Page 13 of Healer's Call

His face changes. “Oh, why didn’t you just say so?” He steps out of the way, and I try to catch my breath and hold my head high as I walk past him, careful to keep my distance from him. I make my way to the room where Maverick is and stop outsidethe door, trying to work up the courage to go inside. Before I can, one of the doors in the hallway opens, and Alpha Cade steps out, covered head to toe in protective wear. I don’t say anything as he walks towards me. When he gets close, his head lifts. “Good morning, Rose. How are you this morning?”

“Fine,” I say, flatter than I mean to.

If he seems bothered by my response, he doesn’t show it. “Are you ready to work on Maverick?” I nod. “Go ahead and gear up. I'll wait in there for you.”

I try to calm my heart as I get ready. I wonder how he is this morning, if my healing made a difference yesterday. I’m anxious to get in there and see for myself. Moments later, I open the door to the sick room and make my way inside. I let my eyes adjust a moment to the dim light of the lantern because the blinds are still closed. I make my way over to the bed and stare down at him. I’m disappointed when I don’t immediately notice any signs of improvement. Alpha Cade must see my disappointment because he says, “He breathed a little easier last night.”

I process his words, even as I look Maverick over from head to toe, categorically taking everything in. I take a deep breath and prepare to heal him. “You feel okay this morning?” Cade asks me before I start. I startle and look over at him. “You don’t feel sick at all?” he asks

“Oh, no. I’m good.” I don’t know what else to say, so I turn back to Maverick. I take my gloves off and take a deep breath before closing my eyes and letting my healing power rise to the surface. Once my fingers start tingling, I reach out and put my hands on Maverick’s stomach. Before I do, the door opens, startling me. I turn and am shocked to see Ava.

Before I can say anything, she gives me a look. “Raechel said not to be a martyr, remember?” Her tone is annoyed, so I don’t say anything in response. I focus back on the task at hand—healing Maverick. I blow out a breath and close my eyesbefore reaching out and touching my hands to his stomach. He instantly jerks, but he doesn’t wake up. I focus my healing power and work on sending it where I want it to go. I’m not direct enough with the first wave of healing power, and it dissipates almost immediately. I blow out a breath of frustration and lean over Maverick once again and start the process all over. Again and again, I try with almost no results. A few times it feels like I might be getting somewhere, but I fail time and time again. The only thing that happens is that I just get weaker and weaker while Maverick’s breathing gets worse. His body spasms worse than it did yesterday, and I feel like a complete and utter failure.

“You’re gonna burn out if you keep going.” Ava’s voice penetrates the weird sort of fog I’m in, and it takes me a minute to register what she’s saying.

I turn and face her. “It’s not working.”

“Yeah. Got that.”

Her snide comments slide right off my back; she’s the least of my worries. “I’m sorry, Alpha Cade,” I tell him without looking him in the eye. “I don’t know why it’s not working.”

“It’s okay,” he says in a not unkind way, but it still hurts because I hear the frustration beneath it. I know he needs this to work, to save his pack. But I just don’t know how to do it. I don’t look him in the eye as I make my way out to the hallway and begin to take off all my protective gear.

I go through this process six more times over the next few days with absolutely no success. And then, before the seventh try, I get word from Paul that he’s found something.

Chapter 8

Rose

I’m lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling when my phone rings. I roll over and snag it and answer right away when I see who it is. “Hey Paul.”

“Hey Rose, it’s Sage.”

“Hey, Sage.”

“I’m so glad we got ahold of you. We sent those samples you sent us to the lab and just got the results back.”

I sit up. “What did you find?”

“I’m putting you on speakerphone, so Paul can join in.”

“Hey Rose,” Paul says, sounding far away. “I’m glad we had you send those samples. There’s a lot going on, some of it surprising, some of it not.”

“Give us the simple diagnosis,” Sage urges. “So, we can actually understand it.”

“It’s in the blood.” Paul’s words give me pause.

“What?”

“The problem is in the blood,” Sage says excitedly. “That’s why you couldn’t heal him. You’re trying to heal organs when the infection is in the blood.”

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“One hundred percent,” Paul calls out, sounding far away again. “I’m still testing, but there’s something really wrong with these four blood samples you sent me. They’re from four different people, right?”

“Yes.”

“Rose, the numbers are really off in the blood. I’ve never seen anything like it. The lead levels, mercury levels, whiteand red blood cell counts,” his voice sort of fades away for a moment before it comes back. “…for hyperkalemia, acidosis, rhabdomyolysis, and renal failure as well as--”