Ellie had been listening to all of this very quietly. Holding Mr. Hops in her lap.
She looked up at Danny.
“My mommy was brave,” she said.
“She was,” Danny said. “She was the bravest person I ever met.”
“Grandma says Mommy was a nurse. Before she had me. In the emergency room.”
Danny looked at me. I nodded.
“Lisa was an ER nurse,” I said quietly. “For eight years. At Truman Medical. She quit when Ellie was born. She was going to go back when Ellie started school.”
“That’s why she knew what to do,” Vanessa whispered. “That’s why she had a knife on her keychain. That’s why she knew to cut the seatbelt. That’s why she knew not to move him the wrong way.”
“She always said you never drive past an accident,” I said. “Never. She said, ‘Mom, I see what happens when people drive past. I see it every shift. Somebody has to stop.’”
