The Healer(The Healer Series Book 1)

by C. J. Anaya

Chapter Ten

  “You say you found her passed out in the elevator?”

  My father’s voice echoed from a great distance.

  “Yes, sir. She really had us frightened. When I saw her this morning at school she seemed perfectly fine to me.”

  I recognized Victor’s deep, soft voice almost immediately, and then I wondered if my father knew who he was actually talking to. After what he knew about Victor and Tie, I was pretty sure my father would be less than anxious to have a conversation with either one of them.

  “Does she usually get migraines like this? I mean, with the way she was screaming I thought she was going to die.” Victor’s voice shook when he spoke.

  I was touched that he actually seemed to care about me. I wondered, though, if he was also trying to fish some information out of my father that might help him determine who I really was. I hoped my dad would play it safe and be cautious about what he said.

  “Never,” my dad replied. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen Hope in that much pain.”

  Wow. He was obviously clueless.

  I became frantic, trying to pull myself up and out of the sleep induced fog surrounding my mental processes. I did my best to open my eyes and move my arms which were resting limply on either side of my body.

  I soon realized that any attempt at arm movement would be futile. I was now willing to settle for finger flexing and some possible toe wiggling.

  “Hey, I think she’s waking up,” Victor said.

  I felt someone grab my hand and squeeze it softly a few times.

  “Hope, honey? Can you hear me?” my father asked.

  I had to lick my lips a couple of times and swallow. It felt like a small desert had taken up residence within my mouth.

  “What in the world did you give me?” I croaked out.

  “She’s fine,” my dad said.

  I opened my eyes a little more and squinted, afraid another blinding streak of light would hit me, and the pain would start all over again. The room was mostly dark, however, and the only light I could see was coming from the hallway.

  How could it have possibly been that late?

  “Dad? How long have I been out?” I asked feeling confused.

  “Not long. Maybe twenty minutes. Which is surprising when you consider the amount of drugs I gave you would have knocked a small elephant out for a decade.”

  I cringed, knowing Victor would probably think any normal human being would still be unconscious right now. I was also worried about how I had missed half the day. Healing Kirby must have taken up the entire afternoon. I turned my head slowly to the right and took in Victor’s strained features and mussed up hair. He looked like he needed to sit down.

  “Victor, what brings you to the hospital?” I asked, making sure I emphasized his name for my father’s benefit. I felt my father’s hand stiffen on mine and then relax imperceptibly. I was certain he got the message.

  “When I couldn’t find you after school let out I asked your friend Angie if she knew where you might be. She said I would probably find you at the hospital.” He looked a little sheepish for having followed me here.

  I would have thought it was cute if I hadn’t been distracted by the huge lecture I was already forming inside my drug addled brain when next I saw Angie. She was more than dead to me. She was extra dead to me.

  “I also had to drive Tie over here because the nurse at the school eventually decided her stomach was too delicate for the type of nose job he required. We were kind of hoping your dad could fix him up,” he finished.

  I found it interesting that they had decided to continue this charade even though Tie could have healed himself instantly. It might have looked suspicious, but who really wants to be in that much pain any longer than they have to? I know I didn’t.

  Tie’s presence here at the hospital wasn’t making Victor look very happy. From the nervous look on my father’s face it was obvious he wasn’t too thrilled either.

  “So where is Tie?” I asked feeling surprised he wasn’t in the room with us.

  “He was the one who picked you up in the elevator, actually.” Victor’s admission came out grudgingly. “When we got to the floor your father was on, a nurse took one look at Tie’s face and made him go wait in one of the other hospital rooms. He wasn’t very happy about it.”

  The small smile tugging at the corner of Victor’s mouth made me want to laugh a little. These boys were so petty with each other. They really could have been brothers.

  “Was Tie the one I saw being dragged away by three security personnel and Betty?” my dad asked in startled amusement.

  Victor’s grin broadened big time.

