Angel of Mine (31 page)

Her shoulders are slumped, and I can see the bones on her back through her long sleeved shirt. A few dry crackers are the most I have seen her eat all week, and that was only when Rachel forced her to eat them. The deeper into depression she sinks, the more weight she loses.

I walk over to her side and plop down on the couch, taking her hands in my own and encouraging her to look at me. Small zap like electric shocks go through me where our skin touches, but Mum is oblivious to them. Anticipation builds at how I might be able to help her, however, my hands don’t glow and I’m at a loss as to what to do.

I haven’t been able to get her to talk to me since before Dad passed away, so I am unclear on exactly what is wrong. When she got worse after the funeral, I tried to talk to Theo about it, but he told me it was a conversation I really need to have with my mum.

Giving her space isn’t working. It’s getting out of hand, and I fear she will lose her job. I take a guess as to what is wrong and hope she will open up to me. “Dad didn’t want either of us to feel guilty for what he did Mum. You need to stop letting it eat away at you.”

She lifts her head in acknowledgement, but her eyes are still downcast. Her whole face droops and she replies in monotone, “He was a good man.” There is a slight crack in her voice before her walls are reinforced, and she keeps going, “I tried to hate him when he left. I really did, but I couldn’t do it.”

As she speaks, I study her carefully, and it becomes more apparent that I misread her. Guilt isn’t the problem here; overwhelming sadness is. “You have a broken heart,” I clarify. Her bottom lip trembles and she makes a whimpering sound as she nods her head.

“It’s not that,” she stops and snivels loudly then tries again. “It’s not that I didn’t want him to heal you. It’s just devastating that he had to leave us to do it.” I realize she never stopped loving him. He’s left her not only once, but twice now. All in the name of doing what he thought was the right thing for our family.

I think of the letter Dad wrote me, and how much he loved Mum too. It’s the most tragic love story I have ever heard, and I have read and watched a lot of them.

She is right; he was a good man. He was a great man. When he called me a martyr he was mistaken, he was the martyr. I am merely a Good Samaritan in comparison.

Another part of the letter recites itself to me, as though Dad is right there whispering the words in my ear
,
‘in the hope that you would be able to heal your mother’s broken heart in my absence, I named you after the Greek goddess of healing, Althea.’

I know he asked me not to heal anymore, but this was practically writing me an exception, a free pass.

Heat builds between our hands and a faint glow illuminates around us. “Let me help heal your broken heart Mum.” She rips her hands away from mine. Her eyes are wide in alarm as she shuffles backward and jumps off the couch.

“That’s not funny Ally. You have been through enough. Your father didn’t sacrifice his life for you to cause yourself pain again.” She is adamant, but so am I. Dad would have wanted me to help.

“Theo, tell her she is being ridiculous.” I should have known Theo was watching over me. He is never far from my side these days, always checking up on me. Which I love, but right now, I could do without it. I don’t need them both arguing against me.

What happens next surprises me. Theo goes to Mum and whispers something in her ear. A few tears drop from the corners of her eyes, however, she is smiling as she nods and agrees to whatever he is saying.

She wipes the wet streaks away with the back of her hands then pulls Theo in for a brief hug before turning back to me. “Okay Ally, work you magic.” I’m not about to waste time questioning what caused her to do a complete one eighty, just in case she changes her mind.

I hold my hand over her chest, and a crippling pain takes hold. Shards of ice pierce my heart. After the initial shock, the ice disperses and cold liquid flows through my veins, spreading around my body and making every part of me ache. It feels as though I will never know warmth again and I shiver through the chills. No wonder Mum was so distraught.

The glow stops and Mum looks me over momentarily before pulling me into a fierce hug and holding me tight. “Thank you,” she whispers.

“How do you feel Mum?” It is an effort to talk through the heavy feeling that has settled over me.

“I will never feel whole again without your father, but I can manage to breathe again now. I can go on and try to enjoy life. I love you Ally, and I am grateful, but that is the last time I want to see you use your ability.”

I nod my head. The way I’m feeling right now I don’t feel like doing much of anything ever again.

“I don’t doubt what you said before Theo. I’ll leave you to it.” She walks away, and I see her pick up her phone on her way through. On the way out the door, she starts to make a call, hopefully to her boss.

Theo steps up to me and kisses down my neck. Goosebumps form where his hot lips touch my chilled flesh. I close my eyes and relax into him, allowing the ever shining light of my own personal sun to trickle through the darkness.

“I’ve got you Ally. Let me take care of you.” He lifts me in his arms, carries me into the bathroom, and sits me on a stool while he fills the tub. Water starts to splash and mix with the bubble bath he added. The smell of lavender fills my senses and lifts my spirits.

As the water rises, he peels off my shoes and socks, and starts massaging my feet. Blood that was previously frozen, thaws and circulates around my body, making me feel slightly better.

Both feet are lavished with attention before he turns off the tap and pulls me to a standing position. He undresses me, and I manage a weak smile at the naughty thoughts that can’t help but enter my brain. A range of cheeky comments comes to mind. However, I still feel too flat to voice them.

He lifts me into the tub and pulls the stool up behind it. With great care, he begins to massage my scalp.

“I love you so much Ally. I love everything about you. I’m going to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.” He leans around and presses his lips to mine, and I completely melt.

