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Adam’s
forehead. “Always.”
    They picked up
what they needed from the room. Once back in the car, Adam allowed his body to
give in, unable to stop the sleep from happening. That was what the meds did;
they relaxed him, helped the pain and left him floating in a peaceful world of
cotton clouds and warmth.
    Only this time,
his dreams became more.
    This time there
were horses.
    And fire.

Chapter Seven
    Ethan stopped
driving after a while, because, whatever Adam had been dreaming about, had
pulled him from his sleep more than once and he was cranky and looked sore. He
didn’t tell Ethan he was in pain and didn’t complain once, but every time he
startled awake, he would curse in his half-sleep and tense in discomfort.
    They stopped in
Wisconsin Dells at the first gas station Ethan reached, and Ethan helped Adam
out of the car.
    Critically he
checked Adam over—he looked gray and lines of tension bracketed his eyes. “Did
you take all the tablets they said you should?”
    Adam wouldn’t look
him in the eyes. “Most of them,” he mumbled.
    Ethan didn’t press
for more; he certainly wasn’t here to tell Adam what to do, but he couldn’t
drive any farther with Adam in pain next to him. Anything but that.
    They bought snacks—not
that Ethan was hungry, and given that all Adam picked up was a packet of Cheetos,
he clearly wasn’t interested in food either.
    “How far did we
get?” Adam asked as they reached the car again.
    “Not far. But we’re
finding somewhere to stay tonight, you’re taking all your meds, and tomorrow
we’ll push on.”
    Ethan was
deliberately needling for a defense, but all he got was Adam slumping by the
side of the car, looking dejected.
    “I don’t like the
way they make me feel,” Adam said.
    “Pain-free, you
mean?”
    Adam shrugged and
winced at the movement. “All I’ll do is sleep, and I don’t have any control
over….”
    “Control over
what?”
    Adam became
agitated and clenched his fists. “Over anything,” he snapped. “I’m just going
to end up sitting in the passenger seat sleeping and, the next thing I know,
I’ll wake up in Montana and I won’t have had a minute to process any of this.”
    Fear crossed
Adam’s face as he talked about the destination they were heading for. Ethan
didn’t blame him for being scared; it must be hell not to have memories of any
of it.
    “I get why you’re
feeling this way.”
    Adam looked at him
in disbelief. “How the hell can you imagine even half of how I feel?”
    Ethan sensed that
Adam was looking for something from him, but he doubted it was anything more
than a fight. And fighting with Adam was not happening today. Not on his watch.
    “You need to
rest,” Ethan encouraged instead. He helped Adam in, then buckled up and started
the car, entered the highway and drove no more than five minutes down the road,
turning into the first hotel they came to. The front parking lot was full of
signs for various water parks, proclaiming Wisconsin Dells was the water park
capital of the US. They were seeing all the best places on this impromptu
road trip.
    They booked one
room again, took the snacks and food to the room, and settled in as best they
could with the uncomfortable silence between them. Adam was lost in his own
headspace, his face set in a mask of concentration, and Ethan was happy to sit
in silence as long as Adam needed.
    Adam had said that
Ethan didn’t know half of what Adam felt, and he was right. He couldn’t know
what it felt like to lose your identity. Or, to have no one looking for the
person Adam had been the last twelve years. Everything must add up to a sense
of despair in Adam, that Ethan hoped he’d never experience. He fired off an
email to Jen, asking if she had any more information for him, and another one
to Cole, on the off chance that Cole was able to receive them wherever he was.
    “What are you
doing?” Adam asked.
    Ethan looked up,
surprised at the question and equally surprised that Adam asked