Catch Me When I Fall by Westerhof Patricia

recall.”
    â€œYeah?” Danny sounded dubious. Valerie opened the glove compartment and handed him the Ford manual.
    â€œLook at the loose sheets inside,” she instructed.
    â€œWow,” Danny said after a minute. “Okay.” Valerie adjusted the rear-view mirror to avoid eye contact with him. “Do you want to go to Wendy’s or Harvey’s for lunch later?” she said. “You could get a veggie burger.”
    â€œI know what you’re doing.” His tone was dry, even a little amused. Valerie turned the mirror back to look at him. “Maybe,” he shrugged.
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    After a half-hour visit with Danny, Dr. Maas sent him to the waiting room with a Sudoku puzzle and asked Valerie to join her.
    â€œDanny’s doing very well,” Dr. Maas said. She seemed to be redecorating her office—the walls were now bare, although inexpertly laminated posters covered the desk. The doctor drummed her fingers on one poster featuring a pudgy skunk and the words “Perfect Is a Trap.”
    â€œHe eats carrots and bread,” Valerie said. “That’s about it.”
    â€œYou’ll need to continue to help him expand his food choices,” she said, sounding unconcerned. “But he’s eating enough, and that’s great. I’m also pleased to see that he’s communicating more openly.”
    â€œI guess he’s coming along.”
    â€œAnd you’re doing a great job supporting him.”
    â€œI am?”
    â€œOf course you are!” The doctor was now sorting through a box on the floor.
    I’m doing a good job, Valerie thought. The words were a chinook after months of cold.
    The doctor produced a somewhat-tattered piece of paper. “You need to sign this form and then we’re done.”
    â€œSo this is it—the end of his treatment?”
    â€œI’m here if you need me. But I think he’ll be fine. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
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    She walked into the waiting room feeling a bit dazed. The way she felt in high school when she had participated in that trust exercise—she couldn’t remember what class it was in. She had to fall backwards off the stage into the waiting arms of her classmates. She knew she would get hurt, probably badly. Why had it felt impossible to opt out? She stood on the edge of the stage, silent and resolute, while her classmates called encouragement. Finally, she let her body go, gravity wrenching her downward. But then they caught her. Her classmates caught her. As they helped her to her feet, she’d thanked them, surprise and genuine gratitude in her voice. A classmate had laughed. “As if we would drop you.”
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    As Valerie and Danny arrived at the elevator, a man in overalls lifted an electrical panel back in place over the wall. “All done,” he called cheerfully to a man in a suit who watched him. “You shouldn’t have any more trouble with it. If it breaks again, though, don’t call me.” He turned and winked extravagantly at Valerie. “Hell, if it breaks again, Jesus Christ hisself couldn’t fix it!”
    â€œShould we take the stairs?” Danny whispered.
    â€œNo,” said Valerie. “I think it will be okay.” She put her hand on his thin back and guided him into the elevator. “Let’s see what happens.”

Probability
    ELLIE PICKED UP a flat stone and flicked it across the sluggish surface of the Blindman River. It skipped across the water, two, three, four times. “Lucky!” Ellie said aloud. Then she thought about Will, the reason she was back in Alberta, and imagined him next to her, his plodding voice explaining that it wasn’t luck, just the shape and density of the rock, the angle and speed of the throw, gravity, wind velocity and direction, and the surface of the water. She tossed another