  “Yes, sir. He wasn’t leaving Hope’s side without a fight.” Victor sounded annoyed. “The only reason he handed her over to me was because he would have dropped her if he hadn’t. Those security guards weren’t messing around.”

  “Neither was Betty,” my dad joined in.

  Both Victor and my father were silent for like a second, and then they busted up laughing. I was dumbfounded. My father and Victor seemed like unlikely allies, all things considered.

  I thought about Tie and his uncharacteristic concern over my well-being. I really couldn’t picture him working up enough emotion to be worried about anything. Everything he did was tinged with various shades of indifference. To think he was worried enough about me to take on three security guards and Betty made my heart warm in a very uncomfortable way.

  I gingerly moved my head to clear it and pushed myself up into a sitting position.

  “Hope, maybe you shouldn’t sit up just yet,” my father said placing a restraining hand on my arm.

  “I’m fine. Really, I am. My migraine has vanished completely. How did you know that was the problem in the first place? I could have been screaming due to a number of different aches and pains.”

  “Well, you were grabbing your head and begging me repeatedly to cut it off for you. I didn’t need to go to medical school to divine that diagnosis.” He looked like he was afraid I’d begin screaming all over again.

  “It was pretty scary, Hope,” Victor added.

  I noticed the deep lines around Victor’s mouth and eyes. They hadn’t been there earlier today. I must have completely lost it in front of everyone.

  “Thank you for helping me. I’m really sorry you had to see me like that.”

  “I’m just glad I was there to help you. I do wonder why your head began to hurt at all. Were you doing something different from your regular routine?” Victor eyed me sharply.

  Was he trying to find out if I’d been healing someone? If I really was the girl he’d been looking for I shouldn’t have had such an incredibly painful headache or been shrieking at the top of my lungs for someone to stop it. Victor was probably trying to figure out what could have caused me so much pain, and why didn’t my life force correct it?

  “Hey Victor, why don’t you take me to your cousin so I can get a look at his nose?” my dad said, interrupting Victor’s sneaky interrogation attempt.

  “Uh, yeah. Sure thing.” Victor continued eyeing me suspiciously.

  “Would you please tell Tie thank you for me?” I asked sinking back down on the bed.

  He gave me a small smile and took my hand gently in his.

  “I’ll tell him. Just get to feeling better, okay?”

  “Okay,” I nodded. I looked up at my father and couldn’t help but feel my face getting a bit warm. He was watching the exchange between Victor and myself with a measured look.

  “Come on Victor,” he said placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go fix your cousin’s face.”

  “You might be able to fix his face, but don’t feel too bad if he still looks ugly. There’s no fixing that.”

  My father chuckled loudly and followed Victor out the door.

  And then I waited.

  My father would be back just as soon as he finished helping Tie. I figured I had about fifteen minutes, tops, before I had to tell him wh
at I’d succeeded in doing. On the one hand, he would be very interested in knowing how I’d managed to bypass Kirby’s life force. The scientific part of his brain would be intrigued and even elated that such a thing was possible. It was certainly something I’d never been able to do before. I’d never even thought about doing it before. I guess desperation can be a real breeding ground for ingenuity and, well, let’s face it, dumb luck. On the other hand, I was going to get a lecture on all the many things we don’t understand concerning my healing capabilities, and how could I be so stupid to attempt something that could have (and apparently did have) such awful side effects for me.

  I really wasn’t in the mood for defending my latest rash decision. It wasn’t that I was tired after such an excruciating ordeal. I was back to my old perfect self, (health wise anyway) and I didn’t feel any other side effects from my unorthodox healing method, but I didn’t have an explanation as to why I was able to bypass Kirby’s life force, and I was annoyed that I couldn’t get back to his room and try it again. I didn’t know if I would be able to break through that strange invisible barrier for a second time or if I would even need to.

  The only thing I was certain of was that I would be trying again. I didn’t care how many headaches I incurred over the next few months or even how long it would take me. I was going to continue on until every mutated white blood cell in his body was either whole or gone completely.

