Somebody to Lean On

Dear Diary:

I was at the intersection of 88th Street and Madison Avenue one evening in May. I had the light and was starting to cross when a cab came around the corner and hit me.

I was lying in the street, in significant pain and unable to get up. Everyone in the small crowd gathered around me appeared to be calling 911.

The ambulance took longer than expected to arrive. A woman crouched down near me.

“I’d like to sit cross-legged behind you and have you put your head on my lap,” she said quietly.

And then she did just that. I rested on her lap until the ambulance finally got there. I asked her name.