"Susan wants to fix things with you. Don't ruin it."
As the ride slowly climbed, wind pushed against my face. My stomach churned, and my chest felt heavy and tight.
Susan sat beside me. Then, out of nowhere, she screamed.
"Norma! Why are you unbuckling my harness!"
"Help! My sister just undid my harness!"
The operator hit pause at once, and everyone below came rushing over.
Mom was the first to climb onto the platform. She swung her hand and slapped me.
"You animal! She's your sister, and you tried to kill her!"
The blow snapped my head to the side. My ears filled with a high, ringing buzz.
Dad, face like ice, lifted the trembling, sobbing Susan down, then turned to the operator.
"I'm buying out this ride for the day."
"Let her ride. A hundred times. She doesn't get down until she's done all hundred."
"Norma, this is what it costs to bully your sister!"
My face went bloodless. I shook my head, desperate.
"Dad, I didn't."
"I feel awful. Please, please, let me down."
Julian looked like he wanted to say something, but the second Susan started crying, he bent right back to comforting her.
Dad wouldn't look at me anymore. He only said to the operator, cold and flat, "Start it."
The operator hesitated.
"Sir, she doesn't look good. Maybe we should—"
Dad slapped his card down in front of the man.
"She's my own daughter. If anything happens, we'll answer for it ourselves."
They pressed me back into the seat. The ride shot up, then dropped without warning.
The weightlessness crushed down on my chest. My throat, already swollen from the allergy, made even breathing a struggle in an instant.
My heartbeat scrambled, faster and wilder. Sour bile surged up my throat, laced with the taste of blood.
Every time the ride fell, my body felt like it shattered all over again.
The crowd below blurred. All I could make out was my parents carrying Susan, walking toward the park exit without a single backward glance.
On the seventh drop, I couldn't hold it in any longer. Blood came up in a rush.
The operator's face changed. He slammed the emergency stop.
When they helped me down, everything had gone black. I couldn't see. I only heard someone's shaking voice on an emergency call.
"Get an ambulance, now! I think she's going into anaphylactic shock!"
I collapsed onto the cold ground, the taste of blood still at the corner of my mouth.
Just before consciousness slipped away, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I forced my eyes open and saw a message from Aunt Delia.
【Don't be afraid. I'm almost there.】
My ears were full of the chaos of footsteps and machines.
I wanted to open my eyes, but I couldn't even lift my eyelids.
Somewhere in the haze, the hospital room door was suddenly shoved open.
Mom's shrill voice reached me first.
"She's in here!"
A hand clamped down on my wrist.
Dad's grip was so strong it nearly tore the IV needle out of the back of my hand.
"Get up!"
"Your sister needs a transfusion. Stop playing dead!"
He yanked me sideways. My chest ached, tight and dull, but I couldn't make a sound.
The nurse startled, then rushed over to stop him.
"What are you doing? The patient's condition is critical. You can't just move her!"
Mom's eyes were red. She wasn't hearing a word of it.
"Her sister got so scared she's anemic. She's in emergency care right next door and needs a transfusion!"
"She's the older sister. Shouldn't she take responsibility?"
The nurse planted herself in front of the bed, her expression grim.
"No. She's already bleeding, and her allergic reaction hasn't stabilized. Even if the blood types match, drawing blood now could kill her."
Dad let out a cold laugh.
"What did she pay you to put on this act with her?"
I forced my eyes open a crack, just in time to see my mother lunge to the bedside and swing her hand down across my face.
A ringing filled my ears, and the pain dragged my hazy mind violently back.
"You're the reason Susan ended up like this, and now you're playing dead to dodge the responsibility?"
"Someone like you, we'll never claim as ours. Not in this life."
My lips moved. I wanted to say I hadn't done it.
But my throat felt sealed shut, and not a single sound came out.
Julian stood in the doorway, his face grim too.
"I used to think you were just so desperate for Uncle and Auntie's affection that you bullied Susan and lied about her."
"I actually felt sorry for you."
"Now I see it. You're not pitiful. You're rotten all the way to the root."
I looked at him, and even the ache in my chest went numb.
The nurse was still blocking them, her voice cracking with panic.
"Family or not, you can't do this! She can't give blood right now, you'll kill her!"
My father lost the last of his patience and grabbed my arm outright.
"I'm her father!"
"We gave her this life. If she bleeds out today, that's on us, not on any of you!"
One nurse couldn't hold them back on her own. She spun around, shouting for help.
They dragged me until half my body hung off the bed, the needle tearing loose from the vein, the back of my hand swelling fast.
Pain crawled up through every limb, but all I could do was stare weakly at the ceiling.
Just as my father hauled me off the bed and dragged me toward the door,
a voice, taut with fury, came from the doorway.
"I'd like to see which one of you dares to touch my daughter!"
