Nigkala Tales Pt. 25: Down but Not Out

"Sheriff, who's in charge here?"

He pointed out someone and said, "Jeremy is."

"He's a doctor?"

"No. He's a paramedic. The doctor is over there, hurt bad."

"What's her name?"

"Doris."

"Come with me." I then walked up to Jeremy. "Jeremy, I'm Helen. I have a gift of healing, and I need your help deciding who to help. Basically triage. Using my gift has a cost for me, so I cannot do everything, but I can do things like sealing wounds, blood vessels, and such. But first I need to work on the doctor. That will give you as much, if not more help than I can, long term. The sheriff can attest I can do the impossible."

"Yeah, Jeremy. She tossed, not just pushed, but tossed, the hotel's AC off the rubble."

"What!"

"Come with me, Jeremy. You'll need to explain to Doris when I fix her up."

Without looking to see if he followed, I went to Doris. She was awake.

"Hello, Doris. I'm here to help fix you up. Can you tell me what's wrong with you that would keep you from patching up others?"

"That's easy. I can't feel anything below my breasts. Jeremy said there was a deep gash there on my back, so I suspect my spinal cord was cut. To be paralyzed for life, no doubt. That will keep me from patching up others. Enough said."

"What else?"

"Hah! Look at my eye. I'm not sure what happened to it, but the pain is awful. Then there is my right hand. I think it got crushed by something. You can see how misshaped it is. Shall I go on?"

"Please do."

"I probably have internal bleeding, and may not last the night. Now go away, and let me die in peace."

"No. I will fix you up, so you can fix others. Now be still. I need to concentrate." I then did just that. She said something, but I just ignored her. I used Inanna's healing to sense the condition she was in, and decided blood was the first thing I needed to fix. I then envisioned the blood returning into the veins and arteries, and pushed Inanna's healing to move it there before repairing the veins and arteries. Now, Doris would not bleed to death. Next, I focused on her spine. This was simpler, in that it was far smaller, yet complex due to the delicate nature of the nerves. Focusing on the severed point, I pulled in Inanna's power to see how it should be, and when I had it, I slowly went over every bit of it from the innermost part outwards, reconnecting the nerves.

When that was done, I went more swiftly, repairing the deep gash. I focused more on tacking bits in place to start the healing, but fully sealing the skin after ensuring all foreign matter was pushed out. Finishing that, I switched my focus to the hand. It was a mess, and nearly every bone was broken. I would have to move things, so I said, "This will likely hurt a bit. Sorry." I then pulled in the vision of it healthy, and pushed Inanna's power to move the bones into place. I also used a little rock power to put in place calcium dust to help the bone heal, before I applied Inanna's power. It took a lot of effort, but I was able to fuse every break until every bone in her hand was as it should be. I took a minute to rest before resuming on the hand. Working this time to reconnect muscle, nerves, and everything else where it needed to be.

When I finished on the hand, I took another minute to rest, before moving to her head. I carefully removed the wrapping, and saw how badly the eye was damaged. But it looked like it was mostly there, just not a round orb that it should be. I placed one hand over it, so others would not have to look at it, but I saw it in even greater detail as I used her power to see it as it was. When I could see everything, I pulled in the healthy vision, and pushed the healing. Again, as I was dealing with nerve tissue, I went slowly in small parts. I also did that when I reformed the cornea and the muscles that controlled it, and the iris. Again, it took a lot of my power to finish. I gave a final once over on her body, but did not see anything major.

After resting for another minute, I said, "Doris, please get up. There is work to do. I must rest a bit now. Jeremy will explain." I then closed my eyes and rested.

"What does she mean, you'll explain?"

"She said she has a gift, but using it costs her. See her resting? I think that's because of what she did for you. Can you move your legs at all?"

"I can feel 'em, so that's better. Let's see... Oh my god! They moved. I can even feel my toes moving. Maybe she did fix my spinal cord." She turned her head to look at her hand. "My eye! I can see out of it. It would take an expert eye surgeon many hours to even try, and she did it in minutes. My hand... it feels normal, and moves normal. Impossible, the hand is very complex. Yet, she did that also. It is a miracle."

I spoke. "Yes, it is. I am also a priestess of Inanna, and it was her power that healed you. I was just the instrument."

She looked over at me, and saw my eyes were still closed. Looking back to Jeremy, she said, "Help me stand." He did.

