Danny whipped his head up towards that voice. A young man, looking no more than the age of
twenty-six, jogged his way towards them. His face was filled with concern as he knelt down
next to Meg. "C'mon, son, we have to get her some help."
"Is she is she" Danny was afraid to ask, for fear that it might be
true.
The man, with eyes almost eerily identical to Danny's, smiled softly at the young
boy. "No she still has a pulse but that was a pretty damn harsh fall she
took."
With flawless ease, the stranger swooped a limp Meg into his arms.
Startled by that move, Danny leapt to his feet, "Wait! Where are you taking her?
You're not supposed to move her—"
"Relax, son I'm just taking her to my car to rest until the ambulance
arrives." The kind man reassured Danny.
"Your car?" Danny shook his head, momentarily confused for he swore that
the man had arrived with no vehicle in sight until an old slick Black Buick
materialized in front of him.
Danny made his way towards the stranger and Meg. The man had placed the car top down and
was now covering a blanket over Meg's body. Danny jumped in the front seat, leaning
over to keep his eyes on his best friend.
"You're scared of losing her, aren't ya, kid?"
"My name's Danny not kid,' sir." Danny answered, his voice
tight. He hated being called "kid" from anyone. Not even Meg dared call him
"kid."
"Well, then, it goes the same for me, Danny." The man chuckled, "
Sir' makes me sound too old for my age call me Walker."
A small smile seemed to form on Danny's face, "That's my mother's
maiden name. Walker."
"Interesting" Walker nodded, returning the smile. He sat next to Danny,
his eyes gazing over young Meg.
A calm silence fell upon the two. Time passing at an agonizing pace for Danny. His nerves
tensed up, praying and wishing that they get here soon. A gentle hand found its way onto
Danny's shoulder, giving it a reassuring grip. Danny glanced at Walker, meeting eyes
with God-send.
"I'm really grateful that you're here, Walker that you saw what
happened and came to the rescue"
"Well you're welcome, Danny." Walker beamed at him.
Danny returned his gaze onto Meg. Suddenly, "I love her" He blurted out.
Danny began to blush as he realized what he just said, but recovered with,
"She's my best friend she's like family to me we were
practically born together—same birth date and all that"
"I know how you feel, Danny. But nothing's gonna happen to her. I remember a
time where I thought I almost lost my best friend."
"What happened?"
Walker's eyes began to glaze over wistfully. "A bad crash" Was all he
said as he turned his head away at the painful memory.
Danny sensed that his friend's near death was an awful experience that might be best
to leave in the past. To Walker, "I'm sorry, Walker. You don't have to tell
me"
Walker nodded, then met eyes with young Danny. "Maybe someday, Danny. If you
want maybe someday I'll tell you."
The young teen didn't know what to make of the cryptic promise, but at the immediate
faint sound of an ambulance approaching, Danny forgot to question all about it.
"Meg Kahealani you hear that? Huh? The ambulance you've always
wanted to ride one, huh?" Danny half-joked, wanting to see the lighter side of this
bad experience. He feigned a laugh, but finding it hard to chuckle when a part of his
heart was breaking at the sight of his best friend's condition.
However, Walker made it easier to smile when he began to laugh. "Cute, Danny
real cute"
The red and white emergency vehicle soon made its way towards the Buick. Walker turned
towards the ambulance, and stepped out of the car. To Danny, hope and faith sparkling in
his eyes, "I'm going to meet up with the paramedics, okay, Danny? Stay here with
Meg. Hold her hand and let her know that you're here with her."
Danny nodded, smiling at Walker. He turned to Meg, reaching for her hand. As he heard the
ambulance come to a stop, he turned back around but found to his shock that Walker
wasn't in sight.
"Walker?"
"Hey, kid! What happened?" One paramedic, with the tag Wallace, approached them,
while his partner, Cooper, ran to get the stretcher.
Danny glanced at Meg, still thrown off by Walker's disappearance. He then shook
himself out of it and began to tell Wallace about the accident.
When he was through, Meg was already placed in the stretcher and nearly in the ambulance.
A Maui Police Department squad car had made its way onto the scene as well. Danny watched
helplessly as Meg was taken in the emergency vehicle, that was headed all the way to
Wailuku.
"Y'know, son, what you and your friend just pulled was really
dangerous" A police officer was saying to Danny as he was taking down
statements.
Danny could care less about the upcoming disciplinary lectures he would receive. He
practically heard it all whenever any, and mostly all, of Meg's stunts turned wrong.
Right now, he was more concerned for Meg's life.
To the cop, he sighed wearily, "Look, Officer Keahi, can we talk about how stupid us
kids were later? I really want to ride in the ambulance with my best friend can
I?" He looked at the police officer, then at Wallace.
Wallace nodded, "Sure, kid. Just jump in back,"
"Wait a minute, Danny," Officer Keahi began to protest, but Wallace cut him off.
"Don, c'mon, now, talk to him later, kay? He almost lost his best friend
today and just might if we don't get her to the hospital."
Danny gave Officer Keahi an almost near puppy dog pleading look. Sighing, he relented.
"Fine, Danny. I'll get your statements later."
Danny smiled, mumbled a "Thank You" and ran to jump in back. Cooper handed Danny
an I.V. bag, instructing him to hold it with care on the ride to Wailuku Memorial
Hospital. The paramedic reached over and was about to shut the door when Officer Keahi
placed his hand on the door.
"What'd you want, Don?" Cooper asked, weary and anxious to get the young
girl some immediate medic attention.
Officer Keahi tossed something to Danny, "You almost forgot this, Danny. I assume
that you used this to cover Meg's body."
Danny glanced down at what he assumed was the blanket that Walker used only to find
a worn leather army flight jacket. He stared at it, stunned. To Officer Keahi,
"This but he used a this doesn't belong to me."
"Are you sure, kid?"
"Yeah" His voice stopped short as he noticed the name tag more
closely
"D. WALKER"
The ambulance doors closed, but not before Danny looked up and saw Walker smile and nod at
him.
Danny shook his head, confused now more than ever. Maybe he should get his own head
examined
"Danny," Wallace called out to the young man, waking him a bit from his own
reverie.
Turning to the driving paramedic, "Yes, sir?"
"Officer Keahi said that once you get to the hospital, you can wait for your parents
down at the lobby area after you're also checked up and all."
Danny just nodded numbly, mumbling in agreement. He turned back towards his Meg. His heart
pounding furiously with fear, his mind silently praying that Meg will be just fine.
"You better be healthy after this, Meg coz I'm gonna so yell at ya
later on!" He whispered to her. Danny squeezed her hand, then picked up the jacket
and placed it over Meg.
As he clutched onto the flight jacket, Danny had a strange feeling that he'll be
seeing Walker again
**********************************************