[Ganzfield 2] Adversary by Kate Kaynak Page A

used crutches—not that a place with G-positive healers had a pair lying around. I didn’t want to be a burden, but Trevor viewed carrying me as a form of penance.
    Behind us, Zack tried to start a conversation with Hannah. They quickly ran out of things to say. Hannah’s thoughts focused on the upcoming tests. Now that I knew what to look for, Zack’s thoughts seemed strangely empty. I didn’t detect the block, only the absence of thought that should’ve been there. He shielded as well as Dr. Williamson did and it made me uncomfortable. Jealous. I’d been trying for months to do what Zack was doing, yet he seemed to be able to do it effortlessly.
    We went through a fast-food drive-thru near Hanover for an early dinner, although the early dusk made it feel later. Trevor took a turn at the wheel while Drew ate—it was easier for Trevor to eat and drive with his extra set of hands. I scanned quickly for Sons of Adam people as we pulled up at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a sprawling medical complex south of town.
    I felt my shoulders relax. No one wanted to kill us here.
    What a nice change.
    The medical center’s parking lot held only a few lonely vehicles among the enormous piles of plowed snow at the end of each row. People didn’t spend the night in this part of the medical center. Good thing. I suddenly realized that if I went into a regular hospital, I’d feel the pain of every sick and injured person within my range.
    Yeah, I wasn’t going to be doing that.
    Heather McFee, M.D. had the standard-issue McFee red hair and freckles, as well as a subversive streak that she hid from the G-negatives in her daily life. A rare smile lit Hannah’s face. She didn’t meet other healers often, and Matilda and Morris both spoke highly of this particular former student. Drew greeted his cousin Heather with a hug.
    We trooped through the darkened corridors of the medical imaging building. Trevor carried me in his arms as if looking for a threshold to cross. The rest followed along behind us. Our echoing footsteps and the swishing of our clothing seemed to invade the silence.
    I considered Heather as she led the way. How did she end up as a healer instead of a spark? I wondered, not for the first time, at the sheer number of McFee G-positives. There were so many of them! How did a recessive trait like the G-positive genotype end up being expressed so frequently in one family? Was it from some kind of...of inbreeding?
    Ick .
    Zack had to wait a few minutes after drinking a can of milkshake-like, radioactive goo before doing his test so we did mine first. My MRI showed a lesion within the bone marrow of my newly-mended leg. Did that mean that Matilda and Morris’s diagnostic abilities were imperfect through solid bone?
    Hannah studied the images for several minutes, frowning in concentration. “I think I can get it. Now that I know what I’m looking for, I think I can get it through the bone.”
    I gestured to my leg. “Go for it.”
    Hannah said a quick, silent prayer then laid her hands on my calf. I had a sudden, possibly blasphemous thought—could Jesus have been a G-positive healer? It wouldn’t endear me to Hannah to share this insight. She loved her ability and she did feel a connection to Jesus as a result of it, but the relationship was one of emulation, not of equivalence. It would deeply offend her if I offered a non-divine explanation for such a central part of her beliefs, so I kept my thoughts to myself as the pins-and-needles sensation sank deep within my leg. An aching pain grew in intensity and then gradually subsided, leaving the area tingling and hot.
    I stood up tentatively, testing it out. “Pretty sure you got it. Thanks.” My leg felt strong again—back to normal. I turned to Trevor and grinned. Now I need to find a different reason to get you to carry me around everywhere.
    You know I will . He smiled back into my eyes. Any excuse to hold you in my arms. I felt his relief as the guilt that’d twisted