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“I cliht there,” she said, pointing to a rack halfway toward the back of the lab

“I figured that in the dark heup and down the rows, stopping to listen for ht he was leaving But then the lights came on”

“Damn,” I said

“I knew he’d seeout that littleup there”

“You’re brilliant,” I said I’d coh into the side and back walls of the bone lab were a few sh by three feet wide They led not to the outside of the stadium but to its deepest labyrinthine recesses-the catacombs at the very base of the stands

“It’s true what they say about fear and adrenaline,” she said

“It took the strength of ten graduate assistants to slide thatopen through forty years of gunk” She flexed a hed “Anyhen I dropped down the other side , and I rolled ured I was in real trouble at that point, but then I heard the sirens co out of the lab and up the stairwell And here I am, and here are all of you And jeepers, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home”

I didn’t knohether to laugh or cry, so I did a little of both “Thank God you’re okay,” I said “Let’s get you to the ER and get that ankle X-rayed”

“Good grief, I don’t need an X-ray,” she scoffed “You think I don’t know if my ankle is broken?”

“She’s only h from her

Miranda used her right foot to kick the sheet off her left leg The EMTs already had the ankle immobilized in a strap-on boot; cold packs surrounded her foot and lower leg “If you can just pull a string or two,” she said, “and get me in to see one of the football team’s physical therapists tomorrow, I’ll be fine in a couple of days”

“I think I can arrange that,” I said, and turned to the EMTs

“Can you let her go now, or do you have to take her to the hospital since you’re already here?”

“I’d advise an X-ray,” said the lead EMT, “but no, we’re not going to force her to get treatainst her will, if she’s competent to refuse it”

“She’s one of the most competent people I know,” I said

He shrugged and went out to the a lanced over them

“This 974 phone number here,” he said “Is that…?”

“That’s the nuurney onto her good leg, then hobbled over to the desk and sat on the edge, tapping the phone with a finger

“You want to put your other number-home or cell number-here beside it? Just in case?”

“Just in case what-et home?”