Healing Waters Read Online Free Page A

semblance of normality is going to mean multiple procedures by a number of different specialists as time goes on.”
    â€œWhat about right now?” I said.
    â€œThe nurses are debriding the wounds in hydrotherapy. I promise you that we will make this hurt as little as possible. Forget any draconian stories you’ve heard, anything you’ve seen on TV about people screaming while a team scrapes off their skin. That doesn’t happen here. We’ll use as much Ketamine as we need to keep the pain at a minimum.”
    Good. Can I have some? I was scraping my thumbnail across my palm, over and over.
    â€œThat’s all I can tell you at this point,” he said. “We’ll sit down, the family and the team, when Sonia is able to, and come up with a master plan.” He stopped and cocked his head. “One of the nurses filled me in about her professional background. This will definitely be a chance for her to apply her own faith, won’t it?”
    I couldn’t answer that.
    â€œStill—you’ll have access to Sonia’s psychiatric liaison nurse, and I encourage you to talk to her. This affects the whole family, and your sister is going to need you to be strong for her.”
    I was incapable of anything but a wooden thank-you and an acknowledging nod at the hand he pressed briefly over mine. If I’d done more, I would have splintered.
    â€œIf you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate.”
    Chip straightened from the wall. “Do you know anything about Marnie—Margaret Oakes? The other girl in the plane.”
    â€œWas she burned?” Dr. Abernathy said.
    Chip looked at me. My head turned to wood as well. I couldn’t even shake it.
    â€œOur social worker can help with that. She’ll be checking in.” As he headed for the door, his last words were for me: “Get some rest.” The squeaking of his soles down the hall faded before Chip eased into the seat next to me, hands cool through my top as he ran them down my back.
    â€œYou okay?”
    Was I okay? No. My sister’s beautiful face was being scraped off, but my husband showed more concern for the little vixen he’d—
    I stuck out a mental hand and sent all of that falling over itself. Let that in, and the pieces I would break into would be impossible to reassemble. No. I had to do what I did so well.
    â€œAre you okay?” I said.
    Chip’s hand stopped on my back. “I don’t know what I am. How do you get your mind around this? Or your heart, yeah?” His voice went husky. “She’s our sister. We’re both pretty shook.” He kneaded the muscles at the tops of my shoulders. “I think I should take you home so you can get cleaned up.”
    I twisted to face him. “Home?”
    â€œYou won’t be able to see her for a while.”
    â€œAre you serious?” I said. “I’m not leaving.”
    He peeled a hunk of hair from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. His eyes looked washed out as they searched me.
    â€œI could go home, then,” he said. “Get you some clean clothes and whatever else you need.”
    â€œI look that bad?”
    â€œNot to me. But you don’t want to show up looking like a trauma victim yourself when you see Sonia.” He rubbed gently at something on my chin. “You heard Abernathy. She’s going to need you to be strong.”
    â€œSonia hasn’t needed me for years,” I said. “I can’t see her starting, even now.”
    Chip took my head in his hands and pressed it to his chest. “Well, I need you,” he said.
    I shook away and struggled up from the chair. “Maybe some coffee would help.”
    He gave me a long look before he said, “I’m on it.”
    As he strode off, my thoughts crowded in. He looked like he should belong here and didn’t. He said he needed me. He was probably going to go check on that Marnie child.
    I