  I needed to be very careful about what I said to my father. He’d probably ban me from both Kirby and the hospital for a very long time, and time wasn’t something I had enough of. Now that I could see a light at the end of this previously dismal tunnel, I was going to continue on until there was nothing left but that light with Kirby waiting for me happy and healthy on the other side. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of pounding footsteps outside my door.

  My father came barreling in and quickly shut the door behind him. He sat down in a nearby chair looking rushed and ready to throttle me. What had happened? He’d seemed so composed earlier. I couldn’t imagine what had brought on this alarming mood swing.

  “Look, I don’t have as much time as I thought I would to pick your brain and figure out exactly what happened to you.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “We just got a call about a car pileup along the highway. The ambulance is going to be bringing in trauma patients within the next ten minutes so I’ll need to get going here pretty soon.” My father shook his head in frustration. “What I really want to do is take you home and watch over you for the rest of the night, but we’re short on staff, and I can’t see any way out of this.”

  “I can help. Just let me stay and…”

  My father held up his hand to silence me. From the look on his face it was clear he thought my suggestion was ludicrous.

  “Also, we have exactly five minutes before Angie gets here and monopolizes your time and attention. So, the first thing I want to say is I’m more than relieved that you’re okay, and if you ever scare me like that again I will place you inside a cell with steel walls and never let you leave it.”

  Angie. I smiled to myself. How incredibly predictable.

  My father looked like he was fighting back some pretty powerful emotions, which made me feel guilty for all of the amazing lies I’d been thinking up in response to the inevitable questions he’d be asking.

  “Why is Angie here?” I felt a bit smothered by all of the company. I just wanted to get back to Kirby.

  “I’m not finished lecturing you, Hope. As a single parent and one seriously freaked out father I have the right to yell at you for as long as I possibly can before Angie takes you home and puts you to bed.”

  He tried to yell, anyway. I could tell he wanted to get good and loud, but I was certain he didn’t really want anyone else to hear the details of our conversation.

  “You’re letting Angie take me home?” I choked back a laugh. This whole situation was becoming borderline hysterical.

  “I’ll get to that in a minute.” He took my hand in his looking me straight in the eyes. “Whatever you did, don’t do it again. Do you hear me? Don’t you ever do that again. I have never seen you like that before. I didn’t think it was possible to see you like that, and I can’t handle it. I’ve always felt some comfort in letting you out into this crazy world knowing that no matter what happened you’d be able to heal yourself. You would never feel that kind of physical pain, but tonight…” my father had to swallow hard before he could continue.

  I had to fight back my own tears threatening to come to the surface.

  “I do my best to help the people that come into this hospital. I do the best I can to treat them in my own clumsy, western medicine kind of way, but I will not sit by helpless and watch you suffer just like the rest of them. I don’t know what brought this on, and as of right now I don’t have the time to find out. So, until we can discuss this further you have to promise me you will stop healing, go home, and go to bed. Okay?”

  I resisted my automatic need to argue. I could tell my father was very close to sending me home and buying two one-way tickets to Germany.

  “Okay, Dad. I’ll go home, and we’ll talk about this later. I’m sorry I scared you.”

  My father rested his head on my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug.

  “Dad, I can’t breathe,” I wheezed out.

  “Sorry,” he laughed. “I’m not even sure I want to send you home with Angie. I’d rather lock you up in that cell right now. At the very least I‘d like to keep you here for another night, but we‘re going to need the extra bed for the trauma patients coming in.”

  “Why is Angie here, and why are you so buddy buddy with Victor? You were ready to fly us out of the country a few hours ago.” I looked down at my hand and noticed an IV. I stared at it like it was some kind of alien life form. Never in my life had I ever needed to use one of those things.

  “Your other half is here because her mother happened to be in the hospital visiting a relative at the exact moment you had that rather unfortunate episode. Angie’s phone was off so her mother left a message. I’m assuming she received said message because she came running into the examining room reserved for Tie and threatened to maim someone if she wasn’t told where her best friend was within two point five seconds.”

