"How are you feeling now?" I asked softly. "Are you doing ok?"
The woman smiled weakly and nodded her head slightly.
"I'm ok," she responded quietly. "Thank you so much for waiting with me."
I gave her a warm smile, "It's what I'm here for. Are you going to be ok now?"
"I'm fine now," she half-whispered. "Thank you again."
She let go of my hand, and her arm slipped back down to her side.
I only moved back a few steps, and watched as the orderly and a nurse came to check on her. A few moments later they wheeled her through into the operating theatre.
It wasn't until the doors swung closed that I finally turned away and moved on. I had no idea who she was or why she was here, what her surgeon was going to do, or what her chances were. I didn't even know her name. All I knew was she was waiting to go into surgery, and she was terrified. And I was able to help calm her down.
Things didn't quite work out the way I envisioned back when I first enrolled in a health sciences course at college, but it still turned out ok in the end.
I graduated a couple years ago with decent grades. Mara teased that between the two of us I must have got all the smarts, considering my grades in a 'serious academic program' were better than her grades in an arts program. We all told her that's not how it worked though, and anyways you couldn't compare stuff like that.
It didn't really matter anyways, considering I never did get a real job in the health care field. I was a volunteer, I didn't get paid for my time here. That was ok too, I didn't need the money. And I got something much more valuable out of the work.
Another gurney was rolled into the pre-op staging area, this one contained a frightened little boy and my heart went out to him.
I knew his parents were behind the door he was just brought through. Now he was alone, in a strange and scary place. And as kind as the nurses and orderlies tried to be the whole experience could be an ordeal even for adults. For kids it was just the worst.
"Hey buddy," I said with a friendly smile as I moved to stand next to him. "I'm Mira. What's your name?"
He mumbled something, I couldn't quite hear it but it didn't matter. I didn't need to know, I was just trying to help him relax.
I talked a bit more with him, and as we spoke I gently took his hand in mine. As soon as I did that he seemed to relax, some of the tension drained out of him as the fear gradually left his eyes.
That was my secret, the reason I was here as a volunteer. None of the human staff had any idea how I was so good at calming stressed, anxious, or frightened patients. It wasn't something Lily or Mara could do, it was a skill unique to me. And being a sex-demon like my mater and my other half, technically I shouldn't have been able to do it either. My centuries of memories from Lily's daughter paid off though, and I learned how to do what she did. It only took me a couple years to figure it out, too.
Now I could feed on negative feelings, like pain, fear, sadness, or hatred. I never took it all, I never did anything that might harm the humans. All I did was help them relax and feel better, in a place that was inherently scary and stressful.
If not here in the pre-op staging area, then I'd be in Emergency, or sometimes in the wards. Wherever the hospital assigned me for my shift, I'd help people feel better. Mostly patients, but sometimes anxious friends or family members. Occasionally even some of the other staff needed my help.
When the nurse came back to check on the boy I let go of his hand and gave him a kind smile. He smiled back, then his gurney was moved on into another operating theatre and I looked around for the next person in need of some care and attention.
My routine continued on like that till my shift ended at five o'clock. I stayed late a few minutes, I was waiting with an elderly gentleman and I wouldn't leave till the nurse or orderlies were there for him. My demonic intuition told me he already knew his chances were low. I held his hand and helped him to relax and let go of the dread he was feeling.
When the orderly came to take him away the old man thanked me like all the others. I smiled back at him, and watched till he was taken out of sight through the large double doors. Then I waved to the nurses at their station, before I turned and went out through the other doors.
It took five minutes to wind my way through the hospital corridors and down two flights of stairs, till I reached the volunteers staff room. I took off my blue vest and put it in my locker, then my pastel pink blouse joined it in there. I pulled on the tank top I wore here this morning, and finally got my fanny pack out and clipped that on around my waist.
As I closed my locker a voice behind me said, "Hey kid. How was the shift?"
I turned around and smiled, "Hi Joanne. It was fine. They had me at the OR today, so I had a steady stream of scared anxious folks to help."
The middle-aged woman grinned as she opened her locker, "Sounds like a good day for you. You certainly won't go hungry around here anyways."
I rolled my eyes, "I'm not just here for the food and you know it."
