“I googled ‘heatstroke’ because I’ve spent the last two weeks thinking I was going to have one.” Will glanced up. “You must have known, or you wouldn’t have called to me for help.”
“I called to you for help because you’re you. I knew you would keep your shit together in a crisis.”
I sighed with relief as sirens approached. And then Sawyer blinked his eyes open and tried to sit up. “Stay cool, man,” Will said softly, pressing one hand on Sawyer’s chest. He told me, “One of us should go with him to the hospital.”
I wanted desperately to go. More than that, I wanted what was best for Sawyer. “You go, because you’ll be more helpful.”
“I’ll go,” Will agreed, “because you have to work after school.” He looked up at me. “Kaye and Harper told me you took off work and cleaned your house yesterday. Are you okay?”
I nodded.
Sawyer tried to sit up again, struggling against Will’s hand. “What the f**k,” he said weakly. “Get the f**k off me.”
Will glanced at me. “He’ll be okay.”
All at once, the parking lot was bursting with sirens, louder and louder until Will and I put our hands over our ears. An ambulance arrived, plus an overkill pumper truck from the fire department, a couple of police cars that had come to see what all the excitement was about, and Ms. Nakamoto, followed by the principal, who was really booking it across the asphalt. I’d never seen an old lady run that fast, especially in heels. I was impressed.
With all those folks crowding around, there wasn’t anything left for me to do but turn off and coil up the hose and watch the paramedics argue with Sawyer, who insisted he was fine, and promptly threw up. I shared one last look with Will before the paramedics closed him and Sawyer inside the ambulance. As it retreated across the parking lot, I heaved a long sigh and realized for the first time how tense my shoulders had been.
I wandered back down the stairs to the stadium. The band was running through the halftime show. While I watched, four people tripped over Will’s drum, which nobody had the foresight to remove from the middle of the field where he’d dropped it. Before I retrieved my own drum from the bench, I took Kaye aside from the rest of the cheerleaders.
“When class is over,” I whispered, “could you hang out around the boys’ locker room and ask someone to get Sawyer’s stuff for you? I have to work.”
Kaye frowned. “You want me to take it to him? His homework can wait until tomorrow.”
“No, he needs his wallet with his insurance card,” I insisted. “He needs his phone to call people because he won’t remember anybody’s number off the top of his head, and he needs his keys to get inside his house in case he’s actually released from the hospital today.”
“What about his dad?”
“His dad is up in Panama City, selling blown-glass figurines on the pier. They have a bigger Labor Day crowd than we do.”
The resistance on her face melted into sympathy. “What about his brother?”
“You can’t count on his brother for anything.”
I snagged my drum and made my way through the band to my place. As the rest of the period crawled by, I decided it was too bad I couldn’t take the SAT on demand. Right this second I would have made a perfect score.
***
Violet was in a job interview with Bob and Roger in the back office, and I was manning the front counter, when the antique cowbell rang. Will came through the door, his big body blocking so much sun that he made the room turn dark.
“How’s Sawyer?” I asked. I hoped he hadn’t come by to give me bad news personally.
“He’s fine,” Will said. “He’s dehydrated. He’s getting an IV.” He touched the back of his hand with two fingers, which I assumed was where the IV went. “A bunch of people from school are there with him now. He wants you to come by after work.”
I nodded.
Will looked uncomfortably around the shop, as if he didn’t want to meet my gaze, then pointed at the floor. “I’m going to borrow this dog.”
“Okay,” I said, like that was not weird.
“Come on,” he said. Even though his voice hadn’t changed and the dog wasn’t looking at him, she jumped up when he spoke to her. They disappeared out the door.
I stared through the window and into the street, which looked like it always did, as though the boy I loved most in the world hadn’t just bopped in to steal the shop dog. If it wasn’t for the antique bell still swinging on its ribbon and chiming gently, I would have suspected it hadn’t happened at all.
I slid down from my stool, emerged from behind the counter, and leaned out the door, peering down the street. Far away, past all the shops, in the tree-shaded park next to the marina, the dog was chasing Will. Will stopped suddenly and reached for the dog, who bent her body just out of his reach and scampered away. Now Will chased the dog. The dog spun to face him. They both crouched in the stance of a dog at the ready, each daring the other to jump first. Will made a grab and the dog dashed away.
I knew Will was still missing a lot of what he’d had back home. But at least he’d taken this first step toward finding what he needed here in town. I watched him and the dog for a while, playing together in the long shadows of the trees.
***
By the time I made it to the hospital that night, everybody else had cleared out. Sawyer was alone in a room for two patients. The other guy must have died. Sawyer was curled into the fetal position with an IV tube snaking to his hand. He faced away from the door, and his hospital gown fell open to reveal his butt crack, because Sawyer did not care.
“Nice ass,” I said from the doorway.
“Thanks,” he said without moving.
I walked to the other side of the bed. “Are you hungry at all? I thought you might be, since you lost your lunch. I brought you something.” I peeled the aluminum foil off the plate of amarillos, beans, and an empanada. “Violet made it vegan for you.”
He sat up, took the plate and fork I handed him, and shoveled in a mouthful. He swallowed and rolled his eyes. “Oh. My. God. They don’t do vegan at this hospital. I was starving. This is so good.” After a few more bites, he held the plate out to me, offering me some.
“I ate already,” I said.
“Good, because I didn’t really want to give you any.” He ate another mouthful. “Violet should be cooking at the Crab Lab.”