As he goes to move back to the stool, I pull him into me and deepen the kiss. He steps into the bath, clothes and all, causing water to slosh over the sides, and lowers himself on to me. I grip on to his sides, trying to pull him closer, but he cradles my face tenderly in his hands and finishes the kiss far too soon.

“Ally, I’m trying to take care of you, not take advantage of you.”

I flip over on top of him and counter his comment with my own proposition. “How about I take advantage of you then?” I try to look sexy and follow up with a wink, but end up just scrunching half of my face.

He raises an eyebrow at me. “You think you have the upper hand all because you’re above me, do you?” Then he lifts up a palm full of bubbles and blows them at my face.

We erupt into a fit of giggles until a loud rap at the door interrupts us. “Sounds like you are going above and beyond our deal in there Theo.” Mum’s stern voice booms through the door, but she doesn’t seem too mad that I am naked in the bath with a boy. I’m definitely embarrassed though. My face heats and I sink down into the water to cool it off. How do I reply to that? This is more awkward than a loud fart in a quiet church. Luckily, Theo is able to keep his cool.

“I will always go above and beyond for Ally, Carol,” Theo says. Alex may have been joking when he introduced Theo as a smooth talker, but I think there was something to it.

“I know you will Theo. That’s why I trusted you earlier.” Is she just going to hang around out there until we finish this bath?
Time to be on your way Mum
. I’m horrified she is on the other side of the door while I’m in this position.

“Okay Mum you can go now.” Please leave, I’m so humiliated.

“So you are still alive in there Ally, I thought you might have died of embarrassment for a second there.” The sound of her laughter fades away down the hallway, and I cast a curious glance at Theo.

“What exactly did you say to get her to change her mind earlier?”

“I told her not to worry, and that I would be right here to mend your broken heart. That I would always be here for you and that I would always love you, for the rest of time.”

There are no words to express how I feel about him right now, so instead of telling him, I show him. The feeling of dread has completely left my body, and the only cold temperature that affects me is from the bathwater after being in here too long. I’m too happy to care though.

“Gross Alex, go take a shower,” Alex’s new girlfriend Kinley complains. He just finished playing his first football game at his new school. The jersey he wears is caked in mud, and he is covered in sweat. While she sits on the couch, he leans over the top of her trying to get a kiss.

Maybe I haven’t done my job as a big brother well enough. Did I teach him nothing at all? I thought he was smoother than this.

“You love me all dirty,” he teases in a suggestive tone while wiggling his eyebrows.
Oh, man
. I slap myself in the forehead.
Shoot me now
. I can’t watch this disaster.

My brother certainly didn’t learn his pickup lines from me. Maybe from one of those porn movies he has stashed under his bed. He better get rid of those before Kinley finds them hidden there.

“No, I like you clean; clean enough to eat off of.” She winks at him.
Well crap
. I think Alex has finally met his match.

He leans in to kiss her, and she shoves at him playfully. “Shower, go.” He gives his head a shake and sweat from his hair goes flying everywhere. That can’t be pleasant for the poor girl. I can smell him from here, and it’s disgusting. Maybe I should rescue her.

“Care to join me?” Alex asks while trying to pull her up.

She just laughs him off. “How about you just pretend I’ve joined you? I’m sure your imagination can conjure up something better than anything I’d actually be willing to do with your family in the next room.” She puts him in his place and doesn’t even blush. That is one fiery red head. I chuckle in amusement.

“Enjoying the free show over there brother?” Alex jokes.

I snort and roll my eyes, and Kinley gives him a light slap across the arm. “It was more like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from.”

Alex grins like an idiot, and I just know something stupid is about to come out of his mouth. “Admit it; you were trying to learn mad skills off of the master.”

I hear the front door open while he is talking and I get up off the couch shaking my head. “Yeah mad skills at being a douche, a big smelly douche, go take a shower. You reek, man.”

Ally walks in to the room and scrunches up her nose. “Eww, what smells?”

Alex looks up in mock offense, a fake frown on his face that he isn’t quite pulling off. “Okay, okay, I get the hint,” and he finally makes his way to the shower.

I turn my attention back to Ally, giving her a brief kiss and pulling her into my side. “Hey, I missed you last night.” Ally and her mum found a new place on the other side of town, somewhere where the media wouldn’t find them. For the most part, the amount of reporters we see out and about have died down. Ally is lying low and doesn’t heal people anymore, so there is no story there for them.

“You ready to go?” We are heading into town to check out the university campus today. I enrolled back into my course studying architecture. Ally was accepted into a broad range of subjects that will help her get a job behind the scenes in film and television. She decided being a doctor really wasn’t a practical option, not when she would want to heal all her patients with her ability. I have no doubt she is happy in her new choice though. She has a passion for film; she sure watches enough of them.

“I don’t know,” Ally ponders. “Maybe I should visit the spa and get that Mohawk before we go. First impressions count, and I want to fit in. What do you say Kinley, girls day at the spa? I’m sure they would still have some free appointments this afternoon.”

Even though I realize it’s a joke, I still tense beside her. I like her hair the way it is. Kinley smirks, enjoying my discomfort. Those two have gotten along famously ever since they first met, and are always conspiring one thing or another.

“Sure,” Kinley plays along. “I can get that nipple ring I’ve always wanted while we are there.”
Is she is being serious?
I cough into my hand to cover up my embarrassment.

“I’m just messing with you Theo. I’m no more getting a nipple ring than Ally is getting a Mohawk.” We all laugh at the absurdness of the situation. This girl couldn’t be more perfect for Alex.