Saint's Sacrament - Sins of the Father (34 page)

“
You know how I am.” His father offered a tempered laugh. “I just figured I may not have been eating well. It would stop, too. I wouldn’t have any problems for a while. So, I don’t know…”

The two men were quiet,
mired in their respective places on Earth, far away from each other, but empathically joined.

“They are going to perform surgery as soon as possible. They want me to gain about five pounds first
though. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight, about seventeen pounds or so. They said I’m too tall to be this weight, so, I better start eating more I guess. I have some medicine to take, too.”

“What is the risk with this surgery, Dad?” Saint felt warning signs screaming in his ears.

“Well, internal bleeding and infection are not unheard of...”

Saint swiped
a palm across his head, his feet far apart as he sat on the side of the pool bed. The open kitchen doors allowed traces of the recessed lighting to seep out just a tad onto the patio. He focused on it—becoming obsessed with that light and its warm glow over the stainless steel appliances as his mind raced, searching, trying to find a corner in a space called amity, to no avail.

“C
an I ask you something?” Saint stood and shoved his hand in his baggy windbreaker white pants.

“Yes.”

“Would you…let me come and —”

“Do you understand the risks involved with that, Saint?
” The man cut him off at the pass, knowing what he was cooking up. “It’s not the same as what you did for Jagger and Beset. We are related by blood. I’m your father so
that—
what you are getting ready to suggest—would zap you to the point that you may take on the ailment, and it would happen so fast you may die. Why do you think you experienced my pain so badly before? I can’t let you take that risk. You have a family of your own, Saint. And besides, you know the rules! It is just one of the pitfalls of being
us
.”

“Dad, I can feel it
.” Saint felt his heart burn right inside his chest. Nothing could be worse than this feeling of helplessness. “The doctors won’t do this right, you’ll be sick,” he said, his voice cracking at the last word. “Maybe even die. I need you to let me try first; I need you to trust me. You can’t heal yourself, you don’t have that gift…it’s me or no one at all unless there is someone else you can think of.”

“
There are others that can heal, but there is a long waiting list and they are rare, hard to find—and most are discriminatory about who they work with. Believe me, I know. And, it is a debilitating job. Some have died trying to heal others, Son. Being a healer isn’t easy. It’s taxing, grueling work. Saint…I can’t. I can’t let you do what you’re suggesting.”

“
I believe Lawrence. I felt your pain, took it on because I’m supposed to do something about it. Everything is happening for a reason. We…we became closer, our relationship mending. And now, you need me, and I
need
to do this.” He clamped down on his bottom lip, sinking his teeth into the flesh, trying to stifle his internal breakdown. “Dad, I have to do it. I have to.”

His father sighed on the other end. “Look, let me think about it, please. If I do, and that is only an
if
, Saint, at the first sign of trouble, I want you to stop. As I think about this, in the meantime, can you promise me that and mean it? No games, Saint.”

Saint hated this. He was on the spot. He could lie to his father and simply agree, knowing in his heart he would not stop until he was satisfied, but on the other hand,
the man was right. Saint had a wife and children and he’d done so much already to ensure that his family was safe and sound. He also understood the emotional gravity. Mama had died, and he had no way of knowing in advance, no way of stopping it. He had a second chance with his father. He refused to just sit idly by and lose his second parent.

“Okay, Dad, I tell you what.” He slowly paced, close to the pool,
looking into the light blue marine beauty that beckoned him. He traced the circumference with his steps, circling it like a vulture does a dying animal in the desert. “I am going to come out there and perform the healing. If things get out of control, and I start to get ill, to the point where my health is in jeopardy, I promise to stop. If it makes you feel more at ease, I’ll bring Lawrence with me to help monitor it.”

“You had me until the last part.
Son, I don’t trust you. It’s no real fault of your own, but I know you, and how you become during situations like this. I don’t believe Lawrence will be able to physically stop you. You are too strong psychically for him to rein you in. You’d make sure he never even got close to you.”

Saint’s tongue grew thick as a nauseating taste lined his taste buds. He yawned, trying to briefly escape the flavor of pending defeat before he’d even had a chance at bat.

“I need some sort of reassurance. I saw how crazy you even got about Beset.”

“Ye
ah, and I was right. She lived. What if I had given up a moment too soon? She’d be in the ground.”

“Yes,
that is true, but you were messed up for quite some time afterward. Don’t you see? Healing takes a lot out of the healer, Saint. Regardless of that, I think I may have an idea based off your own suggestion. You need to bring someone who would be able to at least get you temporarily off of me, someone who you know, at least physically, is as strong as you so your psychic strength doesn’t kill them. Lawrence is strong and gifted, but he is an intellectual and not in your same league of physical strength and agility. Most Angel Children aren’t, so that puts me at a disadvantage of taking you up on this. But there is one person that comes to mind. One man who I know could take you on, at least for a brief period of time, long enough to stop you and make you come to your senses.”

Jagger…

“Okay, I know where this is going. You know I can still beat him though, right?” It wasn’t Saint’s pride talking, he was being serious. Jagger could restrain him, that was a fact, but it wouldn’t have any longevity. He needed his father to understand that he
could
not and
would
not be stopped by anyone, if he so chose. Saint was making a pact, and that was the only way he’d be accepted into his old man’s house to take care of the situation, once and for all.

“Yes, but not without a struggle and you trust and love him. Bring him, bring Jagger, Saint, and I will let you come.”
His father had a point. If Jagger could restrain him long enough, he could be snapped out of the healing trance and told in no uncertain terms, what was happening. He also trusted Jagger despite what had transpired when he confronted him about Traci. He knew the man would never intentionally try to hurt the process.

