Each fat, wet clump struck harder, like tiny hammers of ice.
The wind drove them into my face, my hair, my blind eyes.
Freezing water ran down my spine.
My thin dress clung to my skin, turning to ice.
The cold became unbearable, burrowing into my marrow.
I grunted with every brutal impact, teeth chattering violently.
“Ah—fuck!”
Another heavy sheet of snow slammed into me, and I gasped sharply.
My shoulders shook uncontrollably.
The pain in my bruised knees throbbed in time with the freezing assault.
“Ramiro...” I whimpered through gritted teeth.
No answer. The snow only fell harder.
I broke.
A raw scream tore from my throat as another wave crashed over me, the cold so intense it felt like fire.
“Ramiro! Please—help me!” I begged, voice cracking.
My whole body convulsed under the downpour. “It hurts—God, it hurts! Make it stop! I can’t... I can’t breathe!”
Tears froze on my lashes as I crumpled forward, forehead nearly touching the ground.
Sobs wracked me between screams.
Every muscle burned with cold and exhaustion.
Seconds dragged into what felt like an eternity.
The snow hammered down harder, each heavy clump striking like frozen stones against my back and shoulders.
I could hear it piling up around me—the wet, crushing thud of fresh layers building on the ground, on my hair, on my soaked dress that now felt like a second skin of ice.
My knees throbbed from the earlier impact, the pain flaring hotter against the freezing ground.
“Ramiro...” I gasped, turning my head toward the sound of his steady breathing.
Even blind, I could sense him—his solid presence just to my right, the faint shift of his boots in the snow.
I reached out blindly, fingers numb and shaking, until they brushed against his leg.
Desperation gave me strength.
I grabbed hold of his pant leg, then slid my hand down to clutch his foot. “Please... take me away from here. I’ll apologize—just get me inside. Please!”
The snow intensified, turning from heavy flakes to a blinding white fury driven by the wind.
It stung my face, clogged my nostrils, and made every breath a labored fight.
