Healer's Touch Ch. 02

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Rand stood on the balcony that overlooked the gardens. Behind him he could hear his wife's gentle breathing. Staring at the stars, he tried to wrap his mind around the vision that he had earlier in the day. He wished he could place the woman. He had seen her somewhere before, but where? He knew that if he waited long enough it would come to him. But the question is would it be too late?

Walking farther out on to the balcony, he noticed that Jonathan was standing on the balcony that was outside of Pati's and his room. Walking towards his cousin, he wished that there was a way to help him. Vaulting lightly over the rail of his balcony, he landed on his feet on the edge of Jonathan's balcony. He dropped the last of the distance and then straightened up.

"You're a brave man, Rand. If Gracie would have caught you doing that little stunt, she would have been pissed," Jonathan said in greeting.

"She is a bit protective of me." Rand agreed as he leaned against the railing.

"No more than you are of her. I swear she can't sneeze right now without half of the palace reporting it back to you."

"Yep. I try not to worry about her but I've been watching out for her for years. It still is hard to treat her like an equal. Intellectually, I know that she is more than capable of taking care of anything that threatens her but emotionally I still have the burning need to keep her safe. And now that she is carrying our children it is even worse!"

"The same way I do. We've all been friends for years. The three musketeers as her mom use to call us." Jonathan sat down in the chair and motioned for Rand to take the chair next to him. Sitting down he stared out at the moon. Tonight was one of the nights that one could actually see Earth's moon.

"Can you imagine how dull life would be without Gracie and Pati?"

"Dull...no! I don't think it would be dull. It would be damn lonely though. If Gracie was ever taken from me, it would be like a piece of me was ripped out."

"I know. I feel the same way about Pati. I love her. She's just so damn stubborn. She tries to take all the responsibility of her addiction on herself. She always waits until she can't handle it anymore before she calls me."

"Maybe she wants to try and handle it on her own?" Rand offered.

"I don't know. But it's damn frustrating. I am her husband. We're in this for better or worse. I sometimes feel like I'm being left out."

"Do you?" A soft voice asked from behind them. Looking over his shoulder, Rand saw Pati standing in the open door way. "I wait until I can't bear it anymore before I involve you, Jonathan. I love you so much that I hate seeing you in pain. And you can't tell me that helping me doesn't cause you pain."

"But it's my right to share everything with you, Pati. Pleasure and pain alike."

"Well, this my cue to leave." Rand said as he stood up. "Don't fight the rest of the night, kids. It's too beautiful of a night to fight. Find something more pleasant to occupy your time," he advised with a wink. He vaulted back across the space between the balconies and disappeared into his suite.

"You know if Gracie ever catches him, he's toast," Pati said as she settled into her husband's arms.

"I know! I told him." Jonathan pulled her deeper into his embrace. If he lived to be a thousand years old he would never get enough of holding her.

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Kat sat under the stars. She was spending her first night in the Areseric desert. She could hear the native bugs start to sing to one another. She expected it to sound like the crickets at home but as the noise slowly grew, she realized that they had a soft hum opposed to the chirps that she was used to. Resting her head on her bent knees, she watched as Charlie set up their camp. They had ridden for a couple more hours before he had stopped and declared that it was time to set up camp for the night. When she had offered to help him, he had shot her a dark look and ordered her to sit down and stay out of his way. Whatever truce or easiness that they had established earlier in the day was gone. It was going to be a long couple of weeks if he kept blowing hot and cold.