Healing Kiss, page 20
Hannah touched his arm, somehow restoring a measure of his equilibrium. It had been Hannah who had urged him to find the healer. Hannah who had convinced Tanya to use his energy to try and save Lillian’s life. He only prayed Hannah was right and their efforts today produced a miracle.
“You are sure you want to go through with this, da? That you understand the consequences?” Tanya asked him now in a thick accent.
That the healing may not work? That he could die in the process? Yes, he was well aware, and none of it mattered. “Just tell me what I need to do.”
“Hold hands, keep calm.” Tanya grabbed one of Lillian’s pale hands and offered the other to Tristan.
“Got it.” He pressed his lips together and slowed his breathing—a trick he’d learned to keep himself from panicking during his many ER visits with his mom—before taking Tanya’s hand in his.
A warm, fuzzy feeling took hold. And then it seemed like all the oxygen in the room was swallowed up at once, and he was left thrashing around, like a fish out of water. Tanya had warned him the healing would be dangerous, but he had no idea he’d not be able to breathe.
White spots formed behind his eyelids. Someone gasped. Hannah? The room spun wild and free, forcing him to close his eyes so he wouldn’t faint.
The last thing he recalled was the sound of a woman weeping.
Lillian blinked and opened her eyes. The fog had disappeared, giving way to glorious sunshine.
“She’s awake,” Hannah said, tossing her knitting aside and jabbing the button on the remote attached to the bed.
“Hannah?” Was she dreaming? Lillian closed her eyes and opened them again, but Hannah still sat next to her bed, knitting.
“Oh my God.” Hannah leaned over Lillian wide-eyed, scanning her from head to toe. “How do you feel? They told me you would wake up soon, but I wasn’t sure it would happen.”
“I feel fine.”
A nurse entered the room, coming immediately to her bedside and checking her vitals. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Yes, it’s…Zoey.”
The nurse wrinkled her brow and held up her hands. “How many fingers do you see?”
“Ten,” Lillian said.
“Good. Do you know who this is?” She pointed at Hannah.
Lillian smiled. “That’s my…that’s Hannah.”
“Good,” the nurse said, a smile on her face. “I’ll be back. We’re paging your doctor.”
As soon as she left, Lillian turned to Hannah. “Tell me you’re not still working on that same pair of socks?”
Hannah stilled, the smile dying on her face.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, it’s…I finished those socks weeks ago.”
“Weeks ago? But you were just working on them earlier today…weren’t you?”
Hannah shook her head, her forehead creasing. Now that Lillian took a closer look, her sister’s eyes looked glassy, a deep weariness in their amber depths.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lil, you’ve been in a coma for more than a month. Dad and I have been taking turns by your bedside night and day, praying you’d make it. For a while there, I wasn’t sure you would. But then a few days ago, your hands and feet started twitching, and you opened your eyes a couple of times. The doctors said these were all good signs your brain was healing, and you’d be waking up soon.”
A flashback of the doctor leaning over her chest with a pair of paddles came to Lillian’s mind. “That’s right, I saw them shock my heart.”
“You saw that?”
“Yes.”
“That’s wild…then you know you nearly died. Tristan saved you.”
“Tristan? What did he have to do with it?”
“I remembered what you told me about him being a burner.” Hannah bit her lip. “I reminded him if we could find someone else with your ability, they might be able to use his energy to save your life.”
“You found another healer?”
“Not me. Tristan tracked her down. Her name’s Tanya Kovalenko. She’s from Russia. Kinetica kidnapped her and was using her to heal women they infected with deadly viruses at Oak Haven—you remember, where Mom was working before she was killed?”
Lillian could only nod.
“Tristan discovered where their operations were based and paid a lot of money to the right people to have Tanya released. Since I had fully recovered after you healed me, I traveled with Tristan. I used my talent to open Tanya’s heart and convince her to use her energy to cure you. It worked.”
“What about Kinetica? They snuck up on me in your room. I was so weak, I couldn’t scream. How did you find me and stop them?”
“I didn’t. By the time I was aware of what was going on, they had already left with you. But Tristan hired a security team to protect us. The team had been watching the hospital, and they chased the kidnappers to the parking garage and were able to stop them until the police arrived. By then, though, you were too far gone. You’d expended too much energy curing me, and the additional trauma of being kidnapped put a strain on your heart. You were in a coma.”
Lillian tried to sit up, adrenaline causing her heart to pound. “The kidnappers were arrested, but that doesn’t mean Kinetica is no longer a threat.”
“Take it easy, Lil. Kinetica is out of business. Tristan’s security firm gathered strong evidence and then turned it over to a major TV network, who ran an exclusive story. It was all on national television and the government’s involvement was exposed. There was nowhere for them to hide. The CEO was arrested and their operations in West Virginia shut down. Tanya and many others were freed. Somehow Tristan kept your name out of the press.”
The pressure in Lillian’s chest eased a little, but now another thought had her pulse racing. “Tristan, he’s…”
“Not here.”
“Where is he? I should thank him.”
