Page 9 of Dark Medicine

“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?”

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