The Elementalist

10. The Little Nurse Who Gossiped

The Little Nurse Who GossipedVoi regained consciousness, groggily peeling her eyes open with no idea as to her whereabouts. She craned her neck to look around, though found her body was too weary and gave up. Instead, she lay back on a pillow then stared up at a vaguely familiar plaster ceiling.

“She’s awake,” a male voice announced. He came and leaned over Voi, the cuffs of his work shirt rolled up on his veiny arms. Beads of perspiration gathered on his forehead as his deep blue eyes searched Voi’s imploringly.

“Is she moving? Can you see the color of her eyes?” A small woman with light brown hair, wearing a denim dress with a white apron, shuffled to the bed. “Oh, I hope they aren’t rolled back… Here, move. Let me see.”

The room felt uncomfortably warm and stuffy to Voi. She tried murmuring this, though no one seemed to hear.

The other woman leaned in, a stethoscope around her neck, and she kept urging the man to move out of the way. Once he’d obliged, she shined a bright light into Voi’s eyes, from which Voi winced. “Sorry, I know it’s unpleasant.” Still, the woman pulled one of Voi’s eyelids open.

Voi squirmed a little.

Finished, the woman switched off the light then held her index finger before Voi’s face, moving it back and forth. “Can you follow my finger with your eyes?”

Voi did this, though it didn’t make her feel any more connected to the world or the people around her. She realized that her breathing was shallow, her skin clammy.

“Hmm… no outwardly negative side effects from your Initiation. Good. Now, try wiggling your fingers—or even an arm, if you’re feeling bold.”

Voi looked down at her right arm then blinked at it a few times before managing to lift it a few inches off the bed. The act took so much energy, however, that she let it fall back onto the sheets with a moan.

“That was very good, Voi. Thank you.”

The stranger’s voice comforted Voi, despite it being unfamiliar. Still, she felt so confined in the room. Her room. “The window… will you open the window, please?”

The woman paused and looked at Voi with a blank expression. “The window?”

“Yes, it’s too stuffy in here! I need air.”

“Got it.” The man was already halfway to the window.

Realizing she’d been too slow to interpret her patient, the woman blushed. “Oh, right, your element is… air. Sorry, I just thought—I mean I’ve never actually met someone who could manipulate—”

The man flashed her a stern look, shaking his head.

She cringed. “Erm, never mind. Say, Voi, how are you feeling? Physically, I mean.”

Voi stroked her throat and croaked. “I feel like I’m going to suffocate.”

“Probably just a psychological side effect from the Initiation, though I’ll check your breathing, just to be sure.” She reached through the neckline of Voi’s flannel nightgown and placed the chest piece of her stethoscope above Voi’s right breast.

Voi sucked in air sharply, shocked by the cold metal, then let it out again at a nod from the nurse.

“Try that again, more fluidly this time.”

Voi took a deep breath then let it out slowly.

The woman moved the chest piece across to a new position. “Good. Again.”

Voi repeated this several times until the nurse leaned back in satisfaction, pulling the ear tips of her stethoscope away and allowing the tubes to fall around her neck. “Your breathing is perfectly fine. Your lungs are clear. I think you just need some rest, maybe something relaxing to take your mind off the Initiation.”

Frustrated, Voi turned her head towards the window, desperate to suck in the crisp, fresh air flowing into the room. She took deep breaths, afraid she would stop breathing again. In and out. Again. In, out. Faster. In-out. In-out. In— A small hand rested on Voi’s forearm and she jumped, her eyes widening as her heart beat wildly.

The nurse smiled at Voi, shushing her. “Everything is going to be fine.” She took Voi’s hand and stroked it, all the while maintaining direct eye contact.

With each stroke, Voi’s body grew more resistant to rapid blood flow, her nerves soothed and her breathing calmed. She squeezed the nurse’s hand, returning a grateful smile.

“There, there, now,” said the young woman. “Is that better?”

Voi gave a soft hum of agreement.

The man stood at the foot of Voi’s bed with his hands in his pockets. “Still feeling off?”

“A little.” Voi took him in with languid eyes. She found his presence to be soothing—grounding even. “Have we met before?”

He laughed. “Yeah, like a week ago.”

“No, I mean… before then.”

He frowned. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“I… I suppose not.” She looked away. “I don’t feel as if I’m entirely here right now.”

