ge

eet, my cheek has stopped burning, but

ty-eight percent, and I realize with fresh irritation that my charger is still plugged into the wall beside my bed. It i

s me laugh, but my thro

e slap and the way Mr. Jones looked at me as though I was already something he had paid for. I should have grabbe

straight would take me toward the bus station, a

fening horn b

second, see nothing except the front

ble backward, my heel catching the edge of the pavement, and throw

hear th

ts the road seve

is lying near the opposite curb, one arm twisted beneath her, while her hand

God," I

drop beside the woman and reach for her shoulder, the

. Of course

ly for half a second b

. My voice sounds too loud in my own ears. I answer questions while staring at the thin line of blood near th

that thought wipes Verena, Mr. Jones

without touching her. "Hey, can y

n doesn'

allet farther down, lipstick crushed under someone's shoe, and paper

make it disappear. By the time sirens approach, I am holding her bag against my ches

oks at me. "Ar

appened, and I ha

, then toward the ambulance. "You can ride u

ight lights, forms, questions, and peo

s for the w

n't k

me in w

n changes slightly, and I hear how strange that so

ntification card inside. I hand it over without really look

owe," the n

g else. I lower myself into a chair, get back up after less

a weather system, and somewhere between leaving home and watchin

ight be twenty minutes or an hou

ight be twenty minutes or an hou

diately. "Me

t she lost a lot of blood. We're

pe does

egat

can think about it

carefully. "We would still

t you have to

e considered my fault. I do not care. If I had looked before walking into that road, she would not b

ives me juice and tells me to sit still for a while, wh

is stable, and my shoulders finally

till unconscious. We can't

I see

ates. "B

im into a

id on the road. There is a bandage near her temple

de the bed and look at her for a f

sor

uld have looked before I stepped onto that road. You sh

back except the stead

can hear me," I add quie

too guilty to convince myself I sho

monitor and the hand rest

tention drifts b

actually see her properly. I lean forward, studying the curve

rtable I feel, until I finally le

What t

r brows to her nose

eakin

th my head, or maybe today has simply decided it is not d

es not just l

oks li