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"We don’t know yet," Mãe said

Noere driving on a two-lane road with marshlands and water on either side I rolled down theto smell the salt in the breeze The ns and shabby souvenir shops My mother said it had been different when she summered there as a child She and my father first met on the beach when they were children "All of that seeo," she said now

She turned the car into a small street that dead-ended at the beach and parked the truck After we got out, she rested her hands on my shoulders "Remember what I told you," she said "He doesn’t look the way you rean to truly be afraid

Mãe led ravel path to a house on stilts that faced the beach I heard the low hiss of the ocean not far away We clireen door

Dashay opened the door, talking into a cell phone--a surprise, since she and my mother had never used one, in et it Thank you, Dr Cho See you soon" She clicked off the phone and hugged each of us as we ca in the room, except the absence of estured to the left "Wait," she said, but I was already

The s of the rooure lay beneath a quilt on the double bed, dark hair against a pillow, face turned toward the wall Next to the bed, an IV pole held two bags, one of clear fluid, one of red The red one had a tube attached to it that ran under the quilt

"Father?" I said

Behind me, Dashay said, "Did you tell her?" and Mãe said, "Yes"

"Father?" I walked closer He didn’t move I bent over hio hit rabbed me, pulled me backward

His eyes were half-open, but he didn’t seeht across the bones He re ready to die

When Dr Cho arrived that afternoon, I’d recovered enough to frame a dozen questions What caused my father’s condition? What were his chances of survival? I practiced the questions on my mother and Dashay, who didn’t have any answers

Dr Cho was a tiny wo black hair held back by a clip and a serene, oval face She didn’t mince words "Severe he down faster than his body can replace the risk of heart failure"

I said, "Is he going to die?"

"He needs a in, the better his chances"

Dr Cho had brought plastic bags of blood with her; as she lifted thelowed in the afternoon sunlight, their color between erator, except for one that she carried into the bedroom

Mãe, Dashay, and I offered to help, but she said that would come later We sat at the kitchen table while she worked There wasn’t a sound in the place except for the ocean

Suddenly I said, "Is he in pain?"

Mãe and Dashay looked at each other Dashay said, "We don’t know He stopped talking days ago, and his thoughts aren’tmuch sense"

We sat silently at the table Dr Cho caht "What, is this a funeral?" she said "Go take a walk on the beach"

"How is he?" Mãe’s voice sounded scratchy

"He’s very sick You know that His heart rate isn’t regular, and I’ doesn’t iet outside, look at the moon Then we need to eat some dinner, please" For a small person, her voice carried enormous authority

We shuffled out of the roo the path to a ramp that led to the beach The darkness and the sounds of the ocean swelled around us The ht, but we couldn’t see it because of cloud cover, and I was glad I let my face lose its stoic expression, and I felt it contort Grief felt close to rage, that night, and I didn’t want the others to see what I felt

He can’t die, I thought He’s a vaht, I wanted all the myths to be true And for the first ti of my cell phone sounded so inappropriate I sensed Mãe and Dashay flinch at the sound of Swan Lake

The last voice I expected to hear was Walker’s He said he was at home in North Carolina Then he asked where I was, and I told him I told him my father was sick, and he said he was sorry He asked if he could come to help, and when I told hi to take you on a picnic," he said

I couldn’t iine it "That sounds nice," I said

"We’ll eat strawberries, and I’ll show you the new tricks I’ve learned," he said "When are you co back?"

"I’m not sure yet" I didn’t have the heart to tell hi back at all

He said, "Ari, I can change a stone into a flower"

Chapter Thirteen

At soht, I awoke, not sure where I was What oriented me were the smell of the ocean and the odor of blood

Mortals often say that blood smells metallic To me it smells like ozone with a hint of copper, and its sh the blue-tinged air into the kitchen A night-light burned above the stove Dr Cho sat at the table, eating a bowl of the shriht For sohed more than a hundred pounds, Dr Cho had an iumbo at dinner The rest of us ate very little