I was out the door and running for the station before I had finished reading it.

The 7:15 bus was already idling, its engine roaring, and I could see her through a window near the back, sitting very still.

I got on without a ticket, without a thought, and stood in the aisle beside her seat.

“Please get off this bus with me,” I said.

“Callahan.” She would not look up.

“You have to let me go.

I am ruining you.