I pounded against the walls with everything I had, but my breathing was already slowing. Every sound I made was swallowed by the steady drone of the compressor.
I didn't know how long it had been.
Ice crystals formed on my lips. My vision blurred. My eyelids grew unbearably heavy.
Before I lost consciousness entirely, only one silent, delirious thought remained.
Grandma.
Kate Dickerson knows she was wrong.
Next life, I promise I'll never get a fever again.
...
I thought my life was going to end right there.
Then came the sound of a key turning in the front door.
"Herbert! Honey! Mom! I'm home!"
That familiar voice. It was like a spark catching fire inside my chest.
It was Dad.
Dad was home!
But almost instantly, my heart sank.
How could it be?
It had to be a hallucination.
Dad was away on a business trip. There was no way he was back.
Mom had taken my brother out. Grandma had gone to play cards.
There was no one home.
Despair swallowed me again.
Through the haze, I heard footsteps drawing closer.
My eyes flew open.
Riiip.
The crisp, wet sound of my frozen eyelids tearing apart rang in my ears.
My body was encased in ice. I couldn't move at all.
A desperate idea surged into my mind.