Last Summer
Physically I’d felt well enough to go back to work right away after my injury, but it turned out to be a mistake for two reasons.
First, I was a complete mess mentally. I was twitchy at loud noises, which, it’s a fucking hospital, and loud noises are the norm.
And every time someone came up behind me and touched me before I knew they were there, I shrieked.
Like full-on shrieked and jumped like I was in a horror movie.
After about an hour, people started giving me a wide berth.
As if that wasn’t enough, the second thing was that a few of my coworkers were looking at me funny, staring at my chest, then my arms and legs. Exactly how Shane and Ellis had been looking at me since my injury, checking to see if the magic Ms. Jackson had used to heal me had dissipated.
Which meant these coworkers could see my magic. Which meant they were Wonders or magic carriers.
Mitch, one of the other Pediatric nurses who I’d always considered just an ordinary guy, was the only one to approach me. Maybe he’d volunteered, maybe he’d been elected, who knew? He waited until I was in the break room eating my lunch before sliding into the chair across from me.
“Hey, Mitch.” I kept eating and looking at my phone, hoping he would get the hint and go away.
“So, Manny...”
Sighing, I met his gaze and raised my eyebrows. “Yes?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “Um, did something happen on your days off? You look... different.”
I probably should’ve asked Shane and Ellis how to handle these situations, but it’d never occurred to me that I worked with magical people. I waved a hand through the air. “I might be a little more sparkly today, but I’ve been assured it’s temporary.”
He cocked his head, staring at what he could see of my body again. “Really? How long has it already been ‘temporary’? Because your, uh, sparkles are pretty damn bright.”
“It’s only been a couple of days. Give it time.” I shrugged. “Plus, I can’t do anything about it either way.”
He scrunched up his face. “But how—”
Rhoda, the charge nurse, stuck her head in. “Mitch, you’re supposed to be helping Sara.”
He acted startled. “Oh, shit! You’re right. I’m on my way.” She was obviously wise to his ways and waited for him to leave, which meant he didn’t have a chance to say anything more about my magic.
I kept my head down and avoided people as much as possible for the rest of my shift.