Nurse Carson sighed as he walked the hallways of Oaksfordton Memorial Hospital. The sterile, endless expanse gave him ample time to consider the consequences of the decision he had yet to make.
The closer he got to his destination, the more the man's shoulders slumped. "I was told this was a gift. What kind of gift causes so much pain?"
Minutes later, and yet all too soon he entered a room. Dimly lit, full of machinery and tubes, it had a distinct air of death to it.
He turned on the light, and forced that light to enter into his voice as well. "Good evening, Paul. How was your visit with Nina and the kids?"
A thin, frail figure was motionless on a hospital bed.
"Paul?" asked Nurse Carson, glancing at the monitors to confirm that the patient's vitals were still stable.
He walked over to the bed, and found that Paul's eyes were open.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
Paul's reply was almost silent. "No, I just can't talk very loud. Too tired. Best visit of my life."
After a brief chat, the nurse began his usual routine. But this time his actions were on autopilot. Mind racing, he began the internal debate yet again.
"Should I use it on him, or one of the kids? Will Danny need it tonight? I know Paul's daughter Nina is a widow, and a mother of five. She needs him now more than ever. But those kids haven't even had a chance to live yet... some have barely even spent time out of the children's ward."
Unable to decide, he worked much slower than usual. Paul fell asleep, and several seconds later his heart monitor flat-lined.
Impulsively Nurse Carson removed a gold chain from his neck. The dangling quartz crystal caught the light, revealing a tiny amethyst unicorn inside.
He put the crystal on the man's chest, kept contact with the patient and the crystal for a few seconds, then stood back. He watched it turn blue, glowing with energy.
After about twenty seconds the man was breathing normally, and the machines were no longer screaming. When Nurse Carson heard footsteps pounding down the hall, he put his hands over the crystal to hide the glow.
As the door burst open, he feigned CPR.
After a quick check of both machines and patient, the doctor and his team left. Nurse Carson followed, turning off the light before he left.
"I guess that made my decision for me. I couldn't just stand there and watch him die," he thought.
Feeling lighter with the knowledge that Paul's terminal cancer would be in full remission within a week, Nurse Carson continued his rounds.
After another hour, he finally reached the children's ward. "I hope Danny doesn't need it tonight. Just hold on for one more day, Danny..."
Nurse Carson steeled himself before walking in. "Keep your poker face, Carson. These kids can pretty much smell pity or sadness," he reminded himself.
His heart racing, he headed straight to the far side of the huge, dorm-like room. A boy of ten was sleeping. He was so still that it would have been difficult to know if he was breathing, if not for the monitors.
He barely woke up when Nurse Carson tended to his needs. "Come on, fight. If you can hold on one more day, tomorrow will be better, in more ways than one. I promise."
Holding the limp hand, tears streamed down his cheeks. "I'm so sorry. Each night, someone stopped breathing. They would have died then and there, and you were still racing wheelchairs until yesterday."
Unable to ignore his duties, he was forced to move on. After his shift ended, he went back to see Paul. The older man was sitting up, reading a Bible. As with many others he'd healed, Nurse Carson explained the situation.
He put the book down, eyes wide. "So you're saying that my cancer is in remission now?"
"Not just that, anything and everything that might have been wrong with you is gone. You'll feel like you're about fifty instead of sixty-five."
"And you did this for me, instead of the kid you want to adopt? Why?"
"I couldn't just stand there and let you die."
"But I've lived my life. That kid's never had a family, and has decades ahead of him."
"You do too, now. And maybe more if something works. I'll be back tomorrow to talk to you about that. But I just wanted you to know that everything's going to be fine."
Nurse Carson left with a smile on his face, despite his worries about Danny's condition. "This part really is a gift," he admitted.
He couldn't stop thinking about Danny. Unable to stand it, he arrived at work early.
The child was still alive, but barely. "You made it. Now it's time to start living," whispered Nurse Carson.
He put the crystal on Danny's chest, exactly as he had done with Paul - except that he kept his hands over it, to prevent the other children from noticing the light.
Then he left to prepare for his rounds, whistling a happy tune as he closed the double doors.
When he got to Paul, he found the older man eating.
"You must be starving to eat that," he joked. The food wasn't nearly as bad as the rumors claimed.
Paul chuckled as he finished the small chocolate pudding cup.
Not one to waste time, Nurse Carson took off his crystal, and handed it to Paul. He had tried this hundreds, maybe thousands of times without success. But there was always hope.
As soon as Paul touched it, the crystal began to glow a light yellow. The unicorn within reared, then began to prance in place.
Nurse Carson beamed. "The gift is yours, if you want it."
"You said you got it five hundred years ago, from a shaman in South Africa?"
"Yes. It heals one person every twenty four hours, and the wearer doesn't seem to age."
Paul grinned. "Before I got sick, I was an EMT. Now that I'm well, it seems fitting for me to get back on the horse, so to speak. And this little trinket would sure come in handy!"
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery