The Running Dream

Before she falls asleep that night, Jessica gets an idea. The next morning, she heads into the garage, pulls out the wheelchair, and throws a sack of soil in it. Then, Jessica tries to run while pushing the wheelchair with Sherlock trailing behind her. She runs their regular route over the bridge, and as hard as it is to run and push the chair simultaneously, she keeps going until she feels blisters forming on her stump.

Jessica is suddenly interrupted by a handsome man who is calling her name and running towards her. To Jessica’s surprise, it’s Gavin, who laughs at seeing her pushing a wheelchair with a bag of soil in the seat. Gavin offers to run with Jessica, but she brushes him off, prompting him to ask Jessica if he bothers her since she is always trying to avoid him. As they run together for a few moments, Jessica says that she doesn’t want Gavin to be kind to her because he feels sorry for her.

Suddenly, Gavin tells Jessica that he broke up with Merryl and that it was a mistake ever to have dated her. He tells Jessica that what he wrote on her running leg was the truth: “You inspire me” (291).