“Allie, help me empty this,” he said.
She turned and got to work, pitching bottles of Coke overboard and pieces of shelves. They were nearly done when the sound of debris smacking together made Allie turn, shining her light in the distance about a hundred feet.
“The shark’s back!” she cried, voice high, her light on the tip of the tiger shark’s fin. She caught it for a split second before it dipped silently below the surface. “Dallas!”
“It’s not going to have you as a snack,” Dallas promised Kai, whose grip tightened on the car.
Po, on top of the car, whined anxiously. “Shark!” he cried, pointing and looking scared.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you, okay?” Allie said. “Just sit tight.”
“Give me your hand, Kai.” Dallas was already reaching out, trying to pull Kai into the open case. The first time, the case nearly tipped over, and Kai fell back in the water. They tried twice more, failing each time.
Furiously, Allie shone her light back and forth, trying to find the shark. “I can’t find it, Dallas. I can’t find the shark.” Panic laced her words.
“Something brushed me,” Kai murmured, trying to keep calm. “Something big.”
Allie shone her light frantically, but all she illuminated was blue water.
Dallas knew it was now or never. The shark, drawn by the blood from Kai’s leg, circled beneath the waves, trying to decide if Kai was worth a bite.
“Come on!” he cried. With one mighty heave, Dallas pulled, and Kai shouted in pain as his broken leg came out of the water. He thumped into the open refrigerator case just as Allie shouted, “There!” Her spotlight caught the fin of the shark, sweeping so close to the kayak its tail nearly slapped the boat. Dallas grabbed some rope from the storage compartment of the kayak and tied the case to the back of the boat.
“That was close. Too close,” Kai said, leaning his head back on the edge of the refrigerator. “Your turn, Po.”
Allie shone the light on the shark as it disappeared underwater again.
The little boy sat on the floating car, shivering, his eyes wide with fear. He’d seen the shark, and the stubborn line of his chin said the last thing he wanted to do was go near the water or in a small kayak.
“Come in, buddy. Come in here with me. It’ll be okay.” Kai tried to coax the boy off the car and into the refrigerator case, but the boy didn’t want to budge. Suddenly, Allie reached into the pocket of her sundress and pulled out a piece of mango candy from Teri’s shop.
“Hey, Po. Do you like mango candy?” The boy’s eyes grew bright with excitement. “You can have all these pieces. Just let Kai help you.”
The boy studied the sweets in Allie’s hand. Then he glanced warily at the water. Eventually, he made his choice and hopped into the case with Kai. Allie handed the boy the small bunch of candy, and he swiped it eagerly, ripping open his first piece.
“Good thinking,” Dallas told Allie with approval as he started to paddle them away from the car.
“How’d you find me?” Kai asked.
“I came as soon as Jesse called, telling us you weren’t answering your phone.”
“Lost my phone as soon as the first wave hit.” Kai grimaced as he shifted his weight, trying to get comfortable. “I’d left the beach, packed up my board and was on my way when I drove by the day care to check on my cousin’s daughter, Reese, and saw a bus full of kids and a frantic preschool teacher. The bus driver was arguing with her that they had to go and was threatening to leave her. I stopped, and that’s when she told me Po was missing. Turns out, he’d run off across the street to the gas station. He thought he saw his mom’s car.”
Kai ruffled Po’s hair.
“I sent the bus along, promised the teacher I’d look for Po, and she, in a panic, left,” Kai said. “I found him at the gas station, wandering around, not even crying. He’s one tough kid.” He ruffled Po’s hair. “But then I saw the water come. We ran to the day-care center, headed upstairs. The first wave shook the building and knocked the power out and tossed some furniture around, including a pretty heavy snack refrigerator. That’s what broke my leg. The second and third waves were really bad, and the third washed us out of the second floor completely. That’s when we ended up outside.”
