Angel of Mine (6 page)

“I enjoy a good buzz, but I don’t have a death wish,” she laughs. “So have you tortured other girls on the Ferris wheel like this before or am I your first?”
I wish you were my first
, I think to myself, and I don’t mean the Ferris wheel.

“Are you fishing for my girlfriend history?” I tease. She goes to move off me, obviously feeling embarrassed, so I wrap my arms more firmly around her. “I’m not as experienced as you seem to think Ally. I’ve only had a couple of girlfriends back in high school, but neither relationship was serious.” At this revelation, she relaxes and sinks back into my chest.

“As for torturing girls on the Ferris wheel, you are my first. Inspiration hit from the insight you gave me at the mall about your love of romance movies. I believe it was Danny in Grease who rocked a Ferris wheel cart, causing his girl to snuggle up close for protection.”

She tilts her head up to look at me. Her smile is so wide it doesn’t even leave her face while she talks. “You little sneak. I don’t remember that actually happening in Grease, but you totally score points for remembering my love of romance movies. Hey, you never did end up telling me what type of films you liked. What’s your favourite?”

Since I’m a total movie buff, I have so many to choose from. You can’t go wrong with a first-rate horror flick though. “Arachnophobia, an oldie but a goodie. It’s a classic.” She scrunches up her nose in distaste.

“Yuck, spiders make my skin crawl. I only lasted about ten minutes into that one, and that was peeking through my fingers while my hand was over my face.” Her body shakes as she shudders underneath me. “I had nightmares for a week that giant spiders were going to come and eat me alive.”
I’d like to eat you alive
. That thought pops into my head, and I can’t resist the perfect reason to touch more of her.

Ever so lightly, I graze my finger along her neck. “Don’t move. There’s a spider on you.”

She starts to thrash about and shrieks, “Get it off. Get it off me!”

Mimicking the movements of a spider, I tap my fingers lower on her shoulder. “It’s on the move, hold still.” I run my hands up her sides then start tickling her like crazy. “Gotcha.”

She writhes above me, giggling like mad. “Stop! Stop!” Tears of mirth are running down her face, and I release her. After she gets her breath back she complains, “Crap, you scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.” Only I’m not sorry. I love getting a rise out of her. It’s downright cute.

“You’re so not sorry.” She can read me like a book even though she hasn’t known me long, and I love and hate it at the same time.

“How about I make it up to you with some fairy floss? It’s an experience that can’t be missed at a fair.” Her eyes light up and all is forgiven.

Satisfied after a full round on the Ferris wheel, we go grab the sugary treat just as the fair is winding down, and then I offer to escort Ally home.

We are walking back from the fair hand in hand, and hers feels so tiny engulfed in mine. I rub my thumb in circles over the top of the smooth skin at her wrist. I smile at the reaction I have on her as I see tiny goose bumps rise along her arm. She shivers and I pull her close, sweeping my nose over her hair and breathing in sweet scents of vanilla.

The wind is whipping around us, and strands of her wavy chocolate hair cover her face. I stop walking and turn towards her, reaching across and carefully tucking it behind her ear. I know another storm is approaching, and we should keep moving, but she is so beautiful that I just want to stand here and study her angelic face forever.

Her skin is flawless, milky, and tinted with the perfect rosy pink blush from the cool of the wind. Her cheekbones are high, and appear as though God sculpted the perfect face just for her. Her lips are full and pouty, tempting me to nibble on them. I save those deep blue eyes for last, but they are… alarmed? I do a double take.

Her eyes dart to somewhere beyond me then back to me with a pleading expression. Realizing that I probably overstepped the mark since I only met her a couple of days ago, and remembering how skittish she was then, I drop my arms and begin to apologize and give her some space.

She surprises me by gripping my shirt and looking me square in the eyes, determination taking over the alarm in her gaze. “There’s something I have to do. Please, keep an open mind and don’t freak out. Afterwards, I’m going to need your help. I’ll need you to take me to the hospital and say a branch fell on my head during the storm. Please, stick to this story.” I’m absolutely baffled. What on earth is she talking about?

I raise my eyebrows, but before I get the chance to question her, she pushes against my chest and takes off. I whirl around and run after her.

She crosses the road, stopping at a lady who is lying unconscious on the ground with a massive gash across her head. Beside her is a pram with a baby in it, completely oblivious that anything is wrong.
Holy crap!

My hands are shaking, and I feel jittery as I pull my phone from my pocket. I look around for street signs so that I can give the emergency operators details when I call them. Ally knocks the phone out of my hands to the ground.
What the hell has gotten into her?

As I go to pick it back up, Ally crouches and holds her hands over the woman’s head. I freeze. Her hands are emitting a glow, and the gash on the woman’s head is disappearing literally before my eyes. What is going on? The woman’s eyes flicker open as Ally collapses to the ground, blood oozing out of a fresh gash on her head.

What I just witnessed has me a little freaked out.
Did that seriously just happen?
I take a closer look at the mother on the ground, and then at Ally again, and I know it did happen. Somehow, Ally has fully healed this woman, and in the process, she has hurt herself. She wasn’t even scared. I didn’t see her hesitate, not once.

