Free Me Without You by Rona Go Page B

of Jonah's
eye made her looked away from Xavier. It was an old woman with a
four-footed standard walker. The woman left her walker in the aisle
and clumsily held out her hand to Jonah for assistance as she
squeezed herself to get seated in the long bench.
    Jonah stood up and took the old woman’s
hand and guided her to her seat.
    "Thank you," the old woman uttered. As
if she was in a trance, she did not let go off Jonah’s
hand.
    When Jonah heard Xavier's voice again,
she decided it was time for her exit. Without noticing, the old
woman was still holding on to Jonah's hand. The woman was allowing
herself to be dragged as Jonah backed off towards the other end of
the bench.
    The other boy abruptly tapped on a
piano key for a beat which drew Jonah’s attention back to the
altar. And when she looked towards the brunette by the piano, their
eyes locked and there was a moment of hesitation from both of them.
Then, recognition came.
    For a split second, Jonah
felt panicky. Dean had seen me. And it
won’t be long before … She saw him trying to
shield his eyes with his hand as if he was making it certain it was
really her. Then, to her horror he held his hand up in a wave which
made Xavier looked in her direction.
    "Jonah?" Dean asked. "Is that
you?"
    Jonah looked back at the old woman and
hurriedly said, "You’re welcome!" It was the only time she noticed
that the woman had not released her grip yet making her panicky all
the more. She thought if she carelessly run outside, the old woman
would certainly fall off and she couldn’t bear to think of it.
However, it was also to her detriment because the very last person
she wanted to see at the moment was on his way towards
her.
    "Thank you," the woman said again. This
time, her eyes were beginning to reveal a few tears brimming on the
edges. "Thank you! For years, I shake and can't walk properly.
Now—What a gift—. Thank you! I—you healed me. You are a—" She was
not able to finish what she was going to say as she began to cry
loudly.
    Jonah's mouth dropped open. Did she
just do something strange to the old woman? What was it Aunt Judith
said about healers? She hadn't paid much attention to it when Aunt
Judith told all of them that their mother was a great healer and
they were searching for the next healer in line. She vaguely
recalled her Aunt Judith saying something about healing powers
being passed on to Rebecca's murderer.
    SHE WAS NO MURDERER. SHE WAS
NO HEALER…How was it possible? The old woman couldn't really be
sick. She was probably senile and imagining things. Jonah couldn't
have cured her of anything. She peered over the old woman's
shoulder and saw the walker. I didn't make
the woman walk, did I?
    There was no time to ponder about
things. And there was nothing else Jonah was able to say. She was
not thinking straight anymore. She pried her fingers from the old
woman with her free hand and began her exit. All the while she was
nodding with a half-frozen smile plastered on her face at the old
woman.
    Horrified, Jonah thought fast. It was
beyond her hair or the way she looked or not being ready to face
Xavier. It was the fear of explaining about the old woman and what
happened to her. With a few quick steps, she knew she will make it
out of the church in no time at all. She slid sideway past the
long, narrow bench, cussing silently why she did not choose to
occupy the space closest to the door.
    Jonah had almost reached the aisle
towards her safety outside when she heard Xavier calling out to
her, "Jonah, wait up!"
    As if on cue, Jonah stopped just as a
strong punch-like sensation hit her stomach, making her feeble all
over and weak in the knees. Then, her breath came in short gasps
like she was both losing and having too much air at the same time.
She looked behind her and stared directly into Xavier's
eyes.
    "Ma’am, do you need some help?" It was
Dean's voice who cried out to the old woman who had become
hysterical.
    Jonah clutched her tummy and