AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jun decided to drop by the coffee shop anyway, if only to tell Jesse she wouldn’t be working for Kai anymore. It was the least she could do. But when Jun arrived, she found a huge white tent set up in the parking lot of the little shopping center with a banner for Big Island Kids, and there had to be at least fifty people milling about. Eventually, she found Jesse, handing out flyers.
“Jun! Thank goodness you’re here. Can you help me hand these out?” She offered Jun a stack of flyers.
“Where did all these people come from?” Jun asked, surprised as she glanced around at all the faces—some of them familiar and some strangers.
“Some wanted to help, but most of them really need our help. Dr. Jean is trying to coordinate visits, get people treated, but she only has so many charity hours she can manage, and most of these people have insurance that doesn’t cover psychiatric care.”
Jun blinked as she looked around at all the families and all the kids, so many no doubt just like Po, having trouble adjusting to life after the tsunami. “Most of these people need help?”
Jesse nodded. “I knew there was a need, but I just didn’t realize how much.”
“Excuse me,” a woman said. She had a toddler on her hip and was tugging along a preschooler by the hand. “Is this where we sign up for an appointment with the doctor? My daughter, Em, needs some help.” The preschooler hid shyly behind her mother’s brightly colored skirts.
“Dr. Jean is at that table, but if you can’t wait to speak with her, then you can simply sign up to be contacted later.” Jesse pointed the woman in the direction of a sign-up clipboard. Jun saw there were several tables under the tent, one labeled Volunteers Needed, one Services and another Donations. Crowds of people thronged around each one.
“What happens if Kai doesn’t surf the competition and he doesn’t raise money for the Big Island Kids?” Jun asked Jesse.
“We’ll raise money another way,” she said. “Were you able to convince him?”
“Not exactly,” Jun said, glancing around. “But how much money would he really raise if he went down in the first round of competition?”
“Not enough,” Jesse said.
“This is the reason Kai is surfing, though. I know if he knew that it wouldn’t much matter, if we could do it another way, then maybe he wouldn’t do it.”
Pretty soon Jesse and Jun found themselves inundated with requests, and they both directed people to the appropriate places as Jun handed out flyers. The crowds kept coming, and more and more families arrived, either to support the cause or to ask for help. It seemed an even split to Jun, fifty-fifty.
Several hours later, however, the crowds finally subsided. Jun helped Jesse gather up the sign-in logs and that was when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Jun Lee? I’m Dr. Jean. Kai told me you’d be helping organize Big Island Kids?” Jun liked her almost immediately. She had a warmth about her that Jun found comforting. She could instantly see how the woman might put her juvenile clients and their parents at ease.
Jun nodded. “Uh, actually...” But she didn’t get to finish.
“Listen, I hope you don’t mind, but Kai told me...a little about your son.”
Right away, Jun felt her defenses come up. What had Kai said? Why had he told her problems—or Po’s—to a stranger? But then, she knew why.
“That wasn’t his place,” Jun said, feeling irritated.
“It was only because he wanted to help your son,” Dr. Jean said. “Believe me, he came to me for advice on what to do not because he thought you were doing anything wrong. And not because he wanted to interfere.”
Jun felt her feelings shift a little. Why did she always assume she was under attack? That was something she had to learn to manage.
“Okay.”
“Children who suffer traumas like these can react to them in a number of different ways. I know it can be frightening as a parent. My own daughter had a trauma when she was little—and it took a long time for her to get over it. I felt powerless for a lot of years. I was supposed to be the one to help her through it, but I couldn’t.”
