"You knew his friend well?"
Harmony nodded, but her smile rallied on her face. "We all did, but Faust was the one closest to Seth. He still feels... responsible, even though he had no way to prevent it from happening." She took a step back. "Do you think you can climb in with her in your arms."
"Not a problem." He got up with a soft 'whoop' of sound and the little girl giggled near his ear, her hands gripping his T-shirt. "Let's go up!" He climbed in and sat down on the gurney where he could lean back and get a better hold on the little girl.
Harmony climbed up in after him and closed the doors at the back of the ambulance.
Once she got to her seat she leaned toward the front of the ambulance and nodded at Vega. "We're ready."
"Okay, boss," Vega called back and the ambulance started to roll further.
Harmony set her clipboard down into a holder attached to the interior wall of the ambulance.
Kaleo felt the little girl lay her head down on his shoulder and when she exhaled, she seemed to sag against him, relaxing.
"I think I've heard the word limpet before."
Harmony looked up at him, smiling. "Yeah? I tend to use words that some people call 'old' or 'antiquated.'"
"No one uses the word antiquated, except for you, Harm."
Kaleo heard Vega reply from the front seat of the ambulance.
Harmony grumbled under her breath. "Just you wait until we're alone, Vega."
Kaleo didn't worry about the ambulance driver. He'd seen the good relationship that the two had with each other. They were more like siblings than just partners. They teased and joked, but when it came down to it, they were excellent partners and EMTs.
Harmony turned back to look at him and Kaleo relaxed a little more. "Where did you hear it?"
The ambulance bumped a little, and Kaleo wrapped his arms around the little curl soothing her when she startled from the sudden rocking.
"In Hawaii we have two that I can think of." He tipped his head back and looked at the ceiling above his head in the ambulance. "Both of them hug the rocks near the ocean's edge. They're part of our favorite local foods. 'Opihi is the first kind. And the other sounds a little silly, but they're just as tasty."
"Sounds silly?"
Kaleo looked down at the little girl in his arms. She was looking at his face with wide-eyed curiosity.
He grinned at her. "They're called pipipi."
The little girl giggled softly and leaned back against his chest, her hands relaxing on his T-shirt as she let out a little sigh.
Harmony nodded her head. "Pipipi?"
Kaleo smiled in reaction. "They're little round shelled snails. Some people eat them raw." He grimaced a little. "I've only been able to eat them cooked. But the 'opihi? Those are really delicious any way I can get them. But my favorite is in a poke."
"Poh-kee?" Harmony sounded out the word, her light tones making it sound almost Southern.
"Yeah. Most poke is raw. 'Opihi in poke have to be put into boiling water for a quick moment to get it to separate from the shell."
"I'm not sure I'd be eating that."
Kaleo laughed softly at her words and the movement jostled the little girl until she turned her head, putting her cheek against this chest. "I would think so, too, but when I first ate it, I was a kid, just like this little girl here." He rocked her back and forth as he spoke and she laughed in reaction. "Back then it was just tasty. I had no idea where it came from or what it looked like before it was in mouth. I guess that's a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you see it."
He felt the little girl pat his chest and he realized that she was soothing herself more than anything, but it soothed his homesick feelings, too.
"People buy it for baby luaus, or weddings, but my mom got a pound of it from Ruger Market before I left the islands to come here. It's crazy expensive now, not like it was when I was a little kid, so I ate it slowly, enjoying every bite."
"Okay, now I'm getting hungry."
