Paul had spent enough nights in the ER dealing with the aftermath of car crashes to know that there was often a strange randomness to the severity of injuries drivers and passengers suffered. He had seen pictures of crashes that left cars an unrecognizable tangle of mangled metal, which was how Pia’s VW looked, and killed three, yet a fourth person escaped with only a broken leg. In another instance, one he had thought about frequently since this accident with Pia, the driver had died while the man sitting next to him had been left without so much as a scratch. It was so random as to be astonishing. It also made him feel slightly guilty, considering how banged up Pia had been.

Paul remembered fastening his own seat belt, which certainly had been a good idea, and that Pia had not fastened hers. He even remembered trying to get her to do it, only to be rewarded with a dirty look. But he discovered later that Pia had been wearing her belt, and thank God, for without it, she would certainly have died. He couldn’t remember her actually fastening it, and wondered when she would have thought to do it, as fixated she was on catching the van from Nano carrying the injured cyclist back to the ER. He was very thankful that she’d paused long enough to take the precaution that saved her life. There were other things about the accident that Paul had trouble remembering, which made him recognize that he apparently had a certain amount of post-traumatic amnesia.

“All right!” George said finally. “I’m out of here for a few hours. You’ll check on her, won’t you?”

“Absolutely,” Paul said. He gave George a reassuring pat on the back. “Every time I have a free moment in the ER, I’ll pop up here and make sure all is in order. You have a nap. You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” George said. He smiled weakly, gave Pia’s leg a squeeze through the sheet, and left the room.

Paul watched George go, then, as he did every time he came into Pia’s room, looked around at the ostentatiously large displays of flowers that Zach Berman had been sending over from Nano on a daily basis. Paul had taken it upon himself earlier that day to throw out the first huge bouquet, which had seen better days. Berman himself had yet to put in an appearance, and neither had any other company official, although Pia’s new colleague tech, Jason Rodriguez, had been to see her. Paul noted that Pia’s direct boss, Mariel Spallek, hadn’t been in either, but he was not surprised, given what Pia had said about her.