He flashed a questioning look at the nurse.

“That’s typical,” she said, “after an Initiation. It will pass. It just takes time.” Her expression turned quizzical. “Why do you think you met him before last week?”

Voi looked away. She couldn’t put it into words, but somehow, she felt very much transformed from the inside out. In fact, she was no longer sure who she was supposed to be on the outside—for on the most elemental level, Voi felt inexplicably connected not just to the physical world itself but also to a greater continuum of existence. The past, the present, even glimpses of the future, were all a part of her now but… unclear, in bits and pieces. And for some strange reason, this man before her was one of those pieces.

Presently, Voi was having difficulty ignoring the pulses in the air which betrayed the emotions emanating from the nurse and the man, pulses she’d sensed marginally as other people’s ‘auras’ before. But now, that same feeling was amplified, eddies of human emotion radiating throughout the aether: the nurse’s anxious desire to please, the man’s subtle need to gauge Voi’s state of mind…

It was all so distracting.

“Mr. Callahan!” she said with a sudden burst of energy, causing him to jump. “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Hey, take it easy. Here.” He gestured to the nightstand. “I brought you some tea with a tomato and basil sandwich, in case you’re thirsty. Or hungry.” He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing at his own unease. “Or both, I suppose.”

Voi started in consternation at the sandwich momentarily then laughed. “Aw, that’s very thoughtful of you, Mr. Callahan. Thank you.”

There was a hint of bashfulness in his expression before he looked away. The other woman gave them both vague looks, though she said nothing.

Voi took in a silent breath, secretly anticipating the scent of his cologne, though she sighed when she couldn’t detect it. Perhaps this was something to be grateful for, as she wouldn’t be tempted to swoon again with nostalgia. Still feeling somewhat disoriented, Voi began tentatively, “Say, how long have I been… um…”

“Unconscious?” Mr. Callahan finished. “A few days—three days and two nights, to be exact.”

Her mouth dropped open.

“Don’t worry; we spoke to the museum and your colleagues at the field. If anyone asks, I’m just writing a story about your father’s missing unit. Dr. Moore suggests you take at least a week to recover.”

“One week?” Why, she’d already lost three days! How was she supposed to resuscitate AeroTaxi if she was sitting in bed all day like a helpless loafer?

Mr. Callahan acknowledged Voi’s disagreeable expression with a hearty laugh. “Alright, maybe sooner. I don’t know; we’ll have to wait and see what the nurse says.”

Unexpectedly drawn in by his endearing smile, Voi’s cheeks flushed, and she quickly looked away. She distracted herself by pulling her hair over her shoulder to comb her fingers through its strands, disengaging the tangles that had gathered during three days of bed rest.

Thankfully, Mr. Callahan turned back to the other woman, who took the cue and rejoined them. “This is Laura,” he said. “She’s a nurse; she’ll be looking after you.”

Seeing shyness and warmth in the woman’s smile, Voi returned the gesture, suspecting they would get along fine. She snapped forward again when she remembered the diplomat in the barn. “Wait, what happened to Ms. Furlan?”

“She, uh…” Mr. Callahan reconsidered his words. “She’ll be alright. Honestly, she’s still trying to figure out what happened herself.”

“Did I hurt her? I didn’t mean to!”

Mr. Callahan gently eased Voi back with a hand on her shoulder. “Milia’s been through worse. Trust me, she’ll be fine.” He gave her a reassuring smile.

Voi nodded, allowing herself to rest, though she began to wonder at the power behind the shock wave she’d generated that day. To think that she was capable of something of that magnitude… well, it frightened her to consider what else Milia might teach her to do.

“The Initiation tends to be an unusually dramatic display of an elementalist’s capabilities,” said Mr. Callahan. “It’ll take a few months, perhaps years, for you to recreate something like that. For now, you’ll start small then work your way up in terms of the strength of your abilities.”

Voi’s gaze shifted between Laura and Mr. Callahan, unsure as to the nurse’s standing with Sector One. “Is she… you know?”

Laura looked at the clairvoyant.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “She’s one of us.”

Voi sighed.

Mr. Callahan rose from the bed. “I need to get going. I’ve got a deadline to meet tonight, and I still have another interview to do before my story is… well, a story.”

