Shimura Trouble

24

I WOKE UP, no longer nauseated, but feeling more uncomfortable than I could remember. There was an IV line going into the top of my left hand, and another one attached to the intersection of my shoulder and neck. A line even ran between my legs, where I should have had underwear. But I had no panties, and I had no regular clothes, either; just a dismal cotton gown, and underneath it, electrical patches sticking to my chest, with more lines connecting to a piece of equipment that I recognized from my father’s hospital stay as a heart monitor. Oh, God, had I turned into my father?

No, I realized with relief, my fingernails still had the same ballet-pink nail polish I’d applied at the start of the Hawaii trip. And my father was sitting on an uncomfortable chair in the hospital room across from me.

I could see him; I could see my father. My vision was back. My stomach still hurt, though, and my throat was sore.

I croaked aloud, ‘I see!”

“It’s about time,” my father said, breaking his chain of movements to come to the bed and embrace me.

“I’m feeling better, too-oh, my God, so much better. I don’t like to remember…”

“You had a drug overdose. That’s why you were ill.” My father’s words came slowly.

“Otoosan, I didn’t take drugs, I swear it. All I remember was getting sick in the middle of the night. I thought it was food poisoning…” I broke off. “What about Michael? Do you know, did this happen to him, too?”

“Michael’s in the waiting room. Now that you’re conscious, I’m sure they’ll allow him to see you.”

“You mean, he’s been out there for…how long?”

“You arrived here yesterday. We’ve all come and gone, staying for blocks of time. It was a very serious situation, Rei. You could have died, if they hadn’t given you the activated charcoal in time. That’s the reason for the nasal line, in case you were wondering. The catheter and IVs and EKG monitoring leads are not signs of trouble in those areas, but all routine for someone recovering from the kind of problem you had.”

“Thank you for bringing me here,” I said. “I don’t know what got into me; I barely remember anything but…terror.”

“You were in a state of psychosis,” my father said. “I’ve seen it many times before. The mechanism of your brain had simply gone haywire; despite your best intentions, you couldn’t have done anything other than what you did.”

At least I hadn’t killed anyone. I asked, ‘What kind of drug was in me? Heroin, crack, crystal meth? Am I addicted now?”

“Of course not. Your system was full of lithium mixed with Motrin, one of the most highly toxic combinations. If you had died, the medical examiner would have tried to classify it as suicide.”

“You know I’m not suicidal. The drugs must have been chopped up and added to something I ate or drank yesterday.”

“Michael suggested the same thing. As the situation stands, you will have to take very good care of your thyroid and kidneys for a while.”

“Does that mean a special diet?”

“No, just avoiding certain irritants. You should try to consume very little alcohol, citrus, and caffeine. And stay away from ibuprofen, Tylenol and acetaminophen, and get your thyroid checked regularly, for a while.”

“Will do.” I breathed deeply, glad to be alive. “Otoosan, will you do something for me?”

“Yes. What do you need?”

“Michael. Could you bring him to me?”

“YOU’LL NEVER SEE me look as bad as this again,” I said to Michael, when he rushed into the room a few minutes later. There were rings under his eyes, his face was unshaven and he looked as if he’d slept in his clothes. He was carrying a large brown paper bag with an oily stain, which he set down on my tray. All in all, he looked more disreputable than I’d ever seen him-but utterly glorious.

“I don’t care, Rei. I’m just glad to see your eyes open.” Michael took the hand that didn’t have a tube coming out of it, and held it tightly.

“I’ll just go downstairs and get a decaf,” my father said, and the door closed behind him.

“That was nice of him,” Michael said. “Giving us some privacy.”

I sighed. “I apologize in advance for anything that my family might have done, while I was out of commission.”

“Oh, there’s nothing to apologize for. We talked a bit in the waiting room, and your cousin Tom was good enough to let me know what was going on by finding my number on your cell phone. I’m so sorry that I missed that first call you made. My phone was recharging, and by the time I got the message and called you back, it was too late.”

“I heard you calling, but I was in a state of psychosis,” I said. “You heard about the drugs in my system? Looking at you, I’m guessing the same thing didn’t happen.”

“No, it didn’t. Since we ate lunch together, that means it’s not terribly likely you picked up the poison at Josiah Pierce’s, unless he was extremely devious and sprinkled the drugs in your water glass-though if that were the case, the powder would just sink to the bottom and not affect you much at all.”

“The maid poured for all of us out of the same pitcher,” I said, “And my water tasted fine. My suspicions are leaning toward the guy who can write a prescription for pretty much any controlled substance he wants. Calvin Morita was fixated on my eating this sushi he’d brought back from a restaurant…”

“I heard that from your father. Believe me, I put them through an interrogation they didn’t expect. But regarding Calvin-yes, he’s a creep, but the fact is that anyone with bipolar disorder could have lithium prescribed to them, or borrow or steal someone else’s. We have to think about everything you ate or drank in the last few days. There’s a concession stand at the resort pool; did you order something and leave it while you swam? What about all those lattes you’ve been consuming at Kainoa’s coffee shop?”

