Page 6 of Dark Medicine (Strange Gifts #2)

It took Fiona nearly an hour to shower and change her clothes. She stood under the hot spray for nearly twenty minutes, trying to warm her bones and chase the chill away. When she stepped into the shower and felt the blessed warmth, she sobbed so hard she thought she might never recover. Her ribs hurt desperately afterwards, her eyes burning from the shed tears.

Pulling on her worn denim jeans, a small rip at the knee, and her favorite blue sweater and brown loafers, she looked in the mirror and decided it wasn’t worth it to try and apply makeup.

Her hair fell in big waves down her back. The light of the midday sun caught the gold and auburn highlights of the fire red. She opened the door and heard voices downstairs. One, she was certain, was Adam, but the others were unfamiliar.

Descending the stairs, the voices became louder but still not clear enough to understand. When she rounded the corner to the sitting room, Adam was standing by the fireplace, his handsome face filled with a concerned expression. He was wearing black utility pants with a tight black long-sleeved t-shirt, his muscles visible with every breath. To Fiona, he looked every bit the killer he proclaimed himself to be on the mountain.

“Hello,” she said tentatively.

“Fiona,” he said, moving toward her. He wrapped his big arms around her, and she sighed into his chest, nearly breaking into tears again. “You okay, honey?”

“I think so,” she said, forcing a smile from her lips. Tears threatened to spill once more, but she forced them back.

“Fiona, these are my friends. This is Kane and his fiancée Aislinn.”

“Aislinn,” she said in an Irish tone, “you’re the one getting married. Congratulations.”

“Thank you, Fiona, but how are you? Do you need anything?” she asked, genuinely concerned.

Her big brown eyes were so large they almost looked too large for her face. But it was a kind face framed with massive amounts of sable-colored hair. The man standing next to her stood protectively. He was bigger than Adam was and heavier. His light brown hair and hazel eyes gave a darker, more dangerous look.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking, though.”

“This is Phillip, or we call him ‘Flip’ and Van,” he said.

“I go by Spook, but you can call me Van or Spook. I answer to both,” said the bright-eyed man. He was a few inches taller than Fiona but completely different in looks to the others. He had auburn hair and sparkling blue eyes, his skin tanned from the outdoors. An extreme intelligence oozed from him. Fiona shook his hand and smiled.

“I’m Flip,” said the big Samoan-looking man. He was enormous. Easily three inches taller than Adam and probably forty or fifty pounds heavier. But his face was kind and sincere, his dark eyes filled with love and protective instincts.

“Hello, Flip,” she said tentatively, reaching for his hand. He took hers carefully as if he was afraid she would break.

“We need to talk, Fiona,” said Adam.

“I-I know. Thank you for what you did up there,” she said, sitting on the chair next to Aislinn. “Those men… I don’t know what…”

Adam held a hand up to stop her, and she blushed, knowing that he was going to force her to lie to him again.

“You know what those men were saying, and so do I. You’re a healer. That’s what you do. I know because I have a similar gift.” Fiona’s eyes grew wide with shock and disbelief. It couldn’t be! No one had ever known of her gift or admitted to having one similar.

“We all have a gift,” said Aislinn, touching her hand.

“I don’t understand,” Fiona stumbled.

“We don’t understand either,” said Flip. “But we all have unusual gifts. Yours and Adam’s seem fairly close.”

“What is your gift?” she whispered, eyeing him cautiously.

“I didn’t lie to you. I’m a surgeon trained by the United States Army. I also didn’t lie to those assholes on the hill. I’m a killing machine when I need to be. We all are. But for as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to identify where the illness lies in the body. I can see the tumor, see the bleeding, see whatever it is and know exactly what surgery to perform, how fast, and where.”

Fiona stood from the chair, twisting her long hair around one finger. She stood by the front window staring out into the bright sunlight of midday. Was it possible? Were there really others like her out there? She’d been alone for so long.

“I-I can’t do that,” she said.

“What can you do?” asked Kane.

“I… that man, he was right. I heal. I don’t always know what’s wrong, but sometimes I can touch the area, a-and, well, it heals, but it takes a lot out of me.”

“What do you mean?” asked Adam.

“My ankle and hands were easy. They’re mine. If it’s my own injury, it doesn’t take much energy for me to heal it. But if you had injured your ankle, it would basically transfer that illness or pain to me for a brief period of time, and then I would heal. For something major, like cancer or-or a traumatic injury, well, I’ve only tried it once with my brother, and it nearly killed me.”

“Jesus, Fiona! Why would you do that?” asked Adam.

“Because he was my brother!” she shouted. “He was trying to save me from people like those men on the hill. He was trying to stop someone. Someone who wanted me.”

“You said you didn’t know how your brother died.” Adam folded his arms and stared at the woman. “At the restaurant last night, you said you didn’t know how he died.”

“I didn’t know you, Adam,” she said sternly. “I still don’t know you. I don’t know any of you, but I’m so tired. So very, very tired. Being alone and having to deal with this every day is exhausting.” She looked up at the kind eyes of the one named Flip. He gave her a small knowing grin, and she knew that he had felt the same exhaustion.

“So, how did he die?” asked Aislinn.

“I didn’t lie about him being in the Army. He joined the military while my father was working in America. I was in college, and he was stationed nearby. I went to visit him on weekends a few times. The last time, his commanding officer, this colonel, said he wanted to speak with him. Ian went to the office, but when he got back, he said I needed to leave right away and not come back to the base.

