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Peppermint Stick forest. The first one of us who reaches the Candy Castle wins.”
    Robin’s jaw is tight. Staying in control is taking its toll.
    â€œTell her to run.”
    I shake my head and cover the mike with my hand.
    â€œGabe has the hypodermic, Robin.”
    â€œTell her…tell her I love her.” Behind Kali’s small voice we hear the bell again. “There’s that sound,” Robin says. “Where have I heard it?”
    â€œTurn on your mike,” I say. “Keep Kali talking. If you hear the bell again, you might be able to identify it.”
    â€œThat sounds like fun, Kali,” I say.
    â€œIt is fun,” Kali says. “I’m caught in the Molasses Swamp now—you’re stuck in there until…”
    â€œUntil you draw the red card,” Robin says. She’s close to tears.
    â€œI didn’t think you’d remember the rules,” Gabe says. He seems genuinely moved.
    â€œI remember a lot, Gabe.” Robin’s voice is, as Gabe described it, full of music.
    Through the talkback, Nova’s voice is tense but excited.
    â€œDr. Harris is doing exactly what she needs to do. Tell her to ramp it up. If she can make Gabe believe they have a future together, we can save Kali.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    I flick off my mike and touch Robin’s arm. “My producer thinks that you’re getting through to Gabe. Keep going.”
    She nods.
    â€œGabe, remember the first time we took Kali tobogganing on that big hill over by the ravine? All she wanted to do was race down the hill, but you were worried she’d get hurt. You made her listen to your tobogganing safety rules five times.”
    Gabe laughs softly at the memory.
    â€œFinally she got bored, leapt onto her sled and just pushed off. When she hit that bump and sailed through the air, I thought my heart would stop.
    â€œWe jumped onto our toboggan and soared after her.” Robin looks to me for approval, and I give her what I hope is an encouraging grin. It does the trick. She carries on. “You and I were such idiots, Gabe. Of course, we hit the same bump Kali did. She was fine, but we nearly broke our backs.”
    â€œKali was wearing that cap she loved,” Gabe says. “The one with the bunny ears. She shook her finger at us and said, ‘When you were telling me all that stuff about being careful, weren’t you listening?’”
    In the background, we hear the sound again. This time I make a connection. I turn off my mike.
    â€œI think it’s an elevator bell—the kind elevators in old buildings have. Keep him talking.”
    Robin takes a deep breath and plunges in again.
    â€œThen there was that month we spent at Lake Saint Joseph.”
    Gabe’s voice is husky with emotion.
    â€œWe made love every morning before Kali woke up. I painted your toenails. The shade was called My Auntie Drinks Chianti—and your toenails were perfect—they looked like small, wet pink petals.”
    â€œYou and Kali were never out of the water,” Robin says. “You taught her how to swim and paddle a canoe. And that sand castle the two of you made—it was a work of art.”
    â€œUntil the rain came and washed it away. Kali was heartbroken, but you just said, ‘Make another one’ and went back to that journal article you were writing.”
    Gabe’s voice has changed. The joy has given way to a terrible despair.
    â€œI remember every second of every hour I was with you, Robin. Dante was right: ‘There is nothing more painful than remembering happy days in times of sorrow.’”
    Gabe’s anguish is a knife in my heart. We’ve lost him, and that means we’ve lost Kali. When I meet Robin’s eyes, I see a panic that mirrors my own. She turns off her mike.
    â€œIt’s not working,” she says. “Do something.”
    I grasp at a cliché.
    â€œ Time heals all wounds, Gabe,” I say.