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It didn’t take long for Chris to show up, and I carried Stella to the car We rode to the hospital in co room for over an hour and thirtysick ofwhat the hell was taking so long

Stella told ht with me She had a whole elephant ankle, and they looked at her as if she had a scratch on her ar

When it was tiet checked out, a male worker came out to take Stella back

Stella tensed up a little, then turned to me “Will you co on a brave face

“Of course”

I offered her ht on her injured leg

The employee took us in the back, to where he, thankfully, offered a wheelchair for Stella to sit I pushed it for her to the patient rooiven to us The worker informed us that a nurse would be with us shortly

I took a seat beside Stella She kept fidgeting with her fingers as she grazed her top teeth across her bottom lip When the nurse came in and checked out her ankle, ere relieved to hear that it was nothing but a bad sprain They gave her some pain meds, wrapped it up, and a pair of crutches she’d have to use for a while

When they left, aited for the discharge papers Stella and I hadn’t spoken a word the whole time I wasn’t much for small talk, and she wasn’t either when she was sober But when she looked my way, she said, “You don’t kno, do you?”

“Hohat?”

“Drive”

I shifted a bit in ed “Grew up in New York Never really had a reason to learn when the subway could get me everywhere I needed to be And if that couldn’t, a taxi could”

“That doesn’t really work out great for California”

“You’re tellingwas only five miles away, it took about fifteen years to arrive There were a lot of things about California that I hated, but the traffic situation was at the top of my list At least in New York, the subways run on a consistent schedule, and we didn’t have to sit at stoplights or at a standstill on freeways

Her head lay on the hospital pillow, tilted in my direction She took a deep breath, turned away from me, and said, “Okay”

“Okay?”

“I’ll teach you”

“Teach me how to drive?”

“Yes”

“No thanks Not interested”