Me Without You (22 page)

"Do you know I am a healer too?" Hugh
said cutting through Jonah's thoughts.

"You are?" Jonah asked
astonishingly.

"It's actually from my biological
mother's side," Hugh said. "We can even be family, you
know!"

"You mean, you and Xavier are not real
blood brothers?" Jonah asked. She looked away from Hugh, feeling
awkward all over. "I'm sorry if I—"

"It's okay," Hugh said. "It's an open
secret. People are just too shy to ask directly. Gilda Byrne is my
real mother. She is a healer too. If you trace her roots, she is
half-sister to Rebecca Blood and your Aunt Judith!"

"No way!" Jonah was shocked to learn
the piece of information about the three women. "So, we're like
related?"

"I hope not!" Hugh exclaimed. "I mean
we are already offspring from a thousandth generation."

Hugh narrated what Gilda told him and
Xavier about her ancestry and how their feud started. "It's a
wonder why your Aunt Judith stuck it out with your mother when her
real sister was Gilda. There must have been fresher conflicts
between the three of them as the years passed on. But I am not
privy to it. "

"What about you and your real mother?"
Jonah asked. "What happened between the two of you?"

"She didn't want me," Hugh casually
answered Jonah back.

"I can't believe we never knew about
this part of our family's story," Jonah uttered, diverting the
subject matter away from Hugh's mother. "Not even Aunt Judith talks
about it openly."

Hugh and Jonah became silent
for a few minutes. Then, they both noticed as the
Phantom Black Rolls Royce
spookily glided from behind and seemed to be following them
all the way to the hospital. With Hugh's eyes still concentrated on
the road, Jonah fumbled for her phone from her bag next to
her.

Jonah put on her earpiece and dialed
Jervais' number which fortunately was on speed dial.

"What's wrong with you?" asked
Jervais.

"I—" Jonah started to
explain.

Jonah can totally imagine the smooth
area between Jervais' eyebrows crinkled in a glower when her older
sibling said, "Never mind, I totally get it. You've seen him again—
so how did it go?"

"I did see him," Jonah answered. "But
we didn't get to talk about things!"

"Yeah, right!" the other girl answered
on the other end. "So how come you don't sound okay?"

"I think a car is following us," Jonah
said urgently. "Please stay with me on the line until I get
there."

"Us?" Jervais asked. Her panic was so
obvious it almost leaped out of the phone. "Why do you always call
me when you are in the middle of trouble?"

"Please Jervais, stay calm—" Jonah told
her sister. "Or I won't be able to think straight myself. I am with
Hugh. But I think it pays off to have other witnesses in case
something terrible does happen to us!"

"Hugh, let's not lose it! We may be
trapped somewhere," Jonah suggested. Even if it really gave her the
creeps to see the car on the road, a few meters away from
them.

Hugh kept on a steady speed and kept
closely to the other cars on the road. "You are right, let's keep
it close. Can you see the driver or anybody else? The plate
number?"

"Okay," Jervais said on the other end
of the line and sighed. "Just keep on the road until both of you
reach the hospital. Can you see the driver or the license plate
number?"

For a moment, Jonah's eyes left the
road and took a quick look at the back. She caught sight of the
hands gripping the wheel. But most part of the windshield glimmered
with the shining light from the sun, it was impossible to see the
face of the driver. She didn't bother looking at the license plate
of the other vehicle when the hospital was nearing her
view.

"Jonah, are you still there?" Jervais
shouted.

"We are almost here," Jonah
replied.

Jervais asked, "Where?"

"Meet us at the reception area—" Jonah
said hurriedly.

After Hugh maneuvered the car in the
basement parking of the hospital, Jonah's hurried steps almost
didn't touch the ground. While her steps seemed heavier than usual,
it was quite a mystery how fast she covered the spaces which seemed
so near and yet so far.

Even when Jervais was anxiously waiting
for her at the reception area and Jonah had reached out for her
sister's hand, it was probably her nervousness which carried the
three of them off from the hospital's lobby towards Jemmah's room
almost as if Jonah had wings, that she didn't even recall other
minute details like locking the car or seeing anybody else along
the way or holding on to Hugh's hand and dragging him along with
her. And although, her heart was beating like crazy, she wasn't
breathless at all. Yet, when she was safe inside Jemmah's room, it
was when the sweat came pouring in and she felt hot all
over.

Instead of saying anything, Jervais
just shook her head slightly with the corners of her mouth twisting
in a grimace. "What was that all about?" she demanded, looking pale
all over.

"A car which looked very much like your
mother's seemed to be following us from the moment we left the
Church," Jonah said, letting out a shaky sigh of relief. Her eyes
darted off to Hugh who was panting as well.

"Darn it, Jonah—" Jervais stated, "I
saw the damn car in the garage before I came here. And besides, if
you recalled Aunt Judith warned us not to use it until your mother
has been buried and the real healer known."

"I know, I know!" Jonah said. "But
remember the police report about the woman responsible behind
Jemmah's accident? Jervais, don't you get—somebody is posing like
your mother to scare the hell out of all of us."

"And kill us," Jervais
added.

"I never knew you could fly," Hugh said
good-naturedly. He was pausing from time to time and observing his
side."You acted so fast I couldn't even remember using my
feet."

Jonah immediately caught on.
The
smite…
Hugh was
keeping everything light to avoid the
smite
from appearing
everywhere.

Jonah laughed. "Weren't you taught that
the first great defense for any real danger is to run?"

"I was taught to hide," Hugh
said.

Jonah looked over to where Jemmah was.
She was still lying unconscious and breathing heavily. Jemmah had
not, even once, opened her eyes ever since the day she was brought
to the hospital.

