My second short story for Fiction Writing I.

It’s hard to get out of bed each morning and go to work, knowing that I’m just a Beta Healer. It’s not that being a Beta Healer is particularly a bad thing – there are many people with no ability whatsoever – it’s just that I was raised to be the best at what I do. And being a Beta Healer is not best.

I shove the cat off my pillow and drag myself out of bed. I really don’t want to get up. Misty pitter-patters behind me as I head to the bathroom. I brush my teeth as she hops on the toilet, pointing and yowling at me. “Pet me!” she seems to cry. Ignoring her pleas, I step into the shower. The hot water pouring all over me improves my mood a little. At least I’m not in the C-Class. The C-Class has to do the dirty things, like clean the bathrooms and pick up trash. Now that would suck!

Becoming a Beta Healer was not my plan in life, but when you are discovered to be a healer, you don’t really get much of a choice but to do it. I was in high school when my healing abilities came out. One of the kids in my ceramics class had cut his hand on a broken piece of pottery. Without thinking, I ran to him and touched him. Immediately his wound closed, and I passed out. I don’t remember much else, but some men in suits came to talk to me afterwards.

“Michelle, we have determined that you are a Beta Healer,” the man in black said. “After you graduate high school, you will be transferred to a hospital in New York to begin your training.” There was no choice in this and as soon as I graduated, I was moved to New York. At least I had a free apartment, and got a stipend each month, but being Beta Healer was not what I had planned.

I get dressed. I like to think I’m pretty stylish, wearing top trends, but no one would know it by seeing me in the green robe all Beta Healers wear. I finish getting ready, make sure Misty has food, and head out the door to the subway. After a ten-minute ride, I get to the hospital. Letting out a long sigh, I think about the day ahead: healing cuts and bruises, bearing bad news to families, basically doing the bitch work for the Alpha Healers.

Mark is standing outside and smiles at me. He is gorgeous, particularly in his black robe, but I know when we get inside, I will be back to Bitch Michelle.

“Hey Michelle, how’s it going?” Mark asks.

“Another day here,” I respond.

“It’s too bad you’re only a Beta, you’d make a great Alpha if you had the power.” It’s like he just pulled out my heart and shit on it.

“Yeah… would be nice. But I gotta get in before my shift starts. See ya later.”

“Bye.”

I rush inside; I only have a minute to get in before 9 a.m. They don’t like it when I’m late. My first patient is Mrs. Miller. I open her door with a smile on my face. She has a smile on her face too, but as soon as she sees my green robes, it turns into a frown.

“How are you doing today Mrs. Miller?”

“I was hoping to get an Alpha. I fell and hurt my hip. I want to make sure I’m healed right.”

It’s another day of the same shit. I sigh. “Mrs. Miller, I am fully certified to heal all bruises. You don’t have any broken bones, so you get me. It will only take a few seconds to heal you, if that is ok?”

“I guess,” she whines. Wow, am I dealing with an 85-year-old or a 5-year-old? She leans to the side, wincing, and shows me her bruise. All black and blue, it isn’t pretty, but it isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen either. To heal I need to be able to directly touch the wound, so I reach down and gently touch her hip. I make the life force run from me to her, and the black and blue begin to fade. As the healing completes, I feel a wave a dizziness rush over me. Luckily it quickly subsides.

Mrs. Miller smiles as she looks up at me. “Wow,” she says. “I didn’t think you could actually do it. Thanks!” Was that actually a thank you, cause it didn’t seem like one? I say my goodbyes to Mrs. Miller and head to the Beta station. This is where all the assignments are handed out. As I get there, Mark rushes toward me. He is all out of breath.

“Oh my God, Michelle! You should have seen it! I just saved this guy’s arm! It was almost completely severed, but because it was still attached by some tissue, I was able to heal it! That was awesome!”

