Page 34 of Heart of the Wren
“I can’t walk on it,” he said. “Oh, Jaysus, I hope it’s not broken…”
They guided him to the back seat of his car where I checked his injury. “It looks nasty.” My heart pounded faster and faster. My hands turned clammy.
Lorcan’s face went red. “I can’t work like this and I can’t afford not to…”
“Don’t think about it now. We’ll sort something. Where’s the hospital?”
“It’s a couple of hours away,” Bullseye said.
Lorcan groaned and his face shifted from red to white. Feet on the ground, he lay across the back seat and covered his eyes with his forearm.
I considered using my healing tattoo but without any of my herbs or potions for it to work through, I wasn’t sure there was much point. Not when there was a better option at hand. I wiped my face and glanced at Bullseye, hoping he would keep his cool. “Carol, come over here for a minute.” I took a clean towel from Lorcan’s kit bag and put it on the bloody knee, making him wince.
“Put your hands on it,” I told Carol. “It’s okay, go on. Good, good.Now, close your eyes and imagine a light coming from deep underground, like a river flowing up from the centre of the earth, through the crust, and into your feet.”
Bullseye put his hands on hips. “What the hell are you doing?”
I ignored him. “Imagine yourself filled with this pure, perfect light. Now imagine the light flowing out of your hands and into Lorcan’s knee. Imagine it filling his leg, his chest, and spreading through his whole body. Good. Very good. The light is growing brighter. And brighter. It’s hard to look at now.”
Her eyes still firmly shut, Carol grimaced and turned away. “I can’t, I can’t…” She withdrew her hands and shoved them under her armpits.
The bloody cloth fell from Lorcan’s knee. The bleeding had stopped. A deep gash remained but had already clotted. He sat up. “It doesn’t hurt as much. Oh, Jaysus, has it gone numb?”
Bullseye’s mouth dropped open. “How…?”
I checked on Carol before picking up the cloth. “Keep this over your knee,” I told Lorcan. “Don’t let anyone see. It’s not numb, it’ll be grand. Trust me. It’ll be grand.”
Big Tom ambled over, frowning but full of bluster. “How’s the patient? Let me look at him.”
I put myself between Big Tom and the car. “He’ll be alright. We’ll get him home and if he’s not right in the morning, we’ll take him to hospital.”
“But…” Big Tom tried to object but I waved him off and said Lorcan would be back in the pub drinking a pint in no time. I helped Lorcan swing his legs into the car and hurriedly closed the door.
Bullseye stopped Carol at the passenger door. “What did you do?”
“I helped.”
Eddie jumped into the back seat, next to Lorcan.
Carol got in the front of the car and slammed the door closed while Bullseye shouted at her.
I started the engine and guided the car out of the car park.
Carol held out her hands. “What did I actually do, though?”
“I’m gladyouasked,” Lorcan said.
I kept my gaze firmly on the road. “One of the most common gifts of a seventh son or daughter is healing. Have you never done it before? It often comes naturally.”
“No, never, I…” Carol’s hands slapped down onto her legs. “Wait. There was one time, in school, it must have been first or second class, someone fell outside at lunch break. They hurt their head. I remember holding their hand and they said they felt better. The teacher, Mrs O’Hara, made me stand at the back of the class for the rest of the day. I never knew why.”
“Some people don’t react well to this sort of thing,” I said. “They think it’s unnatural.”
“Is this some Irish thing?” Eddie asked.
“Hah! Sort of. Don’t you have any stories like this in England? People born with special gifts?”
Eddie said nothing.
