The Healer(The Healer Series Book 1)

by C. J. Anaya

Chapter Twenty

  I heard people speaking from far away, but my mind didn’t register the meanings behind them or the voices that used them. I was tired. So tired, and so --I don’t know--something felt a little different, but I wasn’t sure if the difference was physical or mental. I didn’t know if I was weightless or grounded. My senses were dulled like the voices in the distance. I couldn’t help thinking it would be better to leave everything the way it was and not push for understanding. I almost liked the nothingness that whispered invitingly behind me. Oblivion seemed like an easier choice to make. A safer path to choose.

  “Come on, Hope.”

  The voice was familiar and closer than the others had been. It also sounded very irritated.

  “You’ve got to wake up. Do you hear me? There’s a grand council downstairs made up of Ms. Mori, your father, and two high school boys who claim they’re adults,” the voice continued.

  I reluctantly focused on the little nuances and tonal quality of the person addressing me and was positive I knew who it was.

  “They may be over a thousand years old, but I swear their social development stopped at the age of ten. I can’t believe they wouldn’t include me in such an important conversation. I’m warning you, if you don’t wake up right now I’m going to start screaming just to cause a distraction. Anything to stop them from making decisions with you unconscious.”

  Unconscious? Was that what was wrong with me? I needed to wake up. I needed to sit up and speak out. Force them all to listen to me.

  My eyes flew open abruptly as I jumped to a sitting position. I was on a comfy bed in a room that I’d never seen before. I turned to my left and saw Angie sitting next to me. She was a bit startled.

  “I’m tired of you scaring the pee out of me. I enjoyed our friendship so much more when my life was a complete and total train wreck and you were the one who was conscious all the time. I used to get so much sleep back then.”

  “You were also hung over,” I said distractedly.

  “Are you punishing me? All those nights as my designated driver made you bitter, am I right?”

  “Angie, what are you talking about?”

  I looked around the room trying to figure out where everyone else was. I needed to talk to my dad, to discuss our next move.

  “I’m talking about the fact that you are like some deadly sword fighter, and you never bothered to let me know about your crazy ninja skills. I didn’t know you could heal people, I didn’t know you could kill people, and I’m almost certain you’re capable of turning water into wine which, by the way, would have been helpful during my drinking phase,” she jabbered.

  “Wait a second. It was real then? I did, in fact, kill two…beings tonight? I didn’t just dream that?”

  “Yeah, and then you like Darth Vadered that other one. Slicing off his head would have been more merciful.”

  “I can’t believe I did that. It goes against everything I’ve ever done. Everything I’ve ever fought for.” It all felt like a bad dream.

  “I’ve never seen you move like that. I would never in a million years think you capable of the kind of stunts you pulled. It was like you were a…”

  “Completely different person,” I finished.

  Angie nodded. I could see her eyes begin to fill, and I pulled her to me before she lost it in a loud way.

  “I know you need to cry Angie, I really do, but you’ve got to keep it together for just a little longer. Okay?”

  I felt her head move against my shoulder.

  “Do you even know what you did tonight or how you did it?” she asked.

  “No,” I replied. “It was like someone else took over. Like my other self.”

  “You were a Japanese princess who healed people not some trained samurai assassin, right?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, there’s something you need to know. The minute you passed out your father lost it. He’s been arguing with the others for the past thirty minutes about getting you out of the country as fast as possible. He wants to leave everyone but me and you behind.”

  “I thought you said you were banned from the meeting.’

  “I was. Your dad wanted someone to look after you. I wasn’t the obvious choice, but he trusts me more than our immortal friends downstairs.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Epic, I know. I’ll celebrate later. I have, however, been eavesdropping as is my right and duty, being your best friend and all, and the conversation is not panning out the way you would want it to.”

  “What are they suggesting?”

  “Your father wants to leave with us tonight, but Ms. Mori has insisted that she take us all to a place known only to the gods where she’s certain we’ll be safe.”

  I didn’t like that idea at all. The place she described sounded more like a prison, a place where she could keep tabs on me and control me if necessary. There was no way I was going anywhere with her.

  “Now they’re talking damage control,” Angie continued.

  “Damage control?”

  “Ms. Mori is concerned about that cat that got away. She wanted to know if you had any other family here that the nekomata might hurt in order to draw you out.”