Hannah hesitated, looking down at her hands, her expression hard to read. “I don’t know. After he cured you, he was pretty sick. The nurses took him away. I figured to a hospital room for treatment. I didn’t question it at the time because I was so worried about you, and I thought he’d return when he was better. Dad finally went to see him, and…well…”
“What is it?” Hannah looked up, and Lillian understood she was trying to mask her worry and sympathy.
“He has a fiancée. I’m so sorry, Lillian.”
“Angelina.”
“Yes, that’s her name.”
“Is he…how is he?”
“Dad wasn’t able to see him, but Angelina said he’s fully recovered. The nurses said he came to see you the day he was released. Dad and I had left your side for a few minutes to get a bite to eat, so we never saw him. But he’s called the hospital every day since to get an update on your progress.”
“Have you talked to him?”
Hannah swallowed. “Once on the telephone. He was concerned for you, but he was…distant. I couldn’t get a good read. I’m sorry, Lillian. Angelina told Dad they’re planning a large wedding. I know you loved him.”
Lillian didn’t deny the claim—she never argued with Hannah about matters of emotion. Her sister was always right—it was her gift.
A yawning crater opened in her heart and filled with despair. Tristan had felt responsible for what had happened, so he saved her. And he’d checked on her because he was a good person who cared. But she’d rejected him in the worst possible way, and he’d believed her, which was why he’d turned to Angelina for comfort.
His heart belongs to me…always has, always will.
Angelina’s words were a taunting voice in her head. Lillian closed her eyes to block out her sister’s concerned expression, but she couldn’t shut down her thoughts.
“He’ll come back to me eventually, and when he does, I’d hate to see your little heart get broken.”
The phrase was like a death knell in Lillian’s mind. She blinked, and the tears she had been holding back spilled over and rolled down her cheeks—far too many tears to hide from her perceptive sister.
Hannah held her in her arms like Lillian was a baby, rocking back and forth. “It’ll be okay,” she soothed.
Did she blame Tristan for going back to Angelina? What other reaction should Lillian have expected?
Her lies had condemned her forever.
Chapter Twenty-five
The most surprising thing about being in a coma for more than a month and then in a rehabilitation center for another month while she recovered? Lillian had missed most of spring. Summer was in full glory by the time she was well enough to leave the hospital and return to her dad’s house.
She set aside the magazine she had been trying to read and got up from her bed, crossing to the window to open the yellow drapes and look out into the backyard. Her dad fiddled with the riding lawnmower under the bright summer sun. Some sixth sense made him look up at Lillian, and when he saw she was out of bed, he waved and beckoned for her to come down.
How amazing she no longer needed to glance over her shoulder in fear she would be snatched. According to the FBI, Kinetica had been disbanded and was no longer operating. Lillian had a hard time believing it was true, but she supposed if it weren’t she’d have been kidnapped from the hospital or her bedroom.
Lillian smiled and waved at her dad and closed the curtain. Incredible her dad had recovered completely from the trauma he’d suffered when Kinetica’s men had attacked him. Now she could be with her family, enjoying a normal day, free to interact out in the open. Free to be a daughter and a sister again.
So why did she feel an aching loss inside that nothing could relieve?
She slipped on a pair of jean shorts and tennis shoes and the first T-shirt she could find and went downstairs to find her sister, sniffing the air.
“Is that French toast I smell?” Unlike Lillian, Hannah knew her way around a stove.
“You guessed right…and scrambled eggs and hash browns. I wasn’t sure what you’d be up for.”
“It all sounds great to me as long as I don’t have to cook it.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Fine. There’s no need to fuss.”
“Yes, there is. You nearly died.”
“So did you.”
Hannah smiled. “Touché. Okay, point taken. Get to work then. We’re outta dishes. Here’s a towel. You can dry the ones in the sink.”
Lillian picked up the towel and rubbed her mother’s pretty flowered dishes, placing them in a stack on the counter as she dried each plate and bowl.
Don’t be afraid.
Hard not to be, knowing Tristan was in the past and the future was a great big unknown blur.
“What are your plans for the day?” Hannah asked when the silence stretched between them a little too long.
“Oh, you know, I may go to the park.”
“You went to the park yesterday.”
“I like the park.”
Hannah flipped the French toast and put the jug of maple syrup on the table. “That’s what you said yesterday and the day before. Lil, you’ve gone to the park every single day since you’ve been well enough to leave this house. It’s been over two months since you’ve come home. Don’t you think it’s time to try something a little different?”
Lillian shrugged. “The park soothes my soul.” In the park, she could feed the ducks and watch children play. She could eavesdrop on families and see flowers unfolding. She could close her eyes and feel the sun on her skin and tip her face to the sky to find faces in the clouds. For a brief time, she could avoid thinking about Tristan, wondering where he was and if he loved Angelina. Wondering if he ever thought about her as she thought about him—with a wretched loneliness and a terrible sense of loss.
Her sister raised her eyebrows and tossed her long hair to the side. “May I make a suggestion?”
“If I said no, would it stop you?”
Hannah smiled and turned off the burner, adding the last of the French toast to the stack on the table. “Of course not. So sit and eat and listen to your little sister for a change.”
