The Touch (Healer Series) (10 page)

  
“See you in the morning, Max. Thanks.”

  
Max could see AJ was still thinking about his
mother, questioning the meaning of it all. As a newbie, he knew the kid had
difficulty accepting the concept that not everyone on earth can or should be
saved. Immense problems would arise from a world so populated.

AJ
understood the premise; acceptance was another matter.

**************************************************

  
The early morning drive was difficult since
AJ had only slept a couple of hours. His mind had been filled to the brim with
questions about why good people had to die when there were people like him who
could save them. He knew the world would be full of people and he rationalized an
abundance of population by thinking Healers could still let the nasty people
die without healing any of them. In the end he knew the decisions weren’t his
to make, which didn’t make his mission in life any easier. His mother was a
good person who deserved a long and happy life and though he knew Max had no
choice, he couldn’t help but let a part of his heart be angry with his friend
for what he could only describe in his mind as a betrayal.

  
The insomnia gave him plenty of time to
think.

  
He was a bit perplexed that he hadn’t been
able to see visions of Addie as they spoke. Vacancy of thoughts hadn’t happened
to him before. He’d touched countless people, learning about what type of
person they’d become and whether utilizing his gift and draining himself was
the destined path. He’d learned early on that people needn’t be ill for a
Healer to have these visions. At some point in life, everyone was going to get
sick.
 
With Addie, there was nothing but
a fast-paced slideshow.

  
AJ recalled the last visions he’d allowed himself
to experience before the result forced him to flee from his lonely home; the
reason that he had to find a place where people might not recognize him. The
memory made him anxious.

  
He had spent time volunteering in hospitals.
The position provided him the opportunity to visit with those who needed
healing. It was during his time there that he met Sarah. She came into the
hospital needing emergency surgery and he was delivering magazines and other
knick-knacks to patients when he walked through her door. She was sitting up in
the sterile metal bed, her face battered and bruised and half-hidden behind the
blond ringlets that framed her face. She was nearly unrecognizable as a human
as a result of the abusive hands of a mugger.

  
She opened her eyes into tiny slits – the
widest they would release – and AJ smiled at the bright and lively green that
was exposed. They held more sadness than he had ever encountered prior, minus
his own life experience. She forced a smile which caused his heart to sink a
bit. He always thought it was such a shame that amazing people who held a
tremendous amount of strength and beauty both inside and out still had the
ability to smile for others while undergoing such pain.

  
They chatted for a moment and he handed her a
magazine, his fingers brushing her swollen, purple and black speckled hand. The
shock ran through both of them as he saw her future - a clear view of her
opening tall wooden doors to a shelter for battered women. She would use this
pitfall in her life to come back stronger and assist women who were going
through the same. They would flock to her because she understood, and she would
save more lives than she could imagine. That was all it took for him to lean
forward, place his hand on her arm and
continue
talking. She felt the warmth of his touch and relaxed instantly. The tingling
scared her a bit, yet felt so kind and inviting that her hand moved on top of
his. She drifted off into her subconscious, something AJ saw each time he
healed.

  
He patiently stood there as her bruises
disappeared, little by little. Her vitals strengthened and her cuts evaporated
into thin air. The bruised and battered woman who had entered the hospital was
gone, replaced by a stronger woman with a newfound purpose. As he was about to
remove his hand the nurse walked in and gasped at the change in her patient
who, a half hour earlier, had been bruised beyond comprehension. She dropped
the chart and backed up while AJ stood not knowing what to do next. He hadn’t
even thought about the possibility of healing someone like this in such an open
place, where people were sure to see the difference. On patients with heart
problems and brain injuries there hadn’t been such a threat. The changes were
internal and often simply deemed miracles. Her facial injuries and the kindness
shown through in her visions had caused what some Healers would refer to as a
lapse in his judgment, and he quickly walked out of the room. He had healed
external damage which, over time, would have healed itself. Sarah had not been
in life-threatening danger and that had been AJ’s mistake – his downfall was
injured women and children.

