“Really?” Anna said, coolly. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but Alexander told me it had been your idea to ‘pop by’ Beatrice’s and pick me up because you were worried about your birthday.”

Eleanor gasped at Anna’s directness, opened her mouth to respond, but then closed it again, unsure of what to say.

“Tell Alexander I’ll be back to visit him later,” Anna said. “Or don’t.” She climbed into her car and drove off, as Eleanor stood in the front yard staring after her.

Anna’s elation over her victory was short-lived, and by the time she arrived at Staugas Farms, she regretted it. She knew Eleanor would complain to Alexander, and the last thing he needed during his recovery, which was already causing him to miss six weeks of college, was to play referee between his sister and his girlfriend. She really felt for him and of course wanted to help him get through his recovery in any way she could, as she would for any of her close friends. But Alexander wasn’t just a friend, he was her boyfriend. And she was his girlfriend.

Girlfriend, Anna thought to herself. I’m still his girlfriend, even if I don’t feel like it anymore.

The morning when Beatrice woke her up with the news of Alexander’s car accident was a total blur. Vronsky wanted to accompany her to the hospital, but she refused. Instead she woke up Steven. Lolly, who was too hungover to go anywhere, would stay behind and get a ride back to the city from Vronsky. Anna and Steven drove back to Greenwich in silence, though when Steven saw the remnants of the accident on the road, a demolished tree and tire marks in the mud, he said what they were both thinking: “This is how accidents happen … when people go where they shouldn’t be.”

Anna hadn’t responded at the time, but she shared her brother’s sentiment fully. She stared down at her hands in her lap, the same hands that had run through Vronsky’s golden locks only a few hours before. She thought about telling her brother that she had decided to take his advice and break up with Alexander, but she didn’t see the point. Her mother assured her that Alexander and Eleanor were both going to be fine, but Alexander was going to have surgery as soon as Yale’s finest surgeon drove down to handle the VIP case. Anna knew her plans to break up with Alexander would have to be put on hold indefinitely. Until she had more information, there was no alternative.