"Let's go have coffee or something,"
Hugh suggested. "I never liked hospitals."

"You're in med-school, right?" Jonah
asked. She was surprised that Hugh felt the same way she did. It
was ironical but maybe all healers didn't like
hospitals.

"That's a different thing," Hugh said.
"But let's not talk here."

After informing the nurse on duty where
they were heading, Hugh, Jonah and Jervais went back down to the
hospital's cafeteria and ordered themselves cups of steaming
coffee.

"Hugh and Xavier have this crazy idea
that I am the new healer," Jonah blurted out.

Jervais almost spilled her coffee upon
hearing this. "You can't be serious! Did you kill your mother?" she
asked with an accusing tone.

"No way!" Jonah said.

"Then, it is indeed a crazy idea,"
Jervais said throwing Hugh a doubtful and challenging
look.

"There's something you need to tell me,
Jervais," Jonah said. "The night Aunt Judith came into Jane's room,
what did you hear?"

"I told you it sounded like you were
partying. A lot of people talking merrily. Music. It was a ruckus.
I told you remember?" Jervais said.

"Jane and I didn't hear it,"
Jonah said. "But obviously, you and Aunt Judith heard it. And I
should say whatever both of you heard, it was caused by your
mother's
habak
."

"The missing
habak
?" Jervais
asked.

"The exact thing, only half
of it. Jane had it until her room was ransacked and the
habak
was stolen." Jonah
confided.

"Boy, you have been busy!" Jervais
said. "I thought we were the bloody duo. How come I didn't know
about this?"

"That's not it," Jonah continued. "Hugh
has the other missing half and it had an effect on me, although
mine was different."

"It ought to be," Hugh said. "This is
the half about destruction."

"Do you know what this
means?" Jonah asked Jervais. "We were both affected by your
mother's
habak
—one
of us could be the new healer."

"And you know what this means?"
Jervais' eyes were glowing with excitement. "Aunt Judith can
finally put a stop to the stupid rumor that one of us is the new
healer. I can surface and tell them it's me!"

"That's preposterous!" Jonah blurted
out. "You'll be sacrificing yourself for the rest of
us?"

Predators Conservation
Foundation

Hugh was rushing through the hall when
he arrived. Xavier was already there waiting for him just outside
of Gilda's study.

"Is she okay?" Xavier asked.

"She's in the hospital now. She's with
the amazon — the sister." Hugh answered hastily. "But you will
never guess what happened before we reached the
hospital."

"You can tell me about it later,"
Xavier told Hugh. "We have not collaborated our story for Aunt
Gilda yet."

"You know nothing," Hugh instructed.
"That's it!"

"And you?" Xavier asked. "What will you
tell her?"

Before Hugh could open his mouth to
answer, Gilda rounded the bend to the study. She was surprised to
see the two boys together. With her brows furrowed, she looked at
them with a set of questioning eyes.

"Why are you two together?" Gilda
implored. "My dear boy, Xavier, let me bless you first!"

Hugh rolled his eyes towards the
ceiling and entered the study ahead of Gilda.

Gilda placed both of her hands on
Xavier's face and muttered something to herself. She lightly
touched his chest with her palm and listened for a while. Then, she
smiled.

"You are doing well, my dear boy!"
Gilda uttered. "Let me talk to the boy privately first and then you
can tell me all about your visit to that Tibetan monk,
okay?"

"Oh, I really want to talk to Hugh,
Aunt Gilda!" Xavier said hesitantly. "I would like to know how
Jonah is. He told me he saw her awhile ago."

"Of course!" Gilda said and entered the
study in a huff.

Xavier sat on a chair positioned in
front of the study. The door was slightly ajar. He could see from
the small slit, the back of the tall chair where Gilda was sitting
and a small fraction of Hugh's face particularly his eyes. They
were talking in hushed tones.

There was a way Hugh avoided Xavier's
eyes that was familiar to him. It was the same kind of look each
time somebody knew of his condition. They averted his gaze like
they were embarrassed or something. He realized later on, those
people gave him the kind of look that bore so much guilt—they were
guilty for thinking they knew he was going to die and they think he
was clueless. Only then when pity followed and they can meet his
gaze directly.

For Hugh, it was guilt—but not for the
same reason. Xavier knew it had something to do with Jonah. And
Hugh was probably guilty because he may not have said anything,
Xavier wasn't clueless at all. Xavier always knew Hugh felt
something special for Jonah.

Especially after he left
Jonah…in Hugh's arms. Nobody could blame them if they fell for each
other.
Xavier thought.

"I told you to—" For a moment, Gilda's
voice was raised in anger. But her tone quieted down and Xavier
could barely hear what she said next.

"It's not that easy—" Hugh's tone
matched the older woman. Then, Xavier could not hear a thing they
were both saying.

Xavier's eyes darted towards the study
again. He couldn't see Hugh anymore. For a few seconds, Hugh
reappeared. This time, Hugh met his eyes and a quick, mischievous
smile spread through his face.

In a short while, Hugh stood up and was
heading for the door. Without looking back at Gilda, Hugh tapped
Xavier by the shoulder and urged for him to stand and
go.

Without saying anything to one another,
Hugh and Xavier were like reading each other's minds as they both
headed outside towards the direction of the pond. But they did not
go any further as darkness had already fallen. With ample trees and
distance to cover themselves from anybody who may hear them, they
started to converse again about Jonah.

"Are there any other healers you know
that we can trust?" Xavier asked. "We need to help
Jonah."

"None!" Hugh replied. He looked around
him. It was getting really dark and it was impossible to see any
outline beyond the spot they were standing on. "I was never
interested before."