When Anna arrived at Alexander’s parents’ house after school, she was told by their housekeeper that his private nurse had showed up late so he would be “indisposed” for another half hour. Anna couldn’t help but be irritated that he hadn’t texted her, since he knew she had a riding lesson that afternoon. She felt ashamed at her annoyance, reminding herself that she was lucky enough to still enjoy such things, while her boyfriend was on bed rest recovering from a fractured pelvis and a broken left leg.

She told the housekeeper to let Alexander know she’d be back that evening after dinner. Walking out the front door, she sighed. After-dinner visits were open ended, which meant she would have to stay longer. For the last week, she had been visiting him after school, knowing she had a perfect out in her riding lessons or dinner plans.

“Annie!” Eleanor yelled from the front door. “Where on earth are you going?”

Anna’s hand was on her car door handle, but she pulled it away and turned around. “Hi, Eleanor,” she said, but didn’t make any move to go back to the house. “I’ll be back after dinner.”

“Just because Alexander’s busy doesn’t mean you should leave,” Eleanor responded. “You know, maybe I could use some cheering up, too?”

Eleanor had come out of the accident with a sprained wrist and a few facial lacerations, one of which was still taped by the orders of her plastic surgeon. But because she was Eleanor, she was still milking sympathy from the traumatic event. When they were only five miles from home a deer crossed the road, and Alexander hit the brakes. Because the road was slick from the snowfall, the car skidded, flipped on its side, and slammed into a tree. Eleanor had been asleep, so she missed the whole thing, which was probably why she hadn’t suffered as many injuries, since she didn’t brace against the impact.

“I’m trying to get in a riding lesson. It’s too late to cancel,” Anna said quickly. “Before I come back tonight, maybe I’ll pick up some froyo for you, okay?”

“How nice for you,” Eleanor snipped. “Getting to go on with your life, while my poor brother is bedridden and in lots of pain.”

Anna had been dealing with these passive-aggressive comments from Eleanor for long enough. “Eleanor, if you have something you’d like to say to me, I’d love to hear it.”

Eleanor didn’t bat an eyelash and met Anna’s gaze head-on. “We wouldn’t have even been on that road so late if it wasn’t for you. If you would have just come with us in the first place, we would have missed the snow entirely.”