Chapter 22
I woke up early on Sunday morning after a horrible dream about Abby having cancer. I figured it was in large part due to our visit with Matthias' niece the day before. But still, it was unsettling.
I tossed and turned until I decided I couldn't get back to sleep. It was our last day at camp and I had mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I was looking forward to getting back to see Anna, but on the other hand, I had been having a lot of fun over the last couple of days and the thought of leaving made me a little sad.
I quietly climbed out of bed, threw on some clothes and packed up my sleeping bag and gear. Noah started to stir and then opened one lazy eye and mumbled, “What the hell are you doing?”
“I can't sleep,” I said as I checked my watch. Five forty-three. Wonderful.
“Where are you going?” Noah slowly sat up and stretched.
“I was thinking I'd go down to the water. Watch the sunrise or something lame like that,” I whispered.
Noah sighed. “I should probably go with you so you don't get lost or drown or something.”
“If you want.” I laid my gear on my bed. Noah pulled on a pair of track pants and a sweater and we quietly snuck out of the cabin, across the field and down the path to the lake.
The grounds were completely quiet. It was still dark out but you could hear the birds starting to wake up. The dew on the grass soaked through our sneakers as we walked the grassy trail down to the lake. We found a couple of rocks along the water's edge and sat down to admire the orange glow slowly making an appearance on the horizon.
“Listen to those loons. Pretty cool,” Noah said as he cocked his head toward the water.
“Man, it's peaceful out here, isn’t it?” I leaned back and rested against a tree trunk.
“Yeah,” Noah answered. “I don't think I've ever been up early enough to watch a sunrise.”
“Come to think of it, the only time I ever watched a sunrise was last summer.” I smiled as I recalled the memory. “Anna and I stayed up all night on the phone together to see if we could actually do it. I'm pretty sure we both fell asleep for a while, but she woke me up when she gasped and said 'Jake, look out your window at the sunrise. It's beautiful.'” I looked up at the tip of the sun and watched it struggle to break through the horizon. I wondered what the chances were of Anna watching the same sunrise.
“You really miss her, don't you?” Noah reached down and picked up a stone to skip across the perfectly calm water.
“Yeah, I do.” I followed suit and skipped a stone, exerting some pent-up energy.
“And you're okay with having to leave her alone?” Noah hesitated.
“Well, I'm still going to be there for her in case she needs me,” I reminded him. “But I'm going to try to get her out of the centre of my existence. I'm doing this for her, so I can protect or heal her if she ever needs it.”
“That's gonna be tough . . . to get her out of your centre of existence, I mean.”
“Tell me about it. She's just so perfect, Noah. She's everything I've ever wanted. She's my best friend and the only one who has ever made me feel this way.” I knew it sounded sappy, but that's what the sunrise will do to you.
We sat in silence for a few minutes watching the ripple effects of our stones.
“What about you and Rachel?” I finally asked.
“What about it?” Noah smiled.
“Don't play coy. You know what I mean.”
“Well, I really like her, if that's what you mean.”
“Yeah, I could tell that much. What do you think she thinks about you?” I asked.
“I really don't know. I mean, she's really friendly to me, but she's really friendly to Claudia too. So I can't be sure.” Noah pelted a stone as hard as he could out into the lake. “We did talk a bit yesterday though, during the commotion about your mind movement stuff.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I was waiting for you by the door when you were still inside with Sam. Nick had run to get James and that other healer guy, and the word was spreading fast about you. Rachel ran over to me and asked what had happened. So I told her and she got really quiet. It looked like she was trying to make sense of something.” Noah paused as he bent down and scooped up another handful of stones. “Anyway, it looked like a good opportunity to give her a hug, so I did.”
I laughed. “You hugged her?”
“What?” Noah asked. “She looked vulnerable and almost upset. It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“What'd she do?” I asked. “Hit you?”
“No, she hugged back. Then she told me it felt good in my arms.” Noah smiled and turned a little flush.
“Well, that's good. Was it awkward or anything?”
“Big time. I just wanted to pull her face up and kiss her and never let her go, but you know how it is . . . she'd think I was a freak or something,” Noah laughed.
“Ya think?”
We both laughed and then sat still for a few minutes as the warmth of the sun became distinct. Then I said, “I wonder why she got all weird about my mind movement?”
“I don't know. She did mumble something about her vision or something. I wasn't really paying attention. I was just relishing the fact that I was holding her in my arms. She smelled so good, dude.”
“Well, I hope it works out for you guys,” I said.
“Me too.”
“So how did your language classes go yesterday?” I asked in an effort to change the subject and spare me more pain.
