A Healing Touch

The first 22 years of my life had been free.

Before, I had lived a simple life with my mother and younger sister in Western Oregon. My mother worked as a doctor, my sister went to middle school, and I worked at the music store and took college classes online. I was going to be a librarian, sharing my love of books and poetry with the younger generations. 

Now here, on this wretched planet, I was a slave. You'd think that people would protest, that the government would never enslave someone because it went against their constitution. But this wasn't America. This wasn't even Earth. This was Néeon.

I was living in a dystopian young-adult novel, and it wasn't looking good for the protagonist.

***

"Good Morning, Adria. It's time to get up and commence your daily healings."

The lull of my Health Officer's voice rang out in my ears. I rolled over and dropped my sock-clad feet to the floor, brushing red locks out of my eyes. I wasn't sure what day it was, but I wasn't looking forward to it.

I opened my closet to reveal a row of black pants and short sleeve blouses. Whoever had stocked the closet really needed to learn a thing or two about fashion, but looking good was the least of my concerns here. I grabbed a pair of pants and a light purple top and dressed quickly before waiting at the door. A green light appeared on the reinforced metal, which opened with a thud. My Health Officer was waiting outside as usual.

"Nice to see you Adria," she said with a smile. "Your implant seems to have detected heightened levels of sleep interruption last night. Is everything okay?" 

I knew it was her job, but she genuinely sounded concerned. I let myself briefly feel warmth at the thought of someone actually caring about me, but quickly dismissed it. She didn't care about me, she only cared about my health so I could continue serving the government.

"Yes Officer Andrews, I'm fine, thank you for asking. I was just dreaming about back home," I said longingly. Earth was all I had known for 22 years. All my friends and family had lived there. I felt safe there. Here I wasn't in imminent danger, because they needed me, but I could no longer feel safe. I longed for a dying planet because at least on Earth, I would know my fate.

"Ah," Officer Andrews nodded in understanding. "I dream about it sometimes too. We can't help what our subconscious wanders to. But it's best to not get caught up in the past," she remarked with a small smile.

"Of course," I replied. "Néeon is our home now." Though in my heart I knew that as long as I was enslaved, this would never be my home.

We arrived at the cafeteria and the chef brought out a covered tray. Officer Andrews sat across from me and I mustered a smile, preparing for the usual unenthusiastic nutrition shake. The chef lifted up the cover and my mouth opened in surprise. Stacked on the plate were three fluffy pancakes, slathered in butter with a cup of maple syrup. Strawberries and blueberries surrounded the stack, and a mug filled with hot chocolate and topped with whipped cream sat in the corner of the tray. I looked to Officer Andrews in disbelief.

"We're celebrating a special occasion today," she said, grabbing my hand and squeezing it gently. "You completed your 100,000th healing last night, so I convinced the President to allow a day of special meals as a reward." She looked pleased with herself and I had to resist the urge to leap up and hug her. Maybe I was wrong, and this wasn't just a job to her. Maybe in some twisted way she actually did care about me.

"Thank you, I don't know what to say," I rushed out, as if the food would disappear.

"Well don't say anything dear, please eat."

I gratefully complied.

When I was finished gorging myself with pancakes and fruit, I washed up and followed Officer Andrews to the Healing Chamber. The space must have been fifteen times greater than that of my room. Small, elevated beds were set up in rows in the middle of the chamber. A team of doctors stood near the beds, and armed guards covered both entrances. 

I walked towards the first row of beds and saw today's patients lying in wait to be healed. Little faces and round bellies met my eyes as they had nearly every day for the past two years. Small silicone bracelets were wrapped around their wrists, tracking their health and predicting their shortened lifespans.

"You've done so much for the next generation of Néeonians," Officer Andrews said with a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and stepped up to the first bed. The baby was sleeping peacefully, as all of them were. Sedation was a precaution to the removal process, we weren't sure if it was painful to the receiving party or not.