  “You know we don’t,” I said. “There’s no one here who could possibly be used to….” I stopped abruptly as a thought occurred to me. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten, for even one second, about my sweet little ten-year-old confidant.

  “Kirby,” I whispered.

  Angie’s face looked grim. She was one step ahead of me.

  “Your father mentioned Kirby. They’re talking about it right now, which is why I was begging you to come out of your coma,” she wailed.

  Those same dulled voices were still coming from the other room. I decided we needed to investigate. Angie helped me stand, and we made our way to the edge of the room. The bedroom door was open, and from this part of the room I could easily hear the argument my dad was having.

  “I’m telling you, if there’s even a possibility that Kirby is in danger then we need to get him out of that hospital,” I heard my father say.

  “Dr. Fairmont, it is highly unlikely that the nekomata would even make a connection between Hope and this young patient. She’s never been seen with him in any public setting. All of their interactions have been within the confines of his hospital room. A nekomata will be looking for family members and possibly close friends, but a young boy who has less than a month to live will not be enough to tempt it in any way even if it is aware of Kirby’s existence.”

  “So you’re saying we should simply leave him behind totally unprotected?” my father asked.

  “I’m saying the boy is meant to die, but Hope is meant to live. We have to leave now,” she declared.

  “Hope will never agree to this. She won’t leave Kirby behind, especially if there’s a chance he’s in danger,” my father argued.

  “She’ll leave if she doesn’t know,” Victor cut in.

  I felt sickened that he was the one to say such a thing.

  “I know my daughter, and there is no way under any circumstances that she will leave Kirby behind whether his life is being threatened or not. He either comes with us or you can kiss any cooperation you’re expecting from her good-bye.”

  I was grateful for my father’s support where Kirby was concerned. I knew he would fight for me no matter what it took.

  “This I cannot allow. The young boy cannot come with us, and if Hope won’t leave without him then she will need to remain incapacitated until we have moved her to a safer location. She may be in danger, but she is also much more dangerous than I ever gave her credit for.” Ms. Mori stated firmly.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” my father asked sharply.

  “Ms. Mori is simply stating that Hope’s latest actions and obvious abilities were not something any of us were expecting,” Victor interceded.

  “What they’re really saying, Mr. Fairmont,
is that Hope is not the stupid, ignorant, helpless little teenager they were hoping to find and manipulate into being the pawn she was raised to be a thousand years ago,” Tie said in a bland voice.

  I silently thanked Tie for his sarcastic support.

  “Tie, shut your mouth,” Victor yelled. “This is Hope’s destiny. We’re not here to force her to do anything she wasn’t born to do in the first place.”

  “Really? Then why don’t you inform her about the events leading up to her death? Why don’t you tell her who banned her spirit into that statue?”

  An uncomfortable silence permeated the air.

  I, for one, felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. Someone had purposely trapped me inside that statue all those years ago? Was I aware of what was happening? Had I been conscious of every painfully slow second that had passed before I was reborn?

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore or even if you people can be trusted. I am Hope’s father. I may be the only one in this room with her best interests at heart. What makes you think I would ever allow you to incapacitate my daughter and force her to go to a place she‘s never been to before? What makes you think I‘d allow you to take her without taking Kirby also?”

  “Hope cannot enter our lands with someone destined to die, and I think your daughter’s safety is much more important to you than her emotional attachment to a boy who won’t even matter weeks from now.”

  I was going to kill her. I was going to rip her hair out of her perfectly shaped Japanese head and continue ripping until there was no one left telling me what I could or could not do. I wasn’t leaving Kirby, and I was tired of listening to him being talked about as if he were unimportant and already dead.

  “I’ve heard enough of this,” I said in disgust. “We’re getting out of here.”

  “Oh, thank heavens. I knew you and your father wouldn’t let these crazies pack us up and take us to who knows where.”

  I searched the room for the nearest window. Fortunately, there was one big enough to fit us both.

  “Come on, Angie.” I reached toward the bottom of the window seal and pulled the glass up as high as it would go.

  “Hold on there. What exactly are you planning on doing?” she asked.

  “If I know my father, and I do, that argument downstairs isn’t going to get resolved anytime soon, and that’s the kind of distraction you and I need. We’re going to the hospital.”

