“Baby, oh, my sweet baby boy,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”
“Is it really you?” he asked. She nodded into his embrace.
“What just happened?” Zack whispered.
“She was sick in the mind. She had been compelled to hurt her boy, I think. It felt like I was fixing her but also taking something from her, as well. It wasn’t like anything I’ve ever done before.”
“Thank you,” the woman said.
* * * *
“Who did this to you?” Paige asked her. “Who made you do this?”
“I did,” Melvin spoke, shocking the room. “I didn’t want to start kindergarten with the big kids when school started. I used my power to fake sick, but then I didn’t know how to take it back. I didn’t know it would make her like this.”
“Melvin!” everyone in the room yelped. The surprise was palpable. Zack and Mrs. Lundbeck went about explaining to the child how he shouldn’t use his powers yet, but Paige knew he’d learned his lesson. She could feel it. She nodded at him, and he back at her. It was the only exchange needed.
When Zack dismissed them, joy exuded from him. He zoomed back in the room to Paige, demanding to know how she’d done it. He wanted details, but the truth of the matter was, she didn’t know.
Zack continued to fire off question after question until Paige took his face in her hands and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
“Do you feel that?” she asked him.
He hummed in response. “Why? What do you mean?”
“Why do you feel so strongly for me? Why are we connected?”
“I have no idea, and I don’t care. I just hope it never goes away.”
She smiled. “Me either. But you see it’s the same with what just happened. I don’t know why or how I do what I do. I don’t need to know as long as it works. Some things can’t be scientifically explained. Some things aren’t meant to be understood, Zack. They just are. You know?”
“I do now,” he said before calling back the next patient. This one was different. Zack told her that Mr. Vasquez had severe varicose veins that caused him chronic pain. He asked the patient to explain it to Paige, so he did…very loudly. He was apparently nearly deaf, as well.
Paige didn’t really need the older man’s long-winded explanation. She could see that he wanted desperately to feel better. She placed her hand on his leg, but nothing happened. She tried taking his hand; nothing again. Paige led Zack into the hallway where they could speak in private.
“I’m sorry. I told you sometimes it works and others it doesn’t. I don’t know why.”
“That’s absurd,” Zack said. “I saw you do it with Mrs. Lundbeck. It was phenomenal. You were amazing. Maybe you just aren’t trying hard enough.”
“Excuse me?” Paige said, furrowing her brow. “I most certainly am trying.”
“Well, it doesn’t feel like the building is about to explode, so I can’t tell.”
Paige felt the anger rise within her at the accusations being hurled her way. “How about now?” she growled.
“Yeah, now go!” Zack gave her a little shove back into the room. She reluctantly laid a hand on the man, trying to channel her anger for a purpose but to no avail.
“I can’t just do this on command, Zack! Stop pushing me!”
“I’m sorry, Paige. I was just testing a theory. I thought maybe it was passion that ignited your power.” He laid his hand on her shoulder again, and she instantly relaxed. Then realization lit up his face. “Of course! Pressure points.”
“What?”
“Pressure points.” He pulled a string on the wall that unrolled a poster, revealing healing pressure points on the body. “You grabbed Mrs. Lundbeck’s wrist. When I touch your shoulder, I put my thumb in the groove next to your spine. I think your power flows through me back into you. I think the point of entry is vital to how your gifts work.”
“This sounds ludicrous.”
Zack laughed. “This? Out of all the things you’ve learned the past few days, this strikes you as ludicrous?” That made her laugh too. “Isn’t it worth a try?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I hate it that you’re right so often.”
Mr. Vasquez seemed completely unphazed by their conversation.
Paige tried the shoulder, the wrist, even the back of the knee; none of them worked. She was giving up. She’d tried to explain that her power wasn’t a sure thing. She couldn’t make it happen. It didn’t have an “on/off” switch. She could tell that Zack was determined to figure it out, so she and Mr. Vasquez sat together while he paced a groove in the floor.
“It’s vascular. Varicose veins are not superficial. They’re vascular in nature so maybe you’re just not using the right approach. Try using the jugular notch—”
“Fine…” She touched the man at the base of his neck below his Adam’s apple with her thumb. She meant the touch to be just that, but instead, she could feel the power flowing through her into him. Her hand instinctively wrapped around the side of his neck below his ear. After a moment, when she felt the slow of energy, she released him.
“Doc,” the man said, hopping up. He jumped up and down on one leg then the other. He laughed as he hopped back and forth from one foot to the other like a boy playing hopscotch.
“Looking good there!” Zack grinned from ear to ear.
“And my ear! I can hear! How did you do it?” he asked Paige. He snatched her up into his arms, laying a big kiss on her cheek.
“Hey now, hands off my girl, man.”
“How did you do it?” the patient asked her again.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I got lucky, I guess. But you better stop jumping around like a kid because I didn’t turn back time. I’m not Cher.”
“You are so amazing, Paige. I love you.” Zack took her into his arms, kissing her so deeply that Mr. Vasquez excused himself to let the lovebirds be alone.
