Page 36 of Compelling Urges

“A little. It’s a lot worse all of a sudden, though.” He swallowed the pills down with a chug of water and fumbled as he tried to recap the bottle. “I think I need to close my eyes for a wh…” he mumbled. The plastic bottle hit the floor where it rolled under the seat, spilling water all over the carpet. Instead of his head leaning back, he pitched sideways and clonked his head on the window. Then he pitched forward, and it looked like lights out.

“Bodhi?” Cooper looked back at his buddy again with a startled expression. “Hey, man, are you okay?”

“What’s wrong, Cooper?” Ivy asked. “Bodhi?Bodhi?Cooper, did he just faint? What’s going on with him?”

“Naturally, we’re out in the sticks,” Cooper growled. “Ivy, I’m going to keep heading to Yuma, but I think you need to call 911. He’s completely out of it, and he’s shaking like a leaf.”

“Oh, Bodhi,” she whimpered plaintively. “Okay, I’m calling right now.” She paused while the dispatcher connected the call and asked the nature of her emergency. “Oh, um, hi. We’re in a car heading south to Yuma on State Road 95. My friend just passed out and he’s shaking… No, I wouldn’t call it a seizure, but what do I know? It’s more like he’s shivering, but he looks really bad! No, he definitely hasn’t taken any drugs except ibuprofen just a minute ago. We need to get him to a hospital… Yes, okay. We’re just about ten or fifteen minutes south of Chuckwalla. We’re in a Silver Range Rover with California plates.” She gave the license number. “Okay, we’ll keep driving closer to Yuma.” Ivy paused to listen. “Cooper, she says the highway patrol is going to lead us there and an ambulance is on its way from Yuma to meet us. She says to keep driving, and I’m supposed to stay on the line until they get to us.”

A few minutes later, they could hear sirens coming at them from behind, so Cooper turned on his flashing emergency lights. Soon a trooper passed them and said over a loudspeaker to follow right behind him.

“Okay, the patrolman is leading us now. Thank you for your help! What should I do for him until we see the ambulance? No! I’m not driving; I’m a passenger. Okay, I can do that. Thanks for your help.” She hung up the phone and looked frantically at Cooper, who was white-knuckle driving as fast as the patrol car ahead of him would allow with the siren blaring the entire time. “She just said to make sure he’s not choking on anything.”

Bodhi was still out cold, and his face was a pasty gray. This went on for another ten minutes or so, until finally they heard the welcome sound of another siren coming from the opposite direction. Ivy was beside herself with worry when the patrol car signaled that he was pulling over onto the shoulder of the highway. Cooper followed suit.

Within moments after the ambulance made an emergency U-turn—in thankfully light traffic—the EMT guys had Bodhi on a stretcher, hooked to IV fluids, and were loading him into their vehicle. He looked dreadful and hadn’t regained consciousness, even when they dragged him out of the car and stuck an IV in his arm. The EMTs said that his heart rate was accelerated and his breathing shallow.

Cooper and Ivy clung to each other as they watched the proceedings. Both had eyes as round as saucers. They tried their best to answer the questions from the emergency crew, giving them Bodhi’s name, age, and what they knew about his leg hurting. They also verified that he had complained about a bad headache before passing out. Neither knew of any underlying health conditions other than some extreme stress of late. Bodhi had never mentioned any autoimmune or genetic issues, and they knew he wasn’t diabetic.

As they spoke with one of the EMTs, the other one cut off Bodhi’s pant leg, revealing a highly inflamed wound. Red streaks were running up and down his leg. It looked horribly infected.

In a hushed whisper, Ivy spoke to Cooper, “Ohmygod! How was he managing with that leg in such a mess? He must have been in agony. Why didn’t he say anything? Did you see this?”

“I haven’t paid any attention to it since we got him patched up right after it happened. We were kind of… um… preoccupied after that. But now I’m sure sorry,” Cooper murmured back to her. “I thought we should have taken him to the ER when it happened, but he kept saying it was fine. Obviously, he needed stitches and something stronger than over-the-counter antibiotic ointment. Damn it, Bodhi.” He looked up as one of the paramedics addressed them.

“Sir, you can meet us at the hospital in Yuma. We’ll get him there quickly, but I can’t recommend that you try following us while our siren’s going.” The EMT gave Cooper the name and address of the hospital so he could program it into his GPS, and they took off in a blaze of flashing lights and noise.

Ivy started to cry. “I feel so awful for Bodhi. He’s been trying so hard to do the right thing for everyone, and he just keeps having shit thrown at him.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Cooper said in a grim voice. “Let’s get going. I’m sure he’s going to need us when he comes to.” He didn’t want to think of the possibility of Bodhinotcoming to. He realized he’d always thought of Bodhi as a continual presence in his life, and losing him was inconceivable. Having him out of the country had been painful enough…

The state trooper cautioned Cooper, “Drive sensibly and get yourselves there safely, sir. I hope your friend is okay.”

They thanked him for the escort and took off at the speed limit. He followed them for a while and then took an exit, flashing his lights at them. Cooper waved.

Ivy asked suddenly, “Should we call his parents? Do you have a contact for them in Hawaii?”

“I think we should call them, but I’d have to get the number from Bodhi’s phone. It’s probably still in his pocket. I’m guessing he has it written down somewhere around the house, too, but a lot of good that’ll do us.”

“Do you know what town they live in? If it’s not someplace big like Honolulu, maybe we can track them down.”

Cooper racked his brain to remember. “I know it’s on Maui. And it’s not Lahaina.” He shook his head. “Hana? That doesn’t sound right either. See if you can pull up a map on your phone and read off some of the names to me. Maybe one will sound right.”

So, as Cooper tried to drive and think, Ivy read off town after town to him.

“They all sound alike,” he complained after the tenth or so try. Then he remembered, “There’s a bay there. Oh, and his parents like to play golf. Look for golf courses.”

“Okay. King Kamehameha, Wailea, Kaanapali, Kaanapali Kai, Kapalua…”

“That’s it! Kapalua Bay! I remember Bodhi mentioning that. Maybe you can find a listing for them, or you can call a realtor or something, and someone will recognize the name.”

“It’s a pretty populated area, but I’ll see if I can do a people search first. What are his parents’ names? Oh wait! I remember him saying his mom’s name is Peach. That’s not common at all. We ought to be able to find a Peach Monaghan.”

Ivy did a bunch of searches through public records, and lo and behold, there was a Peach married to Emmett Monaghan who lived in the Kapalua area. “I found them,” she cried happily. “Now what do I tell them, Cooper?” She could tell by the scenery and the GPS that they were almost at the hospital at this point.

“See if you can get hold of them first and tell them what we know so far—which isn’t much.”

So, Ivy dialed the number she’d found and was immediately connected to a soft-spoken lady. “Mrs. Monaghan? This is Ivy Chambers, Bodhi’s… uh… friend. We’re in Arizona and Bodhi has been taken to the hospital. We thought you ought to know.” She went on to explain to Bodhi’s horrified mother everything she knew about Bodhi’s injury and passing out. “Maybe it was just from the heat, but I have to say, it didn’t look too good. Cooper and I thought we should call you, and maybe the doctors can tell you more. We’re just entering the hospital now.” There was a pause, and then Ivy answered, “Yes, as soon as we can. We’ll let you know. I’m sorry to call with news like this.” Another pause. “Alright. You have my number now and you can call me anytime. We’ll speak soon.” She disconnected and looked at Cooper. “I hope that was a smart move. She sounded terrible and was cursing the fact that they moved away from their one and only son, even if he was living in England for part of the time. Now the poor woman is scared to death.”

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