The Touch (Healer Series)

by Allison Rios

  “She fell,” Gram said, pointing to the broken ladder that was leading up to the barn’s loft. “The rung, it broke. The ladder split. She came down, and the rung just went through her leg!” She shot a glance at AJ, pleading for his help, feeling a surge of guilt that she could do nothing to assist. She didn’t have to use words because her face said it all: she didn’t care about the sacrifice. She was begging him to save Rose.

  “Call 9-1-1!” Addie screamed.

  Looking up at AJ, terrified eyes begged him to help, to call an ambulance and save her daughter. She was clutching Rose, holding her as still as possible, the strongest fear she ever had welling up within her body.

  “Somebody call 9-1-1-! Baby, stay with me. Look at mama! Come on baby, you’re going to be okay, okay? I promise. Keep your eyes open. Keep looking at me!”

  Addie was frantic and Rose’s eyes were beginning to shut, the pain causing her to go into shock. Gram was visibly shaken as well, holding Rose’s hand in her own. The blood was pouring from Rose’s leg at a pace far faster than AJ cared to see. His mind stopped working and everything seemed to go in super slow motion.

  He looked back to see no one standing outside, and then ran forward into the barn. He caught Max’s eyes and seemed to apologize for what he was about to do. Max didn’t need to hear it; he understood. As the slow motion continued AJ was on the ground, one arm underneath Rose, ready to scoop her up. He was telling Addie and Gram to stand back. Neither was backing away from the tiny girl.

  “Stop!” Addie yelled at him, grabbing his arm with the strength only heard about in movies where someone’s adrenaline kicks in and they lift a car off of someone. “Don’t move her! Somebody call 9-1-1!”

  Still slow motion. He knew it was now or never; too much blood was being lost. He looked at Gram and the old woman moved over to Addie and pulled her back from Rose.

  “Let go,” she whispered into Addie’s ear, holding her granddaughter's arms at her sides from behind. “Let go. Let AJ help her.”

  “He can’t help!” Addie replied in an exasperated wail. “Call 9-1-1!”

  “Shhhh, shhh, shhh,” Gram whispered, wrapping her arms around Addie from behind, trying to calm her down.

  AJ scooped Rose off of the broken rung, carefully and methodically, watching as the splintered wood pulled out of her leg from underneath.

  “You’re going to kill her!” he heard Addie yell.

  Her heart was throbbing. She had lost Robert. She was not going to lose Rose, too.

  “Please don’t do this to her!” she screamed. “She’s going to bleed to death!”

  Addie was trying to break Gram’s grip and move closer to Rose. AJ saw it all, moving so slowly, out of the corner of his eyes. Her screams were turning into wails, into cries and sobs of desperation.

  AJ lowered Rose down onto the ground and Max was already there, ready to gently hold her head. He would let AJ start because he knew there would be no telling him not to do this in front of Addie. If he needed help, Max would step in.

  With AJ’s arms wrapped tightly around the little girl, the visions began to flow. Rose as a baby, making her mother smile through the tears of a lost love. Visions of Rose as a teenager, her mother smiling proudly next to her at graduation – and then the go-ahead for AJ to heal the little girl.

  He looked down at her seemingly lifeless body, her head limp in Max’s hands. Addie still screamed, alligator tears pouring forth from her eyes. The wound on Rose’s leg was about six inches wide and large enough to be the most deadly wound he’d seen in a long time. The blood made it hard to see the wound itself as it bubbled out from underneath the skin, pooling onto the floor underneath them. AJ’s body was covered in it and he didn’t care. He felt nothing else and saw nothing else, except for Rose.

  Rose was still unconscious, for which AJ was grateful. At least she wasn’t feeling the pain. Her heartbeat weak, AJ knew he must work fast. He placed his now red-tinted hands over the gaping wound on Rose’s leg, applying pressure. He felt the heat pull forth from his core, surging out through his hands and into Rose.