  “You don’t think Ms. Mori is going to let this go?” she asked.

  “No. There’s too much at stake for her. I think she’ll do everything she has to in order to get me safely out of here, and that includes subduing my father if she feels it’s necessary, and she will. We need to get to Kirby before things become worse. You in?”

  “Do you really need to ask?”

  Crawling out the window proved more difficult than I’d anticipated. The drop to the grassy floor beneath us was more than ten feet, and I wasn’t a big fan of heights. Angie solved this problem by reaching out and latching on to a very sturdy looking tree branch extending out from a giant tree.

  I followed her. Once we hit the ground we headed for my father’s car. We ran into our first road block when I realized I didn’t have the keys. I had no idea if my father had them on him or in his room.

  “Crap! I forgot the keys,” I hissed.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said.

  She surprised me by running around to the driver’s side of the car, opening the door and flipping the visor down. She reached for something that had dropped on the floor and produced a single key. I hopped into the passenger’s seat and reached for it.

  “How did you know about this? I didn’t even know about this.”

  “Your father took me aside when you were out here smooching with Japanese god number one. He told me where the extra key was and to use it if it became absolutely necessary.”

  I threw the car into neutral.

  “Why did he tell you this and not me?” I asked in confusion as Angie and I ran to the back of the car and started pushing.

  “Hello! He was looking for you, but you were outside kissing Victor. I had to lie to him and say you were having girl issues in the bathroom,” she replied indignantly.

  “Wow, how did that go?”

  “An awkward moment I hope never to repeat,” she wheezed. “He’s quite the planner you know, always thinking about every possible twist and turn. It must be a nightmare trying to play chess with him.”

  “I don’t play chess with him.”

  “And now we know why.”

  For once I was grateful that my dad was all about compact cars. If this had been a truck we would have had one heck of a time pushing it down the road. The car was moving at a good pace, but I was worried about our time frame. We needed to get away without being heard, but every second we spent pushing instead of driving took away an important lead against three powerful gods. After about five minutes of pushing, I finally felt we’d created enough distance between ourselves and Ms. Mori’s house to safely start the car.

  “Okay, Angie. Let’s go.”

  We ran like mad to the front of the car, pulled our doors open in perfect unison and got in. I punched the key into the ignition and cringed as the engine started. I didn’t wait to see if anyone heard me, though. In moments we were speeding down the highway, hearts pounding. It might have been exciting if I hadn’t been so worried about getting to Kirby’s side before Ms. Mori could stop me.

  “You know something funny?” Angie asked.

  I gave her a look. She couldn’t possibly be thinking of something funny in our current predicament.

  “Okay, not funny, but something I noticed when Ms. Mori was arguing with your father.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Tie never joined in. He never said a single thing about leaving without Kirby. Wonder if he’s on our side.” She glanced at me from the corner of her eye.

  I decided to ignore her comment in the hopes that she wouldn’t bring up my kiss with Tie.

  “So, saw you kissing Tie. How was it?” There was a teasing lilt to her voice.

  “I am a hoochie mama.” I immediately felt grumpy and on edge.

  “There’s nothing wrong with you kissing both boys….okay so maybe kissing them the same night was a bit callous, but your current situation is a bit peculiar.”

  “My current situation is impossible. I’ve been told who I was meant to be, what I’m meant to do, and who I’m meant to do it with, and there is apparently no time at all to prepare for it. I should had been avoiding both guys as much as possible, but instead I made out with them.”

  “Hey, it wasn’t a waste of time. You found out Tie’s your soul mate, didn’t you?”

  “Eavesdropping is going to bite you in the butt someday, Ang.”

  “I look forward to it. In the meantime, if you’re really going to be married pretty soon you need some answers. Where do you stand emotionally with the man you’re supposed to marry and the guy you want to marry? You need to know if they’re one and the same.”

  “Geez, Angie. Sometimes your wisdom frightens me, and I am not getting married.”

  Angie remained silent.

  “What is it?”

  “I just feel bad for Victor, that’s all.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I know it’s there for you and Tie. You two are clearly meant for each other, but Victor is just so sweet and good and…”

  “Good for me?”

