LITMIR.BIZ

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Then the twinge reappeared on Ally’s leg. I tugged the sheets off her left leg and saw a pink cast covering her from knee to foot. I scratched at the hard cast but the feeling didn’t go away.

      “Here.” A wooden tongue depressor appeared in front of my face.

      I sat back in the bed hurriedly.

      A petite girl, around Ally’s age, stood by the bed. Her long dark hair twisted at the nape of her neck, sticking out in all directions. I looked at the badge that hung from a thin rope across her chest. It read, “Jamie Blackhorn, Volunteer.”

      The name struck me as something I should be familiar with. A memory of Ally’s surged forward.

      “Watch it, freak!” Ally snapped, her books scattering across the floor at her feet.

      Heather, Krystal and a few other classmates scrambled to pick up Ally’s things from the floor.

       Jamie looked up at Ally, terror etched across her face. “I’m—”

      Heather and Krystal flanked Ally, all three pairs of eyes glaring at her.

      Jamie shivered under her baggy paint-stained jeans and T-shirt.

       Ally leaned over toward the girl’s trembling body. “Stay out of my way or I will destroy you.”

      A tear streaked Jamie’s cheek as she nodded at Ally and bolted down the hall.

       Ally watched the girl go, turning her glare on the rest of the kids that had formed a crowd around her. “And that goes for the rest of you.”

      I blinked and the vision disintegrated. What was that?

      “What is this for?” I pointed at the wooden stick, aware the girl was staring at me.

      Jamie swallowed, her eyes darting across Ally’s face. “I broke my arm once, and it itched like crazy. I found a ruler and it became my best friend for eight weeks.” She squinted her eyes a few times.

      What kind of people did they hire at this hospital? “What?” I said.

      Her head shook furiously. “Nothing. The stick is for scratching.” She moved her hand in a sawing movement.

      The tingles started up again and I grabbed the stick, slid it between the skin and cast and rubbed it against Ally’s skin. I moaned in pleasure and leaned Ally’s head back against the pillow. “That—is—amazing.”

      “I’m glad to help.” Jamie smiled. “I need to take your vitals now. Do you mind?”

      “No,” I said. I’d Collected many human souls from hospitals and seen them take these “vitals”; it didn’t look too painful.

      Jamie placed a cuff around my arm and pumped a small rubber ball. The cuff tightened around Ally’s skinny arm, smothering it. I bit Ally’s lip and turned away, willing the agony to end. I held my breath as I felt Ally’s heartbeat in her arm. What sadistic person thought up this torture? How did humans stand it?

      When she got her reading the pressure subsided and I let out a breath with it.

      Jamie next put a stethoscope in her ears and placed the round part on the exposed skin of Ally’s upper chest. The cold circle sent a shock through me. I shifted under it.

      “Sorry.” She took it away and rubbed it with her palms. “I forget how cold it gets in here.”

      With each test I anticipated a new bodily reaction so as not to alert this girl that Ally wasn’t Ally. Or human for that matter.

      Be human, be human. I repeated the mantra in my head.

      I watched Jamie work, her hands swift and gentle, navigating the areas around Ally’s bruised arm so as not to touch them. She leaned into the bed, examining Ally’s arm.

      “I did just fall down an escalator,” I said. Jamie was looking a little too closely, surely she couldn’t see what the others could?

      She jolted and dropped Ally’s arm. “You’re a quick healer,” was all she said.

      Before I could respond, a nurse came into the room and checked Ally’s chart. She introduced herself as Nurse Lucy. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

      I repeated my new mantra in my head. “Good.”

      “You took a nasty tumble there. You were lucky to only come out with a broken leg and some bruises.” She checked Ally’s skin and her brows furrowed. “Well, you did have bruises… I see someone takes her Vitamin C.”

      She made a note in the chart. “Well, it looks like if you are feeling okay, you can leave right after the doctor sees you. I need a parent or guardian to sign your discharge papers.”

      “Marie Lopez is here,” Jamie said.

      “Who’s Marie?” I said before thinking. I pointed at my head, hoping that I could use Ally’s fall as an excuse for my oversight. “I meant, where is Marie?”

      “Right here, Ms. Ally.”

      Nurse Lucy and Jamie turned around, revealing a stout brown-skinned woman stepping through the doorway holding two cups of steaming coffee. The scent tickled my nose.

      Another strange vision started to creep up, but I blinked it away.

      “Here you go, Ms. Ally.”

      I took the steaming cup from her hand and nearly dropped it. It was hot! I grabbed it with Ally’s other hand, touching only the top rim of the cup; it seemed to be the coolest part.

      “She can’t have that,” Nurse Lucy said.

      “You just said she is okay, right?” Marie challenged.

      The nurse stiffened and checked the chart. “Just one cup,” she consented. “Are you ready to sign the paperwork, Mrs. Lopez?”

      “It’s Miss.” With her accent it sounded like Meeez.

      Nurse Lucy nodded and waved a hand for Marie and Jamie to follow.

      “Feel better,” Jamie said, stepping out of the room.

      “Thanks,” I smiled.

      She opened her mouth to say something but stopped and gave me a quick wave before she left the room.

      Cooper appeared at my bedside, and this time I did spill the coffee.

      “Do you really have to pop in here unannounced?” I wiped at the stain spreading across the sheet. I could feel the heat through the thin material.

      “We need to get you home, where David’s wards can protect her,” Cooper said.

      “Yes, I am aware of that. The nurse said I have to meet with the doctor first.”

      I took a sip of the coffee so I’d have less to spill on myself later. It tasted like burnt toast but the scent was delicious.

      Cooper looked at me funny.

      “What?” I asked, gulping down the rest of the coffee, even though it burned the inside of her mouth. A few drops dribbled from her lips.

      “Attractive.” Cooper laughed.

      I swiped the liquid off her face. “Shut up. What’s with the look?”

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