  The rung had gone clear through from the back of her thigh to the front, and from the amount of blood probably nicked an artery. AJ’s hands were careful, swift. They moved back and forth, back and forth, the heat building into the strength of a fire, only without actually burning Rose’s skin. As AJ’s hands pressed against Rose’s leg, a light between his palm and her thigh became

  visible, extending out and creating a blinding light in place of the blood that had been impaling their minds just moments earlier.

  Addie’s eyes were wild, baffled. AJ looked over at her, pleading with her to believe in him, have faith in him. She looked from the light to him and back again. She begged him with those big eyes to save her daughter. She didn’t understand it, yet she knew he wouldn’t fail her. She was sobbing, begging them still to call an ambulance, begging Gram to let her go to her daughter. The tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the dust to form actual trails on her skin. Her heart felt as if it might explode from pain and in the moment, she thought her mind might as well.

  As the light grew brighter, a sense of calmness and fear simultaneously raced through Addie as she struggled to understand what she was witness to. Her lips quivered at the mere thought of losing Rose; more potent than any other she had felt in her life. She would have given anything in that moment to take Rose’s place and be covered in blood instead of her daughter.

  The light grew brighter as AJ’s hands grew warmer. He looked at Max who nodded approvingly, knowing that to save Rose’s life one of them must be discovered. Otherwise, they would lose her. AJ knew what Addie seeing him do meant: in a very short time – days, maybe a couple weeks – his powers would be completely taken away for having broken the rules that Healers had followed since the beginning of time: never let a mortal see what you do.

  The warmth continued to grow underneath his hands, the wounds sealing from the inside out just as the elder had sealed his the day before. The ring on the back of his neck grew brighter, a symbol of the life he was breathing back into Rose, allowing her to continue on the circle of her life until it was completed when she was very, very old. Addie saw this as well and grew even more frightened. She hadn’t believed in magic, angels, or anything of the sort. None of it made sense, and all she could think was that AJ was some breed of monster, some version of an alien that had infiltrated their lives. She wasn’t focused on the fact that he was healing Rose now; she was consumed with fear that he was hurting her.

  He placed his left hand underneath her leg, the warmth protruding through from one side to the other. Addie sat speechless and petrified, shaking in the arms of her grandmother. Rose’s body shook, the artery healing and blood flow being restored as it was before. The skin under his hands began to seal, slowly, leaving a light scar. The mark on her flesh was an indication of how tired and drained he was while healing her. He kept his hands on her longer than he needed to, ensuring she was completely healed inside and out.

  Gram looked at AJ, her eyes pleading with him to save Rose, to work his magic and keep her alive. She knew what he was sacrificing.

  Just as the middle of the wound closed beneath his fingers, Rose moved her head from side to side, a whimper escaping her lips.

  “Mama…” she whispered, Addie breaking free of Gram’s grip and crawling across the floor to her daughter.

  “Mama’s here baby, I’m right here, shhh,” she whispered, stroking Rose’s hair away from her face, tucking an arm under her head and wrapping the other around her body while pulling her baby into a bear hug. “I’m right here. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  She rocked Rose back and forth as her baby came back from unconsciousness.

  “I’m thirsty,” Rose said, looking into her mom’s eyes. It was apparent Addie had been crying and it was Rose’s turn to look confused.

  “What’s wrong mom?” she asked, sitting up in Addie’s arms. “Why are you crying?”


  Addie looked down at Rose’s leg, the tear still in her jeans and the blood stain massive, covering Rose’s pants and a great deal of the floor directly underneath her. The puddle resembled a red and sticky puddle.

  “Get her inside, get her rested,” AJ said, breathless and exhausted. “The blood will regenerate faster than normal. She’ll be 100% in just a few hours.”

  He fell backwards, lying on his back upon the dirty barn floor. He didn’t care. The room was spinning. He had used nearly everything he had.

