“How long will it take to get there?” I asked.

“Just under two hours!” he yelled back. “This is my fifteenth trip in the last two days.”

“Fifteen! When did you get time to sleep?”

“Haven’t had much of that. Could you do me a favor?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“If I fall asleep during the flight could you either wake me up or take over the controls?”

He had a dead-serious look on his face that dissolved into a smile, and he started laughing, really hard. Maybe it was a joke, but it wasn’t that funny, and it wasn’t making me feel any better about how tired he actually was. I’d just keep talking to him and make sure he didn’t fall asleep.

“I still don’t understand why they won’t let me go to Phuket,” I said.

“Government policy. Nobody in. They’re afraid of looters, criminals coming in and taking advantage of the situation. I’ve even heard tales of people kidnapping young children who have had their parents killed.”

“That’s awful! I can’t imagine people doing that.”

“I was hearing about a case in Sri Lanka. They found a baby, and now four different couples have come forward claiming he’s their son.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Saddest thing is that all four really believe it. Think about that, four couples who lost a child, a boy about the same age, all thinking it’s their baby.”

“But they can’t all really believe that, can they?”

“Human beings believe what they need to believe. They don’t want to accept that their child is lost so they have to believe this is their son.”

“How will they figure out who’s telling the truth…or, I guess, who’s right…anyway, whose son it is?”

“Simple. DNA test. Same way they’re identifying the bodies that they’re finding that don’t have any identification. There have been hundreds found like that, and…” He stopped and looked over at me. “You don’t need to be hearing this stuff right now. Bottom line is people are capable of some pretty awful things. A disaster like this brings out the worst and the best in people.”

“I don’t understand…the best?”

“I’ve been hearing tales of people risking their lives for complete strangers.”

I could picture my father doing that.

“Most of the tourists have left, but some have insisted on staying, and they’re helping to search for survivors, tending to the injured.”

“My mother is a nurse. She’d do that.”

This was good—now I had another positive image to hold on to. I could almost see my mother and father helping survivors and trying to make a terrible situation better. Maybe Sam would even be helping with the cleanup. I hoped there’d be something like that I could do, some way to make myself useful.

“Can I ask you another question?” I said.

“Shoot.”

“Why are you bringing me to Phuket?”

He shrugged. “Figured you weren’t a criminal or a looter. Just thought you were somebody worried about her family. You just wanted to do what I’d want to do if it were my family. That’s all.”