Page 52 of Finding Chaos

“That’s good to know.” Dr. Bennett held his hands over her wound without touching her skin. He closed his eyes. “If you ever tell a soul that Walker asked me to heal you, I’ll deny it and tell the world you’re unstable, and I have a brain scan to prove it.”

Heat radiated over her stomach and traveled up her chest and down her limbs. It felt as if someone was holding a heating lamp over her stomach. He stood like that for several minutes before he opened his eyes and removed his hands.

He glanced down at the wound again. The stitches had dissolved, and the wound they once held together had closed. Only a deep scratch remained. “I would have healed you all the way, but your father would probably want answers I can’t give him.”

I glanced down at the spot, and my mouth parted. “How did you…”

“Your mother, your real one, that is, was from our area. That’s how she met your father and came to be an aide on his campaign. You inherited the gift of seeing ghosts from her,” he answered, wrapping the area with a fresh bandage.

“You knew her?” Destiny asked.

“Mrs. Weller and her husband did. They were told that she left town to help with the campaign.”

His words make her heart tighten knowing the end she’d found.

“You’re going to want to keep the area hidden as best you can, or you’ll get questioned about things you can’t answer.”

Destiny sat up higher on the bed.

“You still need to act hurt.”

“Right.” She slouched back down, unable to comprehend what had happened.

“I’m going to keep you in the hospital for a few days, just so I can keep checking the wound, but don’t worry. I’ll leave instructions with the nurses that I’m the only medical person that will be treating and tending to your wound. At the Senator’s request of course.”

“Can I see him?”

“Sure, I’ll tell your dad you’re ready.”

“Not my dad.” She swallowed hard. “I mean my dad and I have a lot to work out, but I wasn’t talking about him. I need to see Walker, please.”

“Let me see what I can do,” he answered and stepped out of the room. She could see her father and Dr. Bennett through the window talking. Her father looked in and then nodded.

The doctor disappeared, and minutes later, the door opened. Walker was patted down by the security detail at the door before he stepped inside the room.

“Sorry. My dad’s a bit overprotective,” she offered.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m glad he is,” Walker said as he crossed the room, letting the door close behind him. “Did my brother…”

“Yeah,” she answered, not letting him finish the sentence. “Listen, I promise I’ll never tell about any of this…any of you.”

“I know,” Walker said, sitting on the side of the bed. He took her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a tender kiss on her palm. “I should have trusted you. If I had, you wouldn’t have confronted Putnam.”

“Yeah, I would have,” she said. “I would have figured it all out. I just had it wrong. It wasn’t my dad. It was my mom.” Destiny’s gaze flew to the door. “Where is she? Oh my God. I shot her, didn’t I? Is she dead?”

“You didn’t kill her. She’s here too, but the difference is she’s handcuffed to her bed.”

“She killed them all, starting with my mom,” Destiny said.

“I know. Your dad already spoke to the sheriff, and Putnam is trying to cut a deal and spilling everything, including the names of everyone involved. From what I understand, some high-profile people are going to have to answer for a lot of things.”

“They’ll kill Putnam before they let that happen.” The machine beeped across the room, drawing Walker’s gaze.

“You don’t worry about any of it. Your mom and Putnam are going away for a long time. They’ve already matched the bullet they pulled from you to a bullet found in the Pit.”

“How did they do it so fast?” She gawked.

Walker stroked her hair out of her eyes. “Destiny, you’ve been unconscious for a week. I almost lost you. If it hadn’t been for my brother performing a miracle during surgery…”

---