Gifted Connections 3

“Next time,” Remy promised him. “When we get the chance, we’ll all go camping. We’ll bring the right stuff to build a smoker and you can help me.”

Micah seemed somewhat mollified as he nodded. “Can Patrick come too?”

Remy smiled. “If he wants to.”

Micah let out a whoop. “I’m sure he would. His dad always promised to take him camping but he never did. He’ll love it!”

“Then it’s a deal,” Remy stated. “See you later man.”

They did some weird, drawn out handshake, and I had to laugh as they ended it in a fist bump.

“We should get going,” Sierra gently reminded us.

“Let’s go,” I agreed. See you soon. I hope. I sent out to the guys.

Be safe, Remy responded.

I’ll be counting down the minutes. Jaxson blew a kiss to me with a wink.

Watch over her, Troy said with a pointed look to Noah.

I’ll save you guys a plate, Drake reassured us.

Hold onto Adams. She’s up to something, Jace spoke to Noah and me silently.

I nodded as Noah and I walked over to her. We each took a firm hold of her arms despite her loud protest, and Micah and Sierra joined us. One minute I was in our cozy haven, and the next we were standing in a copse of trees by a carved-out rock face.

We could hear screaming the moment the tents and fire came into view. Noah and I strode through the middle of the tents following Sierra and Micah. I tried to ignore the looks we were getting from the other team. Some of them were looking at us with relief, while others looked at us with something akin to distrust.

“Thank goodness you’re here,” Jemmy cried dramatically as she saw us. “He won’t stop.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her. She linked her arms with mine and pulled me towards the screaming man.

I winced when I finally saw him. He was laid out on a sleeping bag near the fire. His left leg was at an awkward angle and I could see the fibula or tibia bone protruding out. I’m sure Noah knew the proper name, but I couldn’t remember from the crash course he gave me of the human anatomy.

Can we do this? I asked Noah hesitantly. I froze in mid stride. My nightmares came rushing forward. I was young. I was new to all this. How could I possibly believe I could do this?

Love! Noah said urgently. We healed a dead man. I grimaced at the reminder. Sorry for being so blunt. We repaired damaged veins. We can do this. You can do this, Blake!

I nodded and took his hand. Together we walked over to him.

“Um what was that?” Jemmy asked as she looked at us suspiciously.

Don’t you want to know, I teased her silently.

“Blake!” she cried out petulantly. “We’re best friends! Secrets don’t make friends!”

“Come on, J,” Gavin gently prodded her as he embraced her from behind and pulled her back. “Let them get to work.”

“Thanks for coming,” Terrance nodded with a look of relief as we knelt down beside the screaming man.

We had only been here for five minutes and the screams were tearing through me. I could only imagine how it was for them.

I nodded at him and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and imagined the intricacies of the leg. I recalled the chart Noah showed me on the human body. Despite the fact that I couldn’t recall the names, the chart was burned into my brain. I felt the warmth spread through me. It started in my toes and coursed through my body until it reached my head.

Now! Noah and I both spoke simultaneously to each other.

We held our hands out and hovered over the man’s leg. I felt the broken fragments and splinters of bone scattered about. I concentrated on his bones mending back together again. I felt myself begin to shake as the pieces took time adhering to their original places. I could feel Noah’s hands tremble in my own. This was the hardest thing we had ever done together. The break had been an ugly one and not all the pieces were there. They were struggling to reconnect.