Compassionate Visitor

Prompts: Apparition & Legend

A woman appears in the mist, her dark cloak swirling around her. Her feet make barely a sound as she moves toward the nearby village. Her head is bowed as she joins a group of women reentering the settlement and passes the watchmen easily.
Inside the village, the group splits off and heads in different directions. The woman in the cloak angles to the left and strides purposefully down her chosen street. She carries a basket on her arm, fabric draped over to conceal her goods.

by Lilliana Casper

She reaches her destination and walks to the back of the small building. One would think the only hospital in the area had a bigger building, but this is it. The woman lets herself in through the staff door and enters the back room where the nurses prepare. Here, she sets down her basket and sheds her cloak, pulling up the sleeves of her simple gown.
Inside the basket are jars of leaves and tonics. The woman lifts and studies each one before carefully placing it on a shelf. When the remedies are thus stored, she looks around and waves a hand.
The gesture vanishes her basket and changes her clothes. Instead of the dark green dress, she now wears one in light brown. She twists her hair into a bun and washes her hands, then opens the door to the main room.
There are four rows of raised cots, with two paths for walking. The woman chooses the closest row, against a wall, and begins to check each patient. Not every cot is filled, but at least half of them are, some coughing or rasping from illness, others battered and bandaged, and others sleeping away their ailment.

The woman leans first over a sleeping girl. Her face is flushed and her brow crinkled, sweat beading on her neck and forehead. The woman presses her hand to the girl's head and murmurs under her breath. A soft glow appears and the girl's fever breaks instantly. The woman keeps her hand against the girl's face for a moment longer and then pulls away.
One bed over, a man lies staring at the ceiling. His arm and leg are wrapped in bandages, but dark blood is beginning to seep through the cloth. He turns his gaze briefly to the woman but loses interest quickly. She ignores his reaction and runs her hands over his arm. This time she speaks no words, but the same glow emerges from beneath her fingers. The man glances at her as she removes her hand and moves onto his leg and she gives him a reassuring smile.
The woman continues through the room, nodding to the other nurses as if she knows them and pressing her hands to each afflicted person. Once she finishes, she returns to the back room.
There is a new nurse there, with black hair tied up and dark circles under her eyes. She gives a small nod, then pauses and looks back with a frown. The woman posing as a nurse smiles mysteriously and tilts her head. “You can rest, dear. There is nothing for you to do tonight.”
The nurse pulls back in surprise. The woman steps forward and lays a hand on the girl’s shoulder. Her clothes shift back to their original form

and she summons her cloak to her hand. “All will be well,” she promises. “Your charges will feel better soon.”
Then she sweeps out, leaving the young nurse staring after her in shock. She rushes to check on the patients, but none of them are disturbed. On the contrary, all of them are recovering far better than they had been before. One boy’s illness is disappearing, a woman’s broken leg has straightened out, and a man’s bleeding has stopped. Each one has been miraculously healed, or at least brought to a level they can easily recover from.

by Lilliana Casper

The nurse stumbles into the back room, hands shaking in disbelief. This doesn’t happen in real life. This is the stuff of legends, the substance of myths. Strange women don’t appear and heal people and leave with barely a word.
The nurse lifts her face to the sky and wishes the visitor well. Whoever she is, she is worthy of remembering. She may have been a mysterious apparition, but what she did was real. This nurse will never forget it.