  
The nurse screamed for others, yelling at AJ
to stop. He kept going. He knew with his registration as a volunteer he’d be
found in no time. Though he had done nothing wrong, the revelation of his
ability to heal would cause chaos in the community and chaos for his clan. He raced
home, quickly throwing everything he could into bags and suitcases before
tossing it into his car and setting off for somewhere new.

As
his car barreled out of the city, his shaky hands had twisted on the steering
wheel cover much as they did when he needed to keep them occupied. He looked at
them closely. He had finally begun to see the very same hands not as an enemy,
but as a gift. With the very hands he at times loathed he could change the
outcome of Mother Nature, lifting the illness right from the body, as if he
were pulling it out with a string.

  
He recalled all that Max taught him,
promising to be better about his people’s history so that he would know more
about the way their societies worked. There were many names in the legends for
people of his kind: voodoo practitioners, witch doctors, wizards. They were
names people made up to attempt in vain at an explanation for the unexplained. Most
people walking the earth believed in these beings only as fairy tales, thinking
that magic did not exist. However, there were others who knew better.

  
AJ was a Healer with no guidance, at least
not at first. He had discovered at age 21 that he was endowed with this gift.
At six foot two, dirty blond hair and tan skin, eyes as blue as a cloudless
day, he was extremely handsome. His eyes were fierce and piercing, his
shoulders broad and strong. With an angled chin and hands that could palm a
basketball he was entrancing, menacing, and beautiful all at once. He was a
loner even before his discovery. That didn’t keep him from being noticed.

  
If he had chosen to, he would have never had
problems finding a date. Those days were long past, though. As his mother fell
ill, his only responsibility was to taking care of her and filling her last
months with happiness. He took more pride in that than any of the trophies or
awards he had received for his athletic skills.

  
Living alone and studying to be a physical
therapist, he spent his days working with those injured in car accidents and
other traumatic situations to enable them to walk again and be independent.
Because of his good looks and charming personality he was easily able to meld
to people, breaking down their barriers and getting them to open up. He had an
ease about him.

  
That wasn’t to say he didn’t have a mean
streak. His temper was a hot one, often getting him in trouble – most often
when someone he cared about was in trouble. He was the first to stand up for
what he believed in. He never backed down and had visited the principal’s
office on more than a couple occasions.

  
His uncle, the man who had been the closest
thing to a father that he had ever had, died when he was merely a toddler, and
his mother died of cancer only months before AJ found his gift. The first time
it happened he was scared beyond belief. An old friend stopped by to visit and
see how he was faring. When he shook his friend’s hand it was almost as if an
electric shock went through them as AJ’s mind filled with images of his friend
becoming a physician and standing with an award. It rattled AJ to his core; he
had never experienced anything like that before. They laughed off the shock as
dryness in the air, and AJ didn’t mention the visions.

  
In the course of talking, his friend
mentioned how he had been planning on becoming a surgeon. However, because of a
broken wrist he’d suffered years ago his mobility was impaired and some feeling
was lost in his fingers. It cost the young hopeful the opportunity to perform
surgery. He had decided to change his focus to becoming a pediatrician, though
he was a bit distressed that he’d never realize his dream of surgery.

  
AJ asked him to reach out his hand and let
him take a look at it. His friend at first objected, arguing that the useless
appendage had been poked and prodded by the top doctors in the city and they
all agreed they could not reset it without affecting the nerves even further.
Nevertheless, he extended his arm to AJ who touched the wrist to feel how the
bones were structured. Perhaps, he thought, physical therapy might be an option
to help restore feeling. As AJ’s fingers touched the wrist, the shock and
warmth flooded back again and AJ didn’t pull away. He rotated and flexed it,
and then said he was sorry he couldn’t do anything to help. His friend appeared
dazed for a moment before snapping back to reality in sheer panic.

