A Healer's Soul

Prologe

Non-binary. That word probably described Cloud best. They didn't always look androgenous, but still didn't fit into any category. It wasn't just that they didn't like the stereotypes of men and women, but more that they didn't feel like either of those. Cloud was rather ordinary, except for their queerness. They had a stable job in a Brooklyn library and spent their off-time running a youth-center for LGBTQIA+ youth. Though everyone was welcome as long as they're respectful. They also provided counseling to the youth if they needed anyone to talk to.

Cloud was walking down the street, when they saw one of the kids who frequently come to the youth-center and decided to stop for a chat. "Hey, Lou", Cloud said when they were close enough. Lou looked up and smiled once they spotted Cloud:" Hi. How are you?" "I'm good. How about you?", Cloud asked back. Lou suddenly looked kinda down. "I've had a rough day", she responded. Cloud immediately went into their protective mode. "Do you wanna talk about it?", they asked. Lou nodded.

A few minutes later they were situated in a close by park, both with a to-go coffee in hand. Turns out that apparently Lou's parents weren't the most supportive, to put it nicely, and since she's out she constantly gets into an argument with them. Lou and Cloud talked for a while and since it was September it started getting dark earlier.

Cloud offered to walk Lou home, since it was already getting kinda dark and well... it would be a bit safer. Lou was about to refuse, but Cloud gave her a look, that told her that they wouldn't take a no. After that was done Cloud started to make their own way home. Hands stuffed in the pocket of their denim jacket, fiddling with their taser. Cloud was against violence and hated the gun laws in america, but they weren't dumb enough to go without protection.

The next day was pretty normal. Cloud spent their day working at the library until 1 pm. After that they spent two hours relaxing at their apartment. Once it hit 3 pm they headed to the Youth-center. They started opening up the center. It was basically a café, but a lotta queer stuff hung around, like flags and posters. And of course it was a safe space.

Cloud also checked that the emergency room was stocked. It was a small room in the back where they had stuff for medical attention and all of the volunteers who worked at the center knew first aid. It didn't happen that often, but sometimes a queer teen would stumble in having been beaten up by some homophobe/ their parents.

Around 3:30 pm Niall, one of the workers, came in and together with Cloud started setting up the counter. Normally the opening times were around 4 pm, but a bit before that someone bang at the door, so Cloud went to open it.

In stumbled Lou. Her clothes were tattered and she had a gash across her fore head. Cloud immidiatly was shocked and started guiding Lou to the backroom. They sat her down on the bench there. Cloud quickly send a text to Niall, telling him that he'll be on his own for a bit.

(A/N: Mentions of physical abuse and blood skip to ** if you feel like that could trigger you)

Cloud started tending to Lou's wounds. "What happened?", they asked her softly. Lou was silent for a bit before answering:" My dad was drinking while watching football. I was walking by and he started an argument with me. I wasn't about to back down and then I said something he apperently didn't like and... He hit me." She started sobbing half way through. Cloud paused treating the wound and took her in their arms. "Just know that this isn't your fault. No matter your actions he shouldn't have hit you", Cloud said. They were no stranger to such things happening and also no stranger to the thoughts that came with it. They wished they could do something to help Lou's situation, but it was up to the girl if she wanted to go to authorities.

The girl sobbed for a while, while Cloud hugged her and patted her back trying to comfort the teenager. After a while Lou got more quiet and eventually passed out. Cloud laid her down on the bench and noticed that at some point the gash started to bleed again. They only though their shirt was wet because of the tears. Turns out it was a mixture of tears and blood.

**

Cloud imideatly forgot almost everything they learned about head injuries and bloodloss. They found a pillow and put it under Lou's head in an attempt to stabilise it somewhat. Cloud wipped out their phone again and sent a stressed out text to Niall, only one word with a typo: Help

Cloud had been too busy comforting the girl to notice something wrong and they were angry at themselves for not noticing while also being paniced since they don't know how long Lou had been bleeding out. They tried to calm themselves and remember anything that could help. Pressure... Applying pressure too wounds to stop bleeding was good, right?

Cloud pulled on a glove and then pressed their hand on the wound, but not too much pressure since they didn't want to make the situation worse. They heard the clicking of the door behind them. "What's happening?", aked Niall calmly. He was always better with emergencys than Cloud. Right when they were about to open their mouth their hand started to glow in a soft yellow light.

Cloud tried to take their hand away, but it only worked after a brief moment. When they could see what had happened, the wound was healed. Cloud looked even more panicked to Niall. "What just happened?!", they screeched in fear. Niall took a cautious step closer to them. "Are you in pain", he asked carefully. "No..", Cloud answered relaxing a tiny bit.

"Okay. Take deep breaths. Tell me five things you can see in this room", Niall asked Cloud. He knew a few tactics on how to deal with panic attacks and had already helped Cloud a few times with theirs. "Um.. You, the chair, the door, the cabinet with medical stuff and the bench", they avoided looking at Lou until they'd relaxed, because that would just trigger them again.

"Good. Now 4 things you can feel?", Niall continued. With all senses until Cloud was relativly calm again. "Okay. Now tell me what happened", Niall asked while starting to do more thourough checks on Lou than just visual.

Cloud started to explain the situation. "How did you do the glowing thingy?" "Honestly I don't know. I kinda just hoped that she'd be fine and imagined it and.. it happened?", They replied more questioning than answering.

"Okay...",Niall replied, think for a second before continuing,"We should probably keep this between us. Who knows what'll happen if anyone finds out."

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Wordcount: 1174