Angel of Mine (10 page)

Picking up a piece of popcorn, I throw it towards her mouth. It ends up hitting her on the nose. She turns to me with a slightly shocked look on her face. “Hey, what was that for?” She sounds a little miffed. Her hands are on her hips and she is staring me down, demanding an answer. I’m not intimidated in the slightest though. On the contrary, I find it extremely cute.

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you haven’t seen the classic date move where you throw popcorn in each other’s mouths? You own a billion romance movies. It has to be in one of them?” I can literally see this information processing in that sweet little head of hers as her eyes become distant.

Without warning, she throws a piece of popcorn at my face. Laughter bubbles up my throat, impossible to contain and before long, we are both in hysterics, throwing the delicious snack back and forth at each other.

“I don’t know about romantic, but this certainly is entertaining, even though it is a little childish,” Ally manages to relay between bursts of giggles. The laughter sounds like pure joy and my ego swells with satisfaction that I caused it.

“Childish? I’ll show you childish.” Leaping towards her, I grab a hold of both her wrists in one hand and pin them above her head, then with the other I start to tickle her with no abandon.

“Mercy,” she yells as she squirms beneath me. “Mercy, mercy, mercy.”

Dropping her wrists, I ease back off her. “So the tickling is a date move you have seen then?” I smirk. She must have seen it to know the word ‘mercy.’

“Yeah,” she answers breathlessly. She looks stunning, laying back with her hair splayed around her, even with the popcorn in it, no, especially with the popcorn in it.

Gently brushing the pieces of food away, I pull her up and tuck her into my side. My arm drapes comfortably around her where it stays for the rest of the movie.

After the movie, we wander outside to stretch or legs in the fresh air. The oaks that are prominent in most streets of this town are present here, but just a little bit sparser than everywhere else. Spinning in the sunshine, I bask in its warmth. It’s so nice out here I was even able to take off my hoodie. It won’t be long until winter is here and a cold chill will take over our days.

There are two boys throwing a baseball back and forth to each other on the street. Another is sitting on the branch of a tree that is by the roadside watching them. He appears to be the younger brother of one of the boys throwing the ball.

A rogue ball goes sailing past my head so fast I actually hear the wind as it whips by my ear. I turn to retrieve it for them, only to find Theo has already caught it. He throws it back, and I take the opportunity to admire the muscles in his arm flexing,
Yum
.

We go and sit on the kerb and watch them play. When I was younger, I used to look out my window and watch the other kids playing happily on the street and in their front yards. I remember wishing I could join in, or that I had a brother or sister to be able to play with at least inside the house. My father left just after I was born though and Mum never remarried, let alone dated, so there was no chance of that happening.

Glancing at the little boy up in the tree, I wonder if he wishes he could join in too. As I watch him, I see him lose his balance, and jump to my feet. He catches a small branch and manages to stop his fall. However, his feet still dangle in mid-air trying to find somewhere to land. “Help!” His feet start kicking wildly and he clearly panics. I start to make my way over and feel Theo’s presence right behind me.

As if in slow motion, I see the small branch the boy is holding snap, and before I am able to make it to him, he falls to the ground with a deafening crack. Pausing, I look on in horror as his bone breaks through the skin of his arm in not one, but two places.

His shrill screams pierce my ears and my body starts to hum with energy propelling me forward. Only two steps in, I find something is pulling me back and look down to find Theo’s firm arms wrapped around me.

“What do you think you’re doing? Let go of me,” I shriek. All the struggling in the world doesn’t help me to get free but I still try because I need to get to this boy. It feels like there is something clawing at me from the insides trying to break free and help him.

“No,” he says assertively. “Buddy, go get your mum okay?” I hear him ask the other boys on the street to go get help, when I am capable of helping better than anyone else is, and it makes me fuming mad. Becoming desperate to get to the boy before his mum comes out, I scratch at Theo’s arms.

“I’m not going to let you hurt yourself again Ally. Stop fighting me.”
Argh
, he is like an unmovable force.

“Let go,” I screech before biting down hard on his arm. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth, but I don’t have the time to feel guilty when it achieves the result I want and his arms loosen. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse, I break free and sprint over to where the little boy is who needs me.

“Ally no!” Paying no attention to Theo’s plea, I sit down next to the boy. He is so young and can’t handle the pain. I, on the other hand, know I will be fine once the ambulance arrives and gives me painkillers.

Raising my hands, I find the effect taking hold immediately. There is a split second of ecstasy while my powers burst free, and then the explosive pain hits. Digging deep, I hold on. I know I have to go for longer as his arm is broken in two places. The first snap feels like someone smashed a hammer against my arm, and as my bone breaks through my skin, blood spurts up and hits me in the eye. My right arm flops down midway between my elbow and wrist where the break is. I prop it on my knee to hold it up while I continue to heal him. Gritting my teeth so hard I’m sure they will chip, I am just able to hold on until the second snap. As my stomach turns violently at the sight, I shift to the side and vomit all over the footpath. Voices around me barely register as everything goes black.

