Daniel lifted the wheelchair into the bed of the truck, tying it securely to each side, happy that he’d been able to get the chair so quickly. It was the first of many steps in helping Mama regain some mobility, allowing her to get out of her dark room and to sit in the kitchen or the porch or outside in the warm sunlight. And with the ongoing eruption always threatening, it would be essential to her evacuation. Daniel drove slowly over the rutted roads as the wheelchair bounced and rattled all the way back to the Natua house.

Auntie Leia was surprised to find him tapping on the screen door. “Can’t remember the last time someone knocked,” she said. “Neighbor kids usually walk right in, thinking they’re at home, yeah. The day Nori wandered in, I gained a second sister,” Leia rattled on.

Daniel smiled. Nori’s temperament had always been much closer to Leia’s. He guessed having a much younger sister as lively and impulsive as Auntie Noelani could be trying. Noelani had run off to Honolulu and eloped at seventeen, only to return divorced by twenty, and was currently a widow after the death of her third husband. Auntie Leia had been the quiet and steady Hilo Auntie, the one who saw the most and said the least. She always seemed happiest stringing leis with her mother, though he wondered now if she ever wanted more when she was young. Daniel heard that the Natua lei business had grown twofold in the past years, Leia’s business skills and intricate stringing praised with the same respect and admiration that was given to Mama.

“Mama always liked a full house,” he said.

“Come in, come in.” Auntie Leia pushed open the screen door. “Mama just finished her breakfast.”

“How is she?” Daniel asked.

“Easy this morning, yeah,” Leia said. “She’ll be happy to see you.”

“One more thing: there’s a wheelchair for you and Mama in the back of the truck. It’ll help you to get her around easier,” he said excitedly. “Out of her room to the porch, even outside. We’ll have a ramp built for her. Hopefully she’ll pay more attention to her surroundings.”

Leia, barefoot and dressed in a flowing muumuu just like Mama wore, followed him to the truck. He untied the ropes and pulled the wheelchair down from the truckbed and onto the dirt with a heavy thud.

“Look at that, eh!” Auntie Leia said with delight. She touched the leather seat. “I’ve never seen one close up. How did you get it?”

“When the administrator at Hilo Hospital heard I was Mama Natua’s doctor, they couldn’t turn me down,” Daniel said. “She’s much loved. Everyone wishes her the best.”

Auntie Leia looked at him for a long moment, her eyes tearing. “Thank you,” she said, her hand touching the armrest, the leather back.