Page 71 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
Hildegard cast him a pointed look. "You've just spent five minutes complaining about it."
"That was before I fully understood what it meant." Tim stood on his socked feet. "I wish I had shoes." He glanced at Andrew's feet. "What size are you wearing?"
"Twelve."
"Yeah, that would be too big."
"We need to order you stuff," Hildegard said.
"It won't get here in time for the ceremony." He tried to straighten and square his shoulders. "It's an important rite of passage. An acknowledgment that I've crossed from one state of being to another. It requires shoes."
"No, it doesn't." Hildegard pointed at the bed. "Most Dormants are right there when Bridget conducts the test. You can hop in, I'll cover you with the blanket, and you will look just like all the other transitioned Dormants in the movie. Andrew will record your first fast healing event."
"One hour." Andrew walked toward the door. "Get some rest and try not to hyperventilate. A little cut on the palm of your hand is not a big deal, especially since it's going to heal fast." He smiled. "I wonder how fast, though. The faster it heals, the closer you are to the godly source."
"I didn't know that." Tim suddenly felt anxious, not about the cut, but about the speed of his healing.
What if it took too long? Would people make fun of him?
He had a chance at a clean start, and he wanted to do it right. Hopefully, he hadn't made enemies here. He didn't remember being nasty to anyone, but it was possible that he had antagonized someone he couldn't remember because they had smudged his memories.
An hour later, Tim's hospital room was crowded with immortals. Magnus even brought his lovely wife and son with him, Thomas brought a duffel bag for Tim to pack his things after the ceremony, and Roni held a bottle of whiskey and a tower of small paper cups to make a toast after the cut was done and all healed. The guy named Esag gifted Tim with a small wooden figurine of him when he was still short and fat, saying that it would be a reminder of what was before. He would wait until Tim was fully transitioned to carve the after figurine.
"This is more people than attended my college graduation," Tim muttered.
"You had a college graduation?" Roni asked. "I figured you'd just emerged from the womb with a bad attitude and a talent for drawing."
"I emerged with perfect manners. The bad attitude was carefully cultivated over the years."
Kian and his bodyguards arrived a moment before Bridget entered the room with a small medical tray, and everyone shifted positions to make room for her.
She stood next to Tim's bed and offered him one of her rare smiles. "Are you ready?"
He nodded. "Do your worst, doc." He offered her his hand, palm up.
Hildegard stood on his other side, and he was tempted to ask her to hold his other hand, but he couldn't act like such a chicken in front of all these manly men.
Bridget chuckled. "I intend to do my best, Tim." She turned to Andrew. "You can start recording."
"Yes, ma'am." He pulled out his phone and took position at the foot of the bed.
"Roni, get ready with the timer."
"On it, doc." Roni stood next to Andrew.
When Bridget lifted the tiny scalpel, Tim's fingers trembled slightly, not from fear, but from anticipation.
The doctor moved fast, the blade biting into his flesh with a sharp sting. Blood welled immediately, shockingly red against his pale skin.
Then, the impossible started happening right in front of his eyes.
The blood flow ceased, and when Bridget wiped it off with gauze, Tim saw the edges of the cut starting to pull together like petals of a flower closing for the night. In seconds, only a thin white line remained where the cut had been made, and then it also faded to match the surrounding tissue.
"Five seconds total," Roni announced.
"Holy shit," Tim breathed, staring at his healed hand.
"Welcome to immortality, Tim," Bridget said formally, though her eyes were warm. "You must be very close to the source." She cast an amused glance at Roni. "You two might be related. Perhaps Tim is your cousin."