"Doc? She said she was willing to help, but that I, no we, should triage, as she has a limit to what she can do."

"So I see, let me think... she repaired bone, nerve, and flesh. And well enough to get me operational. I think we need to limit her gift to only that needed to save life, and only when all will live will we ask about anything else. Jeremy. Take me to see everyone here, and explain what you've done and seen. I need to know everything, so we can make those decisions." As they moved and talked, I continued to rest. I nearly zoned out, but when Doris touched my shoulder, I looked up at her and then stood.

"I am ready. Where shall I start?" The two of them led me to patient after patient, in an order they decided, and they explained what was needed to preserve life. For everyone, my first task was to restore the blood to where it belonged and repairing the blood vessels. My second thing was whatever they said to fix. Third, I would force out foreign matter, and cause the skin to seal, tacking any deep cuts internally, so it would heal in the correct position. The last thing was a once over, where I would tell them what other damage I saw. Often it was broken bones, but I let them set those if needed, helping them know when the pieces were aligned properly. Maybe a third of the people left, as they were now walking wounded.

At this point, I walked over to where I had last seen my nanotech outfit. I finally spotted it wadded up beneath a table nearby. I went over to it and picked it up. Heading for the ladies room, I put it on the counter by the sink, and then proceed to take a quick sponge bath to remove the worst of the dirt. When I had finished, and mostly dried myself off, I picked up the bundle, and placed it on my head, so it could connect with the mental interface. The first thing I did was to have it cover me as a simple jumpsuit. Walking out, I went up to one of the restaurant staff.

"Excuse me. I am very hungry, and need to eat, so I can help more. Is there something I can eat?"

They replied, "There's no one working in the kitchen."

"Is there edible food? Anything? I need calories and nutrients. I don't care if it's cold or room temperature."

It took a while, but he finally decided. "Follow me." He led me into the kitchen, and pointed out the refrigerator, and where they stored fresh vegetables. "Please don't make a mess, and use those gloves. I don't want anyone else to suffer should your hands not be clean enough."

"Yes, sir, I'll be careful." I then got three clean plates, and proceeded to pull some food out of the fridge and cupboard. I also found a large glass and filled it with juice. Taking the loaded plates, I found a corner of the kitchen, and wolfed down the food, followed by draining the glass of juice. I put my dirty dishes by the sink in a pile with other dishes, and filled my glass with more juice. After drinking it, I put my glass with the dirty dishes. I returned to the main room and sought the doctor.

"Doctor Doris, I have just eaten, and now I need to sleep. My hotel is demolished, so I will sleep here, over by that back wall and out of the way. Wake me if something urgent is needed. Otherwise, I will do what I can in the morning."

"Goodnight then. I'm sorry, we have nothing better than the floor."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." I headed to the wall, and lay down. Moments later, I was asleep. In the morning, as I began to wake, I heard, "You have done well, daughter."

"My queen, thank you. What can I do for you?"

"Everest noted you were here when the earthquake hit, and told me. We watched you, and saw what you did. I heard what you said to the town guard, and decided to help you. While they all know what you did, they will find it hard to tell another who was not here. You are a hero here. Few understand what you did, and none understand how, but all are thankful. You saved at least twenty who would have died without your exercise of power, and they know it. Wear my symbol as you heal today, and Everest's as you help locate the dead bodies."

"I shall." I felt her awareness depart, and in almost the same moment I smelled someone's breakfast. Looking in that direction, I saw someone heading over to me with several plates of food. They placed them on the nearest table, and told me it was compliments of the staff. I got up and sat at the table after thanking them. When I finished, I stacked the empty plates neatly, and went over to the patients.

The doctor saw me, and met me. "Good morning. I am in your debt; you saved my life, and others. Thank you. How can I help you?"

"I came to help you. I did as little as I could to keep everyone alive, and healthy enough to stay that way. Today, I can spend some time helping repair non-life-threatening injuries. I think we should start with the injuries that cause the most difficulty for the patient. The sooner they are walking wounded, the sooner they can help out and feel useful."

"You are wise." Lowering her voice, she continued, "Let's begin with Roger, here. He has two broken arms. If you heal one, he can at least clean himself after using the bathroom."

