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Po blinked at Kai, as if seeing him for the first time, and then recognition flittered across his face. “Kai!” he cried and he threw his arms around Kai’s neck and squeezed hard, holding on for dear life. Kai glanced up and saw Jun, holding her bitten arm, looking somber. Po didn’t want to let go of Kai’s neck, so he picked the boy up and he clung even tighter to him.
“I don’t know what happened,” Aunt Kaimana said, bewildered. “I...”
“He’s afraid of the water,” Jun said. “Ever since...” Her voice trailed off as she guiltily looked at Kai. Understanding dawned on Aunt Kaimana’s face.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know! I just thought he didn’t like to swim. I didn’t think getting his feet wet would...” Regret pinched her features.
“It’s okay.” Jun reached out and touched her shoulder.
“Let’s go inside,” Kai said, suddenly feeling the weight of the moment. He realized now he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t healed from the tsunami, that Jun and Po carried their own kind of baggage.
Once inside, Kai grabbed a towel and wrapped Po in it. He sat the boy on the couch. Aunt Kaimana got some crackers from the kitchen and fed the boy a few. Kai went to the bathroom for more towels and Jun followed him there.
“We should go,” she said, still clutching her bitten arm. “I...”
“Let me look at that,” Kai said as he took a step closer to her.
“It’s nothing.” Pain flashed across Jun’s face, and Kai didn’t know if it was from the physical wound or the emotional one, the chagrin of being bitten by her own son.
“Let me see.” He touched her arm and she jumped a little. He almost expected her to shove him away, but instead she cautiously reached out to him. He examined the bite mark. Po had barely broken skin, but an angry circular red mark told him she’d have quite the bruise tomorrow.
“Ouch,” he said, studying it, and noticed how smooth her skin felt beneath his hands. Her arm was so small, so delicate. He glanced up and saw her gazing at him steadily, never having looked so pretty. Her dark hair was a bit windblown, her pink puffy lower lip so very kissable. Down, boy. He glanced back down at her arm.
“So, the teacher isn’t the only one he bites. Has he done this to you before?”
“No. Never.” Jun shook her head resolutely.
Kai opened the mirrored cabinet in the sleek granite bathroom and pulled out a first-aid kit. He took out bandages and some antibiotic cream.
“I’ve tried everything, but he still bites.” Jun sighed. “And his fear of water is getting worse, not better. I just don’t know what to do anymore.”
The helpless frustration hit a nerve with Kai. He’d never seen Jun this vulnerable. She’d always been the one who had all the answers, with her no-nonsense “just get it done” attitude. He’d never have guessed sometimes she could feel like throwing in the towel. The frustration in her voice made him feel an urgent need to help. He felt...responsible somehow. He remembered how Po had seen his face and instantly calmed down. He knew, on some level, he could help that boy. He just knew it. But he wouldn’t get a chance if Po’s mother left now.
“He won’t even take a bath, much less go swimming, and now he’s waking up in the night screaming about water.” She sucked in a shaky breath.
He wanted to pull her into his arms right at that moment. The urge was so strong it took him by surprise. He almost acted on it but stopped himself at the last moment.
“I don’t know.” Jun shook her head, the weight of her worry evident in her face. “Maybe we need to leave the islands.”
“No,” Kai said, more forcefully than he intended, as the thought of Jun and Po leaving filled him with a strange kind of disappointment. “No, it’s not the island that’s the problem.”
“But a boy scared of water might do better on the mainland. Sometimes I think if I saved up enough, maybe we could move. Maybe if we lived in a place where there couldn’t be tsunamis, he’d calm down. Be less afraid.”
“You can’t run from water,” Kai pointed out. “On the mainland, they have lakes and streams and swimming pools. And they have tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes. There’s always something to be afraid of. Do you have family here?”
