The Strange Healing (14 page)

“Well, after I talked to you I realized it's good having someone that knows about it that I can talk to.  Since I'm staying with Heather and Phil, and considering everything they've done for me, I wanted them to know.  Then if something happens when I'm with them that brings back some emotion I won't have to worry about trying to hide it from them.  Instead maybe we can talk about it and they can help me.”

“That's good thinking, Sweetheart.”

“Besides, you pointed out to me that Heather's a nurse and Phil's a policeman, so they may have something in their training or experience that can help.”  Looking across the table at them, she said, “So no pressure, guys, but I'm counting on you.  Don't let me down.”

Phil and Heather saw the mischief in her eyes and chuckled, but Heath, who didn't see her face, thought she was being both serious, and rude.  He said, “Sara!”

Sara looked at him with an extremely innocent look on her face and said, “Yes, Heath?”

He now saw the same mischief the others had seen and said, “Brat.”  When she acted indignant and huffy, he could tell she was still teasing him, but warned, “You know, there's a part of me that worries about you and Heather becoming such good friends.”

She looked shocked as she asked, “Why?”

“Because the thought of you two together is a little scary.  It could be bad for Phil and me.”  When Sara still looked confused, he added, “Mischievous girls often receive consequences, and two mischievous girls together could earn some real consequences.”

Looking at his wife, Phil added, “It could be very bad for your ornery little butt.”

Heath saw Sara blush, but then after a few moments she started to pale.  He didn't want her to concentrate too much on this, so he quickly said, “But since you two won't want to have to deal with any consequences, I'm sure you'll keep the mischief in check.  Speaking of check, check out that green car over at the parking lot across the street.  I wonder if that glows in the dark.”

Picking up on Heath's attempt at changing the subject, Phil said, “I don't know, but I'd say if you forget where you park at a mall it should be pretty easy to find that.  It probably jumps out at you.”

They all laughed, and talked a little bit about the car.  Phil said, “Heather should have had a car that color the time her car was stolen from the mall parking lot.”

Heather frowned at him, but Phil continued.  “She thought she parked in one spot at the mall, but when she went out to go home she couldn't find her car.  She looked all around, but when she couldn't find it she called the police and reported it stolen.”

Still frowning, she said, “Well, if you would have taken the call and come to my rescue like you were supposed to everything would have been fine.”

“And I would have if I hadn't been handling an accident across town.  They sent a rookie officer since I was busy, and that poor guy still gets kidded about the incident.”

Heather told her husband, “Phil, you get way too much enjoyment out of telling this story.”

“Maybe, but I'm just telling it how it happened.  I'm not making it up.”

Heath and Sara were laughing at Heather's reaction as Phil continued.  “When I cleared the accident scene the dispatch told me about her call, so I went to the mall, figuring she'd be a nervous wreck.  I planned on calming her down and taking her home.  I entered through the west entrance to the mall, and as I was heading over to where she and the officer were on the east side, I passed her car. I locked up my patrol car, got out my extra set of keys for her car, took off my hat so I wouldn't easily be recognized, and drove right past Heather and the officer.”

Heather was glaring at Phil, while Heath and Sara were laughing.  He went on, “They didn't notice me or the car, so I turned around and headed right toward them.  I went past, again unnoticed.  I turned around and went past them again, driving slowly, thinking they wouldn't miss me.” 

Heather was still glaring, but the other three were all laughing.  “I ended up driving past them very slowly four more times before Heather finally saw the car.”  After another good laugh, he said, “She saw the car and told the officer, who quickly got in his cruiser and pursued me, lights flashing and siren blaring.”

Even Heather was laughing now as she related, “When he started chasing him Phil came back and stopped where I was.  That poor guy's face was so red when he found out he'd just pulled over a senior officer.  I felt so sorry for him.”

“He still hears about it every time we get a report of a stolen vehicle,” Phil related.  “He's a good sport and laughs along with everyone else, but he really gets kidded every time he's the one available and gets sent to handle a stolen vehicle report.”

Phil's story did exactly what Heath hoped, and lightened the mood.  They enjoyed their meal, and were making plans for the next few days when Heath said, “Sara, I've got something to tell you.”

“What's that?”

“I talked to John, a friend of mine, today.  He has a condo in the same building as mine.  His company's going to open a new plant in Italy, and they asked him to go over there for three months to help get it set up.  He has family over there, so he's looking forward to going over.  He'll be able to visit his relatives on the weekend.  Anyway, he asked me if I know of anyone that would be interested in staying in his condo while he's gone, house sitting for him.”  Smiling at her, he asked, “Know of anyone who might be interested?”

Sara's eyes were filled with excitement as she said, “That sounds fantastic, but how much rent is he asking?  Those condos are really nice.  It's probably going to be expensive.”

"
He doesn't want any rent, just someone to pay the utilities while he's gone and watch the place.  He's afraid of not getting the utilities paid on time if he's not there, and if no one's there, someone might break in and do some severe damage or something.  All you'd have to pay is the utilities.  Interested?”

Sara was smiling ear to ear.  “Are you kidding?  Of course I'm interested.  Should I call him, or what?”

Laughing at her enthusiasm, he said, “I'll call him and tell him I found someone for him.”

“Hurry up and call before he finds someone else.”  She was so excited she was bouncing on the seat beside him.

He made a quick phone call, and informed her, “Okay, Honey.  I told him we'd meet him at his condo in half an hour.  Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” she said excitedly.

Heath chuckled, and looked over at his sister, who was also bouncing on the seat. "Settle down, you two.  Don't break the benches.”

Heather said, “You guys have to stop by then and let us know what he says.”

