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Hilly. Someone should be taking care of me .”
    I nodded. I continued pumping my leg up and down even though it had caused the baby to spit up a beige goo on my thigh. I wiped it with the back side of my hand. Then, disgusted by its warm, chunky texture, I rubbed my hand across my shirt.
    Where was I ? I asked myself. Normally Margot’s apartment was as familiar and comforting as my own. But right then, it felt like I’d been dumped into a freakish, alternate universe.
    “She’s long past regular post-delivery checkups and she won’t make a doctors appointment,” Jean continued. “I made one appointment for her but she never even got out of bed that day. She can’t even get to the grocery store, let alone back to work. I just…I didn’t know what else to do. You’re her best friend, Hilly.”
    My heart involuntarily leapt at hearing what was perhaps my favorite compliment in the world. At the same time, the obligations that accompanied being crowned Margot’s best friend began to descend like a gloomy afternoon rain cloud. It was not all glory. My head began to throb and I realized that I needed to change my tampon.
    The afternoon before, when I agreed to go to New York, it never occurred to me to stay anywhere but at Margot’s. Yet taking in the chaotic state of her one-bedroom condo, already overrun by baby paraphernalia and already housing two more people than normal, I realized I had to find a hotel room on the double.
    Still holding the baby, I stood slowly and handed her back to Jean, whose whole body sank under the familiar burden.
    “I came right from the airport,” I explained. “Let me, uh, get settled at my hotel and I’ll come back later. Hopefully Margot will be awake by then and we can all talk.”
    Truthfully, though, I had no idea or plan for what I’d even say to her. I didn’t know a newborn from an infant. I was awkward and ill at ease with a baby in my arms. I had no sense, no instinct for what Margot needed or whom to call to help solve this problem. But, as Jean said, I was Margot’s best friend. I had to figure it out.
    “I’ll watch Gretchen for today,” she said wearily. “You strategize.”

CHAPTER THREE
    I crouched on the front steps of Margot’s building with my carry-on luggage as my companion. I’d asked the doorman about the closest chain hotels and I used my phone to book a two-night stay at a nearby Hyatt. Between the last-minute plane tickets and a Manhattan hotel stay, this was turning out to be one expensive favor. Yet that was the least of my worries. The bigger problem was that I still had no idea what I could do for Margot. But after witnessing the unruly state of her apartment, not to mention Jean’s deteriorating health, I knew I had to figure something out.
    It was still barely eight in the morning but luckily the hotel receptionist said they had room for an early check-in. I wheeled my luggage fifteen blocks toward Central Park West. In addition to wanting to avoid unnecessary cab fares, I needed the fresh air.
    Around me, the Upper West Side buzzed to life. Large metal doors clanked musically as they rolled up to reveal shallow newsstands and fancy muffin vendors. Shopkeepers of every ethnic background hosed and swept in front of storefronts. Pantsuit-clad new millennials clicked down Lexington towards subway stations. I fantasized about spending a leisurely day at the Met or perusing sidewalk art vendors in Central Park. Since I’d be able to do neither with my usual New York companion — Margot — I instead forked out twelve bucks for a kale-mango smoothie and checked into the Hyatt.
    Once in my room, I tore off my clothes and stood dead center debating whether I should take a shower or go for a run first. A wave of exhaustion swept over me as I remembered my fitful sleep on the plane and I contemplated taking a nap before either other option. But then I recalled Jesse’s disappointment over the training I’d be missing that weekend. So I rallied