He gave me a pointed look.
I laughed and was immediately grateful I still remembered how to. “I know, I know. I’m being a huge hypocrite, preaching about having patience when even I can’t hold onto my own patience lately. But I never said I was perfect. I’m human. Which makes me a work in progress.”
He grinned. “A work in progress. I like that.”
Still smiling, I grabbed his hand and tugged him after me up the cement steps of our house and through the front doorway into the living room.
Where we found absolute chaos.
CHAPTER 19
Hayden
“What’s going on?” I asked as Mike hurried by with a stack of washcloths.
“Four more sick from the other houses,” he muttered, his steps never slowing.
Cursing, I told Tarah, “That’s it. The quarantine’s not working. Get everyone but the patients and the healers out of here. They’ll have to bunk on the couches or floors or something in the other houses. And spread the word...anyone who even starts to feel like they’re sick needs to be sent here immediately.”
Wide eyed, Tarah darted down the hall to tell the families the new game plan, while I went to the master bedroom.
“Hayden, thank God,” Pamela said. “We need more room. The quarantine’s—”
“Not working. Yeah, I know. Tarah’s sending our healthy families to stay at the other houses. We’re setting this house up as the infirmary. What do you need?”
“More washcloths. Whatever fever reducers and flu meds anyone’s got. And anyone else with even basic healing abilities should come help too.”
I nodded. “Mike helped flush the drugs out of people at the internment camp. You might see what he can do.”
Pamela nodded.
I ran off to check the other houses for more supplies and to make sure the displaced families had what they needed. Some of the others acted like everyone from our house were walking talking germ pools. They’d have to get over it.
After I spoke with all the houses and delivered the requested supplies to the growing number of healers in the infirmary, I stopped outside, needing a moment to breathe and refocus. Except I was at the end of my game plan. I had no idea what to do next.
So I went out to my truck for somewhere quiet to think. I had to smile a little as I saw the latest additions to the tree. Tarah had cut out Christmas card designs and hung them like ornaments using paper clips. Which reminded me…. I dug under the backseat for the box containing Tarah’s gifts. Then I pulled out the gift wrap supplies from the tree box stand, careful not to destroy its fragile new decorations.
While I wrapped her presents, I tried to work on a solution for the village’s crisis. But I couldn’t come up with anything. The problem was I didn’t understand the first thing about healing and had to rely on whatever the healers told me. Maybe if I could learn how to heal, I could understand the situation a little better and help find a way to stop the illness from spreading any further. The adult healers were way too busy to interrupt for tutoring, though. Then I remembered a teen who did know how to heal and might not mind taking a few minutes to teach me.
With Tarah’s presents now wrapped, labeled and under the tree, I headed off to find Mike.
“Has anyone told you lately that you’re kind of an idiot?” Mike said an hour later as we froze our butts off down by the creek.
“Did anyone ever tell you you’re a crappy teacher?” I barked back. “Geez, between you and this stupid spell book, y’all make healing sound so mystical or something. Can’t you just tell me how to do it step-by-step? You know, like we’re back in school and it’s a lab project for science class?” I had to force myself not to chuck the useless book into the snow.
Mike shook his head. “Healing doesn’t work like that. It sounds mystical because it is. You’re basically astral projecting here. You’re sending your spirit, or soul, or essence, or whatever you want to call it, out of your own body and into the patient’s so you can then detect the source of disruption in their body. Then you work with their spirit in a partnership to take out that disruptive vibration. But in order to do that, first you have to let go of what you want. Let go of yourself, of who you are, and let your consciousness just float into the patient’s body until—”
“Until the illness or wound draws me to it. Yeah, I heard you the first twenty times. And I’m really trying here, man—”
“And yet my hand still has a cut on it.” He held up the palm with his tiny, self-inflicted test wound like an accusation.
I was feeling drawn, all right…drawn to punch a tree.
I shook my head. This healing business was way harder than I’d expected. No wonder not everyone in the camp could do it. “Look, just forget I asked, okay? I’ve already taken up too much of your time, and they’re going to need you back in there.”
After another minute of silence, Mike sighed. “Don’t give up on it. It takes a while. But if you really want it, you'll figure it out.”
Before or after everyone in the settlement was dead?
The crunch of his footsteps faded in the distance, leaving me alone in the cold darkness.
I came to this village for a reason, to help make a difference for these people. Now they were all getting sick, and I was powerless to help. I couldn’t even heal a simple cut! I was completely useless here.
But the healers weren’t having much success either. They said they couldn’t even figure out what the virus was. Maybe that was the real problem. If we at least knew what the disease was, then the healers could know how to go after it. Unfortunately none of the outcasts here wanted to resort to seeing a regular doctor in town for fear of being turned in to the government. They’d all rather take their chances with our own healers.
But Bud wasn’t Clann...
I jogged back to the infirmary, up the steps and inside past the pallets of patients that now filled the living room, till I found Pamela. I was surprised to also find Steve helping his wife change the sweat-soaked sheets beneath one of the patients.
“I want to take Bud to the local hospital,” I told them. “He’s not wanted by the feds, and neither am I.” At least, that I knew of. “The doctors there can diagnose him, and then that should help you figure out what this virus is so you can treat everyone else. Right?”’