I was tagging items at work when Jasmine rushed in wide-eyed.
"Chloe, it's Alek." my heart sank in my chest as i took in her panicked expression and those three simple words. I couldn't help but let my mind wander to the worst possibilities... Jasmine saw the fearful look on my face and quickly rephrased her sentence. "Oh god no! Its not that. He just broke his leg at Basketball practice! I mean thats still pretty bad, but nowhere near that. Anyway, we have to go, he's in the hospital, and we need to contact the healers."
The tears that were threatening to spill with conformation had vanished, and i had calmed down a bit, but was still worried.
"How did he break his leg? Is he okay? Come on, lets go." I said quickly, not actually waiting for an answer from her. I informed Lana i had to leave work early today, and when Jasmine explained why, she let me go without another word.
We rushed to the emergency room, to see a waiting room full of basket ball jocks. There was something odd about the way they stared at me, but i didn't have time to dwell on that. I didn't have time to care.
He looked so fragile. Like if i touched him, he would break into a million pieces. I sat on the uncomfortable chair in the far corner of Alek's room, just staring at him. He had tubes connected to his arms, and his leg was wrapped up in a temporary cast. It would take a few days until he could get his surgery. I just couldn't believe this happened. to Alek of all people. One of his jock friends, i think his name was Kyle, explained to me what had happened. Alek and Lucas got into a fight in the locker room, and Lucas had knocked Alek out into a bunch of equipment, effectively breaking his leg. and even though Kyle wouldn't tell me what it was about, i could guess it had something to do with me. This would, of course, explain the looks i was getting from all the jocks in the other room. But i honestly couldn't care less about what they thought of me. What hurt was knowing that i was the reason Alek was in pain. The reason he was in the hospital in the first place. And things could have been so much worse.
"Chloe." Jasmine's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "This is Samuel. He's a healer."
I looked at the man in question. He didn't seem all that much older then us. he had tan skin, like Jasmines, dark eyes, and a shaved head. He held out his hand for me to shake as Jasmine closed the door to the room.
"Hello Uniter. As Jasmine said, my name is Samuel, and i am a healer. Don't worry, Mr. Petrov is in safe hands. His bones have probably started the healing process already. So he should be perfectly fine. The only issue we have to deal with is the fact that this was a public event."
"What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?" i asked.
"Well, you see, this accident was seen by a lot of people, so Alek is going to have to keep up with the charade. Pretend his leg is really broken, for longer then it will be. His leg won't be completely healed for a week or two anyway, but typically, a human boy would have to be in a cast for 6 to 8 weeks."
"So, your saying that Alek has to wear a cast so that people don't get suspicious?"
"Precisely."
"Okay, now what do we expect during the couple of weeks his leg is healing?" Jasmine asked.
"Well, there will be a lot of pain, to be honest. His bones are going to be healing quite rapidly, and if they don't set right, we may have to re-break them."
"What, like break his leg all over again?" Jasmine said wide-eyed.
"Unfortunately yes. There is no other way." but there was. There was another way. If only i knew how it worked.
'the ability to heal yourself and others,' that is what Bastet told me. That is the other way. Then, Alek won't have to suffer through the pain, the pain i caused.
"What if there was... another way?" i asked quietly. Both Samuel and Jasmine looked at me curiously.
"what do you mean? This is the only way." Samuel answered, like it was obvious.
"I have this... ability, i guess you could say. I haven't used it yet, so i don't know how it works. But, according to Bastet, i can heal myself and others." they both looked at me in awe.
"I've heard about this. The power to restore biotic organisms to their optimal health. Basically the sub-power to manipulate health." Samuel said. Then he opened his bag and pulled out an iPad.
"How exactly is that going to help?" Jasmine asked.
"Yeah, i don't think it's the time to play fruit ninja." i said.
"that's not exactly what i'm using it for. You see the mai in new york, have transfered their books and scrolls to electronics so that they will be easier to access. Basically, i have a mai library in my hands. I can set one up for you too, if you'd like. But i think we can worry about that another time."
"Whoa. That's amazing!" Jasmine exclaimed.
"Yes, i know. Now where were we?" Samuel typed into the search bar, and smiled at the results. "Okay here we go. It says that some mai possess extra abilities. So of course it's no wonder you have them. Now under the category of healing, we have a few variations. Elemental healing, Flawless restoration, Healing tears, healing touch, healing prayer, Therapeutic Touch, and wound transferal."
"Uh, explain?" i said.
"Okay well, in the same order: healing with help of the elements; healing of emotions and spirits-"
"Like what Bastet did for Jasmine!" Flawless restoration. thats what it was called.
"Exactly. Go on Samuel."
"Um, okay. Healing with tears, touch or prayer; healing through psychic energy; or transferring the wounds from his body to your own. I don't suppose you know which it is you have?"
"Nope. Not a clue."
"Of course not. Okay, i think we should run some tests before we try to heal Alek here. I'm going to have some of my assistants bring him to my office though, as not to cause suspicion of his miraculous recovery. Now Chloe, Jasmine. If you two don't mind accompanying me to my office?"
I knew that no matter what, i had to help Alek. This is what Bastet gave me these gifts for, and i was going to find out how to use them.