When Duncan woke, he was in darkness. The silence that accompanied it felt good, too. He had missed this sort of peace since… Well, since whenever. He couldn’t even remember the last time he felt such serenity.
The last thing he remembered was being disintegrated by some sort of mega bomb blast. Not like he had ever been reduced to fine dust before, but he was pretty sure he could even survive something like that. The magic that protected him made him immortal, not simply tough.
So why couldn’t he move? Was this oblivion? Was it finally time for his much-needed rest?
A terrible pain wracked his body without warning. Duncan opened his mouth to scream, but he quickly realised that he was rendered immobile by some sort of concrete cast. He could hear some kind of muffled beeping from somewhere, as well as urgent voices all around him.
“My god… It’s happening again!” a female voice exclaimed. “That poor man… how is he still alive?”
A strangled cry escaped Duncan’s mouth. It was barely recognisable to him and sounded more like the death screams of a cat being skinned alive.
“Stay back, Maya!” The voice was a lot more familiar this time. “The radiation is killing him again! Keep your distance before it reaches you as well!”
Hilda? What’s happening?
The burning sensation overwhelmed him, and darkness took him again.
~ ~ ~
Duncan Ward spent his 567th birthday doing two things. First, he spent the morning talking to a nurse. And then he was taken off life support for the first time in six years.
The first thing he took in was how bright everything was. After spending all that time wrapped up like a mummy, his eyes needed a lot more time getting used to vision again. The next thing he noticed was the beaming nurse beside his bed.
He broke into a small smile as well. After all, he had spent the past six years speaking to her, and this was the first time he was seeing this woman with his own eyes.
“Maya?” Duncan croaked.
The woman nodded, tears glistening in her eyes. She was dressed in a pristine white uniform, the fabric stiff with starch. The ever-familiar scent of bleach and lavender soap clung faintly to her clothes, while the hospital’s insignia— a small silver brooch, unassuming yet luminous against the white— was pinned just above her heart.
“Mister Duncan Ward…” Maya paused as her voice trailed away. “It is nice to finally see your face. You are… You look good.”
“So do you,” Duncan said. “I take it, it’s safe for you to speak with me like this?”
Maya nodded. “The radiation in your body has already been syphoned out by our most technologically advanced machines. But it is not technology that saved you. It is your… biology. You are very much different from the common man. You’ve spent every single day dying from radiation poisoning, and yet you find your way back to life each time.”
She took another pause, as if to marvel at something so impossible. “You are… very resilient.”
“Only because I had someone to chat with all these years,” Duncan said. “Thank you for never giving up on me.”
“Doctor’s orders,” the nurse chuckled playfully. “Although… I was more than happy to oblige.”
A creaking sound caught his attention, and Duncan noticed— for the first time— that there was, in fact, a door in this hospital room.
“Duncan! I came as soon as I heard. How are you feeling?”
Maya stood up from her chair— albeit slightly reluctantly— and left the room, giving way for the anxious-looking doctor.
“Hilda, it’s been a while.” Duncan cracked a relieved smile. “I should’ve known it was you who had been taking care of me all this time.”
Hilda Harvey looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. Although she looked only slightly older— understandably so, of course— Hilda seemed to be carrying an air of maturity around her now. It was a far cry from the excitable yet timid teenager Duncan once knew.
“You… You scared the hell out of me back then, y’know?” Hilda said. “You just up and disappeared with nothing but that letter. And then they were saying that some sort of… nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It was the most horrifying bomb the world has ever seen. So terrible that dying in the blast would be a mercy to the radiation poisoning that came after.”
“How did I get here?” Duncan asked.
The last thing he remembered was being shredded into fine dust. And whatever came with that bomb— he could only assume it was this ‘radiation poisoning’ Hilda was talking about— it was roasting him alive even after countless resurrections. How did they even locate him when he was still in such a state?
“I feared the worst when I heard the news. In fact, I was mourning you for a few weeks,” Hilda admitted. “It wasn’t until the hospital I was working at received news about a man who somehow survived despite being right in the epicentre of the blast, that I knew right away that it had to be you. So I arranged for them to fly you back to London, under the excuse of studying you. I’ve been keeping researchers and other doctors off your trail ever since.”
She pulled out a Chinese-looking fan from her coat. “Speaking of which, it’s about time I returned this to you. Don’t worry, it’s already free of nuclear radiation, as is your body. Best not to have divine relics falling into the wrong hands again.”
Duncan received the fan with a small smile.
“In case you were wondering how we cleared you of radiation, Lucy Carpenter had a hand in creating this machine.” Hilda patted the metallic device that had been Duncan’s prison for the last six years. “As did the faefolk and all the creatures you’ve helped in the past. I’ve just broken the news to them, so be prepared for a lot of visitors soon.”
She stood up and stretched languidly.
“As for the other doctors, I will keep them at bay with vague statements and sloppy paperwork. No need for a repeat of what happened six years ago. I’m happy to see you well again, truly.”
Duncan shifted his body out of the comfortable hospital bed as well. “Thank you—”
“No, thank you—” Hilda threw her arms around Duncan and hugged him tightly. “—For bringing me back to the world. For showing me that I can have a life worth living. Friends forever.”
“Friends forever, Hilda.”
Duncan glanced out of the window. Oxford Street looked the same as it normally did, with a few pedestrians strolling around casually. Despite everything the world had endured, it seemed mankind never changed. Things never got worse or better; they just were.
It was time he took off these tainted glasses and lived in the world as it truly was. And he knew just how to start.
“Hey, Hilda.” He turned to the woman. “My nurse, Maya. When does her shift normally end?”
Hilda looked surprised at first, but understanding quickly dawned on her face. Duncan flashed her a knowing smile in return. It was a shame that giving up his mortality also meant giving up his fertility, but there was no need to deny himself the fortune of a family any longer. It was high time he settled into the world the way he had always wanted.
“In about five minutes,” Hilda answered, smirking back at him.
Duncan glanced at the clock in his room. “I’ve got time.”
“Yes. Yes, you do. Lots of it.” Hilda picked up a Red Cross pin from the bedside table and handed it to him. “She left this behind. You can still catch her if you wish.”
The immortal healer received the insignia and walked out of the room with his head held high.
END28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0hUe5Pit5
Hey, everyone.
If you've been with me from the beginning or even if you've just started, thank you for supporting a small creator like me for so long. It really did warm my heart, knowing that there are at least a few people who do enjoy my creations.
But due to recent major developments in my life, the lack of commercial success, as well as my deteriorating mental state, I'm sorry to say that I cannot go on any longer. I have fought the good fight to stay afloat, but unfortunately, reality has won. As such, 'Immortal Healer' will be my last published story.
I hope my works will continue to entertain whoever comes across it as they did for all of you. And once again, thank you for everything.
ns216.73.216.54da2
and then Add to home screen.