Po blinked at Kai, a big black mud smudge across his nose, dirt and mud the only signs he’d been in a tsunami at all. “Po can swim, let me tell you. He’s a surfer in the making. He rode that third wave as if he was meant to be there.” Kai ruffled the boy’s jet-black hair again. The boy smiled. “I tried to stay close to the day-care center. We spent a lot of time swimming to it, but my leg made for slow going. I knew Jesse would send someone there if she didn’t hear from me, and I figured it was our best shot. Plus, Po here said they keep a big thing of goldfish crackers and apple juice boxes in the top shelf upstairs in the snack room, and we were getting hungry, weren’t we, Po?”
The boy nodded sharply.
“Did you see any other survivors?” Kai asked them.
“No,” Dallas said softly, thinking of the man who didn’t make it.
Kai whistled. “There were still cars on the street when it hit.” He shook his head, solemn. Everyone in the boat grew silent as Dallas paddled, and the only sound for a while was the plastic oar dipping in and out, dripping salt water. After what seemed like forever, they got back to the sparking signal light not too far from where they’d parked.
“You doing all right, Po?” Allie asked the little one, who was busy chewing on the sticky candy. The boy nodded furiously. When they finally got to the shoreline, Dallas saw the water was farther from the truck than he remembered. The floodwaters were receding, slowly but surely. Allie helped Dallas pull the kayak up and dragged the floating refrigerator case to the shore, which took some doing. Once safe from the water, Dallas backed up his truck, bed side facing Kai, so that all they’d have to do was lift him a short ways. Dallas held one of his arms and Allie held the other, and together they lifted him to the truck bed, where they laid him down. The effort caused him quite a bit of pain, and he grunted as he slid down on the metal, his face going pale. Dallas glanced at the wound, wishing he knew enough first aid to help, but didn’t as he stared at the leg, clearly bent the wrong way. The bone had broken the skin, and blood dripped down. All in all, Dallas didn’t like the look of the leg, not one bit.
“We’ve got to get him to the hospital,” Allie said. “Where’s the closest one?”
“Kona Community Hospital,” Dallas said as he swung himself in the driver’s seat. Allie helped Po into the cab of the pickup, but he wanted to turn around and stare at Kai through the window. Kai gave him a “hang loose” sign, and the boy mirrored it. Dallas handed Allie his phone. “Call Jesse, would you? Tell her what’s happened.”
Allie pulled up his contacts and dialed while Dallas drove through the roads that were far enough from the water that they were left largely undamaged.
“Jesse? It’s Allie. We’ve got good news and bad...” Allie began.
Dallas tuned the rest out. He had to focus on driving. A few streetlights were out, making intersections treacherous. Not many people were on the roads, but enough were, and he hadn’t planned to save Kai just to get in a car accident. He glanced in his rearview, watching the bobbing head of Kai against the back window, hoping his friend was all right. Kai looked way too pale and weak. He’d lost a lot of blood.
“Okay, Jesse. We’ll meet you there.” Allie ended the call. “She’s on her way,” Allie told Dallas, who just nodded.
After easing through a blinking red light and down the street, Dallas saw where most of the people were: the hospital parking lot. Cars and trucks were parked in every available space. Without an alternative, Dallas pulled close to the emergency room entrance, the spot where an ambulance had already stopped, and put on his parking lights. He went into the ER to see if he could get help, and found chaos instead: gurneys and beds lining the hallways, patients overflowing into the waiting area. H
e grabbed a nurse in blue scrubs and tried to explain what they had, and she hurried out the door with him and a wheelchair.
Together, all three of them got Kai out of the truck and into the hospital. She took one look at the leg and whisked him straight through the people waiting in the hallway. Dallas didn’t take that as a good sign at all. He noticed Kai had turned even paler, and worried again about how much blood he’d lost floating in that water.
“I’m taking him in to see a doctor,” the nurse said as she pushed him through the automatic sliding doors of the interior room of the ER. “Wait here, please.”
She held up a hand, leaving Allie, Po and Dallas standing in the hallway.
“Kai!” Po called. The boy’s bottom lip quivered, as if he might cry.
Well, now what? he wondered.
Allie put her arm around the boy’s shoulders, gently guiding him away from the closed doors. “Come on, Po. Let’s see if we can find a snack machine.”
