Heal Me (A Touched Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

stopped it from happening.
    “What’s going on with him, Lil?”
    “I don’t know. He’s...he’s so different from the way he was. I mean, he’s always angry and...I just don’t know how to help him.”
    “Lily, you always know exactly what is wrong with everyone. And then you fix them. You have the easiest gift of all of us.”
    “Whatever is happening to him is beyond what I can do.” I tucked my feet underneath me and hugged my knees to my chest. I wished I actually still wanted to help him.
    “This is more than just him, isn’t it? Are you still upset about that stupid conversation with Phoebe? I already told you that things between you and Dylan would be fine. Just trust me, Lils.”
    “Sure.”
    “I promise, you and Dylan are gonna be together and happy. Whatever he’s dealing with will work itself out,” she said and gave me a reassuring smile. “Feel better?”
    “Yeah, thanks. I’m fine now.” I smiled and gave her a hug.
    I’d read once on one of those pointless Facebook posts that the most common lie people tell is ‘I’m fine’. I can’t recall a single time in my life when I’d truly felt fine. Maybe it was one of those subjective things that means something entirely different to the people I was talking to than I’d always assumed.
    Using those simple, appeasing words came naturally. It was so easy to do, especially with Chloe. She didn’t hear the truth behind the white lies I told, or the words I forced back down my throat, nearly choking on them because they would only hurt someone else.
    “Good,” she said, satisfaction and relief cascading off her in little ripples. “I’m going to get dinner started. Want to help?”
    I shook my head. “I’m gonna finish watching this.”
    Once she’d left, I flipped off the television and went to my room. I sat in my desk chair and stared at the blank computer screen.
    “What the hell is up with Dylan?” Phoebe asked, barging into my room a few minutes later. I swiveled the chair around to face her as she sat on the edge of my bed. “He totally flipped out on Chloe today. I don’t even know what happened. One second they were talking and the next thing I know he’s throwing things and completely spazzing. Holy hell, I thought he was gonna pull some kind of massacre or something.”
    “Hey, I just fixed that,” I said, gesturing to the bedspread Phoebe was mangling.
    “Don’t avoid the subject,” she said, wriggling around and making herself more comfortable.
    “I’m not.”
    She snorted under her breath. “You are. You compulsively tidy your room, so I know you don’t really mind if we mess it up a bit, because it makes you feel justified in straightening everything again. You’re avoiding.”
    “Okay, so maybe I am. I don’t want to talk about Dylan, because I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
    “Is he why you passed out yesterday?”
    “I didn’t pass out,” I said, and ignored her snort of disbelief. “I was just tired.”
    “Lils, I had to practically drag you to your room. This kind of thing never happened to you until the last few months. And it’s always around Dylan. Obviously, whatever his problem is, it isn’t something you can fix. You’ve got to stop healing him.”
    Frustration filled me and I rose from the chair to look down at my sister. “I don’t really have a choice, Phoebe. How can I stop my boyfriend from touching me? Besides, this is my gift. I’m supposed to use it to help people.”
    “Not to the point that it hurts you. If you do that you’re screwed.”
    And that was my real problem. It hurt when I healed someone and it hurt if I didn’t. So now I was messed up and screwed.
    She pushed off the bed and left, closing the door behind her. I let out a deep breath before smoothing the comforter back into place. My room was my sanctuary, the one place where I could feel only myself. Phoebe and Chloe didn’t understand that. They had never needed a place to be free of emotions.