Secrets of Yden (15 page)

****

Mid-afternoon arrived by the time Jon awoke, still clad in the stupid luau outfit from the night before. He rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom. His mouth tasted disgusting and he looked horrible, like microwaved death. Although he took a shower, he didn't bother to shave. After he dressed, he went downstairs and joined his mother in the kitchen.

"Hi." Jon gave her a feeble smile. "Thanks for letting me sleep in."

"Your father told me what happened last night with your classmate. I was very sorry to hear it." She hugged him. "Sit down and let me fix you something to eat."

"Okay. Is Dad around?"

"He's at the hospital. He called earlier to say Davy is doing okay. They'll be keeping him there for a couple days to make sure he's stable."

"Good." Relief coursed through his veins. He'd been steeling himself for worse news.

Even though it was afternoon, his mother made him a big breakfast. Whatever she put in front of him, he wolfed down. "I guess I was hungrier than I thought." He sat back and took a deep breath. "The house is quiet."

"Sela went to Lola's house."

He rinsed his dishes and put them in the dishwasher. "Thanks for breakfast. I should get started on homework."

Truthfully, he didn't have any homework. Since it was homecoming weekend, most of the teachers had given their students a break. The excuse of homework, however, would allow him to be alone.

Jon's mother gave him a sympathetic look. "Your father went to see Quixoran early this morning. None of us fully understand what's happening with you, but we want to help."

A lump formed in Jon's throat and he averted his eyes.
Grandfather will probably be disappointed in me, too.
"Nothing's going right and I can't stop screwing up. I-I've been thinking about quitting my apprenticeship."

"Now see here, Jonathan Greggoran Hansen. Stop being so hard on yourself. Making mistakes is how you learn."

"But I—"

"Take some time off from training if you like. Even if you decide to quit, your family will stand by you no matter what. But don't let anything or anyone keep you from doing what you love to do."

The darkness lifted slightly, and he nodded.

"Before you make any final decisions about your apprenticeship, however, you need to talk to your grandfather."

"Not a conversation I'm looking forward to," he murmured.

"How are things going with January?"

"Oh… we're getting along." She'd tried to be kind to him last night.
I guess there's a human being in there somewhere.
"I'm taking her to the preview on Thursday."

"Good. Despite what Lynn may believe, I've noticed January is far from perfect," his mother said drily. "Maybe the two of you can revel in your imperfection together."

Jon burst out laughing. It was good to know January hadn't fooled his mother, either.

****

Ophelia dangled from Jon's fingertip as he considered his next move. He'd been unable to do anything about the anomaly, but there was something else he could put right. The deed would have to be done in complete secrecy, though, which was problematic. After some careful thought, he slid Ophelia onto his finger, retrieved the vanyean seed from under his mattress, and joined his mother on the patio.

"I'm going to visit Davy in the hospital," he said.

She glanced up from her reading tablet. "Don't be gone too long. It's a school night."

"Okay."

Flowers or a get-well card seemed goofy, so Jon brought a small sketch of Kira with him instead. Davy's parents were sitting at his bedside when he arrived. Several vases of flowers took up too much space in the small private room already, so Jon was glad he hadn't brought anything like that.

Davy's eyes registered recognition and surprise at Jon's visit. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd stop in to see how you're doing."

Davy's pallor and general listlessness made Jon feel guilty all over again. He gave Davy the sketch and introduced himself to his parents, who appeared wrung out and exhausted. Mr. and Mrs. Thyssen both had dark circles under their eyes, and looked prematurely aged.

"Why don't you take a break? Maybe get some coffee downstairs," Jon said. Although the suggestion sounded altruistic, he desperately hoped they would leave. For his plan to work, he had to get them out of the room for a few minutes.

"That's a good idea." Mr. Thyssen cast a worried glance at his wife. "I wouldn't mind some coffee and pie."

"They serve a great cherry pie in the first floor cafeteria," Jon said. "The coconut cream isn't bad, either."

Mr. Thyssen steered his wife out the door, and Jon sat down in the chair Mrs. Thyssen had vacated. Davy peered at his face and chuckled. "Dude, you look worse than I do."

"I don't doubt it." Jon rubbed the stubble on his chin.

Davy gave Kira's sketch an admiring glance. "I have to hand it to you, you've got great taste in girls. I remember last year you were dating Brett Tanner for a while. Then Kira and now January Beck. How do you do it?"

"Kira and I never dated. Her standards are a whole lot higher than someone like me."

"Really? I could've sworn there was something between the two of you."

"If you got that impression, it was probably a figment of my imagination."

They shared another laugh, although Jon's was forced. He stood up and moved closer until Davy's bed was fully inside the vanyean seed's field of magic.

"You know, we should've talked before now. When you get out of here maybe we can hang out together."

"That'd be cool." The look in Davy's eyes was bleak.

"Trust me, you'll be back to school in no time. Get some rest."

"Thanks."

