“Then why were they saying she was only a pretty good healer and was now expendable?” Nate asked.
“Remember, the found didn’t really come into their powers until this past year when they started meeting one another. They had to come into contact with one another…” Sierra watched him as he caught onto what she was saying.
“Holy hell.”
****
Kota had lied. He wasn’t feeling all that great. He was weak as shit. He felt great the entire time Sarah had her hands on him. He felt like he could have jumped tall buildings in a single bound. But as soon as she slumped over, besides feeling like a slime bucket for having used her, he passed out from lack of blood.
He woke up in the same room as where she healed him. Still lying on bloody sheets. Obviously he and Nate miscalculated his value to Stovers. Once he saw Sarah’s healing ability Kota came in a distant second.
Slipping back into his room was easy, he came around the back wall and made a big commotion of coming out of the bathroom. Goddamn amateurs were relying on the sleeping guard at the end of the hallway instead of actually monitoring the video feeds. That’s what happened when you had greenhorns relying on a two-pronged approach, each assumed the other was doing the job, and therefore nobody was doing it. Sure worked to his advantage though.
He looked at the bed, and stripped off the bloody blankets and sheets. He wasn’t surprised when that finally garnered some attention and a big male orderly came into the room and turned on the lights. Apparently he finally made enough noise. He wondered if this was the bastard that fucked up Sarah.
“What the hell, you shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I thought keeping the patient clean was part of hospital protocol.” The orderly looked uncomfortable. If he felt guilty about that, probably not the guy who had abused Sarah.
“Let me get you some clean bedding.”
Kota leaned against the wall while the guy was out of the room. Checking on Sarah had taken everything out of him. He needed some food and rest.
“Here’s some clean sheets and a blanket. I’ll make the bed.”
“Can a guy get some food?” Kota asked hopefully.
“The cafeteria is closed. You’ll get breakfast in the morning.”
“How about a vending machine? Anything? I’m starving.” God, he needed something to keep up his blood sugar. He was crashing hard. The orderly finished putting the top blanket on the bed and looked at Kota. He must have looked like shit, because he took pity on him.
“Yeah, I’ll see what I can rustle up.”
Kota gave a quick glance to the TV as he slipped under the covers. The man brought back two bottles of orange juice, some nuts and a candy bar. Kota stared up at him.
“Sorry dude, it was all the change I had. I’ve gotta go.” He walked out and turned off the light. Kota tore into everything and had it wolfed down in under five minutes. He definitely needed three times the amount and could have gone for some ding dongs. He wondered if this is how Nate felt all the time. He would never laugh at him again for his junk food habit.
Throwing the wrappers and bottles onto the nightstand, he settled down to think about what Sarah told him. Another healer? He was definitely going to need to do some more reconnaissance. How was he going to convince Stovers to give him access to this joint? Knowing himself, Kota settled down to get some shut-eye, trusting his sub-conscious to give him some answers.
****
She’d beat the drugs again. Hallelujah. Her first thought was about the other healer. Was she found? Fuck. She didn’t know what to do and her wrist hurt like a son of a bitch. Her lips twitched. God she was beginning to sound like she had joined the Navy.
For a good twenty minutes she played possible scenarios over in her head, but the only one that seemed reasonable was to pretend she didn’t remember because otherwise they’d pump her full of even higher doses. She was actually thankful when the door opened so she could stop obsessing over what to do.
“Hello Sarah? Do you remember me? I’m Dr. Simms.” Sarah put on her best expression of befuddlement and saw the doctor smile in pleasure. The bitch.
“Have we met before?”
“I’m the doctor on your case, you’ve been in an accident. You’ve been having some problems with your memory.” Simms came closer to her bedside and noticed her wrist, and blinked fast.
Just that fast, Sarah had an idea. “Dr. Simms, did I heal someone? Or was that a dream?”
“What did you say?”
“I’ve been having weird dreams. I don’t remember you. But some things seem so fantastic, so unbelievable, seem very real,” Sarah managed to bring up some tears. “I’m afraid I’m losing my mind. Doctor, I really think I saved a man’s life. I think I have the power to heal.”
She watched as the good doctor decided how to play her. “So these are just dreams, not memories?”
“I don’t know. Everything’s mixed up. I know I’ve never met you before.” The woman relaxed.
“Tell me more about these dreams. I want to know everything you dreamed about your powers.” Gotchya.
“But they’re just dreams.”
“The more I know about what’s going on in your mind, the more I can help with your amnesia.” Sure bitch.
“I dreamed it was here, but in another room. A man with a terrible wound was brought to me and I put my hands on this deep cut he had from under his arm around to the middle of his back and I made it close up.” Sarah looked up at the woman with what she hoped was a confused and fearful look. It must have worked, because she put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“What else did you dream?”
“It’s all so bizarre. I dreamed this wasn’t the first time I’d done this. I thought there were others like me who had different kinds of abilities and when we came into contact with one another they were enhanced.” The woman’s grip tightened.
“How were they enhanced? Tell me everything.”
“But it was just a dream.”
“Sarah, I told you, interpreting your dreams will help me to figure out the root cause of your amnesia.”
