Then everything went so fuzzy. All Haley remembered was hearing her doctors telling her parents that she had a case of something that sounded like mermaid. That made no sense to her, but nothing was clear. The next moment she opened her eyes in a new room. It smelled funny, like her doctor’s office. And she suddenly realized there was something filling her mouth. It was like a snorkel except she felt it running back behind her tongue. And every time the television-sized machine beside her head whirred, air rushed into her as if the machine was breathing for her. She wondered if that was why she felt so breathless and dizzy.

She lifted her head off the bed and frantically searched the room for Mom and Dad. She heard their voices before she saw them. “Haley, sweetie,” her mom cooed. “Mommy’s right here. Everything is okay.”

Her dad said, “We’re here, Haley-Bear. You just keep hanging in there.”

Her eyes swam as she turned her head and saw them hovering over the side of the bed. Except now they both wore green pajamalike tops and bottoms with white masks and blue caps. “Mommy, Daddy, why are you dressed like doctors?” she tried to say, but the tube in her throat choked off the words.

Haley felt so winded. And tired. She had trouble focusing on her mom’s swirling face, but she could hear the sounds of her sobs. “Stop crying, Mom. It will be okay,” she wanted to say to her but nothing escaped past the snorkel.

It was the strangest nightmare Haley had ever had. She so badly wanted to wake up, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer.

38 - Portland, Oregon

38

Portland, Oregon

Cohen stood at his kitchen counter, steaming a mug of milk for the lattés. Leetch sat on a barstool on the other side, shaking his head as he watched. “You sure you don’t have any instant coffee?” Leetch asked. “What would people say if they knew I was drinking these frou-frou drinks?”

Cohen smiled. “Maybe that you were slightly less of a redneck than they originally thought.”

Leetch put a hand to his chest. “Hey Kosher Cop, don’t go belittling my ethnicity!”

Cohen poured the milk over the shots of espresso. To further annoy his partner, he used drops of extra coffee to inscribe the initials ‘RL’ into the steamed milk on top.

Leetch took the cup from Cohen’s hand. “What, no umbrella?” he asked in mock outrage. But he wasted no time in taking a big gulp from the cup.

“When do I get to see Sophie again?” Cohen asked.