The men stood and helped their ladies up.  Phil said, “Yes, please do let us know, so my little jackrabbit here can stop bouncing.”

Heath laughed and said, “We'll do that, Phil.”  The men took their checks to the register to pay for lunch while the ladies headed for the door, talking a mile a minute.

Phil watched the ladies a few moments and said, “I hope this works out all right, if they live that close.”

Heath admitted, “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.  We may have our hands full for
a while.”

Phil agreed, “Yeah, I hear you.  And those full hands may be sore a lot.”  He paused before adding, “But not as sore as their bottoms.”

“Time will tell, my friend, but I'd say that's a definite possibility.”  They were both shaking their heads as they went to gather up the girls.

Their meeting with John went great.  He instantly knew he could trust Sara, and after hearing she was considering moving to the area, he agreed this would be perfect for both of them.

An hour later they knocked on Phil and Heather's door.  Heath was surprised when Heather yelled, “Who is it?”

“It's us, Heather.”

She immediately opened the door and pulled them into the condo.  “Well, what did you find out?  Are you going to stay at his place?”

Heath pulled his sister in for a hug and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek.  “First things first, Sis.  Nice job answering the door.  I'm proud of you for asking who was there.”

Phil smiled at her, also proud of his wife.

“Thank you, Heath.”  Looking at Sara, she said, “I can't wait any longer.  What happened?”

“I move in Wednesday,” Sara exclaimed, beaming ear to ear.

Heath added, “John's leaving Tuesday night, so the condo's hers from Wednesday on.”

“All right!  That's perfect,” Heather said.  “I only work until noon, so I can help you move all your stuff in.”

“Great.  There's not a lot of moving to do, though,” Sara said.  “I put most of my things in storage back home.  All I brought with me is three suitcases and two boxes.  Most of it's still at – over at
–”

Heath looked over and was alarmed.  Sara was white as a ghost.  “Over at the motel,” he offered.  He picked her up and carried her over to the couch, sitting down, with her on his lap.

She settled right in, laying her head on his shoulder, but clutching his shirt tightly.  He held her against him, softly rubbing her arm, which always seemed to help her relax.  Phil and Heather followed them into the living room, concerned. 

After a few moments, Sara said, “I'm sorry.  I don't know why it bothers me so much every time I even think about – about the – the motel,” she made herself say.

“Sweetheart, you had a traumatic experience, and then had a horrible nightmare about that experience.  You were at the motel when you had the nightmare, so your mind automatically associates all the bad feelings, the negatives of the whole experience with the motel.”

Sara sat quietly on his lap, not saying a thing for
a while.  Finally, she said, “That makes sense.  I never knew why it bothered me so much to think about that place.  I feel dumb now.  I should have figured that out.”

“Honey, you're not dumb, and I don't want to hear you say anything like that.  When you have such a traumatic event, your mind is going to focus on the negative, the scary aspect of that event.  Your mind wasn't able to process information like that yet.”

Sara looked at Phil and Heather and said, “I'm sorry, you guys.  I didn't mean to ruin our day.”

Heather assured her, “Sara, you didn't ruin anything.  And we totally understand you getting upset about those memories.  I can't even imagine going through what you've gone through.  So trust me, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Phil added, “I agree with Heather, Sara.  She told me what all you've been through and are dealing with, and I want you to know, if there's anything either of us can do to help you, please let us know.”

“Thank you.”

Heath said, “Sara, since we know where you'll be staying now, why don't you let Phil and me go get your stuff.  We can store it in my extra bedroom until you move in Wednesday.”

Sara reluctantly said, “If you guys don't mind, I really don't feel up to going back there if I don't have to.”

“Not a problem, Sara.  We'll go get them in a little bit here, while you two make your plans for moving day.  There's no reason for you to be paying for that any longer since we know now that you won't be going back.”

“Thank you, both of you,” she sincerely told them both.

“You're very welcome,” Phil assured her.

She
lay back on Heath's shoulder, then sat up to look at him.  Looking at him curiously, she said, “Heath, I still don't know what you do.”

His eyebrows
rose as he thought about that a moment.  He didn't want her to think he was hiding it from her or being misleading or dishonest, especially since she trusted him now.  He quickly said, “Sara, your mind would be a wonderful place to explore.  What in the world made you think of that right now?”

“Well, it occurred to me that I don't know what you do.  I mean, I know you have your own business, and you don't usually work on the weekends, but I don't know what you do.  I think you may have missed your calling, though.”

He smiled as he asked, “Why do you say that?  What do you think my calling is?”

“Well, as good as you are at listening, and as much as you've helped me, and considering you always seem to know just what to say, you should have been some kind of a shrink.”  She was leaning against Heath, looking down at her lap, and didn't see the concerned looks Phil and Heather exchanged.  “So, what do you do?”

Heath would never lie to her, so he just had to hope she understood and would still trust him.  He certainly hoped this wouldn't end their budding relationship.  He answered, “I'm some kind of shrink.”

Her head shot up as she looked at him.  “What?”

Looking into her eyes, hoping she realized he wasn't trying to hide anything from her, he answered, “I'm a psychiatrist.”

Sara looked at him for several moments, then looked down, not saying a word.  It was so quiet in that room you could hear a pin drop.  All three knew how important her reaction to this news was.  Finally Phil, who was beginning to worry about how long it was taking for Sara to react, suggested, “Heather, maybe we should leave for a little while and give them some time alone.”

He stood and was helping Heather up when Sara said, “No, don't go.”  The two of them froze, waiting to hear more from here.  Eventually she said, “You two were in on the secret, so I'll be interested to hear your perspective on why you all thought it would be best to hide that news from me.”