“You mean it might not be organic? They might be psychological?”
“Just tell me about the dream,” Simms snapped. Sarah stifled a grin.
“When I touched the man, I saw his flesh knit back together, it was as if…”
“Tell me the other part. I want to know more about how you and the others coming together made your powers stronger.” Simms leaned down and stared into Sarah’s face. She was edgy, strung out.
Obviously Sarah had hit a nerve. This wasn’t someone who wanted new information, this was someone who fucked up and was trying to recover. Sarah thought about stringing her along, because she hated the bitch, but that would be childish. She hoped by giving Simms the information they would bring the other healer to Sarah.
“I dreamt when I touched another person like me I could magnify my healing ability.”
“You could do more than when you healed the man with the knife wound?” Simms’ eyes were huge. Shit, how did she explain that?
“It’s confused. It seems like I was younger in those dreams.” Simms settled down.
“What does this all mean doctor? Can you help me recover my memories?”
“Did you dream about healing yourself?”
Sarah took a long time in answering that. She bit her lip and looked around the room. Finally she looked up. “I think I tried but it didn’t work, but that part is really hazy. Are you sure analyzing my dreams is helpful?”
“We can help you. I can help you. I might even have someone you can meet who might jog your memory a bit.” Simms stroked her hand down Sarah’s arm, resting on her bruised and swollen wrist. “As a matter of fact, she might even be able to help make you feel a little better.”
“What?”
“We’ll just have to see. In the meantime, why don’t you just rest.” Sarah watched as the woman practically bounced out of the room. Well at least
someone in this wretched place was happy.
Sarah’s stomach growled reminding her she hadn’t had breakfast or eaten dinner last night. She was reluctant to press the call button for fear someone would want to feed her more drugs. Her stomach growled again and when she moved her hand to cover it she groaned in pain. She wouldn’t be surprised if the orderly hadn’t broken something in her wrist. She probed it with her other hand and discovered nothing broken but one of the bones could still be fractured. Dammit, this wouldn’t help as they were trying to escape.
She rested her head against her pillow and let her mind drift towards her favorite dreams—nestled in Nate’s arms.
***
“Talked to Max,” Sierra said in a clipped tone as she sat at the table where Cyrus and Nate were going over the blueprints.
“Randy, can you give us a few minutes?” Nate asked the Navy team leader from Fallon.
“Sure Chief.” He went out the door Sierra just came in.
“Okay, what did you find out?” Nate asked Sierra.
“There was a girl who went off the grid three years ago from Honduras. Her Guardian had been working to get her and her family relocated when they all went missing. Honduras has the highest murder rate of any nation in the world. It was thought to be gang related. But Gabriella, the guardian, has been tracking her ever since. She just didn’t believe it,” Sierra reported.
“So did the missing girl have healing abilities?” Nate asked.
“Gabriella doesn’t know.”
“Does this girl have a name?” Nate wanted to know.
“Maricel Lopez, she was nineteen. She and her mother and fifteen year old brother were not at their house one day. The reason it was thought to be gang related is the brother was in one of the most notorious gangs in the city. This was just thought to be reprisal.”
“He was going to be good with getting out of dodge?” Cyrus asked.
“He knew it was possible his mother and Maricel would be targeted, so Gabriella said yeah.”
“It sounds like a good bet she and the mom and brother were really killed, why does Max think Maricel might be alive and our healer?” Cyrus asked again. He was like a pitbull, it must have made him a great cop.
“Max explained it to me this way Cyrus,” Sierra said. “All guardians are connected to the found children they were put in charge of. There’s a psychic link that would have let them know if they had been hurt or killed.”
Nate opened his mouth, but Sierra held up her hand. “Before you go there big guy, Max said to tell you he already knew about Sarah, and had been feeding Noah information from the start.”
“What fucking information?” Nate roared. “He hasn’t given us shit.”
“Actually he has. I didn’t realize it, but he’s the one who dropped the Skype account into my lap. He wasn’t quite that obvious, but he put a password reset into Sarah’s e-mail account for me to stumble over.”
“I don’t give a flying fuck if he did that. He should have been on the phone calling us and working with us, not this kind of quasi help bullshit. I’m sick of this Guardian style coaching. He’s either with us or against us.” Nate was gratified to see Cyrus nodding in agreement. Sierra didn’t look convinced but he really didn’t care. She was more into this whoo-whoo found bullshit than he was.
“I see that expression Nate Goodman, and I’m not all into a bunch of make believe and farting rainbows. I know Max has some tremendous powers and he has been good for others in the past.” She pointed at Nate’s chest. “You’re out of your mind to discount him now. We need his help. We need this other guardian too. If they say the woman in there with Kota and Sarah is probably Maricel, then we need to find out,” she ended on a dark glare.
“Sierra, get Max on the phone now, it’s time he started being upfront.” The phone in her hand began to vibrate with an incoming call. They all stared at the phone.
“Give me that.”
Fuck, he hated this whoo-whoo found shit.
Sierra didn’t even look down, she handed him the phone.
“Hello,” he answered.
“I was calling for Sierra Edwards, this is Max Lawrence.”