  Addie stared at him, completely unsure what to make of what she had just experienced. She picked Rose up, carrying her carefully out of the barn as her own body shook. She’d take a few steps and then look shakily back over her shoulder at AJ, her face plastered with a look of sheer confusion and panic. The look cut AJ to his soul. He was unable to move, unable to follow after her and try and explain. He hadn’t had time to even consider what Addie would think if she saw what he could do; he had only seen Rose and her nearly lifeless body and he couldn’t bear to let anything happen to her.

  Gram looked at AJ and nodded a thank you before hurrying up behind Addie and helping her carry Rose in. The women walked slowly, Gram ushering them along, until they had faded through the darkness and into the house.

  Max sat down, wondering what this meant for getting rid of the Grim. If AJ lost his powers, he wouldn’t have the fight. As the one the Grim had broken the laws with, AJ was the only one who could touch Devin without breaking laws of his own.

  Only he’d just broken one.

  He looked at AJ as the Healer returned the stare. They knew what they had done and what the repercussions could be. AJ shook his head, resting it in hands still covered in Rose’s blood.

  AJ tried to stand up to no avail; he was too weak. He was on his knees, sitting back on his heels, his hands on the dirty floor to hold himself up. What little strength he had left in his hands dissipated and he lost his grip on the ground, falling backwards and flat onto his back. His breathing was heavy, his chest rising up and down, and the sweat beading across his head.

  His eyes darted frantically, searching for an idea to of how to rectify the situation. He moved his right hand, resting it on his chest and wheezing as though he had just run a marathon - in record time with no training. His head fell left to right, struggling to gain control.

  “I had to,” he whispered, mostly trying to convince himself. His voice sounded choked, raspy. He could hear his heartbeat within his ears. “I had to! Max, I had to! I couldn’t let it happen. I couldn’t let it happen!” he repeated louder.

  The tears broke through his voice and morphed into full out cries as he felt everything crumbling around him. Addie had finally relented, found a splinter of peace in letting them be just friends, and now she may never talk to him again, he thought. At the very least, she’d never look at him the same. She’d see him as a freak, an outcast, a monster – he was sure of it.

  Max shook his head softly.

  “I know, AJ, we all know.”

  “Tell me I wasn’t wrong.”

  “You’re the only person who can decide what is right and wrong for you, kid.”

  “Cut the crap, Max!” he shouted through the tears, attempting to lift himself up onto his elbows. “Tell me I wasn’t wrong! Tell me I was right!”

  Max stood up and walked over to AJ, slipping his arm behind the weary Healer. He wrapped AJ’s arm around his shoulder and hoisted his friend up, knowing AJ’s strength wasn’t the only thing that had taken a beating that evening.

  “Tell me I wasn’t wrong,” AJ whispered again, his voice broken-hearted.

  “You weren’t wrong,” Max said. “You were right. However, the others might not see it that way. We both know that.” Max had never been one for mincing words.

  “I know.”

  “Was it worth it?” Max asked, since they both knew what was at risk.

  “It was. Rose deserves to live. It was.”

  Grim was playing a game, and playing dirty.

  14 REALITY REFINED

  Addie sat unsteadily on the edge of the bed, shaken by what had just occurred. Rose was asleep, worn out from something she didn’t even know had happened to her. Addie began peeling the dirty clothes off of her daughter. She worked as gently as possible to clean her up and slip pajamas on her sweet, sleeping angel.

  A thousand thoughts filled her mind about AJ and who – or what – he was. Was he an alien? An angel? Nothing was for sure, she knew that. She had always felt he was different somehow. It had been in terms of his personality. Whatever he had just done with his hands was beyond the realm of reason. Things like that simply didn’t happen, she told herself. It was right out of a movie.

  Gram came in and silently, the two women worked together to get Rose safely in bed. There were no words, because Addie simply couldn’t find them. She didn’t know what to ask or what to think. Even if she had opened her mouth, she knew nothing would come out.

  The color was coming back into Rose’s cheeks, her heart beating again as normal. It was as if the fall had never happened; as if Rose had been lying in her bed all evening. Addie was more confused about this than she had been about anything in her entire life.

