In Search of Healing

by Katie Holmburg

  Placing the flowers in water, Aletta called out, “Mom, where are dad and the boys?”

  Her mom called back, “In the backyard. Dad’s grilling and the boys are tossing the football around.” Her voice grew louder as she spoke, which made Aletta believe that they were moving towards the back yard.

  Setting the vase on the counter, she wiped her hands on her jeans and jogged to catch up with her mom and Lirim. She caught up with them as they reached the sliding glass door and smiled when she saw them talking together as thick as thieves.

  Her jaw dropped when she heard what they were talking about. Lirim was telling her mother about how they’d become partners and was in the middle of telling her about the ogre incident and the reasons that Jones had partnered then together.

  Panicking internally, she hurried over to where they were and joined them just before they stepped outside. “Hey, mom. Sorry, I just need to borrow Lirim for a moment. Something came up at work. We’ll be out in just a minute.” Aletta gave her mom her most innocent smile.

  Christine studied her closely before smiling and warning, “Don’t take too long. You don’t want to ruin a family get together by working too much.”

  Aletta smiled. “Of course not. This should take just a moment.” She waited until her mom stepped outside before grabbing Lirim’s arm and towing him swiftly into the kitchen. Checking to make sure that none of her other family members had come in, she hissed, “What were you thinking? Why in the world did you think that was a good story to share with my mother?”

  Lirim looked at her, honestly confused. “What do you mean? Your mother was asking how we became partners.” Comprehension suddenly crossed his face. “Don’t tell me that your family members don’t know about that incident.”

  She flushed, “The boys do, but mom doesn’t.”

  Lirim looked at her curiously, “Why not? She seems like a sensible woman, and she has to know that a job like yours has some hazards.”

  She stared at him for a moment and then sighed. “I knew I was forgetting to tell you something. Mom’s an empath.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “Your mom’s an empath.”

  “Yeah, a very strong one. She can’t watch the news, it hurts her too much. She cries over things like the pomp and circumstance march. She theoretically knows that my job is dangerous, but I try to shield her as much as I can. She’s the heart of our family and I can’t stand the thought of her hurting.”

  He apologized, “I’m sorry, I had no idea. I’ll be more careful with my words.”

  She gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, I really appreciate it. Sorry that I didn’t warn you. Now we’d better get outside before she sends someone in after us.”

  * . * . *

  Reaching the backyard, Aletta smiled and left him to go join two young men tossing a football out on the lawn. She called, “I’m open, throw it to me, John.”

  As Lirim watched her join in their game, her mother made her way over to where he stood. Standing next to him, watching Aletta laugh and play, she said quietly, “She warned you about my gift, didn’t she?”

  He turned to refute it, but at her knowing look, the words died on his tongue. She smiled and continued, “My daughter tries to protect me from the world. Her heart is so big that she would try to move the world to protect someone that she loves. But she doesn’t seem to realize that as her mother, it is my job to protect her, not the other way around.

  Is her job dangerous? Yes, any type of law enforcement is a dangerous career. Does it keep me up at nights? Sometimes it does, I won’t lie. But I lie awake at night worrying about all of my children, not just Aly. It’s a mother’s prerogative to worry about her children. I honestly worry about my boys more than I do about her. Aly is the strongest of all my children. Maybe not physically, but she has the most inner strength.”

  She looked at him, her eyes clear and direct. “I know that she doesn’t tell us everything and that her job is dangerous. But I want you to promise to look out for her. Not just physically. I need you to watch out for her heart.”

  Lirim inclined his head, his respect for her growing. “I was very fortunate to be partnered with her. I will do my utmost to protect her no matter what. You have my word.”

  She smiled and simply said, “Thank you,” then turned and joined her husband at the grill, both of them laughing at their children’s antics. Lirim watched her go Aletta had definitely inherited her inner strength from her mother.

  Right then, Aletta came running over with her brothers hot on her heels and dropped into a patio chair, panting gently, but with a huge grin on her face. He was pleased to see her relaxed and smiling; the last few weeks had been hard on her and she needed this.

  One of her brothers whined, “Why did you get to bring your boyfriend? Mom said it was a family thing today.”

  Instead of getting mad like Lirim expected her to, she just rolled her eyes at him. “Lirim isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my partner at work. And we’re here because mom wants to interrogate me. At least you’re getting free food out of it.

  Anyway, brats, this is my partner, Agent Lirim Bosk. Lirim, these are my bratty brothers, John and James.”

  He didn’t like the glint in their eyes as they turned their attention to him, but he didn’t look away or back down. He’d faced worse than a couple of overprotective brothers. However, he had to remember that this was Aletta’s family and that he needed to restrain himself. He looked over at Aletta, but she remained lounging in the chair and raised an eyebrow at him.

  This was a test, he suddenly realized. Aletta had obviously grown up in a very tight knit family and they were all still close, even though they were grown. Could he deal with their nosiness and interrogations? He doubted that very many men had made it through the protective male gauntlet that surrounded her.

  He gave her a half grin to let her know that he knew exactly what she was up to. She grinned back but still made no move to rescue him. Game on then. However, before her brothers could release their barrage of questions, he was saved by Mrs. Sheridan calling them over to eat.

