Chapter Five Ren #5
“Pitch?” I squint at him in the sun. By God, he’s unflappable. Still wearing his letterman jacket, hair still somehow perfectly coiffed with his fancy glop, smile still broadening his face. “News flash, buddy, I don’t think you’re going to make the game against Hollywood Hills.”
“Yeah, they got off easy. We would’ve kicked their asses.” He wastes no time using our situation to create a bit of revisionist history—in reality, Hollywood Hills got us every time. “I’m forming a new team here. You gotta join!”
“Hey, is your dad here?” Normally I avoid Dr. Suzuki as much as I avoid Mr. Nomura—but hell, if Dr. Suzuki can help Emi, I’ll wear a three-piece suit and recite the Lord’s Prayer every time I’m in his presence.
“He is, but they got him running all over the place.” Kai practices a few swings.
In his hands, the bat glides effortlessly through the air.
It always has. “We hardly see him. He stopped in about an hour ago after being gone all night to tell us he was headed into emergency surgery. Some old guy with a perforated ulcer. Why? You want him to look at your arm?”
“It’s Emi.” I have a hard time even saying her name. Makes the fear in me spike, overcoming my happiness at realizing I have a friend here. Kai lowers the bat and his grin fades.
“Is she okay?”
“She needs a doctor. She has a pretty bad fever.” I take a breath. “Please, when you see him, can you ask him to come? Apartment one, barrack seven.”
“Of course I will.”
“Thanks.” My voice cracks with relief, and Kai punches me somberly on the good shoulder.
“Come on, Dragon,” he says. “You’re the strong one, remember? You’ve done hard time!” He’s the only person who’s never held my arrest against me and the only person I don’t mind mentioning it.
“Yeah, because jail for a few nights makes me Al Capone,” I say after vigorously clearing my throat.
“All right, I gotta run. My mother sent me to find Lio and drag him back for lunch with us. But hey”—he socks my good shoulder again—“I’m glad you’re here, Dragon. Even if we’re cooked.”
“You too, Tiger,” I say, and I don’t think I’ve ever meant anything more.
He charges off, baseball bat propped on his shoulder. I take a deep breath. Dr. Suzuki knows us. He’ll help us. I pick up my fox and kiss it in thanks. Then I turn to head back to my barrack to tell Mama the good news.
When I get there, cigarette smoke and steam from a pot of boiling water on the stove give weight and flavor to the air.
I tell everyone the good news and then we wait.
Emi lies in her bed, fitfully dozing. Mama and Nurse Rose sit next to her while Mr. Nomura frowns and pages through a thick book on maternal medicine.
Every now and then he pauses, shakes his head, and grumbles, “How old is this? I wouldn’t be surprised if it suggested leeches,” or some other comparison to outdated medicine.
When Dr. Suzuki arrives, everyone but Emi rises to their feet.
We’re all so relieved and happy he’s come, you’d think he’s the returning Messiah.
I almost don’t recognize him. Usually, he’s as coiffed as Kai—sometimes more so.
Today, he looks like an inside-out shirt, all rumpled and worn, even as he jokes with Mama that he’s worth two doctors because he had to go through medical school twice, once in Japan and once in America.
He talks to Mr. Nomura for a few moments, and they commiserate about how old the medical book is here in camp.
Then, Mama and Nurse Rose hold up a sheet and he examines Emi. Afterward, he comes to speak quietly with Mama and me.
“I think there’s a tear in the placenta,” he says.
His tired eyes are suddenly heavier. “It’s causing infection and, as a result, her fevers.
My biggest concern is delivery. If there’s an abruption, it could cause significant bleeding.
She needs a hospital.” My teeth grit at his conclusion, same one I’ve known ever since we arrived.
“I’ll talk to WRA officials. Thing is, they’re a new agency and every decision takes weeks. ”
“She doesn’t have weeks,” I protest. Dr. Suzuki’s face tightens in disapproval at my tone, but he also doesn’t disagree. His expression makes me suddenly want to tuck in my shirt. Unexpectedly, he says, “Kai is glad you’re here.”
With that, he turns to go, though he says he’ll be back to check on Emi later.
I sink down to sit on the edge of my cot.
Hopefully, Dr. Suzuki has more success with the administration than me.
At first, my emotions are riled up, filling me with anger at Mrs. Ross and every damn useless official in this place.
Eventually, though, my anger dwindles. Sitting still makes me more aware of my aching shoulder.
It also makes thoughts of Violet flood my mind.
Around midnight, I told her. I’m still going.
My dulled, tired mind stupidly wanders. I find myself thinking she’s the kind of girl who does what she wants.
But there’s no way.
There’s no world in which she’d ever go through the fence, and definitely not with me.