  As she re-envisioned Rose’s wound healing under the glow of AJ’s hands, a thought suddenly occurred to her: she hadn’t imagined the wounds on his face or the fight with Devin he had. It was real, and the cuts disappearing began to make more sense to her. Gram knew the instant the realization hit her. The former Healer could read Addie’s face like a book. No one knew Addie better than Gram.

  As they finished tucking in Rose and closed the bedroom door, Addie leaned her forehead against the cool wood and began speaking without looking at her Gram. She didn’t know what Gram knew. She was only certain she knew something about AJ that she herself didn’t. She had been too calm and had known to pull Addie off of Rose.

  “How are you not shaken by all of this? Not surprised? Did you see what happened out there? What is AJ?”

  Gram hugged her from behind, pulling Addie close. Addie turned, burying her head in Gram’s shoulder, the tears flowing. Gram rested her hand behind Addie’s head, quieting her tears.

  “Child, I think it’s time you and I had a little talk.”

  Addie kept her head buried, absorbing a moment of rest on an otherwise exhausting night.

  “Do you still have those old photo albums?”

  Addie nodded and led her silently to the living room, pulling out the thick, old albums from their storage spot underneath a coffee table. The covers were tattered from years of being looked at, as Addie had struggled as a child and teen to remember her mom as a good person through the photographs contained in the ancient albums. She wanted so badly to remember the better times.

  Gram sat down on the couch first, pulling Addie down next to her. Words weren’t needed as the two women gathered as close to each other as they could. Gram could see Addie’s body shake and she pulled the girl’s hands into her own, the wrinkled hands covering the younger ones, soothing the pain.

  Gram knew Addie feared AJ and what he could do. It didn’t matter that his gift was a good one, meant to bring better things to the world; it was magic, foreign even – something that one only read about in science fiction books, and not something that actually happened in the real world.

  She’d never seen a Healer exposed and so had never seen a face like her granddaughter’s after it had happened. From her own experience, she simply requested to be released from her gift so that she could continue her life with George. She wanted simplicity. She didn’t want to see George’s face look as Addie’s did now.

  She felt she had to somehow, without a wordy explanation, show Addie that AJ was harmless and a good person. She wanted Addie to look at him the way she looked at Gram.

  She had seen them in the yard the other day when Addie was so confused about his cuts being gone. She had seen the reflection herself from where she stood, his circular scar glin
ting from the fading sunlight. When a Healer is active, still possessive of their gift, the ring is continually lit. It’s a light glow, but it’s always there.

  When a Healer loses or gives up their gift, the mark remains to remind them of the good they’d done throughout their lives and of the sacrifice made in giving it up. The only difference was that it lost its sheen, became just another scar.

  Gram took one of Addie’s hands in her own and lifted it gently. She turned her head slightly and flattened Addie’s hand, straightening the fingers and placing them on the back of her neck. She traced the scar with Addie’s fingers. It had been hidden underneath the neatly styled hair for years and while it no longer held a glow, she hoped Addie would understand that it was a good thing; that they were good people. That AJ was like Gram, a good woman Addie had known her entire life.

  Addie’s scared look faded as Gram’s hand let go of hers, and she continued to trace the ring with her fingers. She was fascinated. Her Gram was one of them, one of these strangers. Only Gram was not a stranger or an alien, she was the truest person she knew. She felt a sense of relief as some of the fear regarding AJ slipped from her body. She lowered her hand, looking into her grandmother’s eyes.

  “You?” she questioned, her voice slow and still trembling.

  “Me.”

  “You can do…that?” Addie asked. Her hands broke free from Grams as she waved them about, trying her best to understand.

  “I could, once upon a time,” she replied, a smile forming on her lips. “I did. For a lot of people. People who were broken physically and emotionally.”

  “Do…did you, fix everyone? How does it work? Do you just go around, fixing people?” She couldn’t think of another word than fix.