He moved to the stove and stirred water until it steamed, then brought the cup back.
“Drink,” he said.
She stared at it like it was a trick.
Eli held it steady.
She took a small sip, then another.
Her hands shook.
Eli sat in the chair beside the bed and stayed there as the night deepened.
The storm outside roared and slapped the cabin walls like angry fists. Snow hissed against the windowpane. The wind found every crack it could and tried to squeeze in.
Eli listened to the fragile sound of her breathing like it was the only thing in the world that mattered.
For three days, she was lost in fever.
