Chương 12
“I can carry that.”
“You are carrying two crutches and one grudge.”
“I have room.”
He handed it over.
Alessia looped the purse strap across her body and immediately regretted it when the bag swung against one crutch.
Valerio waited.
She looked at him.
“Don't say anything.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“You had a face.”
“I have only one.”
“Unfortunately.”
He took the purse back.
The trip from the emergency department to the entrance was slower than Alessia expected.
Every automatic door seemed too impatient.
Every polished patch of floor seemed suspicious.
She had never noticed how many tiny decisions walking required until walking stopped being ordinary.
At the lobby, a security guard offered a wheelchair.
Alessia accepted before pride could intervene.
Valerio pushed her outside.
The night had deepened while they were inside.
The city had thinned.
A few cars moved through the hospital loop.
Somewhere nearby, sprinklers clicked across landscaping.
Valerio had left his car at the hotel.
He called for a ride.
Alessia noticed.
“You don't need to come home with me.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No, you don't.”
“You have five stairs.”
“I can manage five stairs.”
“You failed at four hospital steps without stairs.”
“I was learning.”
“You were falling sideways.”
“I recovered.”
“The nurse recovered you.”
Alessia folded her arms.
“Fine.”
They waited under the awning.
Her phone remained in Valerio's pocket because she had stopped wanting to hold it.
That itself felt strange.
She was usually incapable of ignoring messages.
Unread notifications created a low-level itch in her.
Tonight there could have been a hundred.
She did not want to know.
The ride arrived ten minutes later.
Getting into the back seat required more coordination than Alessia believed she possessed.
Valerio helped guide her injured leg while she lowered herself across the seat.
The driver looked at the splint.
“Rough night?”
Alessia stared at him.
Valerio said, “Wedding.”
The driver nodded as if that explained everything.
“Yeah.”
Alessia nearly laughed.
“Yeah?”
“Family wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Then yeah.”
He pulled away from the curb.
The driver did not ask another question.
Alessia liked him immediately.
The city passed outside in soft streaks of storefront light.
Her body began to sag with exhaustion.
Valerio sat beside her with one hand braced on the seat near her splinted leg so it would not slide when the car turned.
He did not touch her.
The gesture was practical and somehow more intimate because of it.
Halfway home, Alessia said, “Do you think Veronica is scared?”
“Yes.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
Alessia turned her head.
“Of what then?”
“Consequences.”
She watched the dark reflection of her own face in the window.
“That sounds worse.”
“It probably is.”
The driver changed lanes.
A motorcycle passed on the left.
Alessia said, “I don't want strangers destroying her.”
Valerio looked at her.
“I mean it.”
“I believe you.”
“I don't want threats.”
“No.”
“I don't want people calling her workplace.”
“No.”
“I don't want somebody finding her address.”
“No.”
Alessia rubbed one thumb against the edge of the hospital bracelet.
“But I also don't want to lie.”
“You shouldn't.”
“She'll say silence is the same as agreeing with them.”
“She may.”
“Mom definitely will.”
“Probably.”
Alessia looked at him.
“That's a terrible comforting style.”
“You told me not to offer solutions.”
“I didn't say become bleak.”
“I am respecting boundaries.”
She leaned her head against the window.
It was cool against her temple.
For three blocks, neither spoke.
Then Alessia said, “I don't know what the right thing is.”
Valerio looked ahead.
“Maybe there isn't one.”
She frowned.
“That is even less comforting.”
“I mean there may only be choices with different costs.”
Alessia was quiet.
That sounded more truthful than every demand she had received that night.
At her building, the driver pulled close to the curb.
Valerio got out first.
The five entrance steps waited beneath a brass light.
Alessia stared at them from the back seat.
“Those have gotten taller.”
“I noticed.”
“Don't pick me up.”
Valerio opened his mouth.
“No.”
“I didn't say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was going to suggest we sit you on the second step and reposition.”
“That sounds humiliating.”
“So does falling backward into a shrub.”
“There is no shrub.”
“There should be.”
He helped her out.
They managed the stairs slowly.
Alessia used the crutches while Valerio stayed one step below her, one hand hovering near her elbow without touching.
On the fourth step, her right arm shook.
“Stop.”
“I can do it.”
“I didn't say you couldn't.”
“I know what stop means.”
“Then stop.”
She stood still, breathing hard.
A woman walking a small terrier approached the entrance from inside and opened the door.
“Oh my God, Alessia.”
Alessia closed her eyes.
“Hi, Marcy.”
“What happened?”
“Wedding.”
Marcy stared.
Then, astonishingly, nodded.
“Oh.”
Apparently this was becoming a complete explanation.
Her terrier sniffed one crutch.
Valerio held the door.
Marcy looked from him to Alessia and back.
“Do you need anything?”
“No, thank you.”
“Soup?”
“No.”
“Wine?”
Alessia considered it.
“Maybe tomorrow.”
“I have red.”
“Definitely tomorrow.”
Marcy smiled and continued outside.
Valerio looked at Alessia.
“Your building is unusual.”
“She thinks wine is a food group.”
“She's not wrong.”
The elevator worked.
Alessia almost applauded when the doors opened on her floor.
Inside her apartment, everything looked aggressively normal.
The lamp beside the couch was still on.
A coffee mug sat in the sink.
Mail lay unopened near the door.
One shoe was under the console table because Alessia had kicked it there Thursday night and forgotten about it.
The normality hit harder than the hospital had.
She stopped in the entryway.
Valerio noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He waited.
Alessia looked at the couch.
“This morning I was annoyed because I couldn't find my good earrings.”
Valerio set her purse on the table.
“And?”
“I found them.”
“That seems positive.”
“They were in the freezer.”
He stared at her.
May you like
“What?”
“I put them on top of a frozen pizza while I was looking for ice.”