I placed my hands on the baby's chubby face and the familiar tingle started in my hands. The process varied for everyone, but usually took about twenty seconds. The tingling in my hands stopped and I stepped back from the bed. A doctor came over and raised the baby's wrist to check their silicone bracelet.

"Element N not detected," he said aloud, and Officer Andrews gave a nod. Onto the next one, she signaled silently.

I moved on to the next bed and prepared to repeat the process until it was time for my midday break. The President had wanted to limit me to two meals a day, but Officer Andrews had insisted on three. The toll the healings took on my body would be too much, I needed the caloric energy that three meals provided.

I finished up the first round of healings and followed Officer Andrews back to the cafeteria. No one was ever there besides us and the chef. I never asked why, but assumed that no one else was allowed to see me. Or perhaps it was me that wasn't allowed to see anyone else. Not that I wanted to see them anyway, the government officials that kept me here against my will. Seeing them would only infuriate me, and I needed to keep my blood pressure stable. Any health problems could affect the healings.

The chef was back, and this time with a plate full of pepperoni pizza. I tried not to salivate this time, embarrassed by my reaction to this morning's surprise pancakes. I knew that today was a special celebration, but I didn't expect Officer Andrews to remember one of my favorite meals. I savored the taste that reminded me of Friday nights with my mother and Isabelle.

I hadn't seen them in what felt like a lifetime, but I knew it had only been two years. Two years of the same routine, the same people, and the same hell. I wondered if Isabelle's face had changed since I'd last seen her. I wondered if my mother was still working at the hospital. I hoped that their lives hadn't fallen apart when I was taken.

The way I discovered my healing ability was a mistake. I didn't even know I could do it until I had held my best friend's baby in my arms. My hands had tingled and I suddenly felt faint, placing the baby back in their crib and sitting down uneasily. Melissa had looked at me with such concern, concern that turned to shock when her baby's bracelet spoke aloud:

"Element N not detected."

Neither of us knew what it meant. It didn't make any sense. No one knew what Element N was, only that it was native to Néeon and it significantly shortened the lifespan of all babies born here. Scientists had been working on a cure but had been unsuccessful so far, not knowing what it was they were supposed to combat.

We only figured out the truth when we had visited our friend Casey and her newborn, Liam. The same tingling in my arms had happened when I held him, desperately handing him back to his mother and collapsing to the ground. The same reading had shown up on the baby's silicone bracelet. I didn't know how, but somehow I was absorbing Element N from the newborn's bodies.

It didn't take long for word to get out. I had sworn Melissa and Casey to secrecy, we didn't know how I was healing the babies after all, but people had begun to piece things together. No babies just magically become healed on Néeon. And I was the common factor in their sudden turn towards health.

Government vehicles arrived in the following weeks and hauled me off to a secure facility. They must have run every test on me they possibly could. I was poked and prodded with needle after needle, my arms becoming purple from the constant drawing of blood. They detected Element N in my bloodstream, but couldn't fathom why I was able to harness it. They finally decided to test my ability on a series of newborns, and each one's silicone bracelet said the same thing:

"Element N not detected."

And so my life was signed away.

Trying to run was pointless, as I knew I'd never even make it out the main door. There were guards at every exit, and the one time I'd tried to run, they had sedated me before I even got out of the cafeteria. It was pointless trying to escape, and I decided to stop trying when they threatened to take away the one thing I had left.

My locket.

It was silver and heart-shaped, and glimmered in the light as brightly as the day my grandmother had given it to me. Inside was a picture of her and my mother opposite a picture of Isabelle and I. We couldn't have been much older than sixteen and seven, beaming at the camera with white teeth and colorful braces. The locket was the one thing that kept a sense of hope alive in my heart. One day the government would have to let me go, and I'd be able to see them again.

Until then I didn't live for myself, I lived for my mother and Isabelle and our grandma. I would prove my worth to the government, and one day, they'd develop a cure. They had to.

For now, I'd continue to heal the newborns and give them a chance to live a life longer than thirty years. I'd give them a chance to be happy and to love.

I'd give them a life that I could only dream of.