  I chuckled at the thought of Angie actually clocking one of the security guards or possibly getting into an altercation with Betty. Not many people were able to stand up to the wiry nurse, but if anyone could do it, it would be Angie.

  “Okay, so why didn’t you throw Victor out of my hospital room the moment you found out who he was? You told me to avoid them like the plague.”

  “After today, I’m convinced those boys would never in a million years hurt you.” He stood up, running a hand through his slightly graying hair. “It was amazing to see how upset they were. Not that I think you and I should be inviting them over for dinner anytime soon. I don’t know their real reason for being here, but it certainly isn’t a malevolent one. I’m even wondering if Victor somehow managed to heal you.”

  “What?” I dropped the IV cord I’d been tugging on.

  “I had my back to him for just a minute while I grabbed an IV and medicine bag from Betty. When I turned around he was leaning over you with his eyes closed, and both of his hands were placed on either side of your head. It was the same position you usually take when healing a patient.” My father looked a little shaken at the thought. “It didn’t register this as significant at the time. I just grabbed your arm and gave you a shot of morphine. I’m sure what I did was helpful, but until you stopped screaming completely, I was positive something inside your brain had been damaged. I thought maybe it had been damaged so badly that your life force was incapable of communicating with it or receiving a response in return.”

  I was shocked my dad had come to that conclusion so quickly. I hadn’t even begun to make sense of what had happened, but the scenario my dad was suggesting made quite a bit of sense
.

  After all, the brain plays a huge part in the healing process. It’s like a large electrical enhancer. Like a command center for a life force to operate. It tells all of the intelligences within the molecules and cells how to react, and they do it on a microscopic level and beyond. That’s why brainwaves have so much to tell about the way a person is functioning and why most life forces are not able to operate correctly when the brain is damaged in anyway. The life force is there, intelligent, waiting to help the body continue on correctly, but any problems with the command center becomes a huge obstacle.

  If my brain had been damaged by healing Kirby then it definitely explained why I hadn’t been able to heal myself. It also made me worry. If I healed Kirby again, would I damage my brain again? If that did happen, would Victor or Tie need to be present in order to deal with the aftermath of my reckless behavior? That would mean telling both of them the truth, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that kind of conversation with either one of them.

  Although, if what my father said was correct, and Victor did in fact help to heal me, then I owed him a very big thank you, and both he and Tie owed me a very thorough explanation.

  “Anyway, it wasn’t my idea to send you home with Angie, but she seemed to think it was the only logical solution available. I told her having you sleeping in a hospital bed, with me monitoring you all night long, was a much better idea, but she threatened to stay and help me.” He tilted his eyes heavenward as if he were asking God for a little warning next time.

  “I’m fine. I really don’t need anybody taking care of me. Walking home by myself wouldn’t have been out of the question.” I felt a little miffed being treated like an invalid. I’d never been an invalid before. I didn’t care for it much.

  “Tell that to Angie,” he said with a smirk. “Even though the obsessive compulsive parent in me is frantic to keep you under forty-eight hour surveillance, the doctor in me has to admit that you are one hundred percent better. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you right now. I’m willing to send you home with Angie under two conditions.”

  “Okay.”

  “You go straight home. No late night visits to Dairy Queen or McDonald’s or some other equally disgusting fast food establishment.”

  “Hey, I love Dairy Queen and McDonald’s,” I protested.

  “Condition number two: you and Angie are to go straight to bed. No TV, no girl talk, no pillow fights, and no mani-pedis.”

  “Please, Dad. We’re more into chocolate and chick flicks.”

  My dad gave me a tired look.

  Angie must have known we were talking about her because she came bustling into the room looking worried, angry, and completely put out.

  “What the hell,” she yelled as she marched her way over to the opposite side of where my father stood and slapped her hand on my forehead. “You’re hardly ever sick, and my mother calls me out of the blue to tell me you’re dying?”

  I reached up to grab the hand she held firmly glued to my forehead.