“Deal.
You have my word. I love you, Pops…you my main man. You can’t go anywhere, okay?” Saint tried his damndest to smile, a weak and damaged laugh escaped his lips, but tears began to blur his vision as he stared down into the water.

“I’m trying not to, Son. I have so much more to live for now. You taught me that.”

And that was it. His father hung up…

Saint paused and reflected on the conversation
before casting his phone onto a nearby glass block table. He hooked the elastic at his waist with his thumbs and removed his pants. Stripping down to his forest green brief boxer shorts, he held his arms out and he dove into the pool, going down, down, down. The cold water shocked his system, but soon he adjusted. He swam, kicked and moved his arms as if part of an underwater Olympic formation team. After doing several laps, he bobbed about, looking up into the blanket of dark sky and winking at the boastful, bright and wide full moon.

Fool’s moon. Some would say I’m a fool. But I know what’s important in life. Love is. Because I love that man, and I love my family, I will do the righ
t thing. I’m playing tug of war with myself, but I know he is right. If Jagger has to stop me, so be it. Fate. I suppose I do need a referee. I go a bit out of my mind when someone I love stands too close to the death.

He got out of the pool. Pushing his hair out of his face, he
grabbed his phone and made his way back inside of the house, a dripping mess, and locked the kitchen patio doors behind him. He left a watery trail as he made his way up the steps to the bedroom and stood in front of his bed. He glared down at Xenia wrapped like a burrito in a tornado of twisted emerald green sheets. He stood there staring at her for too long, but felt unable to turn away. He was in that moment, in love with watching her chest slowly rise and fall as she caressed the satiny feel of seductive slumber. After a few moments, he made his way into the bathroom and dried off. Soon he returned to her, dressed in a fresh pair of white boxer shorts. He set the alarm and slipped into bed, still mesmerized with her sleeping form. He slid against her, and she woke in his embrace, opening her eyes ever so slightly. Smacking her lips in a semi-sleepy daze, she made a kittenish sound.

“Baby…where ya been?” she
murmured, her voice raspy from sleep and not fully coherent. Just hearing that feminine sound—the sound of his wife, his life—made his dick hard and brought him fully in the here and now.

“Talking with my father. He’s not in a good way, Xenia.” She rubbed her eyes
; the red strap of her gown fell off her shoulder and she struggled to slide upward, to come alert. “What do you mean?” she asked more coherently. “What did the doctor say?”

“They want to do surgery. He’s got a hole in his gut from a damn ulcer. I know in my hea
rt they won’t be able to help him. If I don’t intervene, something will go wrong.” He grasped her hand and held it, intertwining their fingers. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes
, of course.” She slowly raised her arm and ran her fingertips along his jawbone. He turned into her embrace and kissed her palm.

“I’m going out to New York
soon. He will let me know when to go, after he gets a couple things taken care of. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I’m going to try to take care of him, to get rid of this. I need to call Jagger and have him come with me. Lawrence can hold down the fort while we’re gone.”

“So you are going to try to heal him I take it?”

“Yes…and I promise you, no matter what, I’ll back off if things get bad. I’ll return to you.” He looked into her dark eyes and fell in love all over again.

“Saint, this time, I’m not going to argue with you. I’m not going to fall apart. I’m too tired and seen too much…”
She swallowed hard, her eyes glazing over. “You do what you need to do, just make sure you get your ass back here in one piece. If you can promise me that, I will tell my inner worry-wart to back off. I won’t ask you any questions—just don’t tell me any lies, and we’ll be cool.”

She looked down
at the new tattoo on his chest and smiled. It was in her and their children’s honor. He felt tingly all over when she ran her index finger over the slightly raised and reddened surface.

“Give me a kiss, baby.” He leaned into her, grazing her lips with his own. She returned the affection, scooting closer and rocking her pelvis into his groin as she
hooked her hands around the back of his neck. Their lips softly…slowly…caressed each other’s, their warm breaths teasing. He could hear her breathing so clearly, and soon, it was in sync with his own rhythm. He cupped her shoulders, buried his head in the crevice of her neck and shoulder and closed his eyes, receiving her medication to his soul as she ran her fingertips up and down his bare back—until finally, she traced the bullet hole scar, and he stiffened a little.

I did it all for you, Xenia…

“When you touch me right there, like that, it does something to me.” His breath labored and his flesh warmed.

“You do something to me, when you touch me right here…” she took his hand and placed it over her heart. He
psychically dove inside of her and his heart swelled. He could feel it all…

Her pain. Her tears over
the years. Her worries. All because of him, because of his gift and his lot in life. But before he pulled away in torment, she warmed; the thoughts softened and what he felt was pure adoration from her for him. The woman loved him silly. She’d do anything for him, and she trusted him, believed in him.

“Thank you for that. You don’t know how much I needed it.” He gently kissed her chin before settling back down.

“I did. And I trusted you to see the message, loud and clear.”

Oh, he
had…she didn’t come this far to leave him. And though a part of her wanted to fall to pieces, he was sure, the prospect of something going awry very much a reality, she knew he needed her love right now—not her judgments and certainly no defeated attitudes. He got what he’d hoped for, and this was why she was his entire world…

~***~

“Greetings, everyone. I want to go down the line here and introduce everyone on the panel,” the University of Mexico professor stated as he tapped the podium. The vast crowd, filled with medical students eager to become gynecologists, sex therapists, sex educators, family counselors and psychiatrists sat clustered together in the jam-packed auditorium. Saint perused the crowd and was delighted to see a myriad of ethnicities and both genders scattered about. He sat back in his seat under the mellow lights, a glass of water with slices of lime and orange by his side as he continued to listen to everyone being introduced.