Also when the doctor comes into the room to check on Scotty right before Ann goes home, "She stood in her coat for a minute trying to recall the doctor's exact words, looking for any nuances, any hint of something behind his words other than what he had said" (Carver 242). Ann keeps on thinking that there is something that they aren't telling them or that something else is the matter with Scottie and she is trying to figure it out. Howard on the other hand keeps assuring his self and Ann that that is how Scottie is supposed to be because that's what the doctor has told them. Ann is listening to her own feelings inside, her gut feelings, and Howard is just paying attention and going by what the doctor is saying about their son.
Another contrast in the story is how Howard doesn't talk to anyone about the accident and Ann does. Howard never tries to talk to anyone about the accident but Ann tries to talk about the accident with the family in the waiting room. Ann told them what has happened to their son and they told her what has happened to their son. "She wanted to talk more with these people who were in the same kind of waiting she was in. She was afraid, and they were afraid" (Carver 243). Ann wanted to talk to someone that was going through the same situation that she was going through. Maybe she thought it would make her feel better to talk about her son with people that are going through the same type of situation that she is.
Ann and Howard reacted the same to the fact that their son was in an accident. They both just couldn't believe that it had happened since everything has been so perfect in their lives. As Howard is driving home from the hospital to take a break, he was thinking, "Until now, his life had gone smoothly and to his satisfaction - college, marriage, another year of college for the advanced degree in business, a junior partnership in an investment firm.
