Sara stopped by the very morning Daniel got home from the hospital. He was sitting in a spanking new wheelchair, his cast-encased right leg elevated, otherwise naked but for a black tee shirt and a paisley blanket upon his lap. “Oh, poor thing,” Sara said, smiling.

“Sorry about the lack of pants,” Daniel said. “Too hard to put on anything below the waist.”

“Maybe I could lend a hand,” Sara offered.

“Thanks, but too hard to take off, too.”

“I could be coaxed into a round trip,” Sara said. “So how did this happen?”

“Wrong place at the wrong time,” Daniel said. “Or maybe no good deed goes unpunished.”

“You stuck your nose where it didn’t belong?”

“I suppose,” Daniel admitted. “If not my nose, my kneecap.”

Sara chuckled.

“No laughing matter, and it hurts whether I laugh or not,” Daniel said.

“Okay, the details please. I’ll listen while I make you a cup of tea.”

“With whiskey,” Daniel specified.

“Of course,” said Sara.

“Okay. I was having dinner at Carlo’s. Spaghetti with grilled asparagus. My usual table. Not half a glass of wine into the meal, when this lovely young lady walked past my table. I couldn’t help notice something fell from her purse. Something white and semi-fluttery, and it landed just a foot or two from my table. Naturally I picked it up.”

“Naturally,” said Sara. “White and fluttery. A dove?”

“Panties,” said Daniel. “White cotton, a bit bunched up, a bit damp.”

“Aha, the plot thickens,” said Sara. “Were they redolent of cunt?”

“Redolent,” said Daniel. “Nice word. I remember when I first encountered it I thought it was pronounced re-DOLE-ent. But yeah, a nice scent.”

Sara smiled. “I knew it had something to do with you sticking your nose where it didn’t belong.”

“I didn’t inhale,” Daniel protested. “Nothing like that. Anyway, I followed the young lady to her table and made to return the lost bit of apparel. ‘Pardon me, miss, but you seem to have... ‘ Her burly companion took immediate offense. Whacked my knee with a chair.”

“How horrible!”

“Yeah. But you should see the chair. So here I am, laid up for who knows how many weeks.”

“Like Jimmy Stewart in that Hitchcock film.”

“I suppose,” Daniel said.

“But with a better view,” Sara observed. “No apartments across the way with Perry Mason dismembering his wife.”

“Depends on your perspective,” Daniel said. “Nothing to see but the forest and the trees. A snatch of field. On nights when the moon is bright maybe owls plucking up bunnies and mice. Otherwise it’s just me and my imagination.”

“Well, that’s something,” said Sara. “Your tea is ready. Honey?”