“I’m almost up.”
“Stop.”
Samuel lowered again.
His face had gone whiter.
Caleb made the decision.
“Ambulance.”
Samuel opened his mouth.
“No.”
“Then I call someone you trust.”
Silence.
“Family?”
Samuel looked down.
“My daughter.”
“Phone number?”
“I know it.”
“Good.”
Caleb handed him the phone.
Samuel’s fingers shook too badly to type.
He gave the number aloud.
Caleb dialed.
A woman answered on the fourth ring.
“Dad?”
Samuel closed his eyes.
Caleb said:
“Hi. My name is Caleb Ortiz.”
Silence.
“Who is this?”
“I’m with your father.”
The woman’s voice changed instantly.
“What happened?”
“He got dizzy and sat down in an alley near Hawthorne and Mason.”
“Is he hurt?”
“I don’t think he fell.”
Samuel called:
“I didn’t.”
Caleb continued.
“He’s awake, but he’s weak and he says he has type two diabetes.”
The woman swore softly.
“Dad, did you take your medicine?”
Samuel looked offended.
“That is not the priority.”
“It absolutely is.”
Caleb almost smiled.
The woman said:
“I’m twenty-five minutes away.”
“Should I call 911?”
“Yes.”
Samuel objected.
“Emily.”
“Dad.”
The single word ended the argument.
Caleb called emergency services.
The dispatcher asked questions.
Conscious?
Yes.
Breathing?
Yes.
Chest pain?
Samuel denied it.
Weakness?
Yes.
Diabetes?
Yes.
Possible low blood sugar.
The dispatcher instructed Caleb not to give him anything to eat or drink unless he was fully alert and able to swallow safely.
Caleb followed instructions.
He sat beside Samuel on the pavement.
Lumi remained between them.
For the first time in ten minutes, Caleb remembered his route.
The scanner lay beside his shoe.
It vibrated.
ROUTE STATUS: 18 MINUTES BEHIND TARGET.
Then again.
SUPERVISOR MESSAGE.
Caleb turned the screen facedown.
Samuel noticed.
“You working?”
“Yes.”
“You should go.”
“No.”
“They’ll fire you.”
“Probably not.”
“You don’t know that.”
Caleb looked at him.
“Do you?”
Samuel smiled faintly.
“No.”
“Then we agree.”
The old man leaned his head against the fence.
Lumi stood.
She moved closer and pressed the side of her face against Samuel’s hand.
He looked down.
“That your cat?”
“No.”
Caleb paused.
“I thought she was yours.”
Samuel slowly scratched the top of Lumi’s head.
“No.”
“I’ve seen her before.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
Samuel’s voice softened.
“Sometimes she sits on the wall behind the bookstore.”
“She watches everybody.”
Caleb looked at Lumi.
“That I believe.”
Samuel continued.
“Yesterday she followed me half a block.”
“Maybe she thought you needed supervision.”
“Apparently she was right.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Samuel shut his eyes.
“I hate ambulances.”
“Most people do.”
“My wife hated them too.”
Caleb glanced toward him.
“Your wife?”
“Margaret.”
Samuel looked at the fence.
“She died in one.”
Three words.
That was enough explanation.
Caleb did not tell him he was being unreasonable.
Did not say this was different.
He simply nodded.
“I understand why you don’t want one.”
Samuel looked at him.
“But?”
“But I called it anyway.”