The First Stone

An orderly named Matt McKillup takes Leeza to the sixth floor of the rehab center. Even though she’s in great pain, Leeza notices that her mother is annoyed that her stepfather, Jack, says he has to get back to work. At this point, Leeza knows that Jack didn’t visit often during the coma. She also noticed that he avoided eye contact with her. She realizes that, between her and Ellen, this has been a brutal time for him. Leeza will be sharing a room with a small, exuberant redheaded woman named Brett Turner. She and Matt banter as Leeza listens to someone on the floor moan in pain.

Leeza fixates on her next morphine dose as her mother briefly leaves with a nurse. She feels helpless. When the pain starts, Brett tells her to focus on a sprinkler on the ceiling. She says choosing a focal point was the only thing that helped her in the earliest days of the worst pain. Brett tells Leeza about her parents and her boyfriend, Sam. Brett has a good support system. Leeza realizes that she had felt the same way before losing Ellen. When Brett asks if anyone died in the accident, Leeza says, “Just me” (93).