Page 4 of Barefoot Chaos
"Keep telling yourself that, Kai. I gotta run. Keep me in the loop if you find out anything else about our jumper, huh?"
I hated the smell of hospitals. That smell combination of bleach, potpourri, and death. The fluorescent lights, white walls, hushed voices. I felt claustrophobic in hospitals, and I'd had the good fortune to never need to be in one for any length of time.
The sooner I went in, the sooner I could leave and breath in fresh air again.
The guy's door was propped open, so I stepped in and whisper-yelled, "Knock, knock."
A head popped around the drawn curtain. A man in his late fifties stepped out and asked, "How can I help you?"
"I pulled a guy out of the water today and wanted to check in and see how he was doing. Am I in the right room?"
His face instantly cleared and he held his hand out to me. "Yes, yes. You got the right room. Thanks so much for helping Jackson. He's my son."
I shook his hand. "Just doing my job, sir. Any chance I can chat with him?"
"Sure, come on in." The father moved the curtain aside and stepped back to let me step into the curtained off area.
Jackson, around twenty-five years old, was lying on the bed, sheets and blankets covering him from chest down. One arm was bandaged and in a sling, but that looked to be the extent of his injuries. His eyes were open, but he looked exhausted.
"Hey man, how you doin'?" I stepped up to the bed and lowered my voice.
"I've been better." Jackson started to chuckle but turned it into a frown. "You the lifeguard that saved me?"
"Yeah, I saw you go for a dip and thought I'd join you. They gonna let you out of here soon?" I kept my tone friendly as I'm sure he already got the grilling from police earlier. I wanted him to open up to me and for that, I needed him to not feel threatened.
"I gotta stay overnight. Got a concussion and they want to keep checking in on me."
"What did you to do your arm?" I pointed to his sling.
"Dislocated my shoulder. Doctor said it should heal up fine with rest. And if I don't do any more crazy stunts." He grunted.
"Yeah, that was a little crazy. You do stuff like this often?" I kept my body relaxed but I was on high alert, trying to figure out why he jumped.
"No way, man. But when you get dared to do something, you gotta man-up, you know?" He started messing with his blankets, trying to sit up straighter in the propped up bed.
"Sure, I know what you mean. But I've never had one of my buddies dare me to do something quite that dangerous. Was it a friend of yours?"
His eyebrows drew together and he looked at the opposite wall. "Look, man. I don't remember. I told the police everything I know, okay?"
Well, that was quick; he was shutting down on me already. I didn't think I'd get anything else out of him. He was protecting somebody, but I doubted he'd ever tell me. "All right, settle down. Take care of yourself. I don't want to see you hangin' off my pier again, you feel me?"
He gave me a quick head nod, which I took as a good sign.
I stepped back through the curtain and outside the room. Jackson's father was sitting in a waiting room chair just down the hall.
I crouched down next to him. "Can I ask you a favor?"
His dad looked all too happy to help me out. "Sure, what's up?"
"Someone dared your son to jump off a pier, a jump that could have killed him. If he ever discloses to you who dared him, will you give me a call?"
He gave me one quick head nod. "I'll give you a call while I'm driving over to the house of whoever dared him. If you get there before I beat the shit out of him, you're welcome to have a chat with him."
"Understood." I shook his hand and left, knowing there wasn't much more I could do.
I drove back down to the beach, parking in the lifeguard lot. I was already dressed for a workout so I locked my truck, put the key in my shorts pocket and took off. I liked to come down to the ocean and go for a run at the end of the day to clear my head. Some days I only went a mile, others I went ten. Just depended on what I had to work through in my head. It was good conditioning for my job, but it was my go-to stress reliever since my high school days.
I'd had an idyllic life growing up in Hawaii where all my father's family was from. I was outdoors all day and even some nights. I was more comfortable in the ocean than I was on dry land. We would fish, snorkel, scuba, swim with sea turtles, surf, stand up paddle, canoe race, and cliff dive. My first language was Hawaiian, though I was also fluent in English. Island life was all I knew, and I had no interest in learning anything else.