He looked at her in wonder as she calmly but decisively distracted Po from what would have no doubt been a huge, heart-twisting fit. She seemed to have a magic touch.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ALLIE SAT WITH Po on her lap and Dallas next to her in the crowded waiting room. They’d tried, but failed to reach Po’s parents. Dozens and dozens of worried mothers, fathers, wives and husbands pensively sat, hoping to soon hear about the loved ones being treated in the hospital, many of whom were already walking wounded themselves.
Allie glanced down at her own worn bandage, the one covering the cut she’d gotten in the surf, and thought, I fit right in. Allie watched sadly as a man with a bandaged arm held his wife, a woman with a splint on her leg, while they waited for news of their daughter. Allie met the glance of the worried mother and sent her an encouraging smile. She just nodded and went back to hugging her husband.
Po, the adrenaline finally wearing off, laid his head against Allie’s chest and fell asleep. She cuddled him as they waited. Allie didn’t like hospitals, as a rule. She’d spent a long time recovering in one after the accident that killed her father. She had been in her hospital bed when her mother had delivered the bad news. Allie had been asking to see her father for days. He’d died before he’d ever made it to the hospital, but she hadn’t known it until much later.
“We should try messaging his mother again,” Dallas said, looking at the sleeping boy.
Po hadn’t known his phone number, but he did know his mother’s first and last name. Dallas had found someone on Facebook he thought might be his mother, and had messaged her through the site, hoping she was the one.
“We don’t know if that’s even her account,” Allie pointed out.
“Or if she made it,” Dallas added, grimly.
Allie hugged the boy a little more tightly. “Let’s not think like that,” she said, watching the boy’s peaceful face as he slept. “We could try calling the police again.”
“Why? To be put on hold? The last time we waited for fifteen minutes! They’re out dealing with life-or-death emergencies. We’re not in any danger. I’d put us on hold, too.” Dallas shifted in his seat.
Before they could come up with a plan, Jesse hurried through the entrance doors, her tear-streaked face frantic.
“Where is he? Oh, God! Is he okay?” The torture on her face made Allie’s stomach twist into knots. Allie didn’t have brothers or sisters and didn’t know what it was like to have a sibling. She’d always wanted one.
Dallas embraced Jesse, explaining about Kai being in surgery. Dallas gave up his chair for Jesse, who collapsed into it, fretting and exhausted.
“How did you get here so fast?” Dallas asked.
“I borrowed Minnie’s car to get here, but she wanted to stay behind to make sure no one took her spot at the high school,” Jesse explained. “Who’s this little guy?” Jesse nodded to Po, who was sleeping in Allie’s arms.
“Kai saved this boy,” Allie said. “He’s a good man. He’ll be fine.”
It seemed to be the time for reunions, because Allie didn’t get another word out before a woman came bustling through the emergency room doors calling for Po. The Asian woman in her twenties, wearing a halter top and shorts and wedge sandals, hurried in, worry etched on her face. The young mother searched the crowd.
“Here!” Allie called, waving. The woman rushed over.
“Po!” she cried, unable to help herself, as her face lit up in relief and happiness.
The boy awakened at the sound of his name, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “Mom?” he asked groggily, coming to slowly.
“Po!” the mother cried, picking up the three-year-old off Allie’s lap and crushing him into a smothering hug. The boy brightened and hugged his mom back, his small, thin arms holding tightly to her neck. “How can I thank you? I’ve been worried sick. I...I just can’t thank you enough!” she gushed to Dallas and Allie. Both squirmed under the praise.
“Don’t thank us,” Dallas corrected. “Our friend Kai saved him. He’s in surgery for a broken leg.”
The woman’s face paled. “Oh, I hope he’ll be all right.”
“This is his sister,” Dallas said, introducing Jesse. The mother hugged Jesse then, squeezing Po in the middle.
“I’m Jun,” she said, her face brightened by her big white smile. Allie noticed how young she really was. She couldn’t have been older than twenty-four at most, and she wore no wedding band. A young single mom, Allie thought. Allie wanted to know more about her, but the ER waiting room was no comfortable place to get acquainted. The way she held her boy said she loved him more than life itself.
