A Serving of Help and Kindness, Please

Roy’s Bayside Grill was serving more than great ribs this past Easter Sunday.  They served a series of generous slices of island hearts for one very sick little girl.
Our active granddaughter, Kiwi, had spent the afternoon working up a sweat swimmin in the surf, swaying and foot tapping to the jazz at Johnno’s and then faded into her grandpa’s lap.  She felt warm and took a nap.  We decided to walk down to Roy’s for a late afternoon appetizer, and found only the bar was open.  So ordering a beer we laid her down on a cushion and watched the local boats enjoying the breeze to practice for the Easter Monday Regatta. 
When we picked Kiwi up she was hotter than the ribs fresh off the grill, it burnt just touching her skin.  Grandpa walked up to the lady behind the bar and asked where was the closest hospital and what was our best option to get there because our little one had a high fever.  With not much hesitation she went over to one of customers.  Keith immediately embraced the situation and had us in his car in less than 3 minutes.  With his cell phone in one hand and the steering wheel in the other, he called the doctor he felt would best meet our needs as he drove us all to the hospital in the Valley.  Once at the hospital he smoothly helped us get checked in  and continued to call his doctor of choice.  Keith felt two plans were better than one as a wait in the hospital may be long.  Twenty minutes later the doctor called Keith back, he was across island with his son at another event.  With Keith’s words, and a short conversation with our daughter, he was in his car headed our way.  Dr Nicholas Carbon pulled up, pulled out his pediatric size equipment and gave our granddaughter a thorough exam. She was running a temperature of 103.2 F and had a throat infection.  He prescribed  antibiotics and since all the pharmacies were closed gave us the medication.  Keith drove us back to Roy‘s, called his relatives to tell them where they would find the dishes he had prepared for Easter dinner, and told them he would be there shortly.  On the drive back we learned his own son had died as a  toddler  due to a brain tumor, and how being able to help us was important to him. Once back at Roy’s he even offered us a room in his house for the night so we would  be nearby if help was needed.  We thanked him and took his phone number and arranged to meet the next morning at Roy’s.
As the morning sunlight rose, Kiwi’s fever  finally broke.  We prepared “Care Packages” for Keith and the doctor and headed the dinghy to Sandy Ground.  We walked the beach towards Roy’s Grill with hearts full of thanks for the kind people of Anguilla who stepped away from their holiday plans to offer aid and assistance to strangers.  Keith greeted us with hugs, told us we now belonged to the island, and always had a place to stay as well as offering to take us fishing. 
There on the beach were the Anguilla boats raising their sails to begin the Easter Monday Anguilla Regatta, and there was our granddaughter blowing kisses of luck to the sailors and saying, “Bye, bye boats.”