Free Learning to Live (The Infinite Love Series Book 1) by Kira Adams

back at me.
     
    “Excuse me?”
     
    She shakes me off, but instead of trying to fight me anymore, she walks straight to the passenger side of my car. It is conveniently the only one left in the entire parking lot.
     
    I open the doors and climb in beside her. We drive in silence for the first ten minutes until I feel the need to say something. “Has that ever happened to you before?”
     
    She looks over at me quickly, and then back out the windshield, shaking her head. “A few times.”
    “What is it like?” I ask, unable to help myself.
     
    I glance over at her, and notice a small tear escape out the side of her eye, trailing down her face.
     
    “It is really scary. I lose my hearing and my vision, and things stop making sense, and then eventually everything goes black.”
     
    “I think you should have let them take you to the hospital to check you out…” I tread lightly.
     
    She shakes her head dismissively. “I don’t have insurance. They are already going to try to bill me for the ambulance, which I know won’t be cheap. But my family can’t handle that kind of burden right now.”
     
    I start to feel instantly guilty. Maybe that is why she dresses the way she does. Maybe her family isn’t as fortunate as mine is. “You know, they normally have payment plans they can set you up on.”
     
    She nods, staring out the side window. “I’ll be fine.”
     
    Silence fills the car the rest of the way to her house, and when I pull up, I kill the engine quickly, hopping out and racing around to her side.
     
    “What are you doing?” she asks, when I open up the door and stick my hand out.
     
    “I’m helping you get up the stairs.” She looks up at me in disbelief.
     
    “I’m really fine.”
     
    “And I’m the Easter Bunny,” I reply, nudging her with my arm so she will grab it. Eventually she does, and I lead her up the stairs. She is unsteady on her feet, and although she fought it, I can tell she is grateful for the help. Her whole body seems weak, and she is breathing heavily.
     
    I knock on the door, and a woman who appears to be her early forties answers. “Ciera?” Her eyes dart between me and the girl in my arms. “What is going on?”
     
    “She had a seizure,” I answer. The woman’s eyes grow wide with concern. “I gave her a ride home.”
     
    She opens the door wider, and instantly puts her arm around Ciera’s waist, pulling her inside. I hear children yapping loudly inside, and then they come running to tackle Ciera once she is a few steps inside.
     
    “Careful!” The woman warns them. “Ciera is sick. She needs to lie down.” She helps maneuver Ciera further into the tiny apartment as I wait silently at the front door. Eventually she returns, her brown hair frizzy and bags under her eyes. She looks beyond exhausted. “Thank you.” There is something else behind her eyes, an underlying sadness. I see it in her facial expressions, I see it in the way she carries herself.
     
    I wonder how many times this has happened, and how stressful it was for me just this one time. Poor lady. It can’t be easy.
     
    I nod slightly. “No problem. I hope she’s okay.”
     
    The woman glances back toward the direction she led Ciera in, and then back to me. “I have it from here.”
     
    I nod again, and then turn around, taking the steps two at a time back to my car. My night was so much more eventful than I could have ever guessed.
     
    I genuinely do hope Ciera is okay, which is a foreign feeling to me. I’ve never cared enough to know who she is or worry about her…but because I was there when it all happened, I want to know that she will be okay. That she will recover from this.
     
    I can feel a change coming. I feel anxious and terrified all at the same time. The only thing I can really hope is that I’m recognizable at the end of it all.
     
    * * *
     
    Ever since her seizure, Ciera has been on my mind. I feel on edge and anxious wondering how she is doing, how she