The Healer

Chapter One: The Hospital Unit

Asa didn't remember falling asleep, but she must have because the next thing she knew, she was dreaming of a time before the pain. A smile played at her lips as she remembered the days before the wolves came.

"Asa! You better not be swimming alone again, foolish girl!" Her mother's voice was so clear in her head. She could see the lines of worry that had aged her mother even without looking. In her dream state, she could not stop herself from swimming, but inside all she wanted to do was hold her mama just one more time, to say goodbye as she'd never gotten to.

"I'll be inside in a minute, mama. I swim better than the fish. I don't understand why you worry so." Asa huffed, as she lay back treading water. She couldn't hear her mother's response much to her mother's fury.

With one final lap around the lake, she exited the water just as the sun was setting. She watched the way the light moved, the way the colors danced across the sky, never the same as the day before. What a beautiful vision. She couldn't ever imagine watching the sunset from another place on earth.

"Did you hear me, foolish girl?" She gave Asa no time to respond. She threw a towel at her and without missing a beat continued rambling on, "One day when you have a child of your own, heaven forbid, you will understand what worries me so. Some day, you will know the fear of possibly losing the one person you love more than anyone else and I don't mean a romantic love, Asa. There is no love like the love you have for your child. There is no greater love in all the world."

She could still see the seriousness in her mother's deep, blue eyes staring back at her.

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Asa's eyes snapped open. In an instant, she was standing beside the bed scanning the area for any threats. Her daughter was asleep peacefully in a portable bassinet on the other side of the bed. She could smell her, feel her presence. Although it relieved her, it did little to completely ease her mind. She had no idea where she was, she wasn't sure if she'd imagined the two wolves she'd seen or if they had been real. Would they pose a threat to her? She had to be ready either way.

She was in some type of hospital. The potent stench of antiseptic alone could have told her that if it weren't for the array of medical cubicles all around her. Across the way, she could see curtains pulled all the way back, empty perfectly made beds with bedside tables laid neatly over top, a box of unopened tissues, and a chair beside the bed. She couldn't see beyond the curtain to her left, but she was sure the array of cubicles continued down the wall opposite her.

There is no threat here, Asa. Her wolf chided. She pushed her wolf down.

"It's okay," A gentle but firm voice broke through her trance. "You are safe here."

"Who are you?" She barked, moving to stand between her and Luna. The movement gave her a moment to access the woman before her. She was tall and slim, her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun as if in a haste, she had thrown it up and out of the way, her glasses were big and square and constantly sliding down her nose and needing to be adjusted. She was wearing wrinkled red scrubs with a stained white lab coat thrown over it. Asa didn't miss the bags under her bloodshot eyes.

"I'm one of the doctors here. My name is Ella." She said in a reassuring tone, placing her hands carefully in view. "You are in the Northern Pack. Can I ask you what your name is?"

Asa looked deeper into Ella's eyes, reading her in a single stare that sent a shiver down Ella's spine. She'd never seen a soul with such piercing eyes. It was as if she knew all the secrets of the world and she held that burden on her shoulders.

"Asa," she said slowly. "My name is Asa and my daughter," She gestured back at her little girl sleeping peacefully. "Her name is Luna."

She could trust this doctor. She could feel it. There was something in her eyes.

"Asa, It's very nice to meet you. I won't ask you too many questions. I know you just got here and I'm sure you must be confused so I'll try to explain what I know. Will that help?" She said the words slowly as if testing them out.

With a nod of approval, Ella dove in. "First, are you okay? I was told you took a hard fall in the forest with your baby in your arms. I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of looking over your daughter already and she's perfectly fine." Ella paused again and waited for another nod of approval which she received. "Okay, good. Now, I'd like to examine you for any injuries. I know you just met me and I'm sorry to be so brash, but even if Alpha had not commanded me to look you over, as a good doctor I would anyway just to be sure you are okay."

Asa just raised her eyebrows and nodded. She'd heard good things about the northern Pack and although she was no where near ready to trust them, it seemed a big enough place to hide with her daughter until she figured out a more permanent solution.

"Was it your intention as well to remain here? I'm sure you know that any non- pack member that wishes to remain a permanent resident must be interviewed by the Alpha himself and examined by a medical professional such as myself? Mostly, they are formalities and I don't mean to overwhelm you-- Oh, dear. I'm talking too much again." Ella paused at the look of fear that crossed Asa's face. "Please don't listen to me. I ramble on and on when I'm tired."

Ella adjusted her glasses once again, took a deep breath and pointed to the drawer built into the bed. She approached slowly and pulled a white sheet and a hospital gown out for Asa.

Asa opened her mouth in gratitude, but the room was beginning to spin. Her body was exhausted all over again. She was vaguely aware of Ella's surprisingly strong arms reaching out to catch her as she fell.

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Asa awoke in the hospital bed again, but this time Ella was asleep in the chair beside her, glasses perched on the edge of her nose, mouth wide open and snoring. Her daughter wasn't anywhere around her and for a moment, Asa's heart dropped to her stomach.

"Your daughter is here, hunny." An older woman Asa hadn't noticed was standing beside her bed with a clipboard. She moved the curtain to the right of her bed aside to reveal yet another worker in scrubs, holding her daughter and feeding her a bottle. "She was hungry and mama needed her rest."

A firm but gentle hand pushed Asa back down into the bed. "Please excuse our Ella. She's been working the midnight shift too many nights in a row and she simply refused to leave after you collapsed. Wanted to make sure you were alright."

She scribbled something down on the clipboard, reached up to check the IV bag and then eyed Asa overtop her glasses. "Now, my name's Miriam. I'll hear of none of this getting out of bed business until you've finished this bag of fluids. You are severely dehydrated, young lady." She scribbled something else down and then took Asa's hand much to her discomfort. "Holly over there is the nurse who is taking care of your baby. Holly will stay in your sight with your baby at all times, okay? No one is going to take or keep that baby from you. You understand, sugar?"

Somehow, the woman's words reassured Asa and she nodded and relaxed into the pillows. The IV in her hand was mildly uncomfortable, but nothing she couldn't handle. She wanted nothing more than to reach for her baby, but the doc was right. She needed to rest up and re-hydrate. She was in no fit condition to do much of anything right now.

Sighing, she took another look at her baby, already sleeping on Holly's shoulder. She was okay with her. Her eyes shifted to Miriam who was watching her over her glasses again. "Rest up, now. We're going to take care of you." Once more, Asa's eyes shifted to Ella.

"She'll be awake, next time you wake up, sugar." Miriam said reassuringly.

Asa nodded and laid back. She was asleep before her head hit the pillows.