Someone had jammed a white-hot poker in him. He came to with the pain. The first thing he saw was a woman’s face.
“Tracy?” He was surprised at how much effort it took to speak. The inside of his mouth was dry as paper, and everything felt stuck together.
He worked his tongue completely free of the roof of his mouth and managed to produce some saliva, running it around his lips with the tip of his tongue.
“Tracy?” he tried again.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “I am not Tracy. My name is Quan.”
The pain shot through him again. He groaned. A cool cloth was applied to his forehead. Gradually his eyes focused on her face. “Jesus,” he said, “this doesn’t look to be hell. Am I in heaven then?”
The woman smiled. “No, sir, this is not heaven. You are in our temple dormitory.” She pressed gently on the cloth. “Would you like some water?”
He nodded.
She lifted his head a bit and brought a straw to his lips. “Please, only a small sip,” she said.
He took in a small amount of water and worked it around his mouth. The pain shot through him again. This time his groan was louder.
She withdrew the straw, then showed him a pill. “You must take this for the pain,” she said, laying it against his lip.
He took it in, then sipped through the straw again.
“What temple?” he asked.
“We are a Daoist temple, here in Honolulu. You were brought to us by Lieutenant Chan.”
“Ah, yes, Lieutenant Chan. Why here?”
“He said he thought this would be the safest place for you to recover.”
“Yes,” he said. “Recover. I remember now. I was shot.”
The woman nodded. “Yes, you were. But the nature of the wound allowed them to bring you here rather than to Queen’s Hospital. The Lieutenant was sure you would be safest with us.”
“Is Chan about?” he said.
“No, not now, but you are in good company with us. There are many of us here. You are safe.”
Just at that moment, a young man came into view, his face entering the man’s frame of vision.
“How are you feeling?” the young man inquired.
“Not so terribly hot, if I do say so,” he said. “But she gave me something.”
“Ah, good.” He turned to the woman. “How long ago?”
“A few minutes,” she said.
He turned back to the man. “The pain should subside substantially in another five minutes, give or take.”
“Who are you?” the man asked.
“My name is David Chan,” said the young man.
The man shook his head slightly. “But . . . I’m sorry, I know David Chan. Am I hallucinating?”
The young man smiled. “No, you’re not. You know my Pop. He’s the cop, I’m the doc. David Chan the third, Mister Daniel.”
“Ah, yes, yes, I remember now, him saying you were coming back to Honolulu. But he said next Monday.”
David III smiled again. “Well, that was last Monday, actually. You’ve been out for five days now. I was wondering if we might have to get you to Queen’s after all.”
“God,” said Daniel. “Well, I guess I did get some kind of a vacation after all.”
Chan laughed. “Yeah, there’s a jolly good way of looking at it.”
Daniel smiled. “This place,” he said, “Quan, here, says it’s a temple.”
“Yes, you’re in the back of Kalihi Valley. This is a Daoist monastery. It’s the safest place my dad could think of. And believe me, the monks here,” he nodded to Quan, “are the best bodyguards around. Trust me, Agent Daniel, they’re all licensed to kill.”
It was Quan’s turn to laugh. “Now now, Doctor Chan,” she said, “we’re not as violent as all that.”
“Yeah right,” said Chan, winking at Daniel.
Daniel said, “So what’s the prognosis, Doc?”
“Well, the shot was through and through. You were hit below the heart, and no major organs were damaged. Given the nature of the wound, the paramedics were able to stabilize you on-site. The determination was made right there to bring you here. You were stitched up, and then, I understand, everyone here started praying.”
“What?”
Chan laughed. “Come to think of it, I guess they do that all the time around here, shooting victims or not. But seriously, before I came in, there were doctors from Queen’s up here. You’ve had the best care. Once I arrived, my dad designated me to be the doctor in residence. Your prognosis is very good. You’ll be up and about in a week or so.”
“You know,” said Daniel, “when I came to, I thought Quan here was my wife Tracy. I was thinking I’d finally made it to heaven.”
“My dad told me,” said Chan. “I’m very sorry to hear about your wife’s passing.”
“Thank you,” said Daniel. “It seems I’ll just have to wait a little while longer before I see her again.”
Quan smiled. David III grasped Daniel’s hand and squeezed it.
Daniel closed his eyes. The medication was working now.
Lanning Lee 