The Sacrificial Love of an Immortal

by Kurtis Eckstein

  Heidi was devastated at first, crying violently, afraid it was too late. Afraid that it was hopeless – that even she couldn’t bring her sister back from this. After all, she had never tried to heal someone so close to death.

  Heidi’s only hope – her ONLY hope – came from Sam, who claimed that her astral form was still in her body. None of them had any idea if that meant Lexi could recover or not, since no one really knew what an astral form was exactly. Was it a soul? Or something else? After all, almost everything seemed to have an astral form, but it was enough for Heidi.

  Enough for her to give it her all, to pour out everything she had, to save her sister’s life.

  But still, she had never tried to heal something like this.

  She had no idea it would be this rough. Her body was begging her to stop, an instinct of self-preservation triggering as she began rapidly starving to death even though she had already eaten so much.

  If only she could digest her food faster.

  She even had her own IV now, feeding her literal sugar-water that they normally gave people with low-blood sugar.

  Dextrose 5% in water.

  It was the reason why Sam had left the room, to request they hook her up with another bag in the other arm. Because one wasn’t enough.

  She felt like she was fighting a losing battle, beginning to kill herself in an effort to revive her sister.

  If only she could target her ability, but unfortunately her power didn’t work like that. A person could have a minor scrape on their knee, along with a broken arm, and her ability would still heal both all at once, all at the same pace.

  Which meant by the time Heidi could heal all the internal damage threatening her sister’s life, the external damage would be repaired too. If only she could localize her ability, then she could have stabilized her sister’s life first, and then taken a break before working on the exterior stuff that wasn’t as life-threatening.

  If only this blessing hadn’t come with such a curse.

  A curse to heal all cells in a person’s body, giving them all equal treatment even though they weren’t all equally important.

  Heidi felt bad for having asked everyone else to wait in the lobby, especially so, since she knew Rose wanted to be there for her, but she had to focus. She couldn’t afford any distractions. She had already spent too much time distracted, bawling her eyes out at the sight of her sister when now it was more important than ever that she be level-headed.

  Ironically, it was Sam who snapped her out of it, though she still didn’t fully understand what he had done to her. She recalled him wrapping an invisible limb around her chest tightly, speaking in a firm yet somber voice, telling her to get to work.

  Something about the look in his eye, the way his voice sounded, the way it felt to have him wrapped around her – her demolished world stabilized, her agonizing emotions turning sober as the world seemed to snap into focus.

  She clawed away at the gauze and got to work, just as he demanded.

  In that moment, she had unexpectedly found herself both hyperalert and distant all at once. Like she had never been more present in the world than ever before, while simultaneously feeling like she had never been so detached from reality.

  Now, her entire existence had become dedicated to this one purpose.

  Nothing else mattered.

  Nothing.

  Heidi barely noticed when the door opened behind her, before automatically becoming annoyed when a male nurse shuffled in like he hadn’t a care in the world. He had just arrived barely an hour ago, switching out the original nurse as they changed shifts, so he hadn’t necessarily earned the hatred.

  Yet.

  But she was beyond irritable, her deteriorating condition causing her to experience many of the associated symptoms.

  Like a bad case of being hangry.

  She was pissed at everything and almost everyone right now, especially herself, and she had even been short with Sam, though she tried hard not to be. At least he didn’t seem to care.

  But the medical staffs’ attitudes certainly didn’t help. Granted, Sam and Freya hadn’t exactly asked for permission before doing whatever the hell they wanted, even despite the doctors being possessive with their patient.

  Possessive with her sister.

  ‘You can’t just do what you want with my patient,’ a doctor had said. ‘We have rules–’

  ‘You can shove your rules up your ass,’ Sam had replied, while Heidi was still a blubbering mess.

  Now, she wished she had the energy to tell them off too. But she was ironically irritable and lethargic.

  “Damn,” the male nurse said unexpectedly from beside her, examining Lexi’s face which was visible now thanks to a doctor coming in a couple of hours ago to see underneath the gauze. “I was just in here forty minutes ago, and she already looks a lot better. Like, I can actually see the change.”

  Heidi didn’t respond, just wanting him to stick another IV in her and get the hell out.

  “Although,” he continued. “You also look a lot worse,” he added, holding up an IV bag in his hand. “I’ve never seen someone lose so much weight so quickly, and I’m not sure it’s wise for us to encourage you doing this to yourself. Maybe–”

  Heidi instantly snapped, her lavender gaze lighting up in fury. “Just shut the hell up and stick me already!” she shrieked.

  The guy, not much older than her, took a step back in surprise. “I’m just saying, maybe you should at least take a break or som–”

  She cut him off. “I’ll take a damn break when my sister isn’t dying anymore! Now, if you’re not going to give me another IV then get the hell out of the room!”

  “Shit, calm down,” the guy hissed, setting the bag down on the bed as he pulled out an IV kit from one of the many pockets in his light blue scrubs. However, instead of beginning to open it up, he set it on the bed and went for a meter on the wall used to test blood sugar.

  “It’s LOW!” Heidi snapped again.