  Angie nodded, looking a little sad. Her voice was quiet when she spoke next. “Yeah, he’d be good for you.”

  I bit my lower lip and wondered at Angie’s somber mood.

  “Or maybe, he’d be good for you,” I suggested.

  Angie’s head pivoted sharply in my direction. She was silent for a few beats, and then I heard her sigh and sink back in her seat.

  “Wouldn’t that be something new to consider.”

  “It would definitely be a change from the usual breed of men you date,” I
agreed.

  “And you? Is Tie going to be good for you?” Angie turned in her seat. “Honestly, his devil-may-care-attitude is a little more my style, don’t you think?”

  “We have managed to switch it up a bit, but there’s more to him than the front he puts on, and I think there’s more to this prophecy than what has been revealed. If Tie and I are soul mates then something about the prophecy is off. Things are most likely going to be very complicated from here on out.”

  “You think up until now this day has been a piece of cake?”

  “How long have you cared for him?” I redirected.

  “Cared for who?” Angie gave me her best clueless look.

  “Don’t play dumb with me. When did you know you were into Victor?”

  “When I saw him walk into the school’s puke green cafeteria earlier today, but I kept my hands off as promised.”

  “Well, we’re just going to have to get Victor to notice you then. It shouldn’t be too hard. You are, after all, a goddess in your own right.”

  “Amen, sister. There’s just one problem with your scenario.”

  “What?”

  “All he sees is you.”

  I was silent for a few moments and then I asked, “How does that make you feel?”

  “Jealous as hell. Every time Victor looks at you I catch myself grinding my teeth together. My jaw is pretty sore, actually.”

  I burst out laughing, and Angie soon joined me.

  “Good. I need to know you’re dedicated. We’ve got to convince Victor that you two make more sense together than he and I do.”

  “Love is blind, Hope. It’s gonna take a lot for Victor to see beyond his future plans with you to notice me.”

  I knit my eyebrows together and worried about Angie’s depressed attitude. It had been a weird conversation. Angie and I didn’t ever do serious. I sensed that for her sake we needed to delve into this topic more, but we arrived at the hospital moments later, and in all honesty, I was greatly relieved to get there.

  We pulled into the parking lot, and jumped out of the car, making a mad dash for the front doors. I felt sure that at any moment I would feel Victor’s hand on my shoulder or hear Ms. Mori’s voice in my head warning me to stop. But I couldn’t stop. Not until I found Kirby.

  I wasn’t interested in my ongoing war between myself and the elevator so we took the stairs and found ourselves huffing and puffing at the top of the third floor. I immediately rounded the corner and nearly slammed into Betty who was wheeling a young cancer patient down the hall. I looked to see who it was, but my view was blocked by an oversized teddy bear the child was grasping.

  “Betty, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you like that.” I grabbed her shoulders to make sure she was alright.

  She looked startled, which was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was her look of unease.

  “Just be more careful next time,” she said awkwardly as she pushed the wheelchair past us.

  Strange, I thought as we continued our insane run to Kirby’s room.

  I skidded to a halt just inside the door and nearly panicked. His bed was empty, and a nurse was putting away hospital equipment.

  At first, I thought he’d died, and no one had called to tell me. Then I realized that was impossible. He still had a few weeks left. I was never wrong about things like that.

  “Where is he?” I croaked out.

  “I’m sorry?” the nurse said looking up from her work.

  “Where is Kirby?” I nearly screamed. I felt Angie put a steadying hand on my shoulder.

  The nurse’s eyes lit up.

  “Oh, you mean our little miracle boy!” she practically sang.

  I looked at her feeling stupid. I had no idea what she was talking about. The only thing I could process was that Kirby was in danger, and he wasn’t here where he was supposed to be.

  “What do you mean, miracle boy?” Angie asked for me.

  “The doctor on call believes he may no longer have leukemia. No more cancer! The staff simply can’t understand what happened to bring such an amazing transformation about. We all thought for sure the poor little thing would be passing on soon.”

  Kirby was well? He wasn’t sick anymore? I glanced at my watch and noted that it was three in the morning, and I had finished healing Kirby around five or six last evening. That was less than ten hours ago. I was scared to believe it for even one minute. All Kirby had ever been was sick, with me hoping and healing and never being sure anything would ever change for the better. It had to have been that last healing. I hadn’t thought it was complete, but his body must have continued healing itself after I left. I should have been happy with this knowledge, but something felt wrong. Where was Kirby?