“Thank you. Tell your brother thank you for us. He’s my hero. I just can’t thank you enough.” The mother grew teary, emotion drenching her voice. “Po is...my everything.” She hugged him once more. “You have no idea... I couldn’t get to the day-care center. It was flooded, and no one knew where he was. He wasn’t at the evacuation center...” She nearly choked on her words as she squeezed him more tightly. The hug was so fierce even Po began to squirm.
“Mom!” he protested.
She peppered his face with kisses. “I’m not letting you go for days, mister! Just get used to it.” She tickled him under one arm, and he burst into giggles. Her somber, dark, almond-shaped eyes turned back to Allie. “How can I help you? Can I get you anything?”
Jesse just gently squeezed her arm. “Say a prayer for us, for Kai,” Jesse said.
The woman nodded vigorously. “I will. I promise.” Po yawned, and his mother cradled his head against her shoulder, his long feet dangling by her hips. “I need to get Po home. But if you need anything, you call. My apartment’s not too far. And let me know when Kai wakes up. I want to come thank him myself.”
She exchanged numbers with Jesse.
“Thank you.” The young mother took Po out the door, Po waving over her shoulder. He held up the last piece of mango candy and grinned.
Jesse watched them leave and sighed. Allie could sense the worry in her every breath. She put her arm around her friend and hugged her.
The wait seemed to go on forever. Every time the doors opened and a white-coated or scrub-clad doctor bustled out, every face in the room snapped to attention. For hours, they waited, and each time the doctor came out, she delivered news to someone else. Allie watched as families received the answers to their prayers and rejoiced, and some had all their hopes crushed in a single sentence. The bad news made the air feel heavier, the dread worse, as if tragic endings might be contagious.
After what seemed like a lifetime, a doctor in blue scrubs arrived for Jesse. Allie held her breath, as if that somehow sealed a pact with God: please, let him be okay. Allie reached out and grabbed Dallas’s hand. He squeezed her fingers in reassurance.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Bradley and I operated on Kai today. He suffered a complex fracture that nicked a major artery, and he lost a lot of blood, but he’s going to be okay.”
A sob of relief escaped Jesse’s throat, and she pressed her fists to her mouth
to stop the tears. Allie felt a wave of gladness roll through her as she hugged Jesse, and Dallas wrapped his big arms around them both.
“Would you like to see him?”
* * *
KAI SHARED A room with another man who’d suffered injuries in the tsunami. The room was intended for one patient, but two beds had been pushed in, the whole hospital overcrowded. His family stood around his bed on the other side of a flimsy curtain. Jesse, Allie and Dallas waited at Kai’s bedside. He was groggy and out of it, but managed to kiss his sister on the cheek.
“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” Jesse scolded, squeezing him in a hug until he begged for release. “I know you like big waves and publicity, Mr. Surfing Champ, but a tsunami?”
Kai chuckled. “I promise I won’t do it again on purpose.” He glanced at Dallas. “Is Po okay?”
“Reunited with his mom and doing fine,” Dallas assured him.
Kai visibly relaxed. “Good, I’m glad.” He locked eyes with Dallas. “Thanks, man. I... Thanks for...”
“No need to thank me,” Dallas cut in, shaking his buddy by the shoulder. “You’ll just never live it down. Usually you’re the one pulling me from the water. Last time we went surfing...”
“You dropped into the water like a stone,” Kai said. He glanced at Allie. “This guy surfs like a ninety-year-old woman.”
“Hey, a spry ninety-year-old with style.”
They all laughed. As the mirth died down, Allie felt a sudden fatigue sweep over her. She yawned without even meaning to, and abruptly covered her face with her hands.
“So sorry,” she murmured, feeling quite tired. The midnight search-and-rescue mission had gone on awhile, and then the surgery had lasted nearly until dawn. Pink sunlight lit the hospital window.
“It’s late—or early, depending,” Dallas said. “We should get going, but we’ll be back later to give you more of a hard time.”
Kai grinned. “Thanks, man.”
Her Hawaiian Homecoming (Mills & Boon Superromance) Page 16