"Hey White Mage," a passing attendant greeted me warmly as I walked through the hospital. I smiled and waved, before remembering that my face was obscured by my scarf. I desperately hoped that it hid my embarrassment as well.
There was a bit of a spring to my step as I did a small round through the west wing. Becoming a healer was the best decision I'd made in...I didn't even know how long. It was almost like mending the minds and bodies of others helped to cure me of my own troubles, at least for awhile. Here they wanted me, and I had purpose. When I entered a room, the patient's eyes would light up with joy and hope, and I would commit my all to keeping that light alive. Their gratitude and heartfelt thanks energized me to keep moving forward.
Even with school being a torturous mess, and even though Dad was still a bit of a wreck at home, here I could create happiness.
And I'd been learning, too!
Over the last week of healing I'd gotten to test my powers on a vast array of maladies and ailments. During which I concluded that my powers were, in fact, kind of bullshit. Practically any injury or illness could be healed when a person was imbued with enough of my healing lights. The only real question seemed to be whether I had enough energy to keep healing them. Prolonged healing was exhausting. Very exhausting. As in, I'd almost passed out after a few of the longer sessions. Nothing that a full night's sleep wouldn't help, and then I'd be off again fixing people up.
Well, there was one thing that I couldn't fix.
Death. Anything that my power registered as 'dead' couldn't be healed. I couldn't even try to cast anything on them.
I refocused on the world around me as I finally reached my destination: The children's ward.
I'd actually started with the children's ward once school was out. They'd all been healed and were waiting to be discharged after some observation. So then, why did I come back to this part of the hospital? Well, sometimes I liked to end my day on a positive, and adorable, note.
"It's White Mage!" came a gleeful squeal from a little girl sitting in her bed. A smattering of tiny cheers erupted as the children noticed my entrance.
"Hi everyone," I said to today's group. "I hope you're doing well. No discomfort or pain anywhere?" Priorities are important, even if this second visit was for fun.
They quickly brushed off my concerns and jumped right into what they wanted. And what I wanted to give. "We want to see a spell!"
The kids had gotten used to calling my abilities 'spells'. The term spread throughout the hospital like wildfire. After all, it fit the 'mage' persona quite well. It seems that I'll never get to choose any part of my cape identity beyond my costume. I could only hope that they didn't start to lump me in the same group as Myrdin...
"Sure," I chirped before closing my eyes and focusing on my pool of energy. I gathered some of the burning energy from within and concentrated, recalling the same feeling that courses through me when I cast cure. Grabbing onto that sensation and refusing to let go, I opened my eyes.
Sure enough, the room was awash in twinkling lights floating through the air, reminding me of christmas lights. Some flickered like fireflies, a few disappeared as they passed through the walls and others were chased by the kids.
I wasn't actually casting a spell, but I still felt a drain on my body as more lights popped into existence. I kept it up until I was nearly depleted, trying to not show my exhaustion.
There was maybe enough for one or two more spells. And I'd very probably faint if I actually used them.
But the kids were happy, and that made it all worth it.
I nearly startled as I felt something glomp onto me from behind. One of them had hugged me. "Thank you," he whispered.
I tried patting his head from behind.
(~*~*~*~*~*~)
"I'm spent," I told Darik the nurse as started heading towards the elevator, on my way out. "I'll see you next time."
"Sure," he replied. "Enjoy your night. Don't get lost on the way home." We exchanged small waves. Then he smirked at me. "And if you do get lost, just remember that you're basically a human flashlight."
Darik , apparently, liked to tease people a lot. "I saw your display at the children's ward," he continued, "that was nice of you." He was also a nice person sometimes.
I reached the elevator just as it opened and just in time to slam into somebody. I fell to the floor in a heap of fabric, which thankfully seemed to help break my fall.
"I'm so sorry," I stammered out as I looked towards the person I'd hit. It had been a girl around my own age. Mousy with frizzy brown hair and a healthy smattering of freckles. Oh, and a very familiar costume, quite similar to my own.
It was Panacea.
…
….
"Panacea!?" I squeaked.
Said Parahuman had taken the time I'd been in a stupor to pick herself up off the floor and brush the dirt from her costume. She looked at me for a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do, before awkwardly offering me a hand.
Blinking at the hand before me, I finally accepted it and was hoisted back to my feet.
"You must be White Mage," came the weary voice of Panacea. A voice that broke through my rather starstruck brain like a scalpel. (I think I've been spending too much time in hospitals…)
I took another look at her. She looked ragged. Her costume was askew and her hair was more than frizzy, it was disheveled. Her eyes didn't have the spark I expected from a renown hero and her voice lacked energy. Even her motions seemed a bit slow.
"Are you alright, Panacea?"
The question seemed to startle her a bit. "Yeah," she said, before hesitating. "I'm just here to start a second shift."
"Uhm," I began. A second shift? In this state? "Maybe you should take a break first? Or a nap?"
Her eyes steeled over, just a tad. "I'm fine," she said a bit brusquely.
She didn't seem fine.
"Well," I tried again, "I could heal you. I think I have just enough left in me to give you a boost."
After a brief moment of consideration and a smidgen of hesitation, I received a timid smile. "Sure, that might be nice."
Is it strange that it felt sort of exciting to heal somebody as important as Panacea? Because it felt exciting.
Tapping into the remaining dregs of strength, I sensed her condition. And my breath caught in my throat.
"You're charmed!" I gasped. What did that even mean? Was she being controlled? Was brainwashing afoot?
Amy did not take my outburst well. She backed away from me, eyes widening in horror. Or maybe realization. I just didn't know anymore, people were never my strong suit.
She shrank in on herself. "What are you talking about?" she asked defensively, even as her behavior screamed of guilt and fear.
"Something's charmed you," I said again in whispered urgency. "I don't think you're being controlled by it, not with how you're acting. But it is influencing you."
Sweat was beading on Panacea's head. She seemed so scared, so uncertain. It was almost like she would break at any moment.
She needed help. "Don't worry! I can remove the charm, erase it. Make it like it was never there."
Panacea's eyes turned wild. "NO!" she screamed desperately, as if I'd just threatened to destroy everything she held dear. Pushing me aside with shaking hands, she ran away with all her might.
I couldn't help the heavy sigh that left me. 'Way to go Taylor'
But what did this mean about the obviously troubled healer?