  “Angie, I’m not dying. I just had a headache.”

  “Do I look stupid to you? If all you had was a headache your father would have sent you home with a couple of Percocet, and I would have made you share them with me,” she hollered.

  “You can take your hand off my forehead now.” I continued tugging on her hand without accomplishing anything. “For heaven’s sake, Ang, what are you doing?”

  “I’m checking your temperature, of course. You could be dying from some unknown tropical disease. I never should have taken you to that burrito joint last week. The cooks over there were probably filled with lice.”

  I didn’t possess the mental energy required to explain to Angie how tropical diseases were actually transmitted. I noticed my dad rubbing his eyes and biting the insides of his cheeks to prevent himself from letting out what I’m sure would have been a great big belly laugh.

  I finally gave up trying to remove her hand from my forehead. Giving Angie a Percocet, at this point, wasn’t such an awful idea.

  “She feels warm. Dr. Fairmont, she’s definitely feverish,” she continued to holler as she took her hand off my forehead and replaced it with my father’s.

  “Her temperature is just fine. I promise you, she isn’t going to die anytime soon,” he said reassuringly.

  “You doctors are notorious for tiptoeing around bad news. Would you really even tell me if she was?” She pointed an accusing finger in his direction.

  My dad was fighting a losing battle. I could already see his mouth morphing into a broad grin.

  The hospital intercom began paging my father.

  “Hope, I’m going to go sign you out so Angie can get you home.” He made a beeline for the door. I heard him laughing once he reached the hallway.

  Angie sent a glare in my father’s direction and then pulled some wet wipes from a gigantic pink purse hanging over her shoulder.

  “What are you…?”

  “Please, don’t speak just yet. I’m going to clean your sweet little sweaty face off and fix the damage that your near death experience managed to do to your complexion.” She was becoming all business.

  “I didn’t have a near death experience,” I tried to spit out.

  I was rudely interrupted by an onslaught of wet wipes as Angie rubbed my face down with some fairly amazing force.

  “I told you to stop talking. Tie and Victor will arrive any minute, and here you are looking like you just stepped out of a sauna.” She grumbled under her breath as she continued to use wet wipe after wet wipe.

  “What do you mean?” I raised my arms in a defensive gesture, hoping to ward off another attack. “I think you’ve managed to scrape off at least five layers of skin.” I reached up to scratch my itching forehead.

  “Don’t you dare,” she shrieked slapping my hand back down. “Seriously, I’m not a miracle worker here. Some cooperation would be greatly appreciated right about now.”

  I sighed heavily, knowing that arguing with Angie was, as usual, completely pointless.

  “Those heavenly hotties are making sure I get you to my car in one piece. If you pass out on me, I won’t have the upper body strength necessary to prevent you from face planting it. It is, therefore, imperative that you avoid looking ugly in the presence of such fine looking members of the opposite sex. I’m merely considering your welfare.”

  “Does my Dad know about this?”

  “Don’t trouble me with bothersome questions.” She deftly avoided my gaze and took a vicious swipe at my chin.

  I smiled when she finally shoved the wet wipes back in her purse. My happiness was short lived. She pulled out a large container of mineral foundation and began applying it liberally all over my face. I spluttered and nearly sneezed when some of the powder landed inside my nose and mouth.

  “So, how does Tie’s face look now that it’s fixed?” I asked.

  “Well, his nose is back where it’s supposed to be.” She threw the foundation into her purse and pulled out some eye shadow and mascara.

  “Angie, I never even wear this stuff,” I complained.

  “Usually you don’t need to, but your olive complexion is a very ugly, pasty, white color, and your eyes look like they sank into the back of your head.” She took her index finger and began applying various shades of powder to my eyelids. “You’ll thank me later. Look up please.”

  I did as I was told while Angie applied several coats of mascara. She threw her makeup back in her bag and pulled out some lipstick, lip gloss and a hair brush.

  My stomach started grumbling. I’d neglected it for far too long, and it was now getting ready to punish me.