Chapter 7
The whole morning was a learning experience for Paige. She became more and more attuned to her gift with each person she was able to help. She’d thought that Zack was being obsessive at first, but it hadn’t been an obsession over her gift. Rather he was desperate to help those in need. She couldn’t fault him for that.
He’d told her that he loved her. She hadn’t replied. She was afraid to admit it. It seemed too soon, too sudden, too surreal. She may not have said it, but she knew she felt it. She’d felt it the moment he came to her at the B&B with the amulet. It wasn’t denial that kept her from admitting it but wonder. She wondered if the feelings were real or if they were the result of the curse of true love’s kiss that had been placed on her parents.
As they walked through the streets of Blansett, Zack took her to his car to drive her to the hospital to make rounds. It was the first time they’d actually needed a ride since she’d been in town. Still it wasn’t far. Zack seemed distant on the short drive. After they parked and got out, she asked if he was alright.
“I can’t believe I missed it. I don’t know how I didn’t see—”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mrs. Lundbeck and Melvin. How did I let that go on for so long? She was hurting him, and I had no idea.”
“Oh, Zack. You couldn’t have known.”
“I should’ve. It’s my job to know. It’s my gift to know, as well.”
“She was giving off mixed emotions. There was no way you could have read her.”
“You did,” he said, giving her a side glance as they walked into the back entrance of the hospital to see patients. “You saw, you felt, and you fixed. You’re so—”
“You can stop that now.”
“What?”
“The excessive compliments. You have me. I’m here. And if we keep going at this rate, I’ll put you out of business.”
“Nothing would make me happier. Besides, I don’t think I’ll ever have enough of you.” He leaned in for a kiss, but she shied away.
“All right now, workplace behavior.�
�
Zack laughed. “You don’t work here.”
“Yeah, but my boyfriend does, and he has a reputation to uphold.”
“Boyfriend, huh?”
She shrugged with a smile. It felt as though she’d gone from an introverted near shut-in to a flirty “woo” girl. She’d even checked her hair in the mirror every time she got a chance. She’d never been like that before. Zack made her feel like she was more. She wondered if this would all end in disappointment, but then she remembered… She needn’t worry about that. She already knew the answer. She’d seen it.
“Paige.” Zack called out to her, breaking her from her thoughts. She’d promised him that she wouldn’t express her concerns over the vision, and she intended to keep that promise. “Come on, babe. I want to introduce you to some of the staff and take you to see that patient I was telling you about.”
“Babe? Really?”
“Yep. You’re a babe.” He shrugged with a sly grin. She shoved him playfully.
After she felt like she’d met just about everyone who worked in the building, Zack took her to the private room at the end of the west wing on the second floor. It felt as though they were walking down to a deep, dark secret. It was quiet, the lighting dimmed with no one else around.
“Why is this patient away from everyone else? Is he contagious? Dangerous?”
“No, nothing like that. He just chooses to be.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I honestly can’t figure it out. That’s one of the worst feelings as a doctor. It’s a feeling of complete failure. This guy is thirty. He’s been sick for some time, and I’ve run every test I can think of to no avail. I just treat his symptoms. Sometimes, he feels better, and I discharge him, but then he’ll pass out and end up right back here when someone finds him.”
“That’s awful.”
“It is. So you can see why you could really come in handy here.”
“Yeah, let’s do it,” Paige said. She was excited to help and frankly enjoying that Zack was getting such a rush out of her gifts. He seemed to light up each time she was able to help one of his patients. His happiness made her happy.
“Chuck.” Zack knocked on the door, pushing it as he went. “Hey, man. How are you today?”
“Better. Can I go?” he said. Paige immediately felt the darkness as they entered the room.
“Actually, you may get a reprieve today. I want to introduce Paige Jessop. She’s an associate that may be able to get you out of here.”
As Paige stepped into the room, she felt as though she were slapped on the forehead. “NO, NO, NO, NO,” echoed through her mind as if it had been spoken aloud, but it hadn’t.
“Paige, Chuck actually served overseas. He’s ex-military.”
“One is never really ‘ex’ military.” She’d spoken, but they weren’t really her words. “Once you’re in, you’re in forever. It’s a lifelong commitment.”
Zack looked at her strangely. “I’m sorry, Paige. I guess there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other. Were you in the armed forces, as well?”
Paige pressed her lips together in a thin line and shook her head no. Zack looked confused, exceedingly so. She was baffled herself.
“Doc, can I talk to the healer alone?”
“Sure.” Zack gave Paige a reassuring nod. “I’ll just be in the hallway.”
“Excuse me, how did you know I was a healer?” She’d seen multiple patients, and no one had called her out.
“I didn’t know for sure, but I figured. I’m a pusher. I just pushed those thoughts into your head and words out of your mouth.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.”
“Whatever. Listen, don’t even try it, okay?”
“Why?”
“I lost an entire platoon to an IED overseas. I know what I have. One of the guys I lost, his sister is a gypsy. She told me about her intentions and I honestly don’t blame her. This is supernatural. Doc Lewis hasn’t figured it out, and I want to keep it that way.”
“So you just want to let it run it’s course?”
