After the campus cop comes more campus cops, and then a bunch of town cops. Then Coach. Then the Rescue Squad. Then a few Deans show up. Then lawyers. Then the Provost and the President. Meanwhile, Blat's like a corpse. The Rescue Squad guys got him on his back; his head raised; ice and towels on his nose. I can tell they're worried that he's still out cold. Everyone else is like Just hurry up and get him the hell out of here. One of the Rescue guys asked me, Did you hit him in the nose? I told him the truth, which was I didn't really remember what happened except I knew I hit him. He fell flat on his face, I told him. Also true. He fell like a cartoon: wobbled around on rubber legs, then fell face forward into the tiles. His head bounced once, blood splattered out of his nose, then that was it. He just lay there bleeding. I stepped over him, went to the phone, called the campus police.

Finally they carry him out all strapped into a stretcher, hooked up to machines, one guy talking to a doctor on a cell phone while he walks beside the stretcher. Blat's nose and eyes are swelling up and turning blue. The rest of his skin's pale white or blackened with dried blood.

The Provost, the President, Coach, they're all asking me Are you sure you're all right, Charmaine? Are you sure you're okay?