  “You wouldn’t by any chance have a candy bar hiding in that bag would you?” I was only half joking.

  I shouldn’t have been surprised when Angie reached in and pulled out a very tempting looking Snickers bar, but I was.

  “You must think I’m some kind of amateur. Of course I have a candy bar. I think I even have a can of root
beer in there somewhere.”

  I winced as she roughly ran the brush through my hair at a rapid rate, fluffing it out here and there. I finished half my candy bar and would have completely devoured the rest, but it was whisked away by Angie’s unnaturally long fingers, and a breath mint was returned in its place.

  “You’ll thank me later.” She smiled at me sweetly.

  I was getting tired of her saying that. I popped the mint in my mouth and let Angie smear lip stick all over my sulking lips.

  “Blot,” she commanded pulling out a paper towel.

  I did as I was told and waited for further instructions.

  “Chin up.”

  I lifted my chin and allowed her to slather my now berry red lips with some shiny looking lip gloss.

  Angie threw everything back into her purse and then studied me for several seconds.

  “Man, I’m good. Stinkin’ magnificent. Now then, put this on.” She pulled out a denim skirt, a white low-cut blouse, and some crazy gold stilettos from the endless cavity of her purse.

  I looked down at myself and realized I was draped in an ugly hospital gown. “Wait. What happened to the clothes I was wearing?”

  “I think you threw up on them or had some vicious nose bleed or something.”

  I cringed, thinking I might have actually thrown up in front of Tie.

  Angie thrust the clothes at me.

  “Those are not my clothes!”

  “Of course they’re not. I didn’t exactly have time to run over to your house and inspect your wardrobe after I checked the message from my mom. I grabbed what I could out of my closet and headed over here as fast as my very shnazzy car would carry me.”

  “Angie, my house is only a few minutes from yours. You could have grabbed some of my clothes.” I was horrified at the thought of walking in stilettos for even a small fraction of a second.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. The next time my mother calls and tells me you are dying, I’ll be sure to pack your whole wardrobe, pick out the most perfect set of heels, and stop at the nearest Starbucks to grab you a cappuccino that’s sure to warm up your cold, dead body.”

  Angie huffed and folded her arms across her chest.

  “What do I need clothes for if I’m dying?”

  “Have you seen the kind of lighting they have in the morgue? Nobody looks good dead in that kind of lighting. I’d give up my most favorite pair of Gucci shoes before allowing my best friend to be found lying on some metal slab, bathed in fluorescent lighting, wearing nothing but a backless, green, hospital gown. I wouldn’t even be able to claim you as my own!”

  “Fine!” I held out my hand in resignation. “Hand over the hooker ensemble, and go stand guard by the door. I don’t want anybody walking in on me while I’m changing.”

  Angie’s mask of anger was quickly replaced by a triumphant grin.

  “I knew you’d see it my way!” She skipped over to the door and looked out the small, rectangular window.

  Putting Angie’s clothes on was like taking on a completely different personality, and as much as I loved hers, it simply wasn’t me. However, everything Angie did, she did from the heart. I decided I could wear the outfit she had so kindly packed on my behalf and suffer silently through it until I was taken home. The only thing preventing me from throwing her ridiculous heels out the window was the thought that I’d be wearing them for less than twenty minutes.

  “Let me see,” Angie said excitedly as I finished strapping on her shoes.

  I stood up slowly and wobbled a bit as I tried to find my balance. My butt felt like it had been raised ten inches. It was surprisingly empowering.

  “You look like a goddess. I really am wasting my time attending high school. I should be a very high paid fashion consultant for every single celebrity on this planet.”

  I reached out for something to hold on to as I took my first few steps toward my traitorous best friend.

  “Okay. I can see your boyfriends coming. You ready to knock their socks off?” she asked with repressed excitement.

  “I don’t have a boyfriend.” She was making an awfully huge fuss over a five minute car ride.

  Angie opened the door with a flourish.

  “The invalid is ready to go,” she announced.