I sit inside the plush, leather-scented interior of my car, the engine humming a low, vibrations-filled song beneath me. I reach out and send a small wave to my mother as her car pulls away. I am planning on returning to the hospital, but the city of New York has other plans. The traffic is a nightmare. It is tight, suffocating, and unmoving, like a giant metal snake frozen in the heat. There must have been a massive collision upfront.

I am stuck. To my left is a towering, dirty delivery truck, ...