The Healer: A Young Adult Romantic Fantasy (The Healer Series Book 1) Read Online Free

driver’s license, and I couldn’t find anything. I mentioned it to my father and he told me he’d take care of it. Eventually he did, but it felt like we were hiding from someone specific instead of the whole world in general. It still felt that way.
    “Do you want lasagna or meatloaf?” I asked a little louder.
    “Lasagna will be fine. Be sure to go straight home, Hope. It’s already dark out.”
    “Dad, we live two blocks away. It’ll be fine.”
    Sometimes my father’s overprotective nature felt like incessant nagging. He just smiled at me and shook his head. I turned away and walked down the hall toward the elevators.
    I waited for the dilapidated machinery to make its way to the second floor. The elevator and I had a love-hate relationship. I hated that it made me wait longer than was necessary, and I was convinced it loved making me wait.
    I had plenty of time standing there to think about Sarah again. Not only was I confused about the strange way in which I was able to communicate with her, but the remarks she’d made about my mother left me feeling unsettled and anxious.
    I wasn’t sure at what exact moment I’d decided to go visit Kirby, but I found myself getting off the shaky elevator onto the third floor and hanging a right toward the children’s cancer wing.
    Turning into the first room on the left, I found Kirby lying on his bed reading The Maze Runner . His level of reading was exceptional for a boy his age. His vocabulary wasn’t half bad either. He immediately dropped his book on the bed as soon as I entered the room.
    “I was wondering if you’d get a chance to visit me today,” he said, smiling brightly.
    “That desperate for entertainment are we?” I gave him a big grin and sat down on the bed next to him. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. I hugged him back, sensing there was something bothering him.
    “The TV’s boring, and I’ve read all of these books at least ten times. The most exciting thing that’s happened to me all day was the card I got in the mail from my mom.”
    Ah ha. His mother was definitely a sore spot for him.
    “You’re kidding!” My eyebrows rose in disbelief. “She sent you a card?”
    “I kid you not. I even saved it just in case you came by so we could both share a moment of silence to commemorate this rare, almost nonexistent occasion.” He slowly reached under his mattress, creating a moment of unbearable suspense before unveiling the object of interest. “Pause for dramatic effect and voila!” he said as he produced the card and proceeded to open it with an equally dramatic flourish.
    I chuckled softly.
    “The card reads, and I quote, ‘Dear son, so sorry I missed our little visit last week. Busy making millions. Please let me know if anything changes. Warmest wishes. Sincerely, your loving and devoted mother, Sylvia. P.S. Please tell Nanny May to go buy you whatever your heart desires for your birthday this year.’”
    “Oh, Kirby! I can’t believe that woman isn’t even going to be here for your birthday! She is absolutely unbelievable.”
    “And yet, so predictable. I kind of like knowing where I stand with that pariah. Wouldn’t you?”
    Kirby’s smile was infectious, but I could see the hurt in his eyes despite how brave he was trying to be.
    Sylvia Herrington was a successful actress who’d never had much time for Kirby to begin with, but pulled away from him entirely when he was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago. When I’d first met Kirby, I found him to be wary and distant, unwilling to trust anyone or let anyone in. I’d also sensed his pain and heartbreak as if it were my own, and continued to visit him daily, reading to him some of his favorite books and short stories.
    Kirby’s tastes in literature were pretty surprising for a ten-year-old. He loved Tom Sawyer and The Chronicles of Narnia but his favorite book was Treasure Island . He eventually began to thaw toward me, and within a couple of weeks we