by CJ Anaya
“Angie?”
“I’m here,” she said arriving next to me. She took one look at Tie and grunted in dismay. “I’ll get in front of you and open some doors or something.”
We took slow steps, while Tie leaned heavily on both of us. He was hurting, but I knew I had to do everything I could to avoid healing him. The sounds of students getting back to their lunches, their gossip, their normal everyday lives taunted me as Victor and I slowly walked Tie’s shaky frame out the door.
“You’re insane,” Angie said once we were halfway down the hall. “What exactly were you trying to accomplish in there?”
“Victor dared me to grab some random girl and kiss her in front of everybody. I never back away from a dare,” Tie said in his now muffled, almost mushy sounding voice.
Victor was trying and failing to stifle his laughter.
I didn’t believe his explanation for a second. These two were in cahoots together, intent on forcing my hand, playing on my sympathies and searching for a confirmation of their own suspicions. They posed a threat to me and my perfect charade of normalcy, but they had no idea who they were messing with.
“You mean the ten cheerleaders sitting on your lap didn’t seem like much of an option for you?” I asked sourly.
“Not much of a challenge, really. Victor and I like ‘em when they’re already taken. Isn’t that right, Vicky?” There was an edge to Tie’s voice that hadn’t been there before.
I looked at Victor to see what he would say, but all he did was tighten his jaw and stare straight ahead.
“So you just thought a guy like Nathan would sit there and watch you kiss his girlfriend without beating the living crap out of you?” Angie said.
“I was pretty sure I’d survive the encounter.”
“Yeah, well your face didn’t. It’s not like your nose is going to magically heal itself within the next couple of hours.”
Angie’s last comment hung in the air, tempting me to prove it wrong. I noticed Tie and Victor glance at me expectantly, and I gave them a bland smile.
“I hear Hope works at the hospital. Maybe she could use her mad skills and heal me right now,” Tie pushed.
I could feel my face getting warm again. I tried to steady myself. As long as they had no idea I was on to them I could buy myself a little more time. I could play dumb. Maybe not convincingly, but I still needed to try.
“I refuse to heal anyone who sustains injuries through reckless behavior and pure stupidity.” I mentally congratulated myself on how normal my voice sounded.
“That’s you on both counts, man,” Victor said barking out another laugh.
I was weak with relief when we finally managed to make it to the nurse’s station. Angie opened the door to let us all in, and we slowly eased Tie into a nice soft chair. I grabbed some Kleenex from the counter.
“That nose needs some professional attention. Unfortunately, all we can offer here is our extremely high strung school nurse. Victor and I will go get her for you,” Angie obligingly volunteered.
“We will?” Victor looked out of sorts with the strange turn of events.
I knew what Angie was doing. She thought she was being sneaky, trying to get me and Tie alone. How could she want that after eavesdropping on that alarming conversation between he and Ms. Mori? She should have been more concerned about my welfare rather than my love life.
Victor didn’t appear to like the situation any more than I did, but someone had to go get the nurse. He left in a hurry while Angie slowly sauntered toward the door and gave me a wink just before she walked out. I looked at Tie and let out a resigned sigh.
“Don’t act like you’re upset,” he said. “There are millions of women in this world who would love to be alone with me in a nurse’s station.” His smile was more of a grimace.
“Looking the way you do right now? I think not.”
I knelt down in front of him and raised a tissue toward his face. In a flash he had me by my wrist.
“What are you doing?”
His suspicion of me made me want to laugh. It was so ironic.
“I’m cleaning the blood off your face. Believe me, it needs to be done.”
“It hurts too much for you to touch it.” He released my wrist.
“You’ll survive.”
I reached my hand up to his face and slowly began to wipe the blood from his chin and then his lips. I cupped the side of his face in my other hand to keep his head steady.
“Alone at last,” he whispered.
“Was it everything you hoped for?” I asked breezily.
His gaze studied me as if searching for something lost that needed to be uncovered. “No, but it’s about what I expected. It’s ridiculous for me to wish for more, especially from you.”
Tie reached out and brushed a strand of hair away from my face. The light contact on my cheek gave me goosebumps. I puzzled at his cryptic remarks.
“What is it that you wish for?”
His gaze softened as he took me in, staring into the depths of my eyes, almost inviting me to know the answer to my own question.
“What I’ve always wished for. Something I can never have.”
In that moment I felt as if there was far more about my life and my own secrets that I’d never fully grasped. My life could be compared to a ballet filled with stumbling movements and incomplete choreography.
Was Tie capable of leading me across the dance floor?
“I think your name suits you,” he said, changing the subject and bringing me out of my thoughts.
“Thank you. My parents didn’t actually come up with it themselves. Someone else gave them the idea.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep.”
“Did your parents mention who gave them the suggestion?” He behaved as if my answer didn’t matter, but he was too nonchalant in his delivery.
“No. Just some friend from their past. Someone they must have trusted, I suppose.”
A knowing smile briefly graced his lips, and then it was gone, replaced with an earnestness I wasn’t expecting.
