The Healer's Hellion - Miranda Bridges Page 0,46
his physician’s coat to flutter, and then he’s gone. I gaze at nothing for a long while as I wait for my heart rate to settle and my lungs to fully function. During that time, I remind myself that passion is not enough.
Only unconditional love and total acceptance would be worth leaving everything behind.
As soon as I walk into the room, all conversation stops.
Like a mature adult, I greet each of the women with a small nod while schooling my features. In my heart, I knew Teresa was lying about Braxton, and it’s not because I’m ignorant. There’s something about her that I can see quite clearly now that I’ve pushed my insecurities aside.
“Skylar!”
The sound of Camille’s voice smooths the tension within me. I turn in her direction, and my smile almost splits my face when my gaze finds hers. She’s lying on a chaise lounge, dressed in one of those hideous white nightgowns, snuggled underneath a blanket. I cross the room and sit in the empty space she’s made for me.
“I know it hasn’t been that long, but I feel as if I haven’t seen you in years,” I say, taking Camille’s hand in mine, mentally blocking out the rest of the room. “When we went to your house and couldn’t find you, I nearly went insane.”
She gives me a tired smile. “Alien abduction can now be crossed off my bucket list, but I give it a zero out of five stars. I definitely would not recommend it.”
I laugh softly, unable to help myself. Camille has always been spirited, and in this case, I think it’s one of the reasons she’s not a blubbering mess right now. As bad as I want to ask her what she had to endure, I don’t. She will tell me when she’s ready. When I was attacked, she never forced me to talk about it, but when I needed to, Camille was there with open arms. More than anything, I want her to know that I will be here for her like she was for me.
“Speaking of abduction,” Camille says, drawing out the word, “what happened with you?”
I swallow the lump in my throat, thinking of my parents. “It’s been interesting.”
Camille frowns at me, but even though I can tell she wants to know more, she doesn’t ask, and it’s because we have an audience. And as eager as I am to discuss everything with her, there’s also a part of me that doesn’t want to talk about it at all. It doesn’t make sense, since she is like a sister, but it’s almost like if I tell her about Braxton and my parents, then it will force me to come to terms with my feelings.
She squeezes my hand in a show of affection. “I wonder if we’ll sound like those crazy people on TV who swear they saw a UFO and got probed by an alien.”
“Before I was put on the ship, the military and the police force had already shown up,” Mary says. “I bet it was all over the internet and the news.”
I nod in agreement. “With the technology available on our phones, there’s no way the world doesn’t know about what happened.”
“What did happen exactly?” Sofia asks. She throws up her hands. “The Dravians didn’t tell us much more than that they wanted to help us get well before they took us back to Earth.”
The women look to me, and I stare back, wondering why they think I know all the answers. “What?” I ask, my gaze darting back and forth among the different women.
“We all sleep here.” Mary gestures around the room. “But you’re the only one who doesn’t. And then you were gone for a long time, so I asked one of the aliens about you, and he said that you were on the mission to retrieve other humans. You obviously know a lot more than we do.”
Camille’s gaze bores into me, and it takes everything I have to keep from grimacing. She and I really need to find a private place to talk.
“Well,” I say, clearing my throat, “that’s true. I did go to the planet and assist with the rescue. I helped the physician when he tended the wounded.”
It’s not a lie exactly, but neither is it the full truth. I have no desire to tell these women about my powers or my Dravian ancestry. Who knows what they’d do with that information? One thing that’s absolutely sure is that it’s not safe for anyone