Page 4 of Free Heart
The next thing I do is open the incoming message from Celli expressing her worry, dismay, and optimism. I ignore all that when I respond.Hey, I hate to ask, but I’m prob gonna be in Fresno for at least 24 hours. Can you feed Peggy Jo’s cats?
Of course! Any news about Dan yet?
No. Romeo eats the diet food, but the others all get the regular stuff. The cans are in the pantry. They eat in the morning and at night. Can you also make sure the water bowl is full?
No problem. Do they have him off the ledge?
I don’t think so.
I send her the information about where to find the hidden key to get into Peggy Jo’s place and then typeI have to go.
Keep us in the loop. We’re all worried!
I respond with a heart emoji.
I’m just about to mute my phone because I can’t handle whatever incoming messages might arrive next when it goes off with a familiar Astro ringtone. My face pressed up against Dan’s flashes onto my screen. It’s the photo I took of us the morning after the night on Pothole Dome, a look in our eyes of a new beginning for both of us. The song keeps playing and the phone vibrates in my hand.
Lowell casts a glance at it and says, “Pick up.”
My fingers finally respond, and I press the phone to my ear and whisper breathlessly, “Dan?”
“Hey. No, sorry, this is Rye. I’m up here with him. I knew you’d be worried.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“He’s…he’s… well, he’s passed out right now. He keeps coming to and then going back out again. The good news is we think all the blood is just from a laceration on his face. But we won’t know for sure if we’re looking at a bigger head injury until we get him out of here. We also don’t know about his spine or his back…he can’t stay awake long enough for a clear assessment. But his leg… It’s…well, it’s a fucking mess.”
“Rye, be honest with me. Is he going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. He’s breathing, and he’s gonna be airlifted out of here with some of the best flight care attendants in the world. And they’re letting me go with him.”
“Alright.”
“Are you down in the meadow? Where are you?”
“I’m on my way to Fresno. I’ll meet him there.”
“Great. Wait, you’re driving?”
“No. Lowell Moody is taking me.”
Rye pauses, and I hear more voices from his end of the line. Something about being ready to start moving Dan now. “You’re in good hands. See you in Fresno.”
The phone call ends, and I hesitate in swiping my phone to mute. What if Rye wants to reach out again? Or if Dan wakes and demands to speak to me?
“Rye’s not going to call again until they get to the hospital. You can mute it until we get close.”
I nod and do as Lowell suggests.
The one person who hasn’t contacted me, though, is probably the one person who should know. But I don’t want to tell her what’s happened just yet, and with any luck, what’s going on at El Capitan won’t make it to the national news until later in the day, if at all. Thank God Peggy Jo doesn’t do social media.
Lowell says, “People want to help. Express their love. Whatever. But sometimes they just need to shut the fuck up.”
On another occasion, I’d probably have laughed at that. “You sound like you know.”
“I do. I’ve seen a lot of shit. Problem is I can’t unsee it.” Lowell taps his temple. “Things get loud in there. Memories. Messed-up stuff. Sometimes I just need to be quiet so I can hold it together. That what you need right now?”
“I don’t know if I need quiet.” But I definitely don’t need to explain to twenty people that I don’t know anything about whether Dan’s going to be all right, or try to justify what he’s done, or why he did it. “I don’t have answers for them, though. I don’t know what’s going to happen any more than they do.”
