Zara's breath came in ragged, desperate gasps, her chest heaving violently against the cold, harsh air. She was still crouched in the snow, her knees numb from the icy ground beneath her, but she couldn't bring herself to move. She couldn't do anything except grip her throbbing head, as though trying to hold it together, trying to keep her mind from shattering into pieces.
I shouldn't have left him. The thought loops in her mind, relentless and punishing. I yelled at him. He needed me, and I left him.
The world around her was collapsing, blurring into muted colours and muffled sounds. Her vision swam, the shapes of the empty highway and surrounding woods twisting. The nausea recedes slightly, but the crushing weight of guilt crashes over her, harder and heavier than before.
"I want to go home! I want my daddy!"
"You think I don't want that too?" she had snapped. "You think I don't miss them every damn day?"