Ophelia's eyes glowed. The sketch suddenly dropped to the coverlet as Davy passed out, the victim of a strong sleep spell. Jon rested one of his hands on Davy's forehead and the other on his chest, like he'd seen his father do. His eyes closed, and Jon concentrated all his power on healing Davy.
This is my gift to you, Kira.

As he let his feelings for her fill his heart, a sudden, blinding flash of light illuminated the room. When the light disappeared, Jon stepped back… and then his legs buckled as if Max had smacked him behind the knees with his wooden bo. Jon fell hard to the tile floor, narrowly missing the metal safety rail with his forehead.

The instantaneous and complete loss of energy was a complication he hadn't anticipated. After the battle at the Fox Clan stronghold, he'd healed his father, Kira,
and
his dragon Adam before he finally passed out from exhaustion. Why would Davy's case be so much more difficult? Jon pushed himself up to his hands and knees.
I have to get myself out of this room before Mr. and Mrs. Thyssen return, and I need a place to crash where I won't be discovered.

The image of his mother's office popped into his head. If he could reach the next floor without losing consciousness, he could use her sofa. Jon staggered to the adjoining bathroom, where he splashed cold water on his face. With single-minded determination, he left Davy's room and kept moving until he reached the stairwell. Every step took monumental effort, but he didn't stop until he was inside his mother's office.

The ugly, hard leather sofa with its painful metal rivets was suddenly the most beautiful sight imaginable. Jon crawled onto the uncomfortable chaise with his feet dangling off the end, and passed out.

****

An annoying light crept under his eyelids, and then somebody was shaking him. "Wake up."

"Hmm," Jon replied.

Keys on a key ring clinked together. "Okay, Dr. Hansen, I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you. I'm glad you paged me."

"Jon had me a little worried when I couldn't wake him.
"

"I'll take care of it, Pete. I know he was up late last night."

Pete? Pete's a security guard at the hospital. How'd he get into my bedroom?
Jon's eyes flew open. He was still at the hospital, and the dark windows revealed night had fallen. He rubbed his face with his hands, startled to feel rivet-sized craters in his skin from the sofa. A glance at his watch revealed it was nine o'clock.

Oops.
"I need to call Mom."

Jon launched himself toward the phone, but his father blocked his path.

"I already called her."

"Oh." He sank back down on the sofa.

"What are you doing here?"

"I went to visit Davy Thyssen and I guess I'm still tired from last night. I needed to rest my eyes a little."

"I spoke with Davy's doctors just a little while ago. He's doing so much better that they're baffled. I'm guessing they'll find his blood count has miraculously returned to normal."

Jon projected his most innocent expression. "That's good, isn't it?"

His father ran his hands through his sandy hair in exasperation and closed the office door. "You have the vanyean seed, don't you?" He asked the question as if he already knew the answer.

"No." Jon fixed his eyes on the Persian rug at his feet. The tassels had always been terribly interesting to him, and never more so than at that moment.

"I wish I could say I believed you, but there's a simple way to find out."

Jon's father slipped a pen from his pocket and floated it in front of Jon's face. Since no magic could be done on Earth unless it was inside the vanyean seed's limited field of magic, his suspicions were confirmed. Jon's lips tightened as he snatched the pen out of the air.

Busted.

He shot his father a sullen look. "Okay, what're you going to do, ground me?"

Red patches became visible on Dr. Hansen
'
s face and the eyes on his Dragon Clan ring flared. To Jon's shock, he grabbed him by the shoulders. "You could have
died
, Jon," he exploded. "This power to heal has limits and rules, if you want to call them that. To heal someone as sick as Davy Thyssen, the healing must come from a deep sense of love. And even then there are risks."

As his father released him and tried to collect himself, Jon tried to make sense of what he'd said.

"You healed Fred on Yden when I asked you to. You didn't even know him back then."

"Healing Fred was a risk I was willing to take out of love for you. And the magic on Yden is far more profound and sustaining than the magic produced by the vanyean seed here on Earth."

"Healing Davy was something I had to do for… for a mutual friend."

"If I could use magic to bring back the sick and the dead on Earth or Yden, don't you think I'd do it?" Dr. Hansen thundered. "
Especially
the children? The reason I don't is that I
can't
. And neither can you."

Jon stared at him, wide-eyed. Outside of a bike accident when he'd been seven and occasionally in training on Dragon Isle, his father almost never spoke to him in anger. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. "I understand."

His father pulled him into a tight hug. "Your mother and I don't want to lose you."

"Okay. I'm sorry. I-I didn't know."

"I should have told you, but I didn't think it would be an issue since you promised to keep your healing ability under wraps. Go home. I'll call your mother to tell her you're on your way. Oh, and I'll have that vanyean seed from you."

Shaken to the core, Jon handed over the seed. Although he hadn't realized beforehand healing Davy could be dangerous, if he had it to do over again, he knew he would've made the same choice. Kira and Davy could be together now, and she'd be happy.

I've done something right for once.