Page 17 of Christmas Past
Or the sweat on her upper lip and brow.
He didn’t interrupt. To the contrary, he hardly breathed as he watched every nuance, every twitch and shake, every tear. He, who’d dedicated his life to protecting others, couldn’t protect her.
She dropped the pestle on the floor. Laid her arms on the counter, and then her head fell to her arms. She was still crying.
And he wondered if he should call a shrink. Maybe she’d seen something that had horrified her. And was re-living the moment.
Maybe he was hurting her on this long shot to find Camille.
Maybe he had to stop harassing her and leave her in peace.
Chapter 7
Shaking, filled with fear and excruciating pain in her right foot, Bella sensed movement at her side. And lay with her head on the counter, slowing her breathing, gradually coming back to herself, as Chad ran a finger along the edge of her hand. He was talking on the phone. His voice soft. She concentrated on his voice. Let it pull her back.
From what she gathered, there was no progress on finding little Camille.
She shook her head mentally. And then sat up, seeming to have to bring every muscle back to life individually, consciously one by one.
He was facing her, his brown eyed gaze different. Softer.
“I didn’t fight it this time, Chad. When the feelings came, I went with them. It could just be my imagination, but I’ve never created stories that were just sensations.”
“What did you see?”
“I don’t see anything. I just feel. The sensations…” She took a sip of water from her cup on the counter. "This little girl, I’m feeling like I’m inside her.”
His look, intent, but still…kind, encouraged her to continue.
“She was crying. Hysterically. She wasn’t thinking any words, that I got, she was just experiencing excruciating pain. In her right foot.”
“You can’t get anything more specific about what she’s thinking? Or seeing? What she needs?”
She shook her head. “I only get feelings.” And then something occurred to her. “She didn’t feel hungry anymore. As a matter of fact, she felt full, and like the crying might make her throw up again. But from being full…”
She focused. “But her right foot, it was being pulled somehow. I don’t know…” Bella couldn’t let her imagination run away with her. Or fill in the blanks. “It just felt…broken…and then like something else was happening to it, and the little girl was completely engulfed with the pain it was causing. Like everything else was blank.”
“What else? Was there a sense of darkness, like you had before? Or was there light?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think it was dark.”
“It must be close, right, since you can feel her so strongly?”
“From what I understand about empaths, they can feel a person who is open to them. Period. Distance doesn't matter. So take you, for instance…earlier you might have thought I was ‘reading’ you, if you believed in such things, but I wouldn’t have been able to – because you’d have to be open to me. On the other hand, my mother claimed she could feel peoplefrom states away when they called on her for help.” Edith Potter had made a name for herself in the world of psychics and gathered quite a list of clients who’d call regularly for phone readings.
Chad’s finger rubbed the side of her hand again. Almost protectively, it seemed to her. “But children, especially toddlers, are too young to have learned to close themselves off,” she continued. “They’re still fresh and open, as we all are in our soul states.”
She waited for his expression to change, for some sign of his lack of comfort with what she was saying. At the moment, he was just listening. As though he’d found a way to do so without judgment. Which gave her hope. Hope that she could somehow fit into the real world. Maybe even into his world. Somehow.
“Most children don’t have a lot to send out for anyone to get. Their feelings are mostly basic and not intense enough for anyone to pick up on.” Her mother’s teachings were always there. In her mind. “But this little girl, she’s crying out, in an emotional sense. It’s like she’s praying even though children that age don’t understand the concept of prayer. She’s reaching out in the only way she can – soul to soul.”
And Bella was the recipient.
She could hardly believe it. And yet…she’d felt something that time…something so powerful…so much stronger than herself.
Chad was nodding. And was holding her hand, now, between both of his. “So if we’re to go with this…then at least we know she’s still alive.”
“Yes!” That was good news! They’d made it safely past the first three critical hours without his percentages winning. “And she’s obviously been fed,” she added, closing her eyes to try to get back the sensations.