“What kind of story?” Laura asked, her eyes alight.

“I’ve been looking into the recent influx of immigrants coming from North and South Darmoil, their reasons for leaving… that sort of thing. A lot of it has to do with the shifting politics between the regions—what they anticipate the reality of life will be like once Darmoil rejoins the League again—but the situation is complex. It’s an ongoing column I’ve been working on for a few months now.”

“I see…” Laura gave a half-hearted, not-really-that-interested smile. Voi, however, was unconsciously leaning towards the journalist, stretching out her neck as she waited for more.

“Anyway, take care, ladies. Miss Román.” Mr. Callahan nodded to Voi before gathering his coat and hat from a nearby chair.

Voi watched with particular interest as he picked up a large case and a leather briefcase. When he went downstairs and let himself out the front door, she listened carefully to his footsteps receding.

“He seems a nice enough catch,” said Laura, “despite what he’s been through.”

Voi started, soon noticing Laura’s deviously arched eyebrow. “Oh! Well, I wasn’t… I mean I wasn’t thinking about…” She cleared her throat, fiddling distractedly with the bedsheets. “To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I trust him.”

Laura lowered herself onto the bed. “Why not?”

“Well, one moment he’s intimidating and brusque; the next he’s relaxed and sympathetic. It’s like he’s constantly choosing which mask to wear, which parts of himself he wants to reveal. It’s almost as if he’s hiding something.”

“Don’t take it personally,” said Laura. “It’s not just you he treats that way, from what I hear.”

“Oh?”

“It’s easy to feel left out of the loop with mentalists; they’re always sensing and ‘seeing’ things most people don’t pick up on. Ronny’s empathic, too, which means he can pick up on other people’s emotions like they’re his own. He has to psychically shield himself around others to protect himself. It can be tiring and confusing, making sense of where the emotions are coming from and whether they belong to someone else.”

“I see.” Voi looked away, thinking about this.

“I’ve heard other things about Agent Callahan too, you know.” Instead of divulging this information, however, Laura went over to a weathered doctor’s bag on the chair in the corner of the room, placing her stethoscope inside.

“Like what?” asked Voi.

“Oh, you know, just… rumors.” Laura cast a furtive glance over her shoulder as she gathered her belongings.

Voi sat up. “Oh, come on. Stop being a tease and spill the beans!”

“Oh, alright.” She pulled up the chair and sat down, staring back at Voi with her impish hazel eyes.

“Well?” Voi prompted.

Seeing Voi’s impatience, the nurse grinned, far too pleased with herself. “I heard that before Mr. Callahan became an agent for Sector One, he was something of a playboy.”

“You don’t say…”

Laura shifted in her chair and spoke quickly. “You see, Agent Callahan used to visit all the hottest cabaret shows in Apexia and abroad. He liked to travel, being a fledgling, young journalist. Taken with all the visually stimulating delights, he couldn’t contain himself to watching anymore, so he started dating a half-Borellian, half-Maelt showgirl.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, she wasn’t very trustworthy.”

Voi furrowed her brow. “Why? What did she do?”

“Well, that vamp lured audiences all over the world with her exotic sword dances and fiery acts. Fitting for a redhead, wouldn’t you say? I heard she even entertained Emperor Fyupei and was declared by his imperial majesty as ‘the most beautiful woman in all the West,’ and how! That snake could conjure the dirtiest secrets from men without them ever realizing their mistake. The League saw a use for a woman like that. Anyhow, she ultimately proved to be—pardon my language—a backstabbing whore.”

Voi cringed. “That’s not polite.”

“Well, it’s true!” said Laura, unabashed. “Turned out she was working for the Haran, or so she claimed; the League never officially confirmed this, you see, because that would be bad for ‘world peace.’” She leaned in, covering her mouth as she whispered, “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this job, it’s that if the League is being vague about a thing, then it’s probably true!”

Voi thought for a moment then asked, “Well, what do you think happened, Laura?”

“I think she was working for them all along, and Agent Callahan caught her red-handed. Played everyone for a fool.” Laura shook her head, a pitiful look on her face. “Now he’s just a lone bachelor traveling the world, sticking it to the Haran. He doesn’t go to the shows anymore, so they say. Poor man…” She stared into the distance with her head tilted ruefully, voice tapering with a disconcerting amount of dreaminess.