“What, you couldn’t tell it was me, Nate Goodman?”
“Now I hear the welcoming tone, yes I recognize you. Look, I’m sorry you think I haven’t been upfront with you,” Nate winced when Max used his exact words. “Gabriella Guttierez and I would like to fly out and assist with your operation. She thinks her link to Maricel can be a great assistance to you.”
“And you? What will your happy ass be to the party?”
“I think you’ll find I have my uses. We’re at Dallas Fort-Worth airport now. We should be there in four and a half hours.” The line went dead.
“I take it Max is coming?” Cyrus asked.
“Yep, he’s bringing Gabriella too.”
“Great, a civilian,” Sierra glared at him as she snatched back her phone.
“Actually two civilians,” Nate grumbled to anyone who would listen.
“Nate, if you think Max is nothing more than a civilian, then you need to be fitted for some glasses.” Cyrus chuckled.
Nate rubbed the back of his neck. He wanted to rant it was getting too complicated, but he actually felt some of the stress easing. Having Max around to help him sort through the found aspects of this mission would be a help, but he’d be damned if he would admit that now.
****
As soon as he saw Sarah’s injured wrist, Kota was pretty sure this was coming. Hopefully his plan would work and they could call in the troops and get the hell out of here.
“So no dinner and no breakfast?”
“If you perform you get breakfast,” Stovers said. He was flanked by a new orderly and a small woman they introduced as Dr. Simms. Maybe this was the fucking orderly that injured Sarah.
“What kind of hospital is this?”
“You were taken from your post for a specific reason. Let’s cut the crap. We both know you’re found, and you have the ability to heal. We just want to test how strong your gifts are.” Lee Stovers sounded like a snake oil salesman. How in the hell did he end up a VP in a corporation?
“Mr. Blackthorne…” the woman began.
“Chief Petty Officer, ma’am,” Kota interrupted.
She scowled at him and started again. “Alright, Chief Blackthorne…”
“Chief Petty Officer Blackthorne, ma’am.”
“Dakota, cut the shit,” Stovers said. “We’re taking you to the woman who healed you. She’s been injured. Now you can return the favor.” So much for the salespitch.
“Fine. Let’s see how this works out when I’ve just been sliced open, given no blood transfusion and haven’t even been fed. I’m sure this will be a walk in the park.” Dr. Simm’s gave Stovers a look of concern and he just waved his hand.
“Silas, get the wheelchair. Kathy, let’s see what Dakota has to show us. Blackthorne, it’s in your best interest to give it the old Navy try.”
Kota wanted to wave the orderly away and get into the wheelchair by himself, but it was best for his plan if he took the offered help. They wheeled him down the short hall to Sarah’s room.
The woman who called herself Dr. Simm’s hurried ahead and went into Sarah’s room first. When they got there she was already talking to Sarah.
“He’s really not a dream,” Sarah said when he was wheeled into the room.
“That’s what I was telling you. Some of your dreams are actually memories, and I wanted to introduce you to them when the time was right.” Kota watched Sarah carefully, trying to determine if she was acting or truly having trouble remembering things.
“I still can’t believe it’s real. Can I see?” Sarah’s hand trembled as she reached out, and looked over to the other woman for approval.
“Yes Sarah, you can.”
“Dakota, can you please remove your shirt.”
Kota shrugged out of his shirt and turned to show his side and back.
; “That must have been so painful and then it must have really stung and itched when it was healing.”
“It itched like a son of a bitch,” Kota agreed, thankful she remembered.
“Okay, you know you can heal and it wasn’t a dream. Now I want to know if he can heal your arm.” Seeing her forearm and wrist bruised and swollen made his gut churn and want to hit somebody.
“How did this happen?” Kota demanded.
“It doesn’t matter,” Stovers answered.
“It matters,” he glared at Stovers who eyed him warily.
“Heal her.”
“Not until you tell me how this happened,” he got up out of the wheelchair and looked at Stovers, who took a step backwards.
“It was the night nurse, we fired him, it’s been taken care of. Now we need to see if you can do what was advertised.”
“Look, I don’t know how you discovered who I am. You’re correct, I’m one of the found. I do have some ability to heal, but I have no strength right now. The only way I could get this done is with another found magnifying my gifts.” Kota crossed his arms and waited to see what they would say. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Fine, use Sarah.”
“Won’t work, she’s the injured one. It’s been tried before and it doesn’t work.”
“Tell me with who,” Stovers pounced. “Who else is out there?”
“Look you fuck. I’m not just Navy, I’m special ops. You think you can get me to name names? Just try it.” He watched as Simms scurried out of the room. He was unsurprised when she came back with two more orderlies.
“I’m not asking for names, at least not yet. I’m asking you to heal another member of the found. She’s injured and in pain. Are you denying her help after she saved your life?”
“I would be happy to if I could. I’m saying I can’t. If you gave me two or three days I could. Or if there were another member of the found to help me, no matter what their talents, I could do this.”
“So even if they weren’t that strong of a healer, they could magnify your powers?” Simms asked excitedly.
Healed (The Found Book 3) Page 12