Free Dawn by S. J. West

next to the table obscuring my view. When she heard us come down the steps from the deck, she turned to face us. It was apparent she had been crying because her eyes were blood shot and the skin around them raw from wiping at her tears. She looked to be in her mid-thirties and well along in a pregnancy.
    “Lux,” she said, her voice desperate for hope, “did you find anything that can help?”
    “Yeah, this girl can heal her.”  Lux looked back at me as I stepped off the last step onto the cabin floor. “Uh, what's your name by the way?”
    “Skye,” I told them
    Lux looked back at the woman. “Skye can heal her wound for us.”
    “You seem a bit young to be a doctor,” the woman commented, eyeing me warily.
    “I'm not a doctor,” I told her. “But I can heal your daughter's wound if you'll let me.”
    “And how do you plan to do that if you're not a doctor?  Are you some sort of miracle worker?” The woman asked as a joke.
    “I have a... gift,” I said. “I have the power to heal people.”
    The woman looked to Lux like she thought maybe I was off my rocker or some sort of charlatan looking to make a quick buck.
    “It's true,” Lux said, nodding her head in affirmation of my claim. “I've seen it. Let her try, Martha. We don't have anything to lose and everything to gain.”
    Martha hesitated for just a moment before nodding and taking a step away from her daughter, silently giving me permission to come closer.
    I stood motionless as the face of the girl was revealed to me.
    The base of her twin blonde pigtails were wrapped with pink silk ribbons tied in perfect bows. Her pale flawless skin was a mask of death. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest as tears spilled unhindered from my eyes. I stared at the little girl who I first met trapped inside her own son's protective shield only to be awakened into a world she would sacrifice everything for. A girl who would in time become one of my best friends and grow into a woman who would provide us a way to salvation.
    I looked at Zoe and wept.   
     

CHAPTER SIX
    “What's wrong?” Lux asked me, worried by my reaction. “Is she too far gone? Will your power not work on her?”
    Without taking precious seconds to answer, I walked up to the table and handed Rose to Zoe's mother, not for one second worrying about her safety in the other woman's arms. Martha was her grandmother after all.
    I yanked the white sheet off of Zoe's body and threw it to the floor. I pulled up her shirt and peeled back the white gauze bandage covering the wound in her abdomen. They'd been able to keep it clean but not much else. I placed both my hands over the wound and felt my healing power kick in without even having to think about it. It had become second nature to me now. All I had to do was see the wound and my power immediately activated, knowing what to do without me having to concentrate on the miracle of my unique power. Within a few short minutes, I knew the wound had been healed. I pulled my hands away from where the bullet hole had been to find it completely healed, not even a scar remained.
    “My god,” I heard Martha say breathlessly, “how did you do that?”
    I ignored the question and looked up at Zoe's face. I reached out and traced the side of her cheek with the tips of my fingers wishing I could talk to my friend just one more time. She looked almost exactly like the first time I met her, small and innocent. I prayed she would open her eyes and look at me. I desperately wanted just one more minute with her even though I knew in this time line I would be a stranger to her. But, I didn’t care. I just wanted to be with her one last time.
    It was strange to think how entwined our lives were. Fate always seemed to pull us together when we needed each other the most. It couldn't just be coincidence that Ash brought me back to this particular point in time, this particular city just by random chance. Perhaps there was a higher power somewhere