Snowflakes fell to the ground, gently touching the asphalt. The wind wasn't howling, nor was it whistling. The temperature was well below 0º Fahrenheit, but nothing too out of the ordinary. All available weather satellites said that it was a blizzard.

She was cold.

It wasn't just any type of cold; she had grown up in New York City with cold weather that made her lose her breath and huddle by even the smallest fire she could possibly find.

This was worse. The cold had a biting edge to it, much more vicious than any cold she knew from New York. She wrapped her pea coat – the warmest garment she had handy – more tightly around her body.

She should have packed her heavy coat.

Or rather, she shouldn't have left it with Marshall.

A jolt of pain shot through her body, and it was originating from her shaking, albeit stiff, fingers. She bit the top of the slit made for the middle finger and pulled the glove up with her teeth. When she was finally able to get her other fingers out of their finger slits, she balled up her hand inside the glove and sat on it.

"Butthead," she murmured to herself. She should never have agreed to come see Robin in Canada. In the winter, no less.

Her phone was dead, the car was dead, a mountain of snow had sealed her in on all sides, and she was dressed for a brisk day in New York.

No wonder she was freezing to death.

"Butthead," she said again as she pulled her feet up from the floor. Curling into the fetal position, she checked her watch. It had been 34 minutes since the car had shut down, which meant it had been 34 minutes since her core body temperature had begun to drop.

As night crept in, the temperature dropped even further. Her breath came in short bursts, and puffs of white smoke passed before her face.

Another gust of wind blew and rocked the small car she was in.

As seconds and then minutes ticked by, her eyelids grew heavier and her body felt warmer. She ignored the warmth that she now felt; were she to take off even the pea coat, it would only be a short time before she froze to death.

But she was just so tired.

She shook her head sharply. "You need to stay awake, Lily Aldrin. You have three children and a husband back home in New York. When you're this cold, you can't fall asleep, or you'll die."

She should have listened to herself.