  “Why didn’t anyone call me? I’m listed as the first person to call if there are any changes in Kirby’s condition.”

  “Oh, you’re Hope then?”

  “Yes.”

  The nurse’s cheerfulness was grating on my nerves.

  “We did call you. Betty was moving Kirby out of the cancer wing to a different room where he could be monitored for a while. We need to run some tests to make sure the young boy will make a full recovery, but the doctor is very hopeful. Betty wanted you and your father to come and oversee everything. Didn’t she tell you?”

  My stomach felt a bit hollow, and my ears started ringing.

  “I never got a phone call. I never even talked to Betty. I just saw her in the hallway not thirty seconds ago, and she didn’t say anything….”My words drifted off. She’d hardly said anything, and Betty was always one for words. My mind replayed my brief interaction with her in the hallway, and I remembered something else that had been different about her. She hadn’t been wearing her tiny gold cross. It hadn’t been around her neck when she was taking that chemo patient to….Oh no! No. My mind refused to process what my heart was telling me. A slow pulsing thud began sounding in my head. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but I channeled all of my thoughts towards pinpointing the source of the noise.

  I ran out of the room with Angie following close behind me. I took the stairs down and hit the second floor, running towards the break room where Betty usually grabbed her coffee. I dashed inside and felt an ominous sense of dread as I took in the dark, empty room. The slow, pulsating sound was getting slower.

  Betty always used this particular break room at night because hardly anyone came here. It was out of the way, and the coffee machine never seemed to work for anyone but her. I flipped the light on and held my breath. The phosphorescence cast an ugly yellow-green hue against the pale floors and wilting flowered wall paper. I don’t know how I knew where she was, but I did. I headed straight for the supply closet in the corner and wrenched open the door still hearing that slow pulsing sound in my head.

  Inside the closet was Betty, slumped against the wall. Her head was leaning to her left, and her hands covered a large, gaping wound in the middle of her stomach. I rushed in and knelt down beside her, knowing from the moment I touched her she had only moments to live.

  “Betty,” I said gripping one of her hands in my own. I connected to her as fast as I was capable of and tried with all my might to help her body fix what was broken.

  Her eyes rose up and focused on me with what seemed like an enormous amount of effort.

  “He wanted me to give this to you,” she wheezed.

  “Who did, Betty?”

  “Don’t you dare let him get away with it, sugar. Beat him anyway you can.” I felt her other hand slide something into mine and then she let go….of everything. She was gone. There hadn’t been enough time to save her, and I should have been able to save her. I looked down at Betty’s tiny frame and saw nothing but my mother.

  “Hope?” Angie asked softly. She placed her hands on both my shoulders and squeezed them tight. Her hands trembled with the effort.

  I continued to see my mother lying in a pool of her own blood with my hands draped across her body, unwilling to believe I’
d lost her. Somehow, she’d slipped from my grasp when there should have been more time. I should have been able to save her just like I should have been able to save Betty. It was too late.

  I was always too late.

  I felt Angie’s voice rising in volume and realized she was trying to get my attention.

  “Hope, please. I’m sorry about Betty, but you have to snap out of it. We have to find Kirby!”

  That last remark shook me. I looked down into my bloody palm and stared at the paper Betty had given me. The tiny blood splatters on top sickened me. A sad reminder of a beautiful life ruined. I fumbled with the paper and finally managed to unfold it. The writing was jagged and strangely angled. It was clear the author wasn’t used to writing anything let alone a threatening message.

  High school football field. Now.

  “This is bad. This is very bad. There’s nothing there. It’s totally deserted right now,” she wailed in panic.

  “I know.” I was feeling an increasing need to vomit. “That’s why he chose it.” I stood up, resisting the urge to look at Betty’s bleeding form. “If he’s got Kirby then that’s where I’m going, but you should stay here.”

  Angie looked at me like I’d just suggested she go join the debate team.

  “I’m going to assume you’re in shock and overlook your stupidity,” she muttered. “Let’s go get Kirby. Together.”

  Ah, Angie.

  Typical.