Strangers

hospital work for the duration."
        "Yes. But depending on how you come along, I don't see why you can't help me out at the office."
        "And what if I… threw one of these fits?"
        "I'd be there to keep you from hurting yourself until it passed."
        "But what would your patients think? Wouldn't exactly help your practice any, would it? To have an assistant who suddenly turns into a meshuggene and runs shrieking through the office?"
        He smiled. "Let me worry about what my patients think. Anyway, that's for the future. Right now, at least for a week or two, you've got to take it easy. No work at all. Relax. Rest. These last few days have been emotionally and physically exhausting."
        "I've been in bed. Exhausting? Don't knock a teapot."
        He blinked, confused. "Don't what?"
        "Oh," she said, surprised to have heard those four words pop out of her, lit's something my father used to say. It's a Yiddish expression. Hok nit kain tchynik: don't knock a teapot. It means, don't talk nonsense. But don't ask me why it means that. It's just something I used to hear all the time when I was a kid."
        "Well, I'm not knocking a teapot," he said. "You may have been in bed all week, but it's been an exhausting experience nonetheless, and you need to take it easy for a while. I want you to move in with Rita and me for the next few weeks."
        "What? Oh, I couldn't impose on you-"
        "It's no imposition. We have a live-in maid, so you won't even have to make your bed in the morning. From the guestroom window, you'll have a nice view of the bay. Living around water is calming. In fact, it's quite literally what the doctor ordered."
        "No. Really. Thank you, but I couldn't."
        He frowned. "You don't understand. I'm not just your boss but your doctor, and I'm telling you this is what you're going to do."
        "I'll be perfectly fine at the apartment-"
        "No," he said firmly. "Think about it. Suppose one of these seizures struck while you were making dinner. Suppose you knocked over a pot on the stove. It could start a fire, and you might not even be aware of it until you came out of the fugue, by which time the whole apartment could be ablaze and you could be trapped ' That's only one way you might hurt yourself. I can think of a hundred. So I have to insist that… for a while you must not live alone. If you don't want to stay with me and Rita, do you have relatives who'd take you in for a while?"
        "Not in Boston. In New York, I've got aunts, uncles.
        But Ginger could not stay with any of her relatives. They would be happy to have her, of course - especially Aunt Francine or Aunt Rachel. However, she did not want them to see her in her current condition, and the thought of pitching a fit in front of them was intolerable. She could almost see Francine and Rachel huddling over a kitchen table, speaking in low voices, clucking their tongues: "Where did Jacob and Anna go wrong? Did they push her too hard? Anna always pushed her too hard. And after Anna died, Jacob relied on the girl too much. She had to take over the house at twelve It was too much for her. Too much pressure too young." Ginger would receive considerable compassion, understanding, and love from them, but at the risk of sullying the memory of her parents, a memory she was determined to honor, always.
        To George, who still sat upon the edge of the bed and awaited her response with an obvious concern that touched her deeply, she said, "I'll take the guest room with the view of the bay."
        "Splendid!"
        "Though I think it's a horrible imposition. And I warn you, if I really like it there, you might never get rid of me. You'll know you're in trouble if you come home some day, and I've hired people to repaint the walls and hang new drapes."
        He grinned. "At the first mention of painters or draperies, we'll throw your butt out in the street." He kissed her lightly on the cheek, got up from the edge of the bed, and walked to the door. "I'm going to start the release procedures now, so you should be out of here in two hours. I'll call Rita and have her come pick you up. I'm sure you can beat this thing, Ginger, but you've got to keep thinking positive."
        When he left the room and his footsteps faded down the hall, she stopped struggling to maintain her smile, and it collapsed instantly. She leaned back against her pillows and stared