“Wow, that’s great.” I can’t hide the sarcasm in my voice. All I want is to be an Alpha Healer. They do the real stuff. I just fix the little problems of people who are too lazy to let their bodies heal on their own. I guess everyone is a little bit of a healer, I just gained a tiny bit more than most. Of course, it’s not enough to be considered good. In high school, I was the top of my class. I had a 4.0 GPA, volunteered with the Humane Society every week. I was going to be a marine biologist. I’m not used to be on the bottom of the totem pole. If I could have anything, it would be to not have this “gift” at all, but that isn’t going to happen. So all I can do is daydream about being better than I am now.

“Michelle?” I snap out of my tiny daydream. “Are you ok?” Mark asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

“Ah. Well you could take a nap on your lunch! But hey, I gotta go. People in pain call!” Mark rushes off to the emergency ward.

My day continues much like it started: black eye, dog bite, iron burn. I go on a coffee run for the Alphas at one point during the day. None of the patients are particularly happy to see me. They feel like they have bee

n gypped out of a real healer and are just getting the second best. I guess they are. The day drones on and I have to keep myself from falling asleep. Everyday is like this. I guess I’m lucky people are klutzes or I wouldn’t have a job at all. But then again, if people didn’t get hurt, I wouldn’t have to work here and I could do what I wanted and not what the government.

Its about 4 p.m. and I am very ready to go home, though I still have two hours to go. I hope Misty hasn’t destroyed anything today. Yesterday she tore a hole in my comforter. It’s so quiet, and I am trying to not fall asleep.

I am sitting at the desk when a mother bursts in holding a child.

“Help! Oh my God help! My son has been shot! I think he’s dying!” She sobs. “Oh my God save him please!”

I yell at the top of my lungs for an Alpha Healer. This is beyond a Beta’s skills. No one comes. The child is gasping. I can tell he is going to die very soon.

“DO SOMETHING!” the mother cries.

I keep yelling for an Alpha, but no one is coming. The child has stopped gasping now. He is about to die; his body can’t handle the wounds. The mom is sobbing. I look around one last time. No one is coming.

Out of the blue, it hits me. I should have been an Alpha Healer. I was born to be the best, not some mediocre Beta Healer. Not to let a child die. No one is coming, so I know now that I have to try. I know it could kill me or kill the child, or both, but I have to try. I can’t watch this child die and do nothing.

I touch his chest, and force the life from me to him. I feel his agony. I’m feeling faint but I won’t stop. Black spots start forming behind my eyes. He must live! I keep pushing the life into him. Everything goes black.

 

………………………………..…..

 

“Michelle? Are you there? Michelle! Wake up!”

My head hurts so badly. I slowly open my eyes. The light is blinding.

“Oh Michelle, you’re alive!” Mark exclaims.

“What happened?” I squeak out.

“You saved a kid who was pretty much dead. I’ve never seen anything like it. No one knows how you are alive. You’ve been passed out for hours.”

“What?”

“You saved a kid who had been shot. He was pretty much dead.”

“He lived?”

“Yes, the mother can’t wait for you to wake up to thank you. Michelle, no Beta Healer has ever healed a life threatening wound. Ever. Many have tried, but they all have failed. Many have died. And so do the people they try to save. You did what no Beta can do. You aren’t a Beta Healer Michelle.”

“Huh?”

“You’re an Alpha! Maybe a strong Alpha. That was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!” Mark is so excited as he says this. I’m still not fully sure what is going on.

“I… I’m an Alpha?”

“Yes! But of course, you will have to go to more training. They will need to see the extent of your ability. But congrats!”

I look at Mark puzzled. I don’t get it. I’m a Beta Healer, not an Alpha. Mark senses that I am confused.

“Michelle, you proved yesterday that you have more ability than anyone thought you did. You were classed wrong; you have the powers of an Alpha.”

My mouth opens in a big O. I finally get it now. I can’t believe it. How did I manage to heal that kid and not die? It is because I am an Alpha healer. I must be, or I would be dead. I still feel dizzy, but the ecstasy from saving a life is filling my soul. So this is what it feels like! This is what I was meant for, not doing the little things, but saving people who really needed to be saved.

“Get some rest Michelle, you will have a lot of work ahead of you. I’ll check on you in a little while.”

“Bye Mark.”

I drift back into oblivion, with thoughts of being an Alpha Healer running around in my mind.