A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (4 page)

“
What’s your
name?”

“
Charity,” I uttered in a
barely audible whisper.

“
Charity?”

“
No, um, I really don’t
need your charity...” I let my voice trail off, trying to cover up
my mistake.

“
Oh you don’t?” he laughed.
“Well, I must insist on giving it. Your name?” he repeated his
question.

“
Emily. Emily
Johnston.”

“
It’s nice to meet you
Emily Johnston. I’m Link, Lincoln Knight, to be exact. Do you think
you can lean on me so I can help you get home?”

“
I can call my uncle,
really, you don’t need to bother with me,” I rambled on, but he
decided to ignore my protests.

Link wrapped his arms around my waist and
pulled me up to standing. When he was sure I had gained my balance
he instructed me to put my arms around his shoulders. He held onto
me with one hand and snatched up my discarded boot with the
other.

“
Let’s try to walk. Just
lean on me,” he encouraged.

“
Really this is not
necessary. My uncle...”

“
Miss Johnston, will you
kindly shut your mouth and concentrate on walking? I
am
helping you. Now, test
the ankle, just put a little pressure on it at first,” he ordered,
slightly annoyed by my reluctance to accept his
assistance.

I gave a little hop. I could already feel my
bones fusing back together. I tried to concentrate on walking as
though I were truly injured.

“
Is this okay?” he breathed
into my hair while his body pressed against mine for added
support.

I lost all sense of balance. My knees gave
way and he had to tighten his grip to keep us both from falling
over. This wasn’t helping me concentrate. I couldn’t think while he
was touching me. But then again, it did help my act of appearing
more injured than I was by now.

“
Sorry,” I
apologized.

“
Careful, take it easy.”
Link smiled at me.

We paused in our trek, while I caught my
breath and steadied my racing heart. I was right at the dance,
there was something strangely familiar about his mouth. I peeked
through my eyelashes to get a better look at his face. He had
classical good looks, the kind that would always be considered
handsome. Thick blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes accented his
striking appearance. He flashed me a brilliant smile. Why did I
know that smile so well?

“
You never answered my
question before. What are you doing out here by
yourself?”

“
I just like to hike on my
own.” I defended my right to be out, alone. “It’s peaceful. Until I
do something stupid and fall. I’m usually much more careful,” I
paused and took a deep breath. “I could ask you the same question,”
I challenged him.

“
Same as you, except for
the falling part,” he smiled. “Anyway, I’m not a high school girl,”
he continued.

“
How do you know I’m in
high school?”

I
hated
being seventeen.

“
I saw you at the Halloween
dance. You were hanging out with a group of high school kids so I
used my awesome powers of deduction,” he teased.

“
You have awesome powers,
eh? Lucky you,” I replied, my voice thick with sarcasm.

“
They come in handy when
I’m rescuing fallen angels,” he paused in thought. “You remind me
of somebody. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

“
That’s so weird. I was
just thinking the same thing about you. I guess we each just have
one of those strangely familiar faces,” I offered.

“
Familiar yes, I wouldn’t
say strange though. I think it’s a nice face, even if it is a
little dirty right now.”

Link brushed his hand across my forehead and
down my nose. My knees buckled again.

“
Do you need to sit down?”
he asked.

The concern in his eyes made me even more
lightheaded and left me unable to speak. I moved my head back and
forth in answer.

“
It’s cold out here. Don’t
you have a jacket?” he inquired as he searched the ground behind
us.

“
I had one tied around my
waist. It must have fallen off. I’ll find it tomorrow. Let’s get
moving again, we’re almost there.” I shook my head and concentrated
on walking with a
badly twisted
ankle.

We walked the rest of the distance in
silence. I put on a good show of being quite injured. Although
truthfully, I didn’t want to put any real pressure on my foot until
James gave me the clearance to do so. As we reached the driveway of
my house, the side door opened and James came out to meet us.

“
What happened, my dear?”
he sounded concerned, but I knew he was slightly
annoyed.

“
I fell, like an idiot, and
Link helped me out,” I confessed.

“
Lincoln Knight,” Link
extended his hand in introduction.

“
Thank you, Mr. Knight,”
James said as he shook Link’s hand. “Don’t you work over at the
hardware store?”

“
Yes that’s right, for
about a month now. I moved here for the ski season. I move around a
lot. You’re new here too. Everyone keeps talking about the new
doctor and his family. It’s nice to meet you,” Link chatted with
ease.

“
It would have been nicer
under different circumstances, but I’m glad you were there to help.
We’ll see you around town.” James thanked Link again and then
turned to me. “Well let’s get you inside so I can get a proper look
at you.”

Once we were safely indoors and James was
sure Link had left the property, the scolding began.

“
Charity, how could you be
so irresponsible?” James admonished.

“
It was just a simple
break. I’m sure it’s fine now,” I protested.

“
What if it had been more
than a simple break? What if the bone had tore through the flesh?
This Link boy could have witnessed your skin as it repaired itself.
Then where would we be? We would have to leave this town, my job,
this house. You can’t expose us this way. Let’s go to the lab so I
can x-ray your foot. I want to make sure the bones have set
properly. Hopefully I will not have to re-break them. It’s surely
almost fully healed by now.” He shook his head, clearly
disappointed in my actions.

“
I thought I was completely
alone, I swear to you. Next time I will be more careful, I promise.
Please don’t be cross with me, James,” I pleaded.

I hated myself for making such a careless
mistake.

“
Let’s go,” was all he
said.

