“Too many parking tickets.”
She ignored him.
“That’s what survival gave me.”
Her voice softened.
“Not a perfect life. Just a life.”
After the event, they walked outside.
A blue motorcycle was displayed near the entrance as part of a fundraiser.
Not his.
His riding days had mostly ended.
He touched the handlebars.
“You miss it?”
she asked.
“Every day.”
She smiled.
“I bought a motorcycle.”
He turned so quickly she laughed.
“What?”
“Last month.”
“What motorcycle?”
She told him.
He stared.
“Absolutely not.”
“I’m twenty-five.”
“You’re a doctor. Supposed to be intelligent.”
“I took safety courses.”
“Your mother knows?”
“Yes.”
“Your father?”
“Unfortunately.”
He covered his face.
“This is my fault.”
“You inspired me.”
“That sentence is disgusting.”
She laughed.
Then linked her arm through his.
He looked down.
For half a second, both remembered another parking lot.
A little girl in purple.
Running.
A stranger spreading his arms in confusion.
Neither said it.
They did not need to.
A year later, the biker died peacefully after complications from heart disease.
Not suddenly.
There was time.
Enough time for people to say things.
Never enough time for everything.
The young doctor sat beside his hospital bed during his final week.
His old motorcycle vest hung over the chair.
The metal donor-bracelet case rested on the bedside table.
He looked at her.
“You’re supposed to be working.”
“I took leave.”
“Bad career move.”
“I learned from a retired construction worker.”
“Terrible role model.”
She smiled.
Then he looked toward the bracelet case.
“You keep that.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“It’s yours.”
He looked at her.
“It was always partly yours.”
She cried.
He groaned weakly.
“There she goes.”
“You started it.”
“I’m dying. I’m allowed.”
“That is emotional manipulation.”
He smiled.
“Effective.”
She held his hand.
His voice softened.
“I’m glad it was you.”
She stared.
“The donation.”
Her throat closed.
He continued.
“If somebody had told me beforehand who the recipient would become…”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That’s against your whole philosophy.”