“Don’t let him die, Mama,” I whispered.
Mom began to rock slightly and I knew she was chanting. She tended to blend Buddhist chants with Grateful Dead lyrics when she prayed. Maybe she was adding a little witchcraft this time. Whatever worked. I just wanted Gabriel to stand up, dust himself off, and flash me a wink and a grin.
It was wrong, seeing him laid out on the ground like that. He was too big, too strong. Too invincible. I began making deals with the gods, if only they would keep him alive.
Two paramedics wheeled a collapsible gurney over, and four men lifted Gabriel onto the pad. They’d attached a thick brace to his neck and wrapped a bunch of gauze around his head.
All good, right? It meant they were taking him to a hospital, not a morgue.
“Come on,” I said, pulling Mom with me. “I want to make sure he’s going to be okay.”
A female EMT turned and looked at me. “Are you a relative?”
“Yes,” I said immediately. Lying for a good cause didn’t count against karma, did it? And even if it did, I was beyond caring. “He’s my brother.”
She nodded. “He’s unconscious. We’ll know more when we get him to the hospital.”
“His head . . .”
“Yeah, he took a blow, but he’s alive, and he’s strong.”
“Right,” I said, nodding. “Yes, he is.”
As they rolled Gabriel to the truck, Dad ran up to us, followed by Annie, Savannah, China, and Alice.
Dad grabbed me in a hug. “You’re all right?”
“I’m fine, Dad. It’s Gabriel.”
He looked at me, stroked my head as if to make sure it was all in one piece, then turned and jogged over to talk to the paramedics and check on Gabriel.
“What happened?” Annie asked.
“Who was hurt?” Savannah demanded.
“Are you okay?”Alice asked, taking my hand and squeezing it.
“Thanks,” I said, answering Alice first. “I’m fine.”
Mom pulled Annie and Savannah aside to explain what had happened while I talked to Alice.
“Did you have a good massage?” I asked, to distract myself.
“Oh, my goodness,” she said, her eyes staring off at the horizon. “It was like no other massage I’ve ever had.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet.”
“But I feel so . . . clean.” She sounded dazed, but happy.
“Really? Wow. That’s great.” Unbelievable, but great. It took a small load of guilt off me to know that she’d survived the panchakarma treatment so well. I searched around for the EMTs and saw that they had Gabriel in the ambulance now.
Alice continued to squeeze my hand as she stared at the ambulance. “Is your friend going to be okay?”
“He’s alive but unconscious.” It felt good to say it aloud. I couldn’t begin to think how relieved I was that they hadn’t zipped him into a body bag.
China clutched my arm. “Honey, you have blood on your hands.”
I gasped.
Alice released my hand and stared at her own, which was now spotted with blood. She wobbled and her head began to lob.
“Grab her,” I said.
China reached under Alice’s arms and hoisted her up before she could collapse.
“Jeez, I thought you were the wimp,” China said to me.
I grabbed Alice’s left arm. “Oh, this one is light-years beyond me in wimpiness.”
China grimaced as we both struggled to keep Alice standing. “Lucky for me, she weighs a lot less than you.”
“Thanks for that.”
Savannah helped us move Alice to the same ledge by the fish shop that I’d sat on minutes ago. China pulled a packet of moist towelettes from her pocket and handed me some. “Here, I carry these around in case Hannah gets messy. You need to get rid of that blood.”
“Oh, God, thanks,” I said, still in a daze. It took me four wipes to clean the blood off my hands.
My sisters agreed to watch Alice while I ran back to talk to the paramedic. She told us they were taking Gabriel down to Sonoma Valley Hospital, less than ten miles away.
“I’m going by Robson’s to tell him what happened,” Mom said. “I know he’ll want to drive over there with me. Do you want to come with us?”
“I’ll go with you,” Annie said instantly. She had tears in her eyes and her breathing was shallow. Was she going to pass out, too?
“Annie, honey,” Mom said gently. “You have a new store to run.”
“But I want to be there.”
Mom rubbed her shoulder. “I promise we’ll call you as soon as we hear anything.”
Mom gave me a pointed look, so I grabbed Annie’s other arm and we led her back to where Savannah was still standing with Alice.
Clearly, Gabriel had managed to worm his way into the hearts and minds of the good citizens of Dharma. Well, Annie’s heart and mind anyway. I couldn’t blame her. The man was a walking, talking bad boy heartthrob.
Mom and I jogged back to the ambulance. The EMT said they were ready to go.
“Your father’s going to take care of Annie and the shop,” Mom said. “Do you want to ride with Robson and me?”
“No, I’ll get my car and meet you there.” Turning to Savannah, I shouted, “Keep Alice with you, okay?”
“No problem. Go.”