“Are the police treating this as a criminal case?” I asked.

“Not until they’ve interviewed you. And maybe, now that you’re better, that can happen today. You hungry? One of the nurses clued me in on a street nearby that’s full of amazing cheap Korean restaurants. I brought you something to eat, black noodles. It’s a phenomenal dish that I haven’t had since I was last in Seoul.”

“Not right now,” I said. “How long will I be here?” I couldn’t hide the waver in my voice, as I thought how I’d already lost two days of Michael’s precious week in Hawaii.

“Maybe you’ll get out tomorrow, or the day after; that’s the best-case scenario. Everyone was so worried, Rei. Edwin and Margaret and Uncle Yosh all came here, in turns, because somebody had to stay with Braden. Speaking of Braden, I went to see him, because hanging in the waiting room for hours was making me, and everyone else, a bit crazy.”

Michael reached into the bag and pulled out a can of cold barley tea and poured it into two glasses. “I heard about your liver, and this has no caffeine. Enjoy.”

I took a sip from the glass that he held to my mouth, and it tasted better than any wine I’d ever had. “You’re sure I can drink this?”

“Positive.” He put the glass in my hand, and continued talking. “The best thing for Braden is that his grandfather has taken over his care-can you believe he’s making Braden spend two hours each day digging an extension to the koi pond? I heard Yosh say to Braden if he’s man enough to carry big rocks, he’s man enough to dig a bigger home for the fish.”

“Has a mutiny occurred?”

“No. I think Braden’s starting to feel like every day at home could be his last. The threat of a manslaughter charge really hit him hard, and Yosh told me there’s a threat the ranchers who lost horses may sue whoever’s found to have set the fire. Who knows, Pierce Holdings could sue as well.”

All the troubles of the past flooded back to me. “I can’t understand why Braden won’t give up the name of the person who could save him.”

“I agree, but who knows what Lisa Ping’s got up her sleeve. She’s one tough attorney.” Michael cleared his throat. “Now for the other bit of news.”

“Yes. I’m hoping that you’re going to tell me you’re taking an extra week in Hawaii…”

“Sorry.” Michael smiled sadly at me. “There’s another thing that I have to tell you, relating to the cottage address you asked me to locate for you.”

“Great. Did you find it?”

“Well, I didn’t want to waste too much time away from you, so instead of exploring Barbers Point I went to Pearl Harbor for a couple of hours to examine maps. Hawaii land maps are quite complicated to figure out, because you’re dealing with state land, privately held land, and military land. There’s also this weird unit of land measurement called an alapaa which is basically a strip that goes all the way down from a point on a mountain to the sea.” He reached into his backpack and withdrew a thick folio.

“So you found these maps at Pearl Harbor.”

“Yes. I had access to military maps, which are better resolution and more accurate. Anyway, I had to do all this because the street name you mentioned didn’t seem to exist on the military maps, which was strange. Finally, using the aerial maps and geographical coordinates, I was able to locate the shack squarely inside the Barbers Point naval air station.”

“But I thought it was on Pierce land.”

“It’s not. The land was seized by the military during the war, and at one point it was clearly marked by fencing-see?” He showed me a map that looked meaningless, followed by a photocopy of an old black and white photograph of the coastline, with the edge of a shack protruding into one corner.

“The fencing came down later. Josiah Pierce may still think he has twenty acres under his control, but he doesn’t. They belong to the military, and I have no idea whether they’d be inclined to sell to a Japanese developer. If anything, the military is likely to sit on it, to please the local population agitating for preserving unspoiled Hawaiian coastline.

“How can you be so sure about this?” I asked.

“I double-checked the maps and got extra paperwork from a military lawyer in the JAG office at Pearl. Apparently, the military isn’t always the greatest at keeping track of its holdings, especially if the area hasn’t been developed, or is being eyed for use. But this sure woke people up, to think that a landowner might attempt to sell off government land.”

“Will I have to tell Josiah Pierce? Oh, my God, I can’t imagine it.”

“Navy Legal will be in touch with him. And it’s better to have the information coming from them than from us.”

“Before I leave Hawaii, I want to see the house and land,” I said. “And I think Uncle Yosh and his family should be there, too. Obviously that ban on Edwin being near the house can’t stand up in court anymore.”

“I made my own map, since the ones I saw were still classified, though they shouldn’t necessarily be, after all this time.”

“Maybe that’s the reason nobody in the military caught on that Josiah Pierce had retaken the rights to that land-the map was misplaced or forgotten,” I theorized.

“It’s easy to see how that could happen. The forty acres surrounding this little piece are in a completely undeveloped area that’s open to the public.”

Undeveloped, but considered by one and all to be Pierce land. “Do you know whether the fire touched this land parcel?”

“I don’t know, Rei. I didn’t drive out there yet.”

“I’ll go,” I said.

“You’ll need to get better very fast, if that’s going to happen.”

“Just watch.”