“You could do it, you know.” His soft voice broke me out of my thoughts.
“Do what?”
“You could heal me.” He said it without any hesitation.
I stopped wiping the blood from his face and gave him a steady look. My face was only a few inches from his, but I couldn’t work up the energy to put more distance between us. His confidence and knowledge about my gift made me feel nervous and happy all at the same time. I wanted to pour out my heart to him and tell him everything. I wanted to show him what I could do. I wanted to heal him.
Then I remembered who he was and why he was here. If I healed him there would be no going back.
“I should take you to the hospital and have my father set your nose. It’s leaning toward the left side of your face, and I’m fairly certain it wasn’t like that when we first met.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t play dumb with me.”
He grabbed both my hands in his. His beautiful blue eyes searched mine intently. I felt my world shift.
“I know who you are. I know it’s you. So heal me, Hope.”
His sincerity nearly compelled me to do exactly what he wanted. I was no longer positive his intentions toward me were malicious, but I still didn’t know enough about him. I didn’t know enough about Victor either.
I reached my hand up and touched his cheek as gently as I could.
“Tie, I think you have a concussion. You’re talking crazy here. As soon as you feel better you’ll remember that people like me can’t work miracles. I can’t heal you the way you want me to. I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry.”
His face went from warm and sincere to cold and cocky. It made me feel like his sweet and possibly caring attitude had been an act. Maybe he was just trying to get me to reveal who I was by charming me.
“I didn’t realize you could be so unfeeling. All this power to heal and you’re going to sit back and watch me suffer fo
r no good reason?” He gave me an appalled look.
So he was going to throw some guilt my way. I wondered what approach he’d take after this one failed. I shook my head and continued to wipe the blood from his face.
“If you’re expecting me to feel so overcome by your not-so-silent suffering that I magically become endowed with powers of healing and take away all of your pain, you’re in for a very long wait,” I said.
“I know a little something about waiting.”
The tissue was saturated in blood. I threw it in the wastebasket and grabbed another one. At this point I was just trying to stay busy and distract myself. He may have had a nasty bloody nose, but his lips were deliciously tempting. It was like having a snickers bar sitting right in front of me, irresistible, even with his face smashed.
“You better tilt your head back a little. This nosebleed is only getting worse.”
I lifted his chin less gently this time. The tension was getting to me.
“If you’re so worried about the blood then why don’t you stop it?”
“Maybe you should tell me how you and your cousin know who I am. I certainly don’t remember seeing you two before.”
“Don’t you?” He lowered his head and tried to look at me again.
I quickly tilted his chin back and held it there.
“If you don’t keep your head back the bleeding won’t stop,” I chided. My real motivation was to avoid eye contact with him. I was a terrible liar, and I didn’t need him picking up on that. “You didn’t answer my question. How do you know who I am?”
“The real question you should be asking me is when do we go on our first date? I don’t mind an aggressive woman.” He lowered his head and lifted one eyebrow in a way I assumed was supposed to be sexy, and of course, it totally succeeded in being just that.
I sighed in annoyance.
“I should have let Nathan beat you unconscious. Silence is infinitely better than listening to you run your mouth.” I stood up and threw another tissue in the trash.
He grabbed my hand in his before I could put more distance between us. The physical contact left me tingling from head to toe. I looked down at him and felt a renewed sense of pain, and even guilt, at not healing someone who so obviously needed it.
“I guess it would’ve been better if I was unconscious.” He sounded almost repentant. “Then you could’ve healed me without anyone being the wiser.”
I watched his poor swollen face break into a mischievous smile. It was surprisingly adorable.
“Why do you and Victor hate each other so much?”
His brows rose in surprise. I guess he expected me to continue denying his accurate claims. His face darkened a bit, and his hands released mine, balling into fists at his sides. This was a touchy subject, which made me feel even more curious.
“There’s some bad blood between us,” Tie finally managed to spit out.
“Yeah, I figured that one out for myself, but why? What happened between you two?”
“Oh, just a little fight over a girl.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.
“You two fought over a girl?”
I couldn’t stop the laughter from bubbling up.
“Sure. Guys do that all the time, right?”
“I guess they do, but to be honest, that kind of behavior seems a bit beneath both of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, for one thing, Victor seems like the type of person who’d sacrifice his own interests for the sake of others.” I ignored the strange gurgling sound coming from the back of Tie’s throat. “And as for you, it’s just so high school. You don‘t strike me as someone who could work up enough energy to care. In fact, I don’t think you’d ever fight for a girl at all. If she isn’t coming to you, it probably isn’t worth your time.”
My response had angered him, but he did a decent job of controlling it as he slowly stood up.
“You honestly think I don’t have it in me to care? You don’t even know me.”
“And yet somehow you know me.”
Tie placed his hands at my waist and pulled me closer to him. That much physical contact almost did me in. I put my hands against his chest and pushed away. It had absolutely no effect. He remained uncomfortably close to me. Fortunately for both of us, his nose-bleed had stopped.