“Really good, actually. We worked on listening to as many different languages as we could. Then we had a test on translating. It was kind of challenging. I messed up a couple of little things, actually. Well, my teacher didn't seem to think they were little. Apparently you can misinterpret one word and the whole meaning of the sentence goes from being a death threat to something really funny. So I'll have to work on that a bit.”
“Sounds like you got it under control.” I smiled.
“Yup. And how about you? How did your healing class go?”
“Great. Really fun.” I scanned the perimeter of the lake in search for the loons who could still be heard.
We let the conversation die as we sat back and enjoyed the peaceful setting around us. Birds chirped, fish began making appearances above water every now and then and the sun was peeking up over the top of the trees across the lake. I wished that Anna was here.
Noah suddenly sat up. “I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you. Did you know Claudia can read minds?”
“Really? Why didn't you tell me this? That's big, isn't it?”
“Yeah, she told us last night at the campfire. I think you were in the bathroom or something. She can't do long distances yet. She's working on expanding her reach, but right now, she has to be within five feet of someone to hear their thoughts,” Noah said.
“Man, I didn't know that. That's pretty cool. Can Nick do it too?”
“No, and apparently it's a touchy subject with them because she can read Nick's thoughts and he can't read hers. Apparently some people gifted with Discernment can do it, but not everyone. Probably similar to mind movement.”
“Neat.” I started thinking back to anything I might have thought when I was close to Claudia. I hoped nothing too embarrassing.
“Yeah, I thought it was pretty cool,” Noah said as he stood up and stretched. “It's almost seven o’clock. What's the schedule look like for today, do you know?”
“I don't know,” I said as I dug through my pockets for the schedule. I reached into my sweater and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Here it is. Just one sec.” I opened the paper and instantly felt faint. It was Anna's copycat drawings for me. My eyes immediately went to the words 'Always and forever . . . 'till death do us part.'
“Do you have it?” Noah asked confused.
“No. I thought I did.” I quickly folded the paper and put it back in my pocket.
“You look like you just saw a ghost. What was th
at?” Noah reached for my pocket.
I dodged his reach. “Not important. I don't have the schedule, do you?”
Noah gave me a distrusting look and then said, “No, I don't. But I think breakfast is at eight, and then it’s free time until, like, eleven when we go to the graduation ceremony. Then we get our tattoos. That's going to hurt, dude.” Noah shuddered.
“Wimp,” I said.
“You'd be the same way if you couldn't heal yourself all the time,” he said.
“Yeah, maybe. But probably not.” I smiled as we started walking back down the path toward the camp.
“Well, that was fun. I'm glad I dragged my butt out of bed,” Noah said.
“Yeah, it was good.”
We went back, cleaned up and met the others at the mess hall at eight o’clock for breakfast. People seemed chattier this morning as the weekend was coming to an end. I had to admit that I was going to miss the place. I never felt so powerful. So sure. So purposeful.
I filled my tray with eggs, bacon and toast and was heading back to our table when I spotted Matthias standing off to the side, looking somewhat distracted. I detoured and made my way over to him.
“Good morning, Matthias,” I said as I approached him.
Matthias quickly looked up at me and stared blankly for a few seconds as if he was trying to catch his bearings. “Oh, hi Jacob . . . Uh, sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“Is everything okay?” I was hesitant and unsure. Although my heartbeat was quickening, time seemed to stand still as I waited for his answer.
“I just got off the phone actually,” Matthias said as he held up his cell phone. “It was the hospital. They just got Becca’s results back. There's been no change.”
Matthias' face was old and worn. I felt completely responsible and defeated at the same time. This was huge! This changed everything. Was I not able to heal the incurable? How was I supposed to be great when all I could do was heal cuts and breaks?
My arms turned to stone, which I only realized when my food slid off my plate and onto the floor in front of me. I jumped back and tried to keep my composure.
“I'm sorry, Jacob. It's all my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you into something so big,” Matthias apologized.
“But we can try again! We'll go back today. I want to. Maybe it was because I didn't have enough time. I can figure this out, Matthias. We'll heal her.” I was persistent. This little girl meant so much to Matthias and he had lost too much already. He had already felt enough pain for one lifetime.
“Yeah, maybe. We'll see. It was probably too soon. Your gift is still young. I'm sorry, Jacob. It really was far-fetched and unfair of me to put you in that situation.” Matthias lowered his head and walked away. “Healers are hard to come by. I was just reaching.”
Slowly, I knelt down and picked up the remnants of my breakfast. I salvaged a carton of milk, but the rest went in the compost bin. My mind was racing, thinking back to everything I had done with the little girl, and anything I could have done differently. My heart was beating louder and louder. When I finally looked around, no one was left in the mess hall. I left the hall, running into Nick and Noah on the other side of the doors. They didn’t say anything to me. We just walked together in silence. They seemed to know. Maybe they did. Maybe Claudia told them.