I walked behind the doctor, and when I stepped out from behind her, I had Inanna's symbol on, and the outfit configured to a short flowing dress. It even had a caduceus icon over a breast. The doctor raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

"Hello, Roger. I'm Helen. Let me look at you." I placed my hands on his shoulders and closed my eyes. When I looked at Inanna's visions, I saw the bones were broken in three places. "Okay. This may hurt a bit." I then pushed the healthy vision over the current vision. I used my chi to help the bone reform, but noticed I needed a lot less than I expected. While Roger gave out some grunts of pain, he soon was quiet. "Roger, I'm sure they will be tender for a while, but the bones of both arms are now whole. Go easy on them for a bit, or until the doctor says so." I then got up and looked at the doctor.

She understood, and led me to another. While I left many scrapes and bruises, I was able to heal all the broken bones and deep wounds. I also healed some others that had nerve damage, though not nearly as bad as Doris' was. When she indicated that was everyone, I asked if she needed anything. She demurred, saying all she needed was some time to heal. I had already done all she needed. So I departed and headed outside. As I did, I returned Inanna's symbol and summoned Everest's.

I began by returning to the hotel. I began with my life sense to verify no one was still buried. Next, I used my rock sense to scan to find the empty volumes, and the fainter traces of minerals in bone. Once I was able to spot a body, I directed the backhoe where to dig, and how far to go before stopping. While I was helping get the second body recovered, the sheriff came to me.

"Helen, I don't know how you are doing this, but can you look over the other places also? We don't know if anyone else is trapped, or dead."

"Sure. Let me tell people here where to dig for the rest, first."

I grabbed one of the helpers, and pulled him over to the next location. Leaning down, and summoning a stick of chalk, I marked the ground with arrows, and told him they pointed to another body. I also climbed up and put an 'X' directly over the body. Grabbing another, and repeated this process. I figured that would keep them busy for a while.

"Okay, sheriff, let's walk the town, and I will do what I can."

It took nearly two hours to go through the worst of the damage. I found seven more bodies, but no one trapped. I left chalk marks for each. Later that day, two more farmers pulled in with their backhoes, and the recovery went faster. By evening, I hooked back up with the production crew. The director had put a hold for a week on shooting to let the town recover. He did have good news in that the taped scene was intact, and the recharging unit for my outfit was also working.

The next several days, I did what I could to help out. I spent a fair amount of time with the doctor, until the worst injuries were repaired. The sheriff and I inspected buildings to see if they were safe. While we would not actually say they were safe, we reported all issues found. The crew helping out at the hotel site recovered usable material, including guest belongings. On the fourth day, my stuff was recovered, but some items had damage. I secretly repaired most of it late at night. It was great to finally wear my own clothes. The mansion, however, fared far better than the rest of the town. It was solidly built. Likewise, the production trailer camp fared well. Some of the equipment suffered damage, but it looked like insurance would cover it.

Eventually, we finished filming, and all went home, while the film went for post-processing. I sent the town some memorabilia and autographed items to auction off to help support the rebuilding. For the hotel, I added a large investment and asked they put my name on something. They named the hotel restaurant Asher's Place, and even had many promo posters of my films. For their re-opening celebration, I showed up, and signed many autographs.

After settling down a few days, and getting back into my swimming, and exercise routine, I went to visit my friend at the museum. The one I sent the map to.

"Hello, Cathy."

"Becky Sue! Please sit down. I'll clear the clutter and bring up your map. How could you know? I saw the sad news."

"I have certain abilities I don't really mention. This includes some odd ability to sense things. I don't understand how it all works, but I was able to create what you saw. I am just sorry I didn't understand what it really meant until after it happened. But I think your information might have given me a precious few seconds to get people out of the building I was in. It may have saved a few lives, so thank you."

"I am glad to have helped. Tell me, did you actually feel the pressure?"

"I don't know. I've never felt anything like it before. It was just something new, that I knew was important. As to the map, I've never come across such maps before. I have no idea how I knew that skill."

"Well, we do live here in the state known for lots of earthquakes. Maybe you subconsciously remembered something you saw."

"That must be it. Still, I don't usually pay much attention to that kind of stuff."

"However it happened, it certainly proved interesting."

"So it did. Tell me, anything interesting show up at the museum?"

"I can't think of anything, but I hear they are negotiating to get a show of recent artifacts from an Akkadian site." My eyebrows rose at that. "I thought that would pique your interest. If we do get it, I'll give you a call. Given your creds, doctor, I suspect we can get you special access."

"I will look forward to that."

But that is another story...