“I have to go. Thanks for the pie suggestion,” I say to Fiona, and hurry into the kitchen. I find one of Nana’s small canning jars and run the tap. If you didn’t know to look for them, you could hardly see the colors anymore. Maybe whatever minerals the rock pulled out of the earth are almost gone. I hope there’s enough left of whatever cured Miles Morgan and fixed Nana’s knees.

I wait until I see flashes of green and yellow, put the jar underneath just in time to catch them, and seal the lid tight.

Chapter 22

The Clackamas Indians held the meteorite to be a sacred object and believed that a union occurred of the earth, sky and water when it rested in the ground and rainwater collected in its many folds and basins.

—The New York Times, June 23, 2000

JAMES HAS HIS own room in the hospital, and one wall is all glass. In the glass wall, there’s a glass door, and a nurse slides the glass door open for me and Mom to come in. James’s dad, Wendell, is standing behind the glass door.

If you saw Wendell and James together, you’d know right away that they were related. Wendell’s hair is not as blond as James’s, but his eyes are the same bright blue. Today he looks like he forgot to pack a comb and a razor when he left for the hospital, because his hair sticks out on top and I don’t think he’s shaved in a while. He smiles when he sees us and gives Mom a hug.

“It’s darn good to see you. It’s all strangers in this place,” Wendell says.

“It’s good to see you, too,” Mom answers, “and to see your boy.”

“Your boy, too. We both know how James feels about you and your family. And I couldn’t keep doing shift work at the mill without your being there for him.” Wendell glances behind him where James lies. “If you don’t mind, I’ll get myself some lunch down in the cafeteria while you’re here. I hate to leave him alone, even if he’s not awake.”

“Take your time,” Mom says. “We’ll be here.”

Wendell lets himself out of the glass wall, and Mom sits down on a stool next to James’s bed.

First, I look at everything in the room except James, who lies there as still as he did on Nana’s floor.

At the bottom of the bed there are square buttons with up and down arrows that say head head bed bed foot foot.