James led the way and I followed, walking
gingerly. My foot was still a little sore. It felt like I had
stepped on it the wrong way, tingly and prickly. I remembered this
feeling from childhood... from before my body began its change...
when I was still one hundred percent mortal. But that was a very
long time ago.

chapter three

PAIN… JUST AN ILLUSION

The next day, I was still
sulking. I hated the thought of disappointing my family. It was an
accident, and in the end both Catherine and James had said they
understood and forgave me. But I was finding it difficult to
forgive myself. I couldn’t bring myself to leave my room until
after
she
had
departed, ashamed to face the woman who had become a mother to me.
They were leaving shortly, on their way to a picnic lunch by the
river.

After emerging from my
self-imposed quarantine, I decided a soak in our spa might relax me
and get my mind off the previous day’s events. I changed into my
black one-piece and headed to the lower level. Once inside
the
spa room
, I
laid my towel on one of the couches and set my robe on a hook.
After turning the CD player on and the music up, loud enough to
drown my thoughts, I walked over to the glass wall that faced the
mountain. I looked out at the mountainside, to the area where I had
taken my tumble the day before.

I rested my forehead on the glass and closed
my eyes, remembering the feel of his hands on my battered foot. I
pictured that dazzling smile and again tried to remember where I
had seen it before. I breathed out deeply, my hot breath clouding
the glass. It was getting pretty cold outside now that it was the
middle of November. I walked away from the glass wall and over to
the control panel, turned on the jets, and entered the spa.

Our spa was something to be envied, a luxury
that I was glad the architect had seen fit to include in the plans
for this house. It was sizeable. Some would classify it as a small
pool. The massaging jets and the bubbling water let me think of it
only as a spa. The water was half indoors and half outdoors. A
quick swim through a small opening underwater led me out into the
fresh air. There was steam rising from the surface, where the
warmth of the water mixed with the cool mountain air. I inhaled
deeply and rested my head out of the water, on the side of the
decking. The rest of my body I kept fully submerged in the warm
bubbling liquid.

I closed my eyes and listened to the music,
losing myself in the rhythm. I loved Tool. I loved this song. The
line about pain being an illusion really hit home with me. This was
my ultimate truth. I could no longer feel pain the way others did,
physical pain or mental anguish. I could block it out, erase it,
even as I watched my bones break and my body bleed. I knew that
even when these things happened to me, the next day no evidence
could be found to support it. It was an illusion.

My thoughts turned to the past, to my first
love. Roger was so handsome in his naval uniform. I could picture
him so clearly in my mind, then he was gone, another illusion. I
opened my eyes as the song ended and the next one began.

“
How are you feeling
today?”

“
Aaah!” I gave a little
startled scream.

“
Sorry, I tried the door
but nobody answered. Then I heard music coming from around the side
of the house. So, I used my awesome powers of deduction and here I
am. I didn’t mean to scare you. You were lost in the song, you
didn’t hear me. Excellent singing voice by the way,” Link smiled
from the chair where he sat watching me.

“
Those powers of yours are
no good. Maybe you should deduce that I want to be alone,” I
grumbled.

“
Being alone didn’t work so
well for you yesterday. What if you were to, say... hit your head
and slip into the water. There would be nobody here to help
you.”

“
I’m fine. Why are you
here?” I asked.

“
I came to give you this,”
he held out my jacket, “and to find out how you are doing, to make
sure you are okay.”

“
I told you, I’m fine.
Really...See...” I held my foot up out of the water without
thinking.

His eyes locked on the now faint yellowish
remains of the deep purple bruises he’d witnessed less than
twenty-four hours before. I saw the confusion in his eyes and
swiftly submerged my foot, removing it from his eyesight.

“
I’m a fast healer,” I
offered before he had a chance to ask any questions.

“
I’ll say. My powers pale
in comparison.”

“
It wasn’t nearly as bad as
it looked.”

“
Apparently,” Link looked
stunned.

“
Wait here,” I said and
then I ducked underwater and swam back to the other
side.

He watched through the glass as I climbed
out of the water and picked up my towel. I held my finger up, to
tell him to give me a minute, and then dried off. I removed my long
fluffy robe from its hook, put it on, and went out the door to the
patio where he still sat.

“
Sorry, I’m not being very
grateful. Thank you for helping me make it home safely last night,
and for finding my jacket,” I thanked him as I sat in the cushioned
chair beside him.

He reached for my foot and slowly traced his
index finger around the edges of the now barely discernible bruise.
What could I say? How could I answer his unasked question? I pulled
my foot from his grasp and tucked it under me, to remove it from
his sight. We sat in silence, looking at each other, his eyes full
of questions, mine full of uncertainty.

“
This is a big, fancy house
for a small town doctor. Aren’t doctors supposed to be broke when
they start out? What is your uncle, like thirty-one or
thirty-two?”

“
Ja – Jason has family
money and he’s twenty-nine. Not that any of this is your business.”
I quipped.

“
How large is this house?”
Link continued.

“
About eight thousand
square feet,” I answered.

“
Six, seven
mill?”

“
Closer to nine.” I don’t
know why I so casually answered his questions. I just saw no reason
to pretend. Anyone with a computer could find the answers so I gave
them readily.

“
These are mostly vacation
homes for the uber rich. Anyone else out here live year round?” It
was less of a direct question and more just his wondering
aloud.

“
A few... I imagine that by
this time next month this whole town will be transformed. I’ve
heard it’s a revolving door of people during the ski
season.”

“
Yeah that’s what I hear
too. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. I’ve been here once
before, but that was years ago, when I was like... fourteen I
think.”