I’m in awe, but also terrified for her at the same time.
Exactly how far would she go to help someone?
I have so many questions going through my head in the seconds that follow this event, but no time to dwell on them.

My hands are still shaking as I call emergency services.
What on earth am I going to tell them
? I’m not sure. I do know that there is no way that I want this secret to get out. I feel a strong need to protect her, so I have to think of a believable story, and fast.

My eyelids are heavy, and everything seems foggy as I hover on the edge of consciousness. I hear muffled voices far off in the distance as they try to break through. Concentrating hard, I try to figure out what they a saying.

“Ally. Ally. Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me dear.” A soft female voice I’m not familiar with coaxes me out of the fog, and I open my eyes to bright glaring lights.

Blinking several times, I glance around and take stock of where I am. Bland white walls, machines all around me, an uncomfortable bed with that horrible combination of stiff white sheets, a hard pillow and rails. There are strong smells of disinfectant in the air, and it dawns on me. I must be in the hospital again. This hasn’t happened in a while. My heart sinks because Mum won’t be pleased at this discovery.

At least I’m in my own private room this time. With no one else around me, I won’t have to worry about my hands glowing. Even though the hospital is full of sick people, my body only reacts when I get close and can see what is wrong with them. As long as I don’t pay attention to any of the patients I come across, I should be safe, and no one will figure out my secret.

As I slowly become more alert, scenes of a lady, motionless on the ground with blood running from her head and a baby by her side, come back to me. My head is throbbing more with each second. I lift my hand to feel dried blood and stitches. Jolting upright and pulling at tubes attached to my arms, I call out, “Theo?”

In my panic, the nurse soothes me, rubbing her hand over my shoulder and gently pushing me back down to the bed. “It’s okay love, he’s just outside the door. He popped out while I came to check your vitals and will be back in just a minute.”

This revelation does not calm my rattled nerves though, and the beep, beep, beep of the heart rate monitor starts going crazy. He saw everything.
What must he be thinking and how am I going to explain my way out of this one?

My alarming thoughts stray to the lady I healed. She must be freaking out. What if she told people? What if she rang the news channels? I don’t know what’s racing faster, my extreme anxiety or the beeping of the heart rate monitor.

The nurse must take this as a sign that I am unsettled and need Theo back in the room with me. She peers towards the door and calls out, “Theo, can you come back in here please hun?”

My heart is thumping hard and feels as if it might burst out of my chest at any given second. As Theo enters the room with a look filled with nothing but concern for me, it starts to slow down.

He reaches my side, and the smell of a disinfectant is replaced with a new one that is all him, a mixture of wood, musk, and sweet spices. It overwhelms me as he leans closer, and I want to drown in it.

Running his hand through my hair, he places a feather light kiss in the middle of my forehead, but I still notice how silky his lips feel against my skin. His eyes command my attention as he discloses, “I’m glad you’re finally awake. I was so worried about you.” Then he whispers the last line so the nurse won’t hear, “Don’t you ever do that to yourself again.” The gesture is so affectionate it makes me melt.

This was his way of subtly letting me know that he understands something strange occurred, but that he is also content to let it go for now. He rises and pulls a chair to the side of my bed as the nurse states, “That was quite a knock to the head you took sweetie. You need to make sure you get your rest, but first, since Theo here informed me you were only seventeen, is there a number where I can contact your mum?”

I give the nurse my mum’s contact details before she leaves the room, and then turn to face all of Theo’s questions. “So, I guess you want an explanation, yeah?”

“I do,” he answers, “but it can wait till you are feeling better. I’m not going anywhere.”

I nod my head, grateful, but still need to find out what happened to the lady I helped. “The lady, the one on the ground.”

He places his hand firmly over mine and assures me, “She is okay. The ambulance checked her over at the scene and cleared her to go. I explained to her that we found her unconscious by a tree branch, and it must have hit her. There were more branches nearby, so it wasn’t too much of a stretch to tell her you also got hit while checking her over and weren’t so lucky.”

I let out a quivery breath, relieved to know there are no news stations or government agencies out to find me. He must sense my fears and lets me know. “Your secret is safe with me Ally. Whatever you did out there was so selfless. I admire you, although I hate the fact that it brought you harm at the same time. So yes, we are going to talk more about this later, but for now, just rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.” His promise reassures me, and I am able to drift back into sleep.

The slender hand that I feel on mine when I wake again is smoother than before. “Mum?” I query, opening my eyes and looking up at her. She looks at me with equal amounts of concern and worry.

“Hey pumpkin, you’re awake. How are you doing?” Tenderly stroking her hand by my stitches, she waits for answers. I am so thankful that she is not in her usual frenzy, lecturing me and rushing to leave town. I assume that, for once, she must trust my judgment on what needs to be done.

“I’m okay Mum, just a little knock to the head. There was a baby who needed his mother, she needed help, and I had Theo there to look after me.”

She looks at me quizzically before asking, “The boy that was here by your bedside when I arrived?”

Her curiosity to know who he is shines through. I can tell it’s killing her to find out, but she doesn’t want to push me while I lay here in a hospital bed in my current state. “Yes. Where did he go?”

She looks hesitant as she replies, “To the cafeteria. He said he would be back in a little bit.”