Healer's Touch Ch. 15

She had a feeling that it had something to do with the fog that had covered the areas where the effected families had come from. So far the terrible results were two adults and three children who had died. She had to steel herself against the pain of it all. She felt so helpless. She was supposed to be this great healer. Why hadn't she been able to save them?

* * * * * * * Charlie stilled, his shirt in his hand. He was in the process of changing his clothes when he felt a devastating wave of despair encompass him. Kat, he realized. He turned to the connecting door and opened it. He strode into her room and saw her sitting on the edge of her bed with a ravaged and defeated look on her face. It was a look that he wanted to erase. Sitting down next to her, he lifted her and set her on his lap holding her closely.

"Charlie," she whispered shakily as she rested her head against his bare chest.

"What's wrong, Hellcat?" he whispered against her hair.

"We lost five today," she said so softly that he could barely hear her.

"I know. I was told. I feel their losses too. "

"I feel responsible for their deaths."

"Nonsense. You did the best you could, Kat. Besides, if you were not here, think of all the deaths that would have occurred. You have saved many with your quick thinking. Without you, we would not have identified the problem or the virus so quickly. Or known what vaccine to get from Earth. Your knowledge and handling has been more than I could have ever dreamed of. You are going to make a wonderful queen. Do you realize what the people have been calling you, Hellkat?" he asked as he settled back against the headboard with her in his arms.

Mutely, she shook her head.

"They have been calling you "Your Highness" when they talk with you even though we are not married yet -- but they are calling you 'The Lady with the Healing Hands'. Don't ever doubt your place here. On Venus we value our healers. We are proud of our healers and grateful for all they do to help those people that are in need. You will see that every where during the Renewal Festival. In my culture, the healers are much more than just doctors, Kat. They are spiritual leaders also. They are there to heal both the mind and the body. Before we go through our ceremony, we will both be attended by gifted healers. I'm sorry that your people don't have the same respect for them that we do."

"Charlie, I am used to the "powers in charge" treating me with contempt. I have been used and discarded by the very people that I helped. When I was in school, I was called on more than once to heal a student that had been "punished". Oh, how I wished then that I didn't have this power.", she whispered softly against his chest.

"Why? Did you regret healing your fellow students?"

"No. But if I hadn't been there maybe the headmistress wouldn't have let the "punishments" go that far. She wouldn't dare."

"Your headmistress beat the students?" The shock was evident in his deep voice.

"Among other things. Sometimes the mental abuse was much worse. And sometimes there were those I couldn't help. I never felt as helpless as I did the time I was called to the clinic to try and heal a young girl that the headmistress had pushed too far."

"Tell me about it, Hellkat. Tell me and then let it go." He coaxed as he rubbed her shoulders and back gently.

"I was sixteen. I had grown accustomed to being wakened in the night to go to the clinic. They never allowed me there during the daylight hours. According to federal law, the "no power" law was still enforced when a child was incarcerated for breaking such a law; so by healing the other students, I was breaking the law."

Charles stiffened under her. He couldn't believe that she was punished for doing the very thing that she was ordered to do .

"When I entered the clinic, I was taken to the isolation room. When I opened the door, I saw blood on the examining table. It was dripping off the table. At first I didn't see anyone. Then I heard a whimper from the corner of the room. Daphine, a girl that had only been at ITS for a few months, was curled up in the corner, whimpering and rocking herself. She had nothing on but an examination gown. When I saw her I knew what had happened. There was a faction of the guards that liked raping the young inmates. The headmistress knew about them and they were her 'punishment of choice' for students that wouldn't use their powers to her benefit."

"Her benefit?" he growled.

"Yes, Daphine could predict the outcome of any sporting event. And the headmistress had a gambling problem. She wanted Daphine to help her. Daphine refused. And when the normal punishments wouldn't make her cooperate, she gave Daphine to the guards. There was one guard in particular that was vicious in his attacks. He liked to hurt the girls, the boys...it didn't matter to him. As long as he got to inflict pain. I wish I had a quarter for every time I was called to heal a student that Guard Chevez hurt." Kat laughed bitterly.

"What happened, Katrina?" he finally asked.

"I went to her. She, of course jerked away from me, not realizing at first who I was. When she did - she begged me not to heal her. Not to give the guards another chance to hurt her again. She wanted to die, Charlie. Chevez had broken more than her body. He had damaged her mind. I stood there in the cold examining room, while Chevez and the headmistress waited for me to heal their newest victim. I knew that if I didn't heal her, that I would be the one in need of a healer. I had no doting parents to care whether or not I had bruises or cuts. No family that would raise an alarm if they came to see me and was told I was unavailable. My punishment for not healing Daphine would be twice as bad as Daphine's."

"So you healed her," Charlie replied.

"No. I couldn't." She took a deep breath. "I stood there and watched as she rocked herself back and forth. And I turned around and left."

"Oh, Kat. What happened?"

"She committed suicide later that night. And I let her."

"You weren't responsible. Did the headmistress punish you?"

"I....I...can't talk about it Charlie," she whispered before closing her eyes.

Charles stared at the ceiling as he held her close, trying to control the urge to kill someone... preferably the headmistress and her guards. He knew that he couldn't force her to talk about what had happened; but it angered him that she had gone through that terrible hellhole. Despite it all - she was still was such a positive person; and that the school had not broken her spirit completely amazed him. He gathered her closer and cuddled her while he listened to her soft breathing even out as she finally slept. Unmoving, he stared at the ceiling for a long time.