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you out. It took the Chinese this long to let you go.”
    â€œWhat the fuck does that mean?”
    â€œIt means they were sending the message they didn’t want anything like this happening again,” Avakian said, still calmly. “And just so you know, if this was a major competition, and the Chinese thought you were in the running for a medal, you’d still be behind bars.”
    â€œHow the fuck am I supposed to compete after this?”
    â€œWas that a question for me?” Avakian inquired.
    â€œYeah, I’m still talking to you…” Avakian gave her his warning look and she held up before she said motherfucker.
    â€œIf you really cared, you would have paid for your shopping instead of trying to lift it. Now, you want to go to the hospital or the team hotel?”
    â€œJust take me to the fucking hotel.” And then a lapse into sullen silence.
    Avakian had been leaning over the seat. The bang and squeal of skidding tires turned him back around even before the car started swerving. Avakian instinctively braced his feet against the floorboard, though for all the good that would do.
    The pileup began down the street, the collisions in neatsuccession as each driver jammed on their brakes too late. Avakian was pretty sure that any advice he might offer Kangmei would be counterproductive at this stage.
    The car in front of them spun out, and Kangmei cut the wheel before they smashed into it broadside. The two cars swapped paint side by side, which was probably a good thing since it slowed them down as they approached the sidewalk. Little Brandi let out a scream so impressive that it felt like someone had forcibly rammed their thumbs into Avakian’s ear canals.
    Even with Kangmei standing on the brakes, they punched between two parked cars, knocking them both out of the way, and went up over the curb and onto the sidewalk. Avakian prepared himself for impact with the upcoming storefront, but the front end only lightly tapped the building as they came to a stop. He let out the breath he’d been holding in and checked the back seats. “Everyone all right?”
    The two women, eyes wide, only nodded. Kangmei, ashen-faced, still gripped the steering wheel. Avakian reached over to shift into Park for him, and turned the key off. “Sit tight,” he said. “I’m going to see what happened.”
    He was able to get out his door, but had to climb over the hood to make his way up the sidewalk. It was about an eight-car pileup, but most of the drivers were already out on the street and shaking it off by screaming at each other. No one seemed badly hurt.
    Up ahead on the sidewalk a China-sized crowd had gathered, and Avakian pushed his way through. The spectators had formed themselves into a neat ring around a young Chinese guy lying in the street. The impact with the pavement had left his exposed skin looking like it had been run through a cheese grater, and the handlebar of hisscooter was sticking right through his left leg, just above the knee. He was moaning and thrashing, breathing hard, and rapidly slipping into shock.
    This was going to require the doctor and her bag. As Avakian turned around to get her, he heard her voice on the outer edges of the crowd saying, “Let me through, please, I’m a doctor.”
    That wasn’t cutting any ice with a Chinese crowd, even if anyone did understand what she was saying. Avakian shoved his way through to her, then shoved his way back with her in his wake. They burst into the minuscule open space surrounding the casualty.
    Doctor Rose knelt down to evaluate the injury and immediately saw that every time the agonized young man moved, the wound around the scooter handlebar opened up and arterial blood pumped out. “Keep him still!” she ordered Avakian.
    Avakian felt carefully to make sure the pelvis wasn’t broken before pinning down the guy’s hips. If they weren’t moving, the legs