Magic Shouldn't Interfere in Nature
The fear is in the air. Anyone can see as they walk down the streets early in the morning to work. Being a Healer isn't exactly safe, even worse when you have to go from house to house attending patients, exposing yourself to all kinds of people who work in several different areas and why not with several different creatures? You wonder as you leave your flat at six in the morning with your little girl clutched to your chest whether that will be the day in which your life will fall apart.
She was still asleep on your shoulder as you made to the street. The fear. You wish you could stop her from breathing just so she would not inhale the imminent death. If only there was a spell to keep any unwanted intruder away from you, but if it does, no one discovered it yet. Word goes from mouth to mouth that a dragon had been seen just outside the city. So what if today you finally catch it? Or worse what if she finally catches it? It hadn't been a year since the first victim of Dragon Pox was diagnosed; he had died and so had some others since then. Romania had lost no less than twenty-five citizens in the last eight months. Healers all over the world were trying to find a cure. No luck so far. The worst is that it starts with a common fever, a few patients also started coughing in the first couple of days and from then it all escalated rather quickly. There was only one wizard who survived over a fortnight, but only to die just like all the others wizards and witches who caught the virus.
At long last you arrive at your brother's house. She was still drooling in your arms when you handed her to him for the day. At least you know you're lucky to have him as an escape. Someone who works at home can be a blessing these days; he saves you from leaving her with the nice old lady down the street who also takes care of several other children. You know her intentions are good and certainly she is the only hope some parents have, but putting together lots of kids from quite a few different places increases exponentially the odds of each child catching, not only Dragon Pox, but any fatal disease.
'No chocolate before dinner,' you reminded him.
'Oh, no! We have something even better to do before dinner,' he grinned. 'Snidget-hunting. Richard, relax, no dragon's been seen in the woods for over a week. It's safe,' he assured you as you shot him a look. 'Besides, Alice says she'll be making little Bella's here favourite pudding for when we come back. It'll be fine.'
You nod and leave with a shake of his hand. You need to check Smith's leg wound first. He's always up with the birds. In fact, it seemed that he was always awake. Had he found a way to not sleep at all? You wish you could find a way to get your energies back without needing to close your eyes for eight hours. It would certainly help with the workload. However, you also know that no spell or potion could ever be as good. Nature has its own ways and when nature calls, one have to answer, be it in the bed or in the loo. Some things shouldn't be changed by magic.
And once again you can't help but to think of her. Your beautiful Emma. Over four years ago the Healer had tried to interfere in the ways of Nature. It was the birth of Isabella, you still recall it as the best day of your life. The best and the worst. Or perhaps the worst day, but with your most treasured memory. Yes, that title fitted it better, but there was still a place in your mind that referred to it as the best, no matter how many times you changed its title. Emma had been doing well, how well one could be doing during birth at least. She was still sweaty and exhausted after so many hours in labour. Eventually, she had done it. Your little girl arrived and you know it was the best moment of, not only your life, but hers as well. Emma was so ... radiant. The look in her eyes the instant she saw Isabella still covered in blood was nothing like you had ever seen.
You noticed something was wrong when her arms trembled and she hurried you to take the baby. She was losing so much blood. Yet, she was still smiling when her eyes searched yours to beg for you to take care of her. You couldn't believe at that moment, surely she just wanted for you to hold her while she didn't have the strength to do so. As the years passed however, you came to realise that she did know. She knew she wouldn't make it. All the while the Healer was trying to convince you that she would, that she would be fine, it was just something that sometimes happened. And you believed him. You believed him until her heart stopped and you were left with a new-born to care and that need to find a way to stop mothers from dying at childbirth.
You abandoned your family's business to enter the training the following month. It hadn't been easy since then, but you never thought it would be. The look in Bella's eyes the instant you come back at night to get her as she runs to your arms screaming that they had managed to catch a Snidget without killing it is worth all the effort. She hadn't caught Dragon Pox, everything would be all right.