“They’ll give you exercises to do,” said Laura. “It’s important to do them. Did you know your thumb is controlled by nine distinct muscles, which are themselves controlled by all three of the major hand nerves?”

“No, I didn’t know that,” said Nina, “but I do know a quarter of all the bones in my body are in my two hands.”

Laura stared at her. “Why do you know that?”

Nina shrugged. “I remember things, I can’t turn it off. You probably know a lot, too.” She froze, a faraway look coming into her eyes. Sadly, Laura didn’t know Nina well enough to spot a red flag when she saw one. “What was your undergraduate degree, out of interest?”

“Biology.” Laura wasn’t quite following the direction the conversation was taking, but she was determined to make her point. “The human hand is capable of an incredible number of motions and movements, and if you don’t look out, you’ll lose some of it.”

Nina looked unconvinced. “You mean I might not be able to flip someone off?”

Laura nodded. “Or turn the page in a book.”

“Good lord,” said Nina. “Wash out your mouth.”

Polly came back and looked at Laura. “What have you done now? You’ve got Bob all worked up and now you’re upsetting Nina.” She sighed. “You seemed so gentle and friendly.”

Laura pointed at Nina. “She’s not taking care of herself.”

Nina turned enthusiastically to her colleague. “Polly, I think we’ve found our new Carter.”

Laura looked at Polly, who snorted with laughter and headed back behind the counter. “Oh my god, did you reveal a deep inner well of knowledge?”

Laura frowned. “Uh, we were talking about how important it is to do physical therapy on her hand.” She turned back to Nina. “Your hand uses thirty-four muscles simply to move your fingers and thumb, and all of them have been stuck in those casts. You need to do simple stretches and specific exercises every day.” She made a stern face. “I’m not asking you to run a marathon. Spend half an hour.”

“Science, plants and animals, probably organic chemistry, sports . . .” Nina broke off and spoke to Laura again. “Are you athletic?” She shook her head and muttered at herself, “Of course she’s athletic, Nina, look at her, so, yes, sports, and the Olympics . . .”

Laura held up her hand. “I’m sorry, what on earth are you talking about?”

“Trivia,” said Nina, grabbing that hand and shaking it. “Welcome to Book ’Em, Danno, a currently-trailing-but-destined-for-greatness trivia team in the East Los Angeles Pub League.”

Laura stared at her. She’d understood all the individual words in the sentence, but had completely failed to grasp the larger meaning. “I’m sorry?”