The screen lit up and then blurred before my eyes. I swiped the wrong way several times and accidentally opened the calculator app. I couldn’t make my hands obey my brain as the pain radiated through me in sick, hot waves.
Outside, a woman was loading a television into a van, and a man was walking past with several boxes. Nobody looked into our car because it was just a vehicle in a parking lot. I was just a shadow hidden behind the tinted glass.
Through the large store window, I could see my mother looking at phone accessories. Rick had wandered toward the televisions to watch a sports broadcast. Chloe stood at the checkout counter with her face lit by her glowing screen.
I pressed my forehead against the cold window glass and whispered a plea to anyone who would listen. Then, the sensation changed entirely. The sharp, localized pain suddenly spread throughout my entire abdomen.
It was not relief; it was something far more terrifying. It felt like an internal barrier had finally burst under a pressure it could no longer contain. A hot wave moved across my stomach and into my chest as my skin went cold.