  He hesitated before returning to her side, neglecting to double check her levels. However, just as he began opening up the IV kit, the door burst open as Sam and Freya both rushed in.

  Sam’s voice was surprisingly harsh as he spoke up first. “There a problem here?” he snapped in an authoritative tone Heidi had never heard him use before.

  The nurse froze. “N-No sir,” he retorted. “Just getting the IV started.”

  “Heidi?” Sam asked.

  She sucked in a sharp breath, trying as hard as she could to be nice, especially since she had never appreciated someone’s help so much as she did his right now. “I’m fine,” she said through her teeth, her general irritability preventing her from managing a nicer response.

  Sam didn’t reply verbally, instead his astral limbs around her hands tightening ever so slightly. And yet the simple gesture said more than a thousand words ever could.

  Heidi barely heard Freya whisper something to him, before he told Heidi he would be right back, and they both left the room.

  The nurse scoffed quietly as he began putting the orange rubber tourniquet on her emaciated bicep. “I get that all of you are stressed, but your boyfriend doesn’t have to be such an ass.”

  Heidi’s trembling unexpectedly picked up a little, shocked that the nurse thought that. There were freaking two other women here with Sam, and yet that was what this guy assumed? Maybe it was because he and the previous female nurse had walked in when Sam was feeding her? Or maybe they thought him placing his warm hand on the back of her neck was affection?

  Or maybe this guy was just fishing for information, trying to find out if she was single.

  Either way, she wasn’t in the mood to talk. The guy was plenty handsome, and overall really nice if she was being honest, but boys were the last thing on her mind right now. Of all the places to meet someone, this was the worst. She just wanted him to do his job and get the hell out already.

  Her willpower was being stretched too thin.

 
; Normally, she would share the energy requirement with the person she was healing, but with this?

  Her sister’s body had been so badly damaged that it didn’t have the reserves, which meant Heidi had to shoulder the entire burden, or risk leaving her sister’s body incapable of repairing itself. And unfortunately she couldn’t siphon energy from a third person – it was either share the burden with whoever she was healing or else accept it all herself.

  Which meant it was truly beginning to feel like she was killing herself to heal her sister, and each moment was becoming agonizing as she battled her body’s own desire for self-preservation.

  A slow, painful sacrifice, to save another’s life.

  To save her sister’s life.

  ❖ ❖ ❖

  Sam Archer

  January 16, 2735 – 3 Hours Later – Middle of the Night

  I carefully set Heidi’s limp form down in the hospital bed to what would likely be her room for the next twenty-four hours, only to take a step back as the three female nurses went to work getting her dressed in a hospital gown, since she had officially been admitted to the hospital now.

  The male nurse who had been overseeing Lexi’s care for the night shift had come with me, and was outside the room right now giving a report to the woman who would be taking care of Heidi. I knew a doctor would be by too, though ultimately there wasn’t a lot they could do for her since her body would heal itself given enough time and food.

  Still, it was difficult to see her like this.

  Her eyes were sunken in, her cheek bones protruding, and what little muscle she used to have was withered away, never mind any fat she had previously. At this point, her thighs were skinnier than Rose’s, who was a healthy weight for her age, which was obviously saying something.

  No grown woman should be so emaciated that a child’s legs and arms were larger.

  It was disturbing.

  She was practically all skin and bone.

  Yet, I knew there would have been no stopping her. No one was going to be able to convince Heidi to let her sister die, when she had the power to save her.

  At least, no one except herself.

  At one point, a couple hours ago, she had finally broken down and started sobbing, the strain pushing her past her limits. She might have let go too, had my astral limbs not been holding her hands in place.

  Instead, she began chanting almost incoherently, “I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it,” while shaking her head.

  Being that it was just the two of us in the room, I knelt down behind her and wrapped my arms around her thin waist to give her a reassuring hug, telling her she was almost there. Almost done.

  Just a little more.

  It took me hugging her for a few minutes before she regained her composure, and continued with renewed determination.

  Because I was right – she was almost done, and I knew she’d never forgive herself if she quit.

  But now she was like this – barely anything left of her former self.

  One of the nurses glanced at me, having the composure of being the lead on this floor, both in how she carried herself, as well as how she interacted with the others. She cleared her throat when I didn’t pay her any attention, only speaking when I glanced in her direction.

  “And what’s your relation to the patient?” she asked.

  “A friend,” I replied simply, knowing what was coming. We had already broken a lot of their rules and ‘policies’ for how they handled visitors, especially at night. Her next words didn’t surprise me.

  “Well, hospital policy allows for one visitor at night, though usually it has to be a family member or significant other. We’ll have to ask you to come back in the morning during–”

  “No,” I retorted firmly, giving her a hard look.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said no,” I repeated. “She isn’t a normal patient.”

  “I don’t care if she’s not a normal patient,” she said firmly. “Hospital policy–”

  “Are you going to wake her up every hour to feed her?” I demanded. “Because that’s what she needs to get better. She’s a regenerator, but she needs to eat. If I let you have your way, then you’ll just get distracted with another patient, and leave her in here by herself for a couple of hours. She needs one-on-one care, and I’m more than qualified to provide the basic necessities she needs to get better.”