  
“What did you just do man?” his friend
blurted out, pulling his hand back abruptly from AJ’s grip. He looked scared.

  
“Oh shit, did I make it worse?” AJ replied,
thinking stretching had perhaps done more damage than good.

  
“No. I don’t – I can feel my pointer finger.
I can feel it. Shit, what did you do?”

  
“I didn’t do anything, I swear!” AJ said, his
face still donning a quizzical look. He hadn’t done a thing and he knew it. He
was, however, very tired all of a sudden.

  
They sat in silence for a moment before his
friend made a swift exit following an excuse about dinner plans. AJ sat there,
trying to forget about the visions and everything else as he started to drift
off to sleep.

  
A month later he received an invitation to a
celebration for a friend who was becoming a surgeon.

  
That was the first occurrence. Others
followed. For the most part, AJ was keeping to himself in his loneliness. Work
was one of the few times he left the house and he had begun to shy away from
even that as these images kept filling his head while
 
he was working with patients. Sometimes they
were affirmative, showing a fulfilling life. Sometimes they were ghastly. At
one point, he had envisioned a patient hurting someone. He couldn’t make the
visual movies stop and he became increasingly withdrawn.

  
Having no money and no family and not wanting
to face the friends he had known his entire life because of what he felt his
life had become, he fled his former homestead in order to become another face
in the crowd. He still wasn’t even sure what this power was or why he had it.
Quite honestly, he wasn’t sure whether he considered it a gift or a curse. All
he knew for certain was that a fresh start was needed.

5
Broken Hearts

His
dreams were often of dying, leaving the world a wounded place. He was at all
times subconsciously worried that he was dying and would be unable to help
someone who needed it. He knew that Healers died in every way that a mortal can.
Their hands were able to heal anyone except themselves. Each time a Healer
touches someone, a bit of their strength is drained. It is their strength that
flows into the hurt or sick individual in need of healing and assists them in
overcoming their illness. New Healers sometimes rushed out, attempting to help
everyone in need because they feel such a strong obligation to save the world.
They end up killing themselves within days.

  
Healers often avoid crowded areas for this
reason; to steer clear of revealing themselves to anyone who may out them to
the world. If the world found out that a person could heal someone with merely
a touch of their hands, it would put all Healers at risk. They would be mobbed,
kidnapped, attacked, and forced into healing in return for their lives.
Thieves, criminals and abusers of power would do anything to try and ensure
they themselves would live without fear of death.

  
The knowledge of the Healer’s existence would
cause chaos in the world as the population grew because people weren’t dying.
This had only happened one time, in one city, centuries ago. Until that
particular day, Healers hadn’t been even a thought in people’s minds or in
local legend. Afterwards, however, the stories began and the legends developed
and spread from generation to generation, losing momentum after the first
couple.

**************************************************

  
AJ had planned on sleeping in since it was a
Saturday and Bob had given him the day off work, seeing as the newbie had
already fixed every vehicle in a 20 mile radius in the previous two days. Since
his dinner with Addie and Gram, his conversation with the latter, and a
somewhat nerve-wracking visit with Max, he had delved into work and nothing
else.
 
He’d caught Addie’s glance when
he’d returned to the B&B the night before. He’d looked away and darted
inside before she could speak. He needed space to sort out all the new
information he’d input into his brain in the previous week.

  
He really didn’t even need to sleep in,
seeing as he hadn’t healed anyone in about a week. He was feeling at maximum
strength. His conscience, on the other hand, was starting to weigh on him for
not creating some good in the world as of late. He hadn’t felt anything
sinister since his night at Max’s home so he hoped the Grim had passed by
without making an appearance anywhere near Lee.

  
Sleeping in was not meant to be as around sunrise
a knock came at his door.

  
“I’m not decent Helen, I’ll be out in a
minute,” he said, sitting up. The voice that responded back was not that of an
older woman.