“I packed my things and left. Ian would never have sent me away unless he thought I was in danger. Two nights later, he showed up at my apartment, beaten so badly I thought he would die in my arms. I was able to heal the bones easily, but his lung collapsed. His jaw was dislocated, and I think he had internal injuries. He tried to stop me, but I couldn’t let him die.” She sucked in a shuddering breath, tears in the corners of her eyes.

“It’s okay, honey. Take your time,” said Adam, placing an arm around her shoulder.

“He begged me to stop before I killed myself, but I couldn’t let him just die right there. The pain was so intense I could barely breathe, but he was healing slowly, but it didn’t matter. He was healing. As he got stronger, he was firmer about me not continuing. Then I realized why. It wasn’t the beating that was killing him. He’d been injected with poison.”

“Christ!” said Flip.

“I think someone was testing me. They thought if I could remove the poison from him, heal him and save him…” Fiona couldn’t fight the tears anymore. She leaned into Adam and smothered her sobs.

“Your brother saved your life, Fiona,” said Spook. She nodded, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Where was he stationed?” asked Kane. All eyes turned to him, their faces knowing. “Your brother, where was he stationed, Fiona?”

“A place called Sierra Depot,” she said.

“Fucking hell!” cried Flip.

“What? What did I say?” asked Fiona.

“Honey,” said Adam, turning her to face him. “We all had fathers who worked at Sierra or were stationed there. Your brother would have been there long after we were there as children, but it seems a bit of a coincidence.”

“Did your brother have any ‘gifts’?” asked Aislinn.

“Y-yes,” said Fiona quietly. “It wasn’t the first time we were there. Our father was an engineer. He worked there when I was just a baby and Ian was maybe ten or eleven. Ian said we used to play in the pink dust that covered everything in the house.”

All eyes turned to look at one another, their knowing eyes following Fiona’s story.

“Ian started to lose his temper a lot when my father moved us closer to San Francisco. My parents thought it was just a phase. I was too little to remember much about it, but when I was about seven or eight, he was in high school. I followed him one day as he went for a walk in the woods. I hid behind this big dead redwood on the forest floor. I couldn’t believe it. He had this notebook and was writing so rapidly it didn’t look real. When I walked closer, he was writing these crazy formulations, like mathematical and scientific.

“I must have moved, and he heard me. He walked so calmly toward me I honestly thought he was going to kill me. Instead, he crouched down and said I had to keep it a secret. I was so happy. My big brother and I had a secret. He was holding my hand, and he had this long deep cut on his forearm from a piece of metal he hit. I looked down at the cut and wanted it to go away. It was ugly and was scarring my brother.

“Ian said nothing. It was as if he knew. We watched it just disappear and then appear on my arm. Within a few minutes, it was gone from my arm.”

“Fucking hell,” whispered Spook. “That’s some crazy shit, Fiona, but it does explain why you go in and out of your Irish accent. I mean, you don’t sound American but not fully Irish either.” Fiona nodded at Spook.

“Yes, at that age, it was pretty scary. But Ian wasn’t scared. He said we were special and we would be able to help the world. A year later, he graduated from high school and joined the Army. I didn’t see him much after that, but I honed my skill. I can’t see the illness like you can, Adam, but when someone is sick, I just know.”

“How do you mean?” asked Kane.

“My boss, h-he’s been harassing me at work,” she said tentatively.

“He’s what! I’ll kill the son-of-a-bitch!” said Adam. Flip and Spook grinned at each other. Aislinn smiled at her friend.

“No killing, big guy,” she said with a half-grin, her red-rimmed eyes now dry. “He keeps trying to touch me, and last week, I gripped his forearm and held it firm, telling him no. I couldn’t see it, but I felt it. He’s dying from a large tumor somewhere in his body. I could have saved him. Right then and there, but I just couldn’t make myself do it.”

“You shouldn’t do it. He doesn’t deserve it,” said Adam. “And you’re quitting that job on Monday.”

“First, I don’t work on Monday. It’s a holiday. Second, you’re not my boss or my father or my brother or even my boyfriend. You don’t get to tell me what to do!”

“I like her,” said Flip, smiling.

“I can remedy one of those right now,” said Adam. “You’re mine. Mine.” His possessive tone was unusual. His friends stared at one another. Fiona’s eyes grew large, her cheeks flaming red, but it was the angry eyes that made everyone hold their breath.

“Yours? What kind of Neanderthal reaction is that? No one says, ‘you’re mine,’ and a woman just jumps, Adam Thorn! I’m not some American floozy… no offense, Aislinn…”

“None taken,” she said with a smile.

“I’m an Irish woman with a mind of my own. I appreciate that you were with me today and helped me, but that doesn’t make me ‘yours.’ Now, if you’d like to date me properly, we can discuss our situation.”

“Fine, we’re dating,” he said with his arms folded across his chest.

“Adam,” said Aislinn quietly. “Perhaps we should start with you asking her to join us all for dinner this evening with Angela and Caroline.” Adam looked at Aislinn and then at his friends. He nodded and let out a long breath, his hand diving into his thick hair.

“Fine, I’m sorry, Fiona. Would you be so kind as to join me and my friends for dinner this evening?”

“Now, that wasn’t so hard, was it? Yes, I’d love to join you,” she said, smiling. “Not to be a wet blanket, but what do we do about our gypsy friends who seemed to know I was a healer?”

“We’ll figure that one out. Let us do some investigating of our own,” said Kane. “For now, no one leaves here without a battle buddy.”

“Battle buddy? Is that what this is? A battle?”

“Of a lifetime,” said Adam under his breath.