“Let’s keep looking.” I nod towards the hallway that leads to the master bedroom.
There’s a lump in the bed. A bed that’s covered in blankets. There are dozens of them. The fireplace in here is out as well, but the embers aren’t as cold.
She was smart…ish.
Smart would have been to walk over to my house and ask for help.
In a blizzard.
Without a snowsuit.
Unsure of what reception she was going to receive.
We should have invited her to stay with us.
We should have—
There’s time for regrets. First, see if she’s alive. I climb onto the bed and pull back the blankets. Her lips are blue. “Greer, wake up.”
No response.
Is she alive?
My fingers go to her throat to feel for a pulse.
A strong, steady beat makes the fist in my chest unclench. “She’s alive.”
“And pregnant.” Creed lifts up a framed ultrasound. “This is dated a couple of days ago.”
The day she went to the city. She went to check on the baby.
Bram’s baby.
“Dad, she’s really pregnant. Almost six months.”
That’s too long. “We need to get her out of here. Before we move her, go check the generator and see why it didn’t go on.”
“Will do.”
How am I going to get you over to my house to warm you up?
We packed an emergency blanket.
The lights flick on.
Creed rushes back in. “She pressed the button for the generator but forgot to flip over the circuit breaker.”
Greer tried to take care of herself. If I hadn’t been so rude...
You can’t think about that. “Let’s get her wrapped up and back to our house. It’ll take too long to get this one warm enough.”
We pull back a few of the blankets, only to find water bottles tucked next to her body.
They aren’t warm any longer, but she was smart. If she had some better equipment or it wasn’t this cold.
Later. That’s a worry for later. I take one blanket, then the emergency blanket, which traps heat, and wrap those around her. “Open the doors for me.”
“Got it.”