The energy I gained from all those people was more than enough to fuel my demonic body and my magic. In fact it was usually enough to cover both my and Mara's needs, so neither of us ever had to borrow power from our mater. It was a pretty good arrangement actually, and I was positive if the original Mara hadn't been killed two thousand years ago she'd have ended up in a place like this too, doing the same sort of thing I did.
All that was secondary though, the main reason I did it was because it needed doing. People needed help, and I was able to help them.
"I know kid. I'm just teasing," Joanne said as she changed from her casual clothes to her volunteer uniform. "How's the family?"
"Mater's good," I replied. "So's Mara. Our human moms are doing good too, and same with all our girlfriends."
Joanne was one of the few people outside our little group of family and friends who knew what we were, and knew about our mater. And like us, she wasn't what she appeared either. Anyone else looking at her would see a friendly nondescript woman in her fifties. In fact she had more in common with my mater than any of the humans around here.
She was a reaper, and while she'd never told me how old she really was I knew she'd been around at least a thousand years.
It was actually one of those oddball things that we had in common, in a way. I looked and usually acted like a typical nineteen-year-old, but I had the experience of living more than a millennium and a half back in the bronze and iron ages. She looked and acted like a typical friendly young gramma or whatever, but she'd been around since maybe the dark ages.
The funny part was despite both of us being way older than we looked, none of our obscure historical knowledge overlapped. So neither of us got each other's references or jokes whenever we tried to call back to some antiquated facts or details.
All my anecdotes and funny stories tended to predate the Roman Empire, while the earliest ones Joanne shared with me were usually about vikings. We didn't even share the same geographical roots, I spent my whole past life in the Aegean and Mediterranean, Joanne came from north-western Europe. Actually she probably would have shared territory with Verothilas, or Efranir had my mehter lived.
We didn't really overlap here either, in terms of our supernatural work. I helped patients or visitors with their fear and pain and sorrow, and she helped the recently or soon-to-be deceased on their way to whatever lay beyond.
Joanne didn't even know what that was. Despite being a reaper she didn't have any insider knowledge about what came after death. She had plenty of theories though, and over the last two years I'd heard every last one of them.
Whenever we shared the same shifts we usually took our lunch break together. Then the two of us would find somewhere private where we'd talk and compare notes. She was fascinated with my own adventures in death, both as a reincarnated soul and from having all the original Mara's memories and experiences in my head.
"How about you?" I asked her. "How'd your date go the other night?"
Joanne rolled her eyes and made a dismissive sound, "Pfft. Another dud."
She didn't sound too upset about it, but before I could ask for more details she asked me "Did you come across anyone in need of my services at the OR?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "Older guy went in about ten minutes ago? He didn't think his chances were good. And there was a younger man about three hours ago, came from emergency straight into surgery. I think it was a workplace accident? I don't think he made it."
Joanne winced, "Three hours, damn. If he didn't make it he's probably had to figure things out on his own. I'll stop by the OR before I head down to the ER, to see if the older fellow's going to need my help. Or if there's any other souls hanging around looking lost."
I nodded, "Ok Joanne. Have a good shift. I'll see you next week."
"See you later kid. Give my regards to your mom."
The two of us left the staff room together, she headed for the operating rooms while I made my way up to the top floor. I ducked into a dead-end hallway and I made myself invisible, then another simple spell unlocked a security door. A few minutes later I emerged onto the roof of the building.
It was about twelve stories above the ground, and there was a bit of a breeze coming from the west. It was nice though, the weather was good. It was shaping up to be another beautiful mid-June Friday evening.
I was still invisible as my back rippled and my large bat-like wings emerged, then I broke into a run. When I got to the edge I jumped off into a dive, spread my wings, and caught the air.
Anyone who happened to be on the sidewalk below would have heard my happy giggling as I swooped past above them. With a few more strong beats of my wings I was climbing again, and I banked slightly then started flying west-north-west as I set off for home.
So neither of us got each other's references or jokes whenever we tried to call back to some antiquated facts or details.
What all humans at all times in all places of the world have always found universally funny, is fart jokes. Doesn't matter if it is modern North America , China from 3000 years ago, Pompeii from 2000 years ago, or medieval Europe, we find paintings in books and gaphitti on walls referencing people farting. Just for shits and giggles.
Aaaaw Mira is just sooo adorable!
awwww, lovely