  Unexpectedly, the woman who was taking over Heidi’s care popped her head in, still getting report from the guy. Her brown hair was pulled back in a bun, with strands falling along the sides of her cheeks. She seemed wide awake despite the hour, unlike a couple of the other nurses who appeared like they could really use a cup of coffee.

  Her voice was kind as she spoke. “Oh Shannon, the hospital admin on-call gave them special permission, but…” She paused to look at me. “Yes, I will wake her up every hour to feed her, and take her to the bathroom too as often as she needs. I only have three patients and the other two shouldn’t need much during the night, so Ms. Stockton will receive most of my attention. There’s no need for you to worry. You can go home and get some sleep. We’ll take good care of her.”

  “I don’t sleep,” I replied evenly.

  She blinked at me briefly. “Like, at all?” she asked in disbelief.

  “No.”

  She hesitated for a moment. “Well, either way, I’ll take good care of her. I promise. Besides, if you’re only a friend, then I’m not sure she would appreciate having you take her to the bathroom.”

  I considered that for a moment.

  She was probably right, not to mention I doubted Freya or Lily would appreciate that either. They were fine with me helping Heidi out, but that would definitely be crossing a line. Plus, the sincerity in both this nurse’s tone and expression made me believe her.

  She really would take good care of Heidi.

  “Fine,” I agreed. “But then, that means I expect she’ll be back to normal by morning.”

  The nurse nodded politely. “If she heals that fast, provided she has adequate nutrition, then yes – that sounds about right.”

  I scratched the back of my head briefly, before taking a deep breath as I took a step towards her in order to leave the room. “I’ll be back later then.” I glanced at the guy as I walked by. “And thanks for taking care of both her and Lexi,” I added, knowing he had been a big help. I had been a little short with him earlier, just because I was stressed in general, but I wasn’t unaware of his involvement in making sure Heidi got what she needed on the medical side of things. He had certainly been a lot more proactive than the previous nurse who pretty much wrote us off after we took over the situation.

  Apparently, none of the nurses had realized who Heidi was, because I heard one of them whisper to another. “Wait, Lexi? As in Lexi Stockton? Is this girl related to her?”

  I supposed the guy hadn’t mentioned his other patient, which made sense considering this place had pretty strict rules about patient confidentiality. Like, people could get fired if they shared unnecessary information, especially when it involved a VIP patient.

  I wasn’t worried about anyone getting in trouble though. If anything, maybe they would be extra diligent in taking care of Heidi if they knew her connection to Lexi.

  When I got back to where Freya and Lily were waiting in the lobby on Lexi’s floor, I saw that Rose had finally fallen asleep in Lily’s arms. Our daughter had complained repeatedly that she didn’t like the way Lily smelled, but Freya reassured her that it was probably just the drug they had given her, and that it should go away within the next day.

  Freya explained to me in passing that while alcohol was more noticeable in its ability to affect a person’s scent, most drugs had a similar effect for those who had a more sensitive nose.

  Lily didn’t seem to mind, knowing they weren’t suggesting that she smelled bad, but just that the scent was slightly different than they were used to.

  Granted, Lily’s orange irises wer
e still stationary, and pretty dull compared to normal, so it appeared that Rose must have gotten over her issue with the smell considering where she had ended up passing out.

  “So what’s the plan?” Freya asked when I walked into the room full of empty chairs.

  I sighed. “Well, the nurse over there reassured me that she would give Heidi all of her attention, so I guess let’s go home so the three of you can get some sleep, and then come back in the morning. Hopefully both of them will be awake and ready to be discharged by then.”

  Freya nodded in agreement, taking a deep breath herself, before getting up and bending over to collect Rose out of Lily’s arms. Our daughter didn’t even so much as stir, being like a limp rag doll as Freya readjusted her in her arms.

  The sight of her angelic sleeping face, especially her small nose and mouth, caused both a warm happiness along with a pang of agony from the memory of another little girl I missed so desperately. It was almost enough to make my eyes sting, but as usual I quickly shifted my thoughts before the pain slipped into my expression. And, as usual, no one noticed that anything significant had occurred in my heart.

  We were all quiet on the way home, with the three of them being exhausted from all the stress, combined with the late hour. Freya spent the whole trip staring out the window silently.

  I had heard the expression, ‘When it rains, it pours,’ and to this day I was amazed at just how true that phrase seemed. Nothing significant would happen in my life for months, even years, and then everything seemed to happen all at once – both the good and bad.

  And the last ten hours had turned out to be one hell of a day.

  I just hoped it was over now.

  I tried not to be superstitious, but the whole idea that ‘bad things come in threes’ was weighing on my mind. I knew that people just had the tendency to see patterns, and yet I couldn’t help feeling tense about the possibility that some other unseen event might happen.

  It didn’t help that my astral trailing unexpectedly jarred me when we pulled into our subdivision, with a ghost of Lily driving my green Mustang passing me on the road. After the initial shock, I was glad to know that my ability would have helped had Lily been kidnapped by the shadow organization, though ideally such an event would never happen again.