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Until recently, I never would have considered a career in healing, even though it was pretty common for vampires. I never thought it would interest me, but since starting at the clinic, I’d seen how much of a difference I could make.
I liked being needed and helping people.
I especially liked showing the shifters here how to improve their methods, since they only had one other vampire on staff. For the first time in my life, I felt like I wasn't just doing what was expected of me. Without the stress and fear of hiding my abilities and who I was, I found a happiness I hadn’t known was possible.
Even though the kids at school knew I was a hybrid, I did my best not to remind them or rub in their faces that I had both vampire and witch blood. They accepted me well enough.
But it was a different feeling here. For the first time in my life, I was thriving instead of just surviving. I was not only welcomed but encouraged to push myself, to show off my abilities, and even to train others.
That old brainless jock reputation didn’t hold me back here. I was allowed to be so much more. I had friends, colleagues who mentored me and made sure that I felt a part of the community. Maybe not as a whole, but at least within the clinic.
It pushed me to be my best, to live up to the potential that they saw on me. This was all I ever wanted, without even realizing it was possible. Being here made me see how little I expected of myself and for my life.
“Theo, are you joining the game tonight?” Kevin, a healer, asked as we passed in the hall.
“I’ll try!”
He grinned. “Jerry and I will be there at seven.”
I wasn’t sure I could make it work with our bond training, but I appreciated that the guys I ate lunch with invited me each week.
“Hey, Vic.” I waved to the other vampire as he exited a patient's room.
“Hi, just the person I was hoping to see. We have a patient in room three that I'd like you to take a look at.”
“Okay.” I followed him down the hall.
He handed me the clipboard from the holder on the wall. “Tell me what you think.”
I read over the information, noting the patient's age of thirteen and the reasons for his visit. Complaints of joint pain and headaches.
“Do you have any possible diagnoses based on this?”
He was constantly testing me, but I never felt like he was putting me on the spot. It was more like a conversation. I could make mistakes without risking failure or punishment, and this allowed me to stay calm and think things through, rather than just reacting.
“The patient's thirteen, but his birthday is within the next two months. My first guess would be shifter pains. But if it were that, wouldn’t his parents have known and given him something like dandelion for the pain?”
He nodded. “That's correct. That's why I, too, think that there's something else going on, but I'm not sure what. We'll have to examine the patient. Come with me.”
Knocking quietly on the door before entering, we strode in together. I smiled at the small boy sitting on the end of the exam table.
“Hello, Bailey. It looks like you're not feeling very well. Can you tell me about the pain you're feeling?”
Bailey looked between me and the doctor before putting his hands over his knees. “My knees and elbows ache a lot. My parents told me it could be shifting pain, and it would go away after I was fourteen, but none of the medicine works. And now I have headaches all the time. It's gotten so bad I can't go to school.”
The boy actually sounded sad about that.
“Let's look at you.” The doctor stepped up and put his hand over the boy’s forehead, then closed his eyes. After a few moments, he removed his hand and waved for me to come over. “I’d like to know what you think, Theo.”
I mimicked him, trying to sense what was wrong within the boy's body. At once I knew. “He has the flu.”
“The flu?” the boy gasped. “But shifters don't get sick like that.”
I moved back to stand next to Vic. “It is very rare for adult shifters to get sick, but since you haven't had your first shift, it's not that unusual.”
Vic smiled at me before turning to Bailey. “He's right. I'm afraid. You have a fairly common ailment. I’ll give you a prescription to take the next ten days, and then you should feel better.”
The boy dropped his gaze to his lap. “I can't believe it. I'm going to get teased when I get back to school.”
