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She pauses, closes her eyes, and she’s in it In a trance "And Mr Wilder is getting frantic, because every tiets close to the shore of this island, one of those backaves pushes us out farther Like in that one movie, where Tom Hanks is that castaway dude on that island with his pet volleyball?"

Cabe chuckles "I think it’s called Cast Away, Hannagan"

"Yeah Whatever Meanwhile, Mrs Wilder is still sitting on the deck, reading a book, oblivious to the storet inside the cabin and get the life jackets out, but she can’t hear hi and sla out into the water The yacht is in smithereens, and all the stuff that was inside the cabin is floating around, being carried by waves

"Mrs Wilder is flailing and drowning in the water, and Mr Wilder swis up out of the water He sees his wife struggling, and he grabs life jackets--there are at least fifteen of theht or nine of the on his arms He starts to swim toward her…"

Janie closes her eyes and ss Her voice is shaking "And I think, he’s going to save her…"

Cabel bites his lip

Captain offers her a break

She waves her hand, trying not to lose concentration, and continues

"He starts to swi her, he says…um…he says, ‘You can rot in hell, you old bitch’ And then he swims past her, toward the shore, with all those life jackets" She takes a breath "Like they are thein his life And…"

She pauses

Continues in an odd voice "And the jackets, they aren’t floating any hio"

Janie opens her eyes and looks soleht just be sewn inside the life jackets, sir"

Captain is already dialing the phone trying to get a search warrant for the yacht Cabel’s s open

Janie’s head throbs "Do you have any Excedrin?" she whispers 10:30 am

Janie and Cabel sit down for theirsilently down her cheeks, closes her blank blue book, stands up, turns it in, and walks out of the classroooes Cabel scribbles a few more answers, waits a few minutes, and turns his in too Initially, he looks in the parking lot for her and, seeing her car being slowly covered in the snowstor in this oes back inside the school and searches the rooms He finds her, finally, passed out on her table in the eency roo on Suggests et stuck in the dreams of random hospital visitors

When they arrive at the ER, they’re ushered to a private roorins "I love this job," he ive her an IV, and then Cabel takes her to his house She sleeps a long time He sleeps too, on the couch

She blames it on the salty sea

GLORY AND HOPE

December 16, 2005, 4:30 pm