“Yep. I don’t believe in suicide as a way out but this isn’t suicide. This is just accepting the hand I’ve been dealt.”
“Zack isn’t going to just let this go.”
“It’s not his life. It’s not his death. It’s not his choice, and it isn’t yours either. Can you respect that, or am I going to have to mentally push you to believe it?”
“I don’t understand why… You’re so young.”
“You could never understand. With all due respect, healer, it’s not your business. Now, are we going to have problems?”
“No,” Paige said simply. “I can’t give you a gift that you don’t want. My power doesn’t work that way. I couldn’t force it on you if I tried. But Zack Lewis isn’t going to just let me walk out of here without trying. You don’t understand. He’s a ‘pusher’ of a different kind. He will push me until… Well, until you tell him the truth. He’s not just going to walk away.”
“Yeah, he will. I like Zack. He’s a good man. I haven’t pushed him, but I’m about to.”
“Will it hurt? Don’t hurt him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It’ll piss him off, but that’s about it.”
Zack stepped back into the room and took Paige’s hand. They walked straight to the desk, where he wrote discharge orders. Paige didn’t say anything, and he didn’t either. It was like walking beside someone who was sleepwalking. It wasn’t until they got all the way outside that Zack seemed to snap out of it.
“So, it went well, then? That’s great. Paige, I really can’t tell you how proud I am of you. You’ve come such a long way for a day’s work.”
She stared at him blankly for a moment, waiting for him to say something else about what had just happened.
“Was it instant like the others?” When she didn’t respond, he persisted, “Earth to Paige. I asked you a question. It went well, right?”
“As well as could be expected under the circumstances.” She didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t sure she should tell the truth either.
“What does that mean?”
She ran her hand through her hair, pulling it around to the side and over her shoulder, as she did when she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place.
“Do you promise not to get mad?” she asked. The breeze caught her hair whipping it around her face. She wrestled it into a knot.
He took her hand from her hair, forcing her chin up so that she was looking at him. “I could never get mad at you. Never.”
Paige closed her eyes for a moment, steeling herself. “He wouldn’t let me.”
“What?”
“He’s a ‘pusher.’ He pushed those thoughts into your head. All that stuff I said about the military was a push. Gah, this place is so unpredictable! I never imagined someone could do such a thing—”
“Wait… You didn’t even try?” he said as he began to pull her back inside. She let him drag her along, even though she knew it was pointless.
“No, but, Zack, I told you it doesn’t work that way. It won’t work if they don’t want it.”
“You don’t know that for sure. You aren’t sure of anything when it comes to your powers.”
She tugged her hand out of his grasp. “I’m not doing this, Zack. Try to understand. You can’t force something on someone if they don’t want it.”
“Sick people aren’t of sound mind, Paige.”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“As a matter of fact, it is.” He held out his hand to her, but she stood her ground.
“No, Zack. I won’t do this.”
“I need your help to help someone. He could die without your help. Don’t you see how important this is?”
He was upset and it was making it harder and harder for her not to lash out. She felt the anxiousness turned anger coming off of him in waves. She stared away from him avoiding his eyes. She focused on the shiny green shamrock garland
that was draped across the entryway of the hospital. It took everything she had to stay calm.
Paige looked around. The decorations, Zack’s outreached hand, his request and her denial. This was it?
“Zack, I think this is the vision. Look.” She was almost giddy at the possibility that it hadn’t been about Zack at all!
He glanced around and started laughing. It began as a smirk and turned into a belly-deep laughter. He lifted her up and swung her around. All of the years he’d dreamt of that vision, and it hadn’t even been about him. Now he could be with Paige. He could love her forever. They could have it all. Her refusal to help Chuck was all but forgotten. She’d had a point anyway. He knew it even if he didn’t like it.
“Well, well, well,” an excited voice exclaimed, entering Paige and Zack’s little love bubble. “Is this her?”
Zack set her back on her feet in front of the older gentleman. “Paige, this is my Uncle, Dr. Wayne Willis. Uncle Wayne, this is my Paige… um, Paige. Just Paige.”
The man’s jolly laughter rippled through the air. It was contagious. “So you’re Zack’s Paige?” He winked. “It’s lovely to meet you, dear. I’ve heard very good things.”
“Likewise.” She smiled and took his extended hand. When she did, she felt a pull of power, a tug of war. She didn’t know what was wrong with the man, but it was advanced. She held on to him, pressing her power harder than she ever had, but it was thrust back upon her all at once, making her knees weak. She stumbled backward and fell flat on her back on the concrete walkway.
“Paige, what happened? Are you okay?” Zack was suddenly standing over her. They both offered a hand. She took only Zack’s.
Before she could answer, Dr. Willis was speaking. “What have you put this girl through today, Zack? Have you had her using an untapped power all day without regard to consequence?”
“Yes but—”
“But nothing. You’ve drained the poor girl.”
“No,” Paige interjected. “You… There’s something not right. Something didn’t feel right about that—”
“Oh, gracious, she’s talking out of her mind. She must’ve hit her head.”
Mystic Luck (Mystic Tides Book 2) Page 22
