Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or ideas from the Host, they belong to Stephanie Meyer.
"See you later Sandy!" I called. The elderly woman came rushing around the corner and enveloped me in a bear hug that could put a grizzly to shame.
"Oh, I'll miss you while you're gone Crystal!" she said.
"I'll only be gone a few days." I replied smiling, I was leaving this small town of Tucson, Arizona for Phoenix tonight as a healers convention was being held there.
"I know but still." Sandy was a good friend of mine; she'd taken me under her wing when I'd moved here from a small rural town in Australia.
"Well I'd better get home then," I said checking my watch. "I still have to pack."
A disapproving look crossed Sandy's face. "You still haven't packed yet? Honey what have you been doing?"
"Working." I said sheepishly.
"Sweetheart you have to stop doing this, you're running yourself into the ground." she said, face and voice full of concern. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked me over carefully, no doubt noticing the dark circles under my eyes, my greasy hair and the all over paleness of my skin. "Maybe you should stay in Phoenix for a few more days, take a break. I'm sure some of the other healers wouldn't mind covering your shifts, they all know how hard you work."
"Okay I'll do that." I agreed, mostly just to relieve her worry.
"Okay well if you'd like I could come and help you pack."
"No no, its fine, don't trouble yourself I don't need to take much." I said. Sandy was getting older and though she was by no means weak, she was beginning to get frailer and I didn't like to trouble her. Before she could protest I hugged her again. "I'll see you in a week, okay?"
"Alright, goodbye." Sandy replied.
"Sam! Come on girl!" I called and Sam the border collie bounded excitedly from around the reception desk and bounced energetically into the back of my old white SUV as soon as i had the door open. I waved to sandy and a few other healers that had gathered at the entrance to the clinic to see me off, as I drove out of the parking lot.
I rushed around the house again to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. 'Toothbrush, hairbrush, clothes...' I went through the list again in my mind. When I was sure I had everything I grabbed my car keys and handbag from the kitchen bench and my suitcase from the doorway.
"Sam!" I called as I stepped out the front door. I heard the tags on her collar jingle from around the hall as she rushed to join me at the door. "C'mon." I said as i closed the door behind her, leaving the pointless locks undone. My house had been there since before the souls had taken over from the humans, the locks were still there but they weren't necessary now. Sam followed me as I walked to my old white SUV. I opened the boot with the keys and she jumped in the back automatically. This was routine, we did it every day when we drove to work, but I wasn't going to work this time. I put my suitcase in the back next to her and went around to the driver's side. I put my handbag; well it was really more of a shoulder bag, safely on the passenger seat next to me. I always took that bag everywhere I went, it carried medical supplies. I never needed them but you could never be too cautious. I put the key into ignition and my old car roared to life. I turned the air-conditioning on full, it was almost winter in Tucson, Arizona but it was still hot. I could hear Sam panting in the back even though the sun had begun to set. As I adjusted the rear-view mirror I caught a glimpse of my face and frowned, there were dark circles underneath my silver-blue eyes, my dark auburn hair was stringy and greasy, I had been working myself a little too hard these last couple of days and I was tired. I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail and reached over into my bag, i quickly found what i was looking for, Awake. I popped the cap off the white cylinder and sprayed the mist in a cloud in front of my face. I inhaled the grapefruit flavoured mist and immediately my head cleared, my focus was sharp. I put the awake back in my bag and pulled the car away from the driveway. 'This is going to be a long night.' I thought to myself as my house disappeared from view.
It was around 10pm when i felt the Awake start to wear off. I sighed and turned the radio off in an effort to keep myself focused on the long road ahead of me. Sam had fallen asleep long ago; I could hear her quiet breathing in the backseat where she had moved to be closer to the air-conditioning, which I had turned off now that it was not so hot outside. I felt drowsy now and wondered whether I should use the awake again, I dismissed that thought; I didn't have to much further to go before I reached Phoenix. I looked out the window at the bright stars that filled the sky, they were beautiful, I had always had a fascination with them. I was distracted by them so I didn't see the figure that appeared on the road before me until it was too late. I didn't get a good look at her before I slammed on the breaks, but I did see one thing, or didn't see it I suppose because there was no light reflecting off her eyes from the blinding light of the cars headlights. She was human. I felt and heard the thunk when my car collided with her body. I heard a scream that seemed to come from very far away and before I could think about it, I shifted into emergency mode. I snatched my bag off the passenger seat and kicked my door open. I ran to the front of the car to where the human woman lay, she was out cold. I fell to my knees beside her and ripped open my bag, from it I snatched a bottle of Heal, it didn't matter that this woman was the enemy of my kind; I would not let her die. I ripped open the bottom half of her shirt and poured half the bottle onto her bleeding stomach, it wouldn't fix any broken bones but it would stop her from bleeding to death. Before the wound had fully closed I rolled her over and poured the rest of the Heal onto the back of her head. I was sure her head wouldn't have hit the ground hard enough to crack the skull or cause any real trauma to the brain, but I healed her bleeding head anyway just to be sure. Sam was at my side then, she was growling at something, I panicked then, it wasn't like Sam to ever be aggressive.
"MELANIE!" a man screamed from not far behind me, it sounded like the man was running. Then I saw him, he must've been another human because he pushed me aside and was frantically checking the human woman's pulse. I could hear others coming now, the man who had shouted saw the blood and the torn shirt and was searching for a wound but found only a small jagged scar. I heard he others approach and Sam stood protectively in front of me, she wasn't growling anymore but she would not relax. The human man who was kneeling by the woman I assumed was Melanie looked at the empty bottle of Heal still in my hand and hen at my face, his face was a mixture of shock and worry and I could tell that my expression mirrored his. 'What will they do to me?' I thought. I was beginning to panic. Suddenly the man whipped out a white cylinder of his own and sprayed a light mist into m face. I drew in shocked gasp and as soon as I tasted the raspberry flavour I knew that breathe was a mistake. The last thing I felt was my head hit metal as I fell against the car. The last thing I heard was Sam's frantic barking, and then there was nothing, I slipped away into total blackness.
