Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 142: Worth A Fortune

Chapter 142: Worth A Fortune

"Bathing in diamonds and jewels sounds painful, not to mention cold," I said instead, not even wanting to think about soaking in a hot bath with a drink as I watched television.

The man cocked his head to the side, and I could feel something crawling through my head. It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable, but I didn’t like it.

I pictured a brick wall and kicked the entity to the other side of it.

"You are also a spirit user," murmured the man, who I could only assume was one, given his wording.

"Nope, I am a private person who doesn’t care for people digging in places they don’t belong," I shrugged like it wasn’t that big of a deal, but the idea that he might have seen something inside of my head made me want to puke.

"No, you have to be a spirit user. They are the only ones that I cannot get a read on," explained the man with a shake of his head. "A double power user... you would be worth a fortune outside."

"Ah, but that’s the thing, isn’t it? I would be worth a fortune outside of these walls, and there is no way to get me out of here without it killing both of us." I mean, was the man really stupid enough that we were here because we were enjoying the 1-star service? We were here because we couldn’t leave.

Period.

End of story.

"I could get you out," insisted the man as he leaned forward in his chair, trying to get closer to me.

"Let’s say you could. What would you want in return," asked Rip, finally interjecting into the conversation.

The man sat back and studied the two of us, causing me to snort. He came to us, not the other way around. If he thought that we cared one bit about who he was or were concerned that he might think that we were a threat to him, he needed to check his ego at the door.

The cabin wasn’t big enough for it.

"I’m dying," admitted the man finally.

"We are all dying... well, except for the zombies and Reavers, but even they might eventually die from old age," I sneered, not at all impressed.

"I was diagnosed with lung cancer two days before the EMP hit, and I am living on borrowed time. I want to know if you can cure me," he continued as if I hadn’t spoken.

The old me would have jumped on the idea of being able to cure cancer; the smart me knew better. If I took on the ’illness’ that I healed, then I would also be taking on his cancer...

And that sounded like a really dumb idea.

But...

"There is no way for you to be able to get me out of this camp," I said slowly, my brain whirling as I thought about what I wanted. "If there were, there would be no way I would still be here to cure you."

The stranger seemed skeptical like he didn’t believe that there was something in the world he couldn’t do, but he held his tongue.

Smart. I wasn’t in the mood to argue.

"I want a favor," I continued, the words just coming out of my mouth. "If I ever get out of here, I want a favor. And if I can’t cash it in, then Rip gets it instead." If this man held that much power in the outside world, I wanted to take advantage of it.

And if he were lying through his teeth, I would suck his health and vitality out of him and leave him in a pile of ashes at my feet.

"Done," snapped the man quickly, coming to his feet. "I assume that this will take a few days, so I’ll be back tomorrow."

I let out a bark of laughter.

"Sit your ass down, and I’ll do it right now," I said with a sigh as I finally managed to control my laughter. "If Alpha finds out what I am doing, he is going to charge you for it... and I won’t get my price. Or he will start selling my healing abilities to anyone willing to pay for it, which won’t benefit me either."

"But the other healers... it takes them days to heal a broken bone. There is no way you can cure me of fucking lung cancer in less time than it takes to set a bone," stuttered the stranger, looking between me and Rip.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the man. Could the other healers not do what I did? Or did they stop when the pain was too much?

Did it matter? I wasn’t planning on meeting any other healers, so my secret should be safe.

"Hold out your hand and keep your mouth shut," grumbled Rip as he pulled me closer to his chest.

Tentatively, the stranger reached across the space, and Rip dropped my hand on his.

Like every other time I healed someone, my consciousness was sucked into the man’s body. I looked around at everything, trying to find the cancer.

It was a hell of a lot easier than I thought it should have been.

He was in Stage 4, meaning that the cancer had spread to almost every place in his body. I wouldn’t be surprised to know that he only had a few days left to live.

And the pain he was in must have been incredible.

In fact, I was surprised that he could function normally. I had no idea that it was this bad.

I took in a lung full of air and then slowly let it out, letting my power flow out with it.

My stomach took the biggest hit, not surprising given the sheer number of tumors inside of his, but then my lungs refused to work. Each breath I took as I pulled the cancerous cells out of him and brought them into my body was like trying to breathe in a swimming pool full of Jello.

I could hear my body gasping for air as Rip gripped me tighter, but I refused to stop.

I needed to heal him fast so that Alpha had no idea what I was doing.

I unwillingly shuddered at the idea that I could be of more value to Alpha than just healing his fighters.