“Damn it,” I scream as I punch the large tree trunk in frustration. I’m livid. The rough bark tears up my knuckles making them bleed. A bitter laugh twists its way out of my throat as I think of how Ally would try and fix that too if she were still conscious.

I’m furious at myself for not restraining her properly and keeping her out of harm’s way. I reach for my phone and dial emergency services for the second time in just two weeks.

There is pandemonium around us as people look and point, retelling the event. The boy’s mother came out just in time to witness the whole scene and I have no idea how we are going to talk our way out of this one, but I can’t worry about that right now, my main concern is Ally’s wellbeing.

Carol’s station wagon barely pulls up in the driveway before she comes flying over to meet me, a look of utter despair on her face. She starts to pace nervously in front of Ally like a mother bear guarding her cub and glares with disdain at all the unwanted spectators.

After giving the ambulance an address, I drop down by Ally’s side and wipe the traces of puke off the side of her face. The rise and fall of her chest assures me she is still breathing, and it eases the tortured thoughts running through my mind that she is not awake to feel the pain.

The ambulance pulls up beside us and as the officers rush out, I step up to Carol’s side to give them room to work. “I’m so sorry. I tried to stop her. I really tried. She bit my arm and managed to get away. I’m so sorry I failed her.” I address Carol without being able to look at her, and hang my head in shame.

She places her hand on my now trembling arm as the adrenalin wears off. “It’s not your fault Theo, I know how determined she can be. That is why I got her to stay inside for most of her life. She needs protection from herself, and she just can’t seem to help herself from running off to someone’s rescue.” The gesture that should be comforting seems to make me worry more. How can I stop her from doing this to herself all the time?

As they wheel Ally into the back of the ambulance, I encourage Carol to go with her. I will meet them there after I have tried to sort out the gossiping neighbours. They drive away, and I stop to listen to what everyone is saying before going to the boy’s mother.

From what I can hear, everyone else except the lady I’m approaching thinks that Ally fell from the tree while climbing it to help the young boy. As I get closer to her, she appears more and more apprehensive.

“Please don’t tell anyone what you saw,” I plead with her. “She helped your son at her own expense. Please show her the courtesy of keeping quiet about her ability. She doesn’t need the publicity. All she wants is a normal life.”

The woman looks shell shocked as she replies, “So I didn’t imagine that?” Shaking my head, I affirm what happened, “No, but please let’s keep that between us?”

“Of course you have my word. Please let her know how grateful I am that she helped my son.” Nodding my head, I turn away and head over to my car so I can go to the hospital. I really hope that woman keeps her promises.

My eyes open yet again to that familiar white wash and beeping of machines. My head feels heavy, and my brain is fuzzy. I’m aware I must be on some type of pain medication because nothing aches. I vaguely remember fixing that little boys arm. No matter how foggy I am, it’s impossible to forget the image of bones tearing through skin. My mind isn’t clear enough to worry about the consequences too deeply yet though.

Dizziness washes over me as I turn my head slightly and see Mum. Worry is plain on her face, and she is staring at the far wall while chewing her nails. Her curly blonde frazzled hair frames her clear blue eyes that are laden with dark circles. Her head keeps twisting to see a clock over by the door. No words are necessary to know she must be anxious for us to get out of here so we can pack our stuff and move as far away as possible.

What she doesn’t realize yet is that I’m not going to run this time. I have something worth the risk to stay, someone worth taking a chance on. It’s time we start to make fixtures that are more permanent in our lives. We can’t run forever. That’s no way to live.

“Mum,” my voice is thick. It sounds like there is cotton wool stuffed in my ears. It’s not funny, but this makes me giggle for some strange reason. Peals of laughter keep rolling off me, sounding like they are in the air floating far away in the distance. These are no ordinary painkillers.

Enjoying the cloudy waves that circulate in my mind, I start to form elaborate jokes and stories in my own head.
Knock knock, who’s there? Hallucinating girl. Hallucinating girl who? I don’t know; I’m too busy hallucinating.
I’m in hysterics now. I wonder what on earth type of drugs they have me on. Mum looks concerned by my bizarre behaviour and moves closer to me. I would love to tell her what is so funny, but I seem unable to voice my ridiculous thoughts.

The nurse steps up to my bed, flashing a light in my eyes and temporarily blinding me while I blink against it. “Sometimes this happens when a patient comes to after the anaesthesia,” she informs my mum.
Wait a minute? Did she just say anaesthesia? Why was I under anaesthesia and not painkillers?
No wonder I feel so loopy.