“Yeah, everyone’s being really nice about it. No one’s mad and Dr. Schraeder just gave me a prescription for some 30-milligram Tylenol T3s with codeine,” she said. “You know, for the pain of my injuries.”

“Oh, wow, I didn’t even know she could prescribe that.”

IT WAS ALWAYS INTERESTING the way things worked out, thought Jillian on the ride home, the train taking her where she needed to go, chugging along, her thoughts free to roam. A bottle of mid-grade painkillers in her purse. A kind of general hilarity all around her. She’d thought she might get fired or reprimanded and she’d been planning to settle into a comfortable depression, but no. They’d been really nice. And Megan hadn’t said anything about the dog, and it tickled Jillian that Megan could be so understanding.

I was in a really bad car accident, she thought. She carried herself like someone who had been in a car accident. She rubbed her shoulder and drew a breath in through her teeth. She visualized the deer and how she hadn’t screamed and how Adam had thought it was exciting. The dog barked at the deer to protect them all from the deer. The deer wasn’t hurt, it ran away, just smashed up the car real bad and now she had horrible back pain. She shook her head and exhaled.

If anyone asked, she’d tell them that’s what happened. “Oh my gosh, that happened to me, too,” they’d say.

Sunset on the train was great. It was only 80 dollars a month for the pass, maybe she could get Elena to pick up Adam all the time. This might have been the best thing that had ever happened to her, getting into this silly car accident.

She got home and let Crispy out of the bathroom. She’d pooped on the floor and chewed up the bath mat. Jillian picked up the bath mat and Crispy lunged at it. “Oooohhh, I forgot to leave you your bone, didn’t I, you crazy girl?” she said, tugging the bath mat while Crispy bore down on the other end. “Time to go on out,” she said.

Dinner was cooking when Elena came by to drop Adam  off.

“Hey, you want to stay for dinner? I made plenty.”

“No,” said Elena. “I have to get home and make dinner for my own family.”

“Oh, ok,” Jillian said. “Well, anytime, you know. Thanks for picking him up.”