  
“Get
outta
bed,
stranger. It’s time for that tour I promised you.”

  
Addie.

  
What he wanted to do was tell her to go away,
he didn’t want the tour today. He didn’t want to be rude either, though. Maybe
she had forgotten all about Gram’s house, and they could make a go as friends.

  
“Not likely,” he whispered to himself.

  
“Just a minute, Addie,” he said, standing up
and stretching. He pulled on some shorts - appropriate since he only slept in
underwear. He rubbed his eyes to wake up a bit and with a sigh walked over and
turned the aged door knob.

  
“Addie, I think I’m
gonna
pass on the tour today,” he said in a low voice, keeping his eyes to the ground
until the last word had exited his mouth.

  
“This isn’t for you, you know. It’s to pay a
debt. You fixed my truck, I owe you. I settle my debts.”

  
“Then rain check?” Perhaps more time would
give him a chance to figure out how to keep his distance.

  
“You’re not getting out of it. What is it?
My breath?
My hair?
Not that I give
a damn about what you think. I only know you have nothing else to do today.
Plenty of girls have been
askin
’ Bob when you’re
working - and the word around town is you have today off. It’s not often we get
a handsome stranger in town. Don’t give me that look either. I said it –
handsome stranger. That’s what they’re
callin
’ you.
Not sure I agree.”

  
She wondered if the lie slipped past her
tongue with sincerity. If he wanted to act like nothing had happened, she would
definitely do the same.

  
He gave a slight laugh and kept her back by
leaning against the door and keeping it as closed as possible.

  
“Addie, not now.
Today, I just want to sit around, do nothing.”

  
“Then at least come to a party today. You’ll
get to meet lots of people. They’re all
askin
’ about
you, and they won’t leave you alone until they are satisfied they’ve met you
and don’t think you’re a threat to the town.”

  
He sighed with resignation. He knew she
wasn’t going to give up and maybe if he got it over with, he’d have the space
he so desperately wanted.

  
“Fine,” he replied. “What time?”

  
“I’ll come back at noon. You know, so you can
get your beauty sleep. You really need it or you’re going to disappoint all
those ladies wondering about you. Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

  
She winked and started walking away. He
watched her for a moment before closing the door and running his hands through
his hair. That girl was going to get the best of him.

  
A very cold shower awaited him, indeed.

**************************************************

  
She was timely if nothing else. Addie
strolled into the B&B at precisely noon with Rose on her heels, marching
straight up to AJ’s room. When he opened his door he was somewhat stunned by the
woman he saw standing in front of him. Instead of her usual jean shorts or
jeans and plaid shirt, she was decked out in a sundress that only served to
highlight the glow of her skin and lines of her body. Her hair was long and
gorgeous and the cowboy boots added a sense of rustic to her getup. He needed
another cold shower.

  
He had on another trademark button up,
sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his khaki cargo shorts and sandals making him
stand out from everyone else in town. He wondered if he’d eventually start
dressing like a southern boy. He actually liked the jeans and t-shirt look, so
he was already halfway there.

  
They pulled up to the local VFW about 15
minutes later, Rose pressed between them in the pickup’s seat. AJ made sure his
hands still looked greasy from work so that he wouldn’t have much to explain
when he didn’t want to shake hands. He wondered if people thought he was a
germ-a-
phobe
from his inclination to shy away from
handshakes. Winter was his favorite time, because he got to wear gloves –
something he probably wouldn’t need to do down here.

  
As he stepped out of the truck, he saw a
banner. He hadn’t thought to ask prior to coming what the party was for, but it
was apparent now. They were attending a benefit for a local family whose
daughter had developed cancer a year or so ago.

  
His heart beat faster, knowing that whatever
awaited him beyond that door was not going to be the type of party he had been
expecting. He hadn’t been in the position in awhile as he had closed himself
off. It was the first time in a long time that he actually felt fearful of
having to perhaps heal someone. After the hospital incident, he was scared that
it might lead to someone finding out about him, and he’d have to take off and
start all over again.