Although she wasn’t in the least bit hungry, Lillian dutifully pulled out a chair and sat in front of the mound of food on her plate, and Hannah did the same.
“How many walks to the park will it take before you go after him?”
Lillian choked on a piece of French toast and took a sip of water. “He has a fiancée, remember? Besides, if he cared about me at all, he would have come to the hospital in person to make sure I survived.”
“He saved your life, Lil. He obviously cares. And excuse my bluntness, but it’s more than a coma putting that gloomy look on your face. You’re mourning his loss, but he’s not dead. Fiancée or not, why would you give up on him before you’ve told him the truth? I think he still has feelings for you.”
Lillian rubbed a hand over her eyes. “You didn’t see his face when I told him I used him.”
“I’m sure by now he understands the pressure you were under. Don’t you think you ought to try and explain?”
Lillian took a drink of orange juice, the sweet, citrusy flavor contrasting with the bitterness on her tongue. “Angelina broke up with him because he refused to be tested for Huntington’s and to have children. Then she changed her mind, and he had a hard time accepting it. I told him I could never be with someone who couldn’t give me healthy children. Now I’m going to come back and tell him it was all a lie? How can I ever expect him to believe me? I’m no better than Angelina.”
“It’s a chance I think you should take, Lil. Listen, tonight Tristan is hosting a large party at his home. I heard about it online this morning. It’s some sort of local parade of homes. They’re selling tickets to raise money for Huntington’s research. They said there are still a few tickets remaining.”
Lillian pushed her chair out and stood, nearly stumbling in her haste to end the conversation. Her heart tapped out a furious rhythm.
“Why don’t we buy tickets? They’re pricey, but it will be on me. It’ll be fun.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I’d like to see his home. I’m curious after listening to you describe it. I’ll get us two tickets, and you can show me around. We’ll make an adventure out of it.”
“No, no adventure. I…I can’t see him again yet.” Maybe ever. “Thanks for breakfast. I’m heading out.”
Hannah raised her eyebrows. “Just consider it. That’s all I’m asking.”
Lillian hesitated. Her sister had been so patient and considerate up to this point. Lillian could at least think about it before putting the kibosh on the idea. She nodded, then turned and headed to the back door and freedom.
“Be sure to take your phone and call me if you need anything.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. You need a mother right now. I know I’m no substitute for the real thing, but I’m all you’ve got.”
Lillian’s eyes stung and filled with tears, and she paused with her hand on the doorknob and turned.
“I know,” she said. “I’m sorry. You are an amazing sister.”
Hannah hugged her, and for a brief moment, Lillian drew comfort. A hug from Hannah was like drawing near the sun.
“Go on then, shoo. Enjoy your day in the park. I’ll be here waiting with dinner when you get back.”
“Thanks, Hannah.” Lillian blew her sister a kiss and then opened the front door and followed the path to the park she had taken every day since she’d been home. The warm breeze kissed her skin, and she placed a straw hat on her head to keep the sun out of her eyes.
Gladys Morgan, the widow who lived next door, stopped digging at something in her flower bed long enough to wave a hand in Lillian’s direction. “Going walking again? Lovely day for it.”
“Thanks, Gladys,” Lillian said. “Enjoy the sunshine.”
This was all part of her daily routine. Every day, Gladys asked if she was going for a walk, and Lillian told Gladys to enjoy the sunshine—as long as there was sunshine. On cloudy days, Lillian advised Gladys to enjoy the day.
Lillian kept walking and turned left on the sidewalk. Three doors down, Rufus, the neighbor’s dog woofed his daily greeting.
“Hi, Rufus. It’s just me. No need to get riled up. Be a good boy now,” Lillian said.
Rufus wagged his tail and barked again behind the neighbor’s chain link fence, and Lillian had his blessing to continue her walk to the park.
Slap, slap, slap. Her sneakers scuffed the pavement until she hit the park entrance, where the pavement was replaced by soft grass.
She paused to take a swig from the water bottle she’d brought with her. A series of benches were scattered around the trail, leading past the pond. A couple wandered by, pushing a stroller. The big man, who Lillian mentally referred to as Fred, stood feeding the ducks as he usually did, nodding to her as she walked past and arriving at what she fondly thought of as her park bench.
Lillian brushed some twigs out of the way and sat. For a while she remained that way, watching the glimmering surface of the pond and the quacking of the ducks, her mind drifting to the earlier conversation with Hannah.
Maybe he still has feelings for you.
Lillian huffed. Highly unlikely Tristan still cared for her now so much time had passed. Angelina had probably moved her stuff into his lonely mansion by now. And they were planning their wedding. Wouldn’t Angelina make a beautiful bride for a billionaire?
She gripped the side of the bench like she held on for dear life and watched as a few children ran in the park, their mothers hollering at them to slow down.
According to Hannah, Tristan had called every day to get an update on her condition when she’d been in a coma, but he’d stopped calling after he’d visited and saw she would recover. More than likely, he’d moved on with Angelina. Lillian should move on, too. But how could she, knowing he still believed her lies?