Voi frowned, finding she couldn’t sympathize with Mr. Callahan as Laura could. It seemed he rather deserved what he got, getting involved with such an unscrupulous woman. But perhaps it wasn’t Voi’s place to judge Mr. Callahan. Perhaps she was only insensitive because she’d just woken up from a coma—or whatever it was she’d been through.

Voi watched the nurse as she continued staring into the aether, the corners of her mouth turned up wistfully. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Laura. Don’t tell me you’re taken by his pitiful sob story.” Tummy grumbling, she leaned over and snatched the sandwich from the nightstand.

Laura sighed. “Tragic, though, isn’t it?”

Deciding the nurse was a hopeless romantic, Voi left the conversation at that. She took a bite of her sandwich though stopped munching after a moment, staring at the wall.

“Something the matter?”

Voi looked down. “What did he say was in this again?”

“Basil and tomatoes. Maybe an herb sauce.”

“Mmm… reminds me of the pennetomme my mother used to make for me when I was just a girl.” She took another bite then leaned back in bed, pleasantly feeling at home. After a moment of silence, she looked up again, still chewing. “Say, why don’t you tell me something about yourself, Laura?”

The young woman beamed, obviously pleased by the request. “Well, I am actually a Sector One elementalist, for starters.”

“Really? Which is your element?”

“Guess.”

Voi peered at the nurse. “Water?”

Laura’s face brightened. “You’re pretty good at this!”

Voi shrugged. “It was only a guess.”

“Fine. It was only a compliment.” Laura turned up her nose in contempt, though the sly smirk that followed gave her away.

Voi considered the nurse thoughtfully then laughed. “You know, Laura, you’re only the second elementalist I’ve come across—not including my mother and Aunt Clara, of course, though I can’t say for certain whether my Aunt Clara would have been a psychic or an elementalist, if she weren’t always drugged and cooped up in that terrible asylum.”

Laura rubbed her arm awkwardly.

“Anyway,” said Voi, giving a small bounce on the bed, “it’s nice to know you all aren’t so… so…”

Laura lifted an eyebrow. “Psychotic?”

Voi winced; she’d wanted to avoid that word. “Something like that.” Anxious for a new topic, she began to ask Laura to give her a demonstration—to see what else a water elementalist could do—then a mighty yawn took over. She covered her mouth. “Oh, how rude of me!”

“Well,” said Laura, “I’d say that’s enough chitchat for one day. But, to answer your question, Voi, I actually taught myself how to facilitate and hinder the flow of liquids throughout the human body. I can also detect certain illnesses—like little undeveloped possibilities in the body’s fluids. It’s a very subtle skill that’s taken me years to learn, though I’m afraid I’m far from mastering it.”

“Faaaaascinating…” Voi couldn’t stop yawning.

Laura laughed. “Alright, class time’s over. It’s probably good you get some more rest, anyway. But before I go, we need to discuss the issue of weaning you off your urche. I hear you’ve already been getting a little practice at this, though, haven’t you?”

Voi shrank beneath her sheets.

Laura giggled. “You know,” she teased, squinting sternly at Voi, “I hear Agent Callahan has a penchant for the naughty ones. Likes living life on the edge.”

“Hush,” said Voi, scowling. “That isn’t funny, Laura.”

The nurse snickered but moved on, suggesting that Voi attempt four days of abstinence before dosing on urche again, since she’d already managed to go without it for three.

“But I’ve been off of it for almost a week now, if you count me being unconscious this whole time.” Voi came out of hiding from behind the sheets.

That, however, did not count, according to Laura, and for precisely that reason. Besides, there was no sense in Voi jumping ahead. She’d have plenty of time to acclimatize her body to the change. Better to use that time to her advantage. Deciding that her nurse knew best, Voi pledged to forgo four days without medication. Later, she’d increase the interval to five days after succeeding with four then try for six, and so on, until finally she reached a week—after which they’d reconvene to discuss a new plan.

It sounded feasible, in theory. Voi just hoped she could stick with it. She lay back in bed with a grateful sigh, l*****g the last of Mr. Callahan’s delicious sandwich from her fingers—all the while wondering if he might return to make her another. She smiled and curled her toes at the thought.

How refreshing it was to have such a normal, pleasant girl looking after her.

Even if she was a bit chatty.