  
Once inside, Addie went wild introducing him
to this person and that person. She stood close to him, navigating him away
from the men and women she knew were talkers, the ones she knew might leave a
bad taste in his mouth. Part of her simply didn’t want to give all the women
ample opportunity to talk to him. She felt protective, and possibly something
else. The whole situation bothered her.

  
At one point mid-conversation with the
waitress he’d first met in the café, he noticed a little girl in the back of
the room dancing with her friends. Her little bald head was highlighted with a
bright pink floral headband which for a moment might make a person miss the
fact that she had no hair. The light reflected off of her porcelain skin and
although there were dark circles under her eyes, they were almost twinkling.

  
She held an aura of innocence that children
possessed, her shriveled body twirling this way and that in a beautiful pink dress.
The garb, baggy on her skin and bones frame, made each of her movements bigger
than her tiny little body.

  
She caught his stare, a giant smile
overtaking her face. Running over to him, she reached out her hand to take his.

  
“Hi,” she said, “I’m Isabelle!”

  
It was the moment of truth.

  
“Hi,” he said gently, lowering himself down
to her level by taking a knee. He put her hand in-between his, careful not to
hurt her. She seemed more delicate than a flower petal. “I’m AJ. It’s nice to
meet you.”

  
The visions started, flashing brightly in his
mind as he struggled to keep a smile on his face. Her bed, her sweet face lying
there connected to wires and tubes. Her parents quietly crying in the corner
while her siblings tried to get her to color with them or play a game of cards.
A future that only showed her parents rallying fundraising to
provide a better cancer facility for children in the area - and succeeding.

  
“Nice to meet you, too,” she said, bringing
him back. He smiled even though his heart was breaking. He hated this part. The
part where someone’s passing – especially a child – would bring about a change
in the world that would help more people than she could imagine.
And the worst part?

  
She leaned in to whisper to him.

  
“You’re like an angel. I can see it in your
eyes. It will be okay, you know.
 
I’m
ready for heaven. Just take care of my mommy and daddy and baby brothers,
please.”

  
She pulled back, and looked right into his
eyes with a vast smile. He squeezed her hand a little tighter. The worst part
was the children whose innocence allowed them to see Healers differently than
the rest of the world did, as special people there to change lives. These
children never told anyone for the same reason wishes are kept secret when
tossing coins into a wishing well - children believe in the importance of
magic.

  
She let go of his shaking hand and fluttered to
the back of the room, surrounded by her friends and dancing. He rose up slowly,
hands tucked into his pockets. When their eyes met again, little Isabelle
mouthed, “I’m okay.”

  
“I see you met Isabelle,” Addie’s voice said
from next to him. “She’s a real sweet kid. Her parents say they think the
doctors can cure her. I bet they will. She’s too sweet a kid to go to heaven
this soon.”

  
The words pierced AJ’s heart. It was a burden
to have to know someone’s future and not be able to share it – especially when
he possessed the ability to change it physically even when the laws of the
world said he shouldn’t.

  
“That she is,” he whispered, looking towards
the door. He wanted to make a break for it, get back to the B&B and try and
forget about what had just happened. He wasn’t prepared to heal again. He was
even less prepared to not be able to.

  
“I think I’m going to head out.”

  
“Okay. I’ll drive you home,” she said,
starting towards the door in front of him.

  
“Actually Addie, I think I’m going to walk
back myself.”

  
“Listen, I’m sorry it was a depressing
party.” She could see his face was sullen and felt bad that she had brought him
to this party as his introduction to town. She’d just wanted to get him out of
the house. “It’s just I thought you could meet some people-”

  
“
It’s
okay, Addie,
thank you for bringing me. It really was nice to meet folks. But I just feel
like walking.”

  
He hurried outside before she could find her
belongings and daughter. He could get a head start and maybe she’d leave him
be.