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Wes.”
    “But your hand. I don’t want you to drive. He can come here, right?”
    “No, I really want to surprise him. He’s done so much for me, and I’m sure he’s not admitting how much this attention really affects him. I’d like to go see him. I can drive. Really.”
    She looked at me, contemplating.
    Tom came to my rescue. “Gayle, we’re both medical people here, and I think we can attest that people drive with broken hands all the time.”
    She dropped her shoulders and exhaled before submitting, “Okay. But please be careful and rest first.”
    “I will! Thanks.”
    I kissed her on the cheek and went to my room, clearly not about to rest. Something awful was picking away at my insides. I couldn’t identify exactly what I feared at that moment, but I was terrified. There was just an awful feeling that things were going to get real crazy, real fast, and it was all my fault. If only I had let Wes ride with me to see Lenny’s still-living mother at that nursing home, then none of this would be happening. Andy wouldn’t have been able to take me, Wes wouldn’t have had to come rescue me, and there would be no police or media involved.
    Ugh, I just wanted the nightmare to be over. Frus-trated, I shifted to thoughts of getting out of there. My closet was in disarray. I hadn’t had a chance to do laundry since before I was in the hospital and I hadn’t asked my mom to do it, so my choices were limited.
    After scrounging around, I found some jeans and a three-quarter sleeved pink sweater that was appropriate for January weather in California. The soft color also made me feel calmer. I eyed my black-and-white Converse sneakers and decided tying them wouldn’t be fun, so I settled on my handy-dandy flip-flops instead.
    After about an hour of pretend rest, I went downstairs and assured my way out the door, promising to call her when I got there. My mother’s eyes were burning a hole in my back as I walked to my Jeep.
    Feeling her stare, I tried to swiftly and smoothly slide into my seat. That part was easy. It was inserting and turning the key in the ignition with my left hand that tripped me up. I dropped the keys and felt the clock count down to the moment my mom would come bursting out of the house and tell me it was too dangerous.
Come on, Sophie
.
Get it together
.
    Determined not to appear incapable, I shoved the key in and turned it. My baby roared to life. Within seconds, I was driving away, happy to be a free bird and anxious to get to my destination.
    About halfway there, I realized that I’d done it again.
Darn it. I am truly an idiot. What was I thinking?
I had just left my house to go to Wes’ without telling him, placing myself in the same position my overconfidence had put me in before—alone and vulnerable. He was going to be so mad.
    I couldn’t help it. I’ve always been a person who knows what I want. I set my sights on something and go get it, and right then my sights were on Wes.
Okay, who am I kidding?
I could convince myself that I was right to take my spontaneous solo trip, but the fact was, he was still going to be mad. I drove like a granny the whole way there, just hoping to earn some brownie points for safety. I rang his bell at about noon.
    He practically yanked me inside and spun me around to see if I had any limbs missing. “Sophie, what are you doing?” he pressed, cornering me in his foyer.
    “What does it look like?” I kicked off my flip-flops and brushed past him. “I’m visiting you.”
    He was hot on my heels.
Who was I kidding?
“All right, all right. I’m sorry.
Really
sorry. I should’ve called, but I just wanted to see you.”
    His face was conflicted. I’d seen it like that before but couldn’t pinpoint where. Regardless, I didn’t like it.
    I stepped closer. “Come on, Wes, I’m here. I’m fine. I’m sorry. I’ll call next time.”
    He turned one corner of his mouth up to acknowledge the apology, but the lines of his face were still hard and