Tie’s anger slowly faded as he took in my open, honest expression. I really wasn’t trying to be rude. I was just trying to explain to him how ridiculous it was to picture Victor being petty and Tie actually caring enough to put up a fight. He lifted his fingers and traced the outline of my face, looking at me like he was discovering something for the first time. I fought to keep myself from savoring the moment. How could I fight a mounting attraction to someone who had no concept of personal space?
“I wish things were different,” he said with regret. “You’re just as fierce and argumentative as I remember you.”
I wrinkled my brow in confusion. “That doesn’t make any sense, Tie.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied waving away his last comment like it was some big joke. “You’re just lucky I don’t have a caring bone in my body. If I did, you’d be putty in my hands.”
“Well, looks like you’re back to being your old obnoxious self.” I quirked an eyebrow at him.
Tie still had his hands at my waist, and it was very distracting. “You can let go of me now,” I said pointedly.
“I’ll let go of you as soon as you agree to heal me.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in.
Hello! This feels amazing.
I almost allowed myself to lean into him.
Think of something else, anything else. Broken ribs, gunshot wounds, head trauma…
I continued my morbid mantra in my head as I tried to push myself away from him, but his arms felt like iron. I craned my neck back a bit to meet his gaze, which ended up being a mistake. His eyes were so compelling. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to have those eyes light up with love.
Lacerated wrists, compound fractures, urinary tract infections… It wasn’t working. I couldn’t think properly when he was touching me. Why was he touching me?
Tie was the most confusing guy I’d ever met. He was snarky and indifferent one moment, and then behaved as if he cared for me the next. The thought that everything he did was just an act to trick me into revealing what I was really capable of made this a very dangerous situation, especially because I was so drawn to him. In the back of my mind I was hoping it wasn’t an act. I actually wanted him to care for me.
Where the heck is that nurse?
I didn’t want to stay wrapped up in his embrace for one more minute, but I couldn’t just leave him injured like this. There had to be a way to help him without letting him know I was doing it. I couldn’t heal his face, but maybe I could ease his pain in a way that wouldn’t be immediately noticeable.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Okay?”
He was clearly caught off guard.
“There’s no use denying it another minute. You’ve unearthed my superhero power, and I can no longer sit here and watch such terrible human suffering without using my powers for good.”
I was rambling, but I was also desperate to get out of there.
My abrupt willingness to help him, and my less than serious attitude left him looking a little lost. I decided to take advantage of this one moment where he seemed less than sure of himself. Moving out of his vice-like grip became easier. I grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, directing him to follow me into a side area that looked like the inside of a doctor’s examining room. It was even equipped with an examining bed for sick students waiting for their parents to come and pick them up.
“Stretch out lengthwise on here, please,” I said.
“If you wanted to snuggle you could have told me sooner.” The cockiness in his voice sounded a bit forced to me.
“I’ll need absolute quiet in order to call upon the spirits of those
superheroes who have gone before me.”
Tie rolled his eyes and then casually draped himself on the bed.
“I wasn’t kidding about the snuggling. It’ll do us both some good.” He lowered himself down and let his arms fall loosely to his sides, acting as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
My thoughts were whirling ahead of me. I knew this idea of mine wasn’t completely foolproof. I’d never gradually healed someone before. Healings were an instantaneous sort of thing. Once I showed someone’s life force what it needed to do, it was eager to comply. Somehow, I needed his life force to slow down the healing process in a way that made it look as if I’d had nothing to do with it. Easing his pain needed to happen gradually as well. If I couldn’t get Tie’s spirit to understand my intentions, then this impulsive plan of mine was going to backfire in a most unpleasant way.
I walked over to the top of the examining bed and gently placed my hands on either side of his head. I needed to focus. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and then began humming a single note like some weird religious monk might.
“Hummm.” I was very proud of myself for not laughing.
“Seriously?” Tie muttered under his breath.
“I call on the spirits of superheroes past, present, and future. Give me focus and purity of heart, and wisdom to use my gift in a way that is pleasing to you all.”
“I get it, Hope. You’re mocking me. Your message is coming in loud and clear.” He sounded irritated, which made me smile.
“I would also like to take this time to give a shout out to my most favorite superhero of all. Wolverine, I always loved your cartoons, but you truly came to life for me when Hugh Jackman represented your iconic image in the unforgettable movie X-Men. May you live long and prosper, and may Hugh Jackman’s jeans always give you the best hind end a superhero could ever ask for.”
“You finished?”
“Hummmmmmm.”
I hesitated before connecting with Tie. I wasn’t sure how difficult it would be, but once I actually focused it didn’t take more than a few moments. I wasn’t prepared for the way he responded to me, though. I could feel him inviting me in, almost pulling me forward as if he wanted me to stay forever and never let him go. A person’s life force was always something I felt and never saw, but the minute I connected with Tie’s, bright images of gold and orange burst forth within my mind. I felt their warmth as they enveloped me in a joyful embrace.