  Extending a hand to help Aletta to her feet, he knew that this was only a temporary reprieve. But as Aletta had told her brothers, at least they would be fed in exchange for the interrogation.

  * . * . *

  Aletta had almost burst out laughing when Lirim had grinned at her, a knowing look in his eyes. She merely grinned back, refusing to rescue him. If he was serious about remaining her partner, it was about time that he found out that she had a nosy, overprotective family. She wasn’t too worried about him; a man that had made it through the Outlander War could take care of himself. But how he handled her brothers and father would tell her a lot about him.

  No man had made it past their strict interrogations and examinations. She couldn’t say that she’d been exactly heartbroken about it. Extremely angry and humiliated sometimes, but never heartbroken. She wanted a man in her life that would love and protect her as fiercely as her father did her mother. And if she was being honest, her brothers hadn’t deviated from the paternal example when it came to the women in their lives. She’d be very surprised if James didn’t ask Veronica to marry him soon. John, on the other hand, didn’t have a girlfriend, but that was because he was waiting for the right woman. Once a Sheridan man gave his heart, he was loyal to the end. She had a fleeting suspicion that she would be the same way as well.

  Not that he was her boyfriend, but if they remained partners, Lirim would see a lot of her family. Come to think of it, her family had never liked Wells from the moment they’d met him at her graduation from the academy. Now there was some food for thought.

  Her mom called them to eat and she saw the relief in Lirim’s eyes. She allowed him to help her up and murmured, “You know that they’re still going to corner you before we leave?”

  Falling in behind her, he murmured back, “If I’d known that you were going to feed me to the wolves, I would’ve stayed away, free food or not.” />
  She chuckled. “You obviously have never eaten my parents’ cooking. It’s worth getting interrogated for.”

  “If you say so.” He pulled out the chair for her and she sat, ignoring her brothers’ incredulous stares. She also noted the approval on her father’s face at Lirim’s courtesy. She ignored both. The men would have to work it out between themselves. It would only become an impossible snarl if she tried to negotiate things between them.

  Her brothers quickly sat and started loading their plates, their scrutiny of Lirim apparently put on hold until they’d eaten their fill. She handed Lirim a plate, then started filling her own. Everyone settled in, eating and laughing, catching up on how everyone had been. Aletta had them in tears as she told them how she’d accidentally tripped the leprechaun and he’d ended up in the fountain.

  The meal was winding down, and Aletta was starting to think that she might escape, when her mom broached the subject that she’d been secretly dreading. “Now Aly, what is this I hear about you going back to the opera?”

  It was almost comical the way the rest of her family turned and looked at her, a mixture of shock and disbelief warring on their faces. Knowing her mother’s empathetic gift, she knew that she was going to have to tread carefully.

  Setting aside her fork, she met her mom’s gaze squarely. “I haven’t decided yet. Work at HSI is different than I had thought it would be. And honestly…” She trailed off for a moment and allowed her sadness to show through. “I miss Lena. It’s been almost three years now. I miss Lena and I miss singing. I don’t know if I’ll decide to go back or not, but I decided that it was time to stop running.” That last one was a blatant lie, she thought bleakly. She hadn’t decided to face her past; it had been forced upon her.

  Her mother’s face softened and she smiled gently, “Whatever you decide, we’ll support you, you know that. Have you been to see her lately?”

  “I took Lirim to meet her the other day. Her color seemed to be better.” Let her family make of it what they will, she wasn’t going to explain why she had taken him.

  “I was talking to her mother just the other day. She said that the doctors said that she’s showing more signs of possibly waking.”

  Aletta mustered a smile, but it felt strained. “That’s good news indeed.”

  The talk moved into more general channels, but the mood had turned more somber. Aletta pushed away her plate, her appetite gone. However, she participated in the conversation for her mother’s sake. She didn’t want her to worry about her any more than she already did.

  Taking a deep breath, she managed to shake off her gloom. Being sad would solve nothing and just cause her to family to worry about her. Seeing that everyone was about done eating, she pushed her chair back and stood. “Who’s up for croquet? If the terrible twosome set it up, I’ll clear the table.”

  Her brothers jumped up with alacrity and she giggled. She’d beaten them last time they’d been together and she knew that they’d be itching to even the score.

  The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of games and laughter. Although her brothers and Lirim disappeared for a while, they had returned before she got truly concerned. When she asked, they simply said, ‘guy stuff,’ so she let it go.

  Before she realized it, the shadows had lengthened across the lawn and it was time for them. After lengthy goodbyes and a plate of leftovers for both of them, they finally managed to escape.

  Aletta settled into the passenger seat with a tired laugh, groaning slightly as she carefully set the plate on the floor at her feet. Waiting until he’d started the car and pulled into the street, she finally said, “So, that’s my family. What do you think?”

  He grumbled quietly under his breath. Her family had that effect on a lot of people. Biting back a laugh, she asked, “What was that?”

  He scowled at her teasing tone but couldn’t maintain it and gave in to the grin that she saw tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I said, your mother is a perfect lady, your brothers are heathens, and your father is very scary for someone who is a banker.”

