He looked out over the water, watching the foamy remnants of a wave wash along the smooth edges of the shore.
“How is knowing anything about me going to help you understand?” he asked.
“Because without you, I wouldn’t even be standing here talking to you,” I answered.
He sighed and turned, reaching his hand for me to grab onto. “Come on, let’s take a walk.” He smiled as I reached my hand toward his. The ever-present warmth of his skin made my fingers tingle as he tightened his grip on my palm and towed me down the beach.
“Is this really that important to you?” Robert asked after taking a few steps.
“Yes.” I nodded with surety.
He glanced in my direction. “Alright, what would you like to know?”
I mentally flipped through the catalog of questions I had for him, searching for the one I most wanted him to answer. I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. “Ok, how did you…” I hesitated. “I mean, how were you able to save me that night?”
“Why don’t we have a seat,” he suggested, motioning to the large rocks ahead of us.
As we walked over to the cluster of wind and sand-smoothed boulders to sit, I peeked a glance over at him. His eyebrows sat low on his forehead and he wore a nervous expression. I knew he didn’t want to tell me how he was able to heal my wounds, but it never crossed my mind that he might be just as nervous to tell me as I was to hear it.
We sat side by side on the rocks and prepared for what was to come. Neither of us said anything at first. I wasn’t sure who was more frazzled, me for finally getting the answers I desperately wanted, or him for having to divulge his secret. I fiddled with a loose string on the hem my top and he idly kicked at the small rocks in the sand.
He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “Okay. This isn’t going to be easy for me to explain. You’re going to have to be patient. ”
“Okay,” I said a little too quickly, giving away my nerves.
He chuckled at my uneasiness and gave me an awkward smile.
“I’ve never told this to anyone who doesn’t understand how Magic works,” Robert explained.
I nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“While I am just like you on the outside, I’m very different on the inside,” he began. “It’s how I was able to heal you that night. I can do things most people can’t even dream possible.” He sighed, looking out across the beach. My heart raced beneath my ribcage and I couldn’t help but feel apprehensive.
He looked as tense as I felt. He raised his shoulders in a defensive position and tensed every line of his body. He hunched his eyebrows low on his forehead, trying to hide the worry evident at the corners of his eyes and in the set of his full, pursed lips.
“I was born the way I am, with the ability to heal,” Robert continued. He turned his powerful gaze on me and the primal force that had been growing inside me churned. His hand moved to take mine again and he stroked the top of my knuckles with his thumb, distracting me and giving himself a chance to choose his next words.
I wondered if he had any idea the effect he had on me, if he knew that his touch awoke something powerful inside me.
“I was six the first time I was able to do it on command,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “We were all playing in the surf down at the beach, Brett, Jake and I, when we found a wounded baby seal. He was bleeding and had puncture wounds all over, like he’d gotten caught up in someone’s propeller.”
I stared up at Robert, catching his eye. He looked thoughtful as he recalled the memory.
“Brett was in tears, begging me to try and save the poor little thing. I was terrified and just as upset as Brett. I told both of them I didn’t know how to save it, but Jake encouraged me,” he said and chuckled.
Having met Robert’s older brother and seeing him interact with his wife, Annabel, in a rough teasing manner, I had a pretty good idea of how he may have convinced Robert to help the seal.
“I didn’t have the slightest clue how to help the animal. The few other times I had used my… ability,” Robert said and paused, eying me uneasily, “I didn’t do anything in particular. I’d find a squirrel or bird that got attacked by a hawk or something and just hold the animal and cry for my mother to come help. By the time she made it over to me the bird was flying away, or the squirrel was jumping out of my hand and scurrying back up the tree.” He shook his head and smiled.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s just strange, saying it all out loud. I can’t imagine how it must sound to you.”
“Strange.” I smiled.
He returned my smile with a heart-breaking grin and continued. “Anyway, the only thing I could think to do was to hold the animal like I’d done with the others. I couldn’t exactly pick up the seal, since I was only six. I didn’t have the upper body strength I do now.” He jokingly nudged my shoulder with his. “So I sat down in the surf next to him and eased my hands onto his body. Brett sat silently watching me and it made me even more nervous. Jake stood by me and guided me through everything very slowly. The seal may have been injured, but you never know how a wild animal might react to a person being so close.”
“You were a brave little boy, weren’t you?” I asked.
“Not really. I was always a curious kid. I did plenty of stupid and dangerous things when I was young, always trying to satisfy my curiosity.”
I smiled at the thought of Robert as a child chasing danger and pushing boundaries. His mother must have had her hands full with him, I thought.
Robert hadn’t noticed my thoughts had run away from me and continued, “I wasn’t sure what to do, so I started running my hand up and down the seal’s body. I can still remember the way his skin felt under my touch. The fine hairs were coarse and he was slick with ocean water. His breathing was very shallow and he only moved as the waves pushed and pulled his body. Nothing was happening and I felt so bad. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started talking to him.”
He looked away from me and back out at the water. He stayed quiet for a moment as he watched a wave crash onto the shore. His shoulders relaxed a little and I had a feeling he was seeing the whole scene unfold in the surf in front of us.
“My voice must have startled the little guy. He lifted his head slightly and looked up at me,” Robert said, looking back toward me and down at our joined hands, lacing his fingers through mine. My hand tingled as his grip fell into place and our palms lightly touched. I wondered if he was keeping our hands joined in case I decided to make a run for it.
“I'll never forget those eyes for as long as I live,” he said. “They were never-ending pools of black coal that glistened like the sea. I could feel his pain as he stared at me. His nose wiggled with each breath and his whiskers danced back and forth on his face. I started to cry but didn’t take my eyes off him and he kept staring at me. I felt something growing inside me. It was like a switch had been flipped and I could feel the pain of the animal subside. After a minute or two the seal looked away from me and wiggled free from my hands and out into the water. Somehow, I’d done it. I’d saved him.”
“But how?” I asked, amazed. I couldn’t help but wonder what if felt like for the seal when Robert had healed him.
He merely shrugged. “It’s just a part of who I am. Do you remember when I saved you, I told you to keep your eyes on mine?”
“Yeah.” I blushed. How could I forget the warmth flooding through me as he stared down at me?
“It helps me focus the energy if I can connect with you.”