She gazed up at me. “I haven’t forgotten anything. You’re Tucker, and you brought me here with promises of a Ferris wheel.”
I relaxed and squeezed her against me. “Okay. So it didn’t happen.”
“I guess the medicine worked. Stopped it from going all the way.”
“That’s what it’s supposed to do.”
She slid off my lap. “I have a killer headache.”
“We can go.”
“No, I have some pain meds in my bag. Let me take them and see. I don’t want to miss that Ferris wheel.”
I smoothed her hair where it had partially fallen from her twists. “Okay.”
“Go get me a Coke, boyfriend,” she said.
My breath caught. She hadn’t spoken to me like that since I found her again.
“I’ll be right back.”
I didn’t go so far that I couldn’t keep her in my sight. She sat, clutching her bear, until I returned. After a drink and her meds, we got in line for the Ferris wheel. She leaned against me as we waited out the pain.
Despite my stupid, awful mistake, we’d faced the devil and won.
CHAPTER 27
Ava
Seizures definitely sucked.
My headache eased as we waited in line for the Ferris wheel. The blinking lights set at intervals on the giant circle made my heart race with anxiety, but these were obviously something my broken brain could handle.
Unlike that strobe.
Now I knew what Superman felt like. Strobes were my Kryptonite. Anybody could bring me down with them. Tucker had covered my eyes, but what if I got a good hard dose? Would the medicine still help?
I’d have to ask the doctor.
By the time we loaded into a seat that rocked back and forth, a long belt buckled over our laps, my head felt better. The night was crisp, and as we rose in steady increments into the sky, I snuggled closer to Tucker.
He liked this and put his arm around me to pull me tight.
My chest loosened, and my shoulders relaxed. I had no idea I’d been holding myself so stiffly until this moment. Had I been this way sincemy escape?
Probably so.
We made it to the tippy top, and the wheel stopped again to load another couple.
Up here, the air felt clear, and despite the garish lights below, a star or two peeped between the clouds. We leaned back, and the seat rocked gently as we stared into the night.
“I hear the stars have names,” I said. “If I ever knew them, they’ve long been erased.”
Tucker extended an arm to point above us. “The star most people talk about is the North Star. It’s used for navigation. It’s bright enough to see even in tough conditions.”
“Like sitting on top of a carnival?”
“Like that.”