  Aletta relaxed farther into her seat. “All very true. I hope the boys weren’t too hard on you. They’d wrap me up in bubble wrap if they could.”

  He smirked at her subtle probe for information. “Well, it was certainly an informative afternoon. It explained a lot about you. Also, have you ever thought that maybe your mom is why your secondary Sheridan gift manifested as healing?”

  She frowned, puzzled. “No. What makes you say that?”

  “Well, your mom is an empath and you appear to have either inherited some of it, or you developed a heightened sensitivity to people's’ emotions on your own. You often seek to put those around you at ease.”

  She raised an eyebrow, “I do?”

  He glanced over at her, disbelief written clearly on his face. “Don’t tell me that you don’t realize that you do it.” Seeing her expression, he laughed. “It’s true. You have no idea, do you?”

  When she scowled at him, he explained, “When you enter a place, you immediately take in the emotional atmosphere of its occupants. If someone’s tense, you work to set them at ease. If they’re sad, you work on cheering them up. It’s extremely subtle, but you do.”

  After thinking about it for a minute, she shrugged. “If you say so. But what does that have to do with my mom?”

  “It might be a side effect of growing up with an empath for a mom. You knew that negative emotions hurt her, so you instinctively tried to protect her by making sure that those around her were happy and content. It’s just a guess, but that’s what I think.”

  She nodded slowly, “Ok, I’ll buy that. But what does that have to do with my secondary gift?”

  “It’s part of your nature to soothe away pain, so much so that you do it instinctively and without realizing it. Why then wouldn’t your gift manifest as physical healing?”

  The conviction in his words only added to the sense of utter rightness when she thought of why she might have been gifted with healing. She nodded and opened her mouth to reply when a huge yawn caught her unaware.

  She quickly covered her mouth, blushing faintly. Swallowing a second yawn, she said, “Urgh, I’m exhausted. Mom let it go way easier than I expected. All that worrying for nothing.”

  He laughed. “No nodding off yet. We still have to make a game plan for tomorrow.”

  She grumbled but acquiesced. “All right, what do you think we should do? Didn’t we cover most of it the other day with everyone?”

  “Most of it, but I didn’t want to put you on the spot in front of everyone.”

  She yawned again, “About what?”

  He hesitated before admitting, “I know that you were close to them for several years. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of them. I don’t want to make this any harder on you than it has to be.”

  His words made her heart melt a little, and she smiled softly. “Just be yourself, you could never embarrass me. Observe carefully and you’ll pick it up in no time, trust me. And at the end of the day, we are there to help people, not be popular. So just be yourself and everything will turn out right in the end.

  He gave her a half smile but she could still see the disbelief in his eyes. She shrugged. He would either believe her or he wouldn’t, but time would prove her right. Still, she knew that he would fret about it so she offered, “Tell you what, let’s go in there and just see what happens. At the end of the day, I’ll let you know if you did anything terrible. And if you do something terribly gauche during the day, I’ll pull you aside and let you know. I’m not going to feed you to the sharks, you know.”

  He kept his attention on the traffic but asked, “Truthfully? You’ll tell me truthfully if I do something terrible?”

  She stared at him in exasperation, “When have I ever been less than truthful with you? Where is this coming from?”

  He sighed and it was a heavy sound, like he’d been carrying this for a while. “Aletta, Leta, we’ve known each other fo
r a few months. When we were first partnered, we were thrown together in the middle of an active investigation. It was imperative that we work together or more people would die. And surprisingly, we worked well together. It was intense and we did what we had to. Then things were slowing down and we were getting to know each other. But now, things are different again. Why do you trust that I’ll be ok when we barely even know each other?”

  Her first reaction was hurt but she took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then she did as her mom had taught her as a child and put herself in his shoes. He was a man that prided himself on control and he had an insanely protective streak. He also had a bad habit of trying to shoulder everyone’s burdens and never show his own vulnerabilities. At that thought, a light bulb went off. He was still trying to protect her in his own way, but he was going off of his own feelings. She couldn’t control the smile that slipped out, now she just had to make him understand what she realized.

  Keeping her tone light, she asked, “Have you ever met someone and felt like you’ve known them forever? That no matter what you can trust them to have your back?”

  He shrugged, not meeting her eyes. She rolled her eyes but continued, “I know that I was angry when we were first assigned. I have a stubborn streak a mile wide as I am sure my brothers told you earlier. But I knew when you allowed me to take the lead at first murder scene that you were someone I could trust with my life. It’s not something I can explain but I know that it’s true down to my very bones. Maybe it has something to do with my mother being an empath, I don’t know. But I trust you and you need to trust in yourself more. And you need to believe in me as well.”

  He glanced at her, his bewilderment clear, “Why aren’t you more upset with all of this?”

  She scoffed, “What, that you have doubts?”

  He nodded.

  Aletta continued. “We all have doubts. Every day I question something or other, myself, you, HSI, the world. But at some point, you just have to let them go and trust. Our partnership is something that I have faith in. But I don’t think that that is what’s bothering you.”