?!​​"
I pressed frostbitten hands against the glass. "Please—Lily’s limbs are ice! Even Ethan couldn’t survive this! Let us warm up!"

John hesitated, glancing at our trembling daughter—
"​AAAGH! JOHN!​​" Sarah clutched her belly, voice shrill with manufactured panic. "The baby—it’s coming!"
His resolve snapped. The RV door slammed shut like a coffin lid. "​Consider the cold a lesson!​​" His muffled shout sealed our fate.
Lily’s skin burned with fever beneath her snow-crusted jacket. I pounded the reinforced window. "​JOHN! SHE’S BURNING UP! OPEN!​​"
Through the fogged glass, I saw him fluffing Sarah’s pillows. Ethan’s smirking face appeared, jelly smeared across his cheeks. He pressed his tongue against the pane in a wet, grotesque raspberry.
"​ETHAN!​​" My voice cracked. "​Open the door for Mommy!​​"

He stuck his tongue out farther. "No! You’re mean! Lily hit me! Freeze out there!"
My heart crystallized. My son. My husband. My life’s sacrifices.
​WAIL-WEEEE-WAIL-WEEEE!​​
Ambulance sirens cut through the blizzard’s howl. I whirled toward the sound, clutching Lily. "They’re coming! Hang on!"

John exploded from the RV, dragging Sarah behind him. "​**EMILY! WAVE THEM DOWN HERE! SARAH’S—**​"
I sprinted past them—not toward sirens, but the driver’s seat. Keys turned. ​CLUNK-CLUNK-CLUNK.​​ Deadbolts shot home. Phone silenced.
John’s bellow shook the frozen air: "​**EMILY! WHY’D YOU—**​"
Thud. Sarah collapsed against the locked door, snow caking her knees. "​J-John? Where’s ambulance?!​​"
Realization dawned on his face—ugly and raw. He slammed fists against metal. "​YOU LYING BITCH! OPEN THIS DOOR!​​"
I tested every lock, exhaling warm vapor into the silent cabin. "​You won’t freeze. This is just… a lesson.​​"
Sarah sobbed, clutching his arm. "John… stomach hurts… she wants us dead…"
He pressed his forehead to the glass, veins bulging. "​OPEN IT OR I SWEAR I’LL DIVORCE YOU!​​"
"​Please!​​" Sarah’s voice cracked with real terror now. "My husband took the blame for John’s bar fight! Went to jail for him! We lost everything… and now—"
Snowflakes caught the headlights, glittering like shattered diamonds. I leaned back, the heater’s hum a soft lullaby.
"​Then take John.​​" My voice carried through the double-paned glass, colder than the void outside. "Seems fair trade for a jailed husband."