He gestured wildly toward a wooden table, where dozens of stolen vials of insulin, syringes, and medical supplies were scattered. "When Emma got sick too, I couldn't watch her die like her mother!" he sobbed, his voice breaking entirely. "I stole these meds! I'm trying to save her! You're a doctor—you fix her right here! But we are not going to the hospital!"
Nora felt a wave of profound sorrow cut through her fear. This wasn't a cold-blooded monster; this was a broken father, Kevin, consumed by a psychotic, grief-driven delusion after losing his wife. "Okay," Nora said gently, lowering her hands. "Okay, Kevin. I hear you. But I need to call an ambulance to bring a blood monitor, or I can't calculate the right dose."
Nora slowly reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone. The moment Kevin saw the glowing screen, panic seized him again. "No ambulance!" he yelled. He lunged forward, snatched the phone clean out of Nora's hand, yanked the door open, and hurled it into the deep snowdrift outside. He locked the door. "You fix her here, or nobody leaves."