Sharks In The Time Of Saviors

Nainoa describes some of the patients he has saved with his mystical powers. His paramedic partner Erin suggests he should do more with his gifts: “You shouldn’t be in this station […] You should be in, I don’t know, a war hospital or a—a—Calcutta. Where there are thousands. Millions” (142). Nainoa responds, “I’m not Jesus” (142).

Nainoa revives a dead Labrador whose body he finds in an alley. The incident appears to be the peak of his powers. He comments, “Never before had I saved something so far gone, human or animal” (145). Soon after, his powers seem to desert him during a paramedic call for a pregnant woman who has been severely injured in a car accident. Instead of rushing straight to the hospital, Nainoa persuades Erin to stop the ambulance, insisting he can save the mother and the baby. However, his efforts fail, and they both die.

Kaui and Van’s relationships seems to blossom. However, Kaui says, “I didn’t know what we were” (158). They do a lot of rock climbing together, including a memorable outing at Indian Creek. Van tells Kaui that she saw her dancing hula in her sleep. While Kaui wants to take her relationship with Van to the next level, there are hints that their friendship is about to crash.

Nainoa has fallen into a depression. He blames himself for the death of the pregnant woman even though the paramedic service does not: “I had failed, and in my failure I had killed a mother and her daughter because I was too stupid to know my own limits” (161). He is given a leave of absence even though he is not suspected or charged with anything. His moodiness strains his relationship with Khadeja.

He plays his ukulele and reminisces about his early years in the islands: “I remembered the shreds of rain forest that made their way to us [...] I remembered Sandy Beach, the waves pitching up into sucking walls of water striped through with different shades of glassy blue” (167). He answers “a calling” and decides to go home to Hawai‘i.