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

were good friends. My desire to heal him was inevitable, but I knew from the beginning I’d never be able to do so. It didn’t stop me from attempting to heal his broken heart, however. At least in that I felt like I’d been somewhat successful.
    Kirby had grown up very independent for such a young child. I was sure he had to with a mother like Sylvia. His sweet brown eyes may have held pain, but they also held maturity and a surprisingly positive outlook on life even though he didn’t have much of it left to live.
    “Something’s wrong, Hope,” he said.
    I was always surprised by how perceptive he was. He read my moods as well as my own father.
    “It’s nothing,” I said. “I think I’m just tired and overloaded with homework from all of my antisocial school teachers.” He shook his head and grabbed my hand.
    “You don’t get to do that you know. It’s me.” He held my hand in his frail tiny fist. His gaze locked with mine and he gave me an encouraging smile. “It’s just me.”
    His skin was paper thin and translucent. The tiny bones in his hand felt fragile in mine. I held it gently, afraid to break him.
    “My father called me in to help with Eve. She’d been in a car accident.”
    “You couldn’t save her?” he asked in a small voice. Kirby wasn’t as close to Eve as I was. Barely knew her, really, but he knew how upset I got when I failed to heal someone.
    Telling Kirby about my healing capabilities had been unintentional. The first time I’d ever tried to heal him was about a week after I’d begun visiting him. It was late at night and he was sleeping, or so I thought. I’d sat down next to him on the bed, connected with his life force, and decided to ease his pain since there was nothing more that I could do. His joints were aching, and his stomach was upset from the chemotherapy he’d received earlier that day.
    The minute I’d finished, Kirby’s dark brown eyes opened slowly, and the smile he’d given me seemed to light the darkness of his hospital room. He wanted to know how I’d been able to make him feel so much better, and for some reason I decided to tell him. It was the first time in my life I’d ever discussed my gift with anyone other than my father. I’d never even told my best friend, Angie, about it, and she was the first person I’d ever healed. She was the reason I knew about my abilities in the first place. I’d told Kirby, though, and had felt good doing it.
    “No, I was able to save her. I just couldn’t save Sarah,” I said ruefully.
    Kirby grabbed my other hand and made me look at him.
    “The mayor’s office aid?” I nodded.
    “I know you feel responsible, but there was nothing you could do. You know this. When it’s a person’s time to go you can’t save them.” He spoke quietly now, knowing that no one else should hear this conversation.
    “There are so many good and wonderful people in this world that deserve to live. They deserve to stay.” I lowered my eyes and whispered,
    “You deserve to stay.”
    “This is really about me, isn’t it?” he asked.
    I bit my lip, struggling to choke back so many unwanted emotions.
    “Hope, you’ve been trying to heal me at least three times a week for a while now, and it simply isn’t meant to be. There must be a reason for it. Instead of fighting it, just be happy that you got the chance to try. Being told no doesn’t have to be so sad. Dying doesn’t have to be so final.” Kirby shrugged his shoulders. “I’m simply moving on to the next phase of my journey a little earlier than most people do.”
    “First of all, what ten-year-old talks about his death as if he were Gandhi or Obi Wan Kenobi, and who says I have to sit back and accept it?” Tears began their slow descent down my cheeks.
    He pulled my hands to either side of his face. His eyes were filled with love and concern.
    Concern for me.
    He was dying from leukemia, and instead of feeling sorry for himself he was trying to console