Page 79 of Powerless
"Donations are always needed. A matching blood type always works best in transfusion. If you'd still like to donate, you'd probably receive your own blood in the event that you needed it."
"Okay." I glanced up at the clock near her ceiling. It would keep me here longer than thirteen minutes. But now, I didn't mind that so much. "I'll still donate."
"Great! You can leave your arm right where it is." She wheeled a few feet away and pulled open a drawer to gather some things.
I looked over my shoulder once again, surprised that Jandro hadn't chimed in with his usual quips during our conversation.
Son of a bitch. He was gone.
I turned back just as Mari wheeled back over to me.
"I'm going to tie this here," her gloved fingertips skimmed over my forearm to loop a piece of fabric around it, "let me know if it's too tight."
She made no mention of my scars, nor did she pay them any particular attention. As she gently poked the inside of my elbow, I fought the nagging want to feel contact without the barrier of her gloves. I'd never feel anything remotely like her bare hands on me again, so I just had to accept it.
"You're going to feel a little poke," she murmured before piercing my skin with the needle. Of course, I felt nothing but the pressure of it and the sensation of my skin breaking.
My blood flowed through the tube and into the attached bag. The liquid was dark, almost black, and I watched it pool and slowly fill the bag. I'd seen my blood leave my body many times, but never like this. And never for a reason that would possibly help me in the future.
Mariposa and I sat there together in silence. She didn't seem at all bothered by being alone with me. Jandro probably left the moment I sat down.
"You don't feel pain, do you?" she said after a few moments. "Physical pain, that is."
I looked up at her, surprised. "That's correct. Not many people have noticed."
"I had a hunch the other night when I sterilized your wound with vodka, stitched you up without anesthesia, and got no reaction."
"Yes." I shrugged one shoulder the way Jandro did sometimes. "I suppose I'm fortunate. A lot of men were suffering that night."
"I'll give you that," she leaned one arm on the counter. "But pain is important, too. It's a signal to the brain that something is very wrong in your body. You can push yourself past your limit without that signal to stop you."
"You're the medic, so I'm sure you are correct," I answered. "But my inability to feel pain has only been an asset to the Steel Demons. It means nothing holds me back when performing my duties."
She smiled at me. I swore I received more smiles from a woman sitting here with her for the past ten minutes than I had in my whole life. Jandro was right. She was easy to talk to. And easy to look at.
"You're also correct," she said, checking my donation bag. "Neither of us have to be wrong, even if we see things differently. If you don't mind me asking," she paused, eyes flicking up to my face, "how long have you not been feeling pain, your whole life?"
"Since childhood." I paused to do a quick estimation in my head. "When I was around twelve, I think. I felt pain before then."
Her gaze dropped to the scars on my arms and anxiety tightened like a fist around my chest. I hoped she wouldn't ask. I didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want to scare her if she pressed. I didn't need that demon riding around on my shoulders today.
But all she said was, "Well, I don't blame you for being glad that you don't feel it anymore."
Her hands moved swiftly, like two small birds, as she closed off the tube and withdrew the needle from my vein. In the next moment, she pressed a small piece of gauze inside my elbow and wrapped a bandage around to hold it in place.
"Leave that on for a couple of hours and take it easy the rest of the day." She rose from her stool to clean up, and was still shorter than me sitting. "Make sure you eat enough and drink plenty of fluids, preferably not alcohol."
I watched her place my bag of blood in a small refrigerator then looked down at my arm. "That's it?"
"That's it, Shadow." She smiled at me again. "Easy, right?"
"Yes. That was not at all unpleasant."
She laughed lightly, a sweet sound I wouldn't mind hearing again. Nothing like the raucous sound out of some people's mouths that killed my ears.
"Stop by if you need anything," she gave a slight eye roll, "medically-related, as I'm sure you know."
"Yes, I know now."
