Castiel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
toomuchheart) wrote2012-11-26 09:39 pm
toomuchheart) wrote2012-11-26 09:39 pm
Entry tags:
beyond the rift } { of memories that go unremembered and then
Maggie calls him Emmanuel.
Mostly because she doesn’t have anything else to call him, and also because she found him at a church in the middle of Elfin Cove. He had been lost, confused, but for some reason he was drawn to it, as though it would have the answers he was seeking.
It didn’t. He still doesn’t remember who he is or where he’s from, he just knows that it’s from somewhere not here. Not Elfin Cove. But “not Elfin Cove” is not exactly helpful in getting him back on track, so for now he lets her call him Emmanuel and keep him here, hoping that someday, his memory comes back around again.
Maggie is a good woman. For some reason, he feels like it’s better than he deserves.
***
Maggie took him to Dr. Pritchard after she nearly hit him with her car, and he confessed to having no memory. The doctor is still completely baffled by Emmanuel’s predicament—he has no visible injuries at all, yet something is still clearly broken. He doesn’t know what to do, or how to fix it, but for the moment, he’s willing to try and figure it out.
After a while, Emmanuel asks her to stop taking him. He feels bad that Dr. Pritchard still has no answers, and he is starting to think he’ll never find them. She seems reluctant to agree one way or the other, but she concedes nonetheless, and he is grateful. He is tired of being poked and prodded at.
If he is going to go to someone with no hope of offering him answers, he’d rather pray.
***
The first time he heals someone, it’s by accident.
Elfin Cove is a small town—barely even thirty people in it—and everyone finds their way of getting to know everyone. When little Sally Sampson happens to stumble on the sidewalk and skin her knee, Emmanuel is the first one to her side, trying to make sure she’s alright. All he has to do is lay his hand on her, and the blood and jagged open wound disappear, leaving nothing but smooth tan skin in it’s place.
“You fixed me!” The girl is so startled that she stops crying, looking up at him with wide, confused eyes. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Emmanuel admits, looking down at his hand like it’s some kind of foreign object. “It is very strange.”
Sally, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care. She pushes up and throws her arms around Emmanuel’s neck, tugging him closer with a smile.
“You’re the best.”
Emmanuel can’t really argue with that logic.
***
The word spreads regarding what Emmanuel can do, and soon people from towns across Alaska are bringing him their sick and crippled, looking to be healed. Maggie stays around to keep people from taking advantage of him.
“It’s a little ironic,” she teases one morning as she drinks her tea, watching him as a man in a wheelchair gets up to walk again. “You have the power to heal every sick person in the world, but you don’t have the power to fix yourself.”
Emmanuel can’t really argue with that logic either.
The two of them quickly learn that he technically can’t heal all the world—there are limits to his power, and he can only heal so many people in a day before he needs to take a break and rest. It seems to be the only thing that actually manages to slow him down. He doesn’t really sleep unless he taxes himself too much, and he seems to show no need to eat, but Maggie feeds him anyway.
“You gotta eat something. Otherwise you’re just going to run yourself even more ragged.”
He eats even though he’s not hungry. Even he knows it would be rude to refuse.
***
Maggie is a rather attractive woman, at least by his standards. Long brown hair with sturdy shoulders and a warm smile. She makes him feel at home in a way that not many people do. He isn’t sure how she feels about him, but she doesn’t make him leave her home, so she supposes that has to count for something.
Emmanuel is fairly certain that he loves her. He’s only been there seven months, but great affection is usually a sign of love. Or, at least that’s what he’s been told.
They sit out on the porch some nights, watching the stars and talking about the world, and he knows that his memory is going to come back one day. His world will change, and he will know who he is, and why he does the things he can do. At the same time, he hopes that it means he will still have Maggie, for better or for worse.
She kisses him on his last night, when she leaves him on her porch and he kisses her back. The action feels foreign and unfamiliar, but he assumes that that has to do with his amnesia, and not anything else. She tells him goodnight, and goes to sleep, with him on her front porch, watching the northern lights.
In the morning, he’ll be gone.
He’s sorry he never got to tell her goodbye.
875 words
Mostly because she doesn’t have anything else to call him, and also because she found him at a church in the middle of Elfin Cove. He had been lost, confused, but for some reason he was drawn to it, as though it would have the answers he was seeking.
It didn’t. He still doesn’t remember who he is or where he’s from, he just knows that it’s from somewhere not here. Not Elfin Cove. But “not Elfin Cove” is not exactly helpful in getting him back on track, so for now he lets her call him Emmanuel and keep him here, hoping that someday, his memory comes back around again.
Maggie is a good woman. For some reason, he feels like it’s better than he deserves.
***
Maggie took him to Dr. Pritchard after she nearly hit him with her car, and he confessed to having no memory. The doctor is still completely baffled by Emmanuel’s predicament—he has no visible injuries at all, yet something is still clearly broken. He doesn’t know what to do, or how to fix it, but for the moment, he’s willing to try and figure it out.
After a while, Emmanuel asks her to stop taking him. He feels bad that Dr. Pritchard still has no answers, and he is starting to think he’ll never find them. She seems reluctant to agree one way or the other, but she concedes nonetheless, and he is grateful. He is tired of being poked and prodded at.
If he is going to go to someone with no hope of offering him answers, he’d rather pray.
***
The first time he heals someone, it’s by accident.
Elfin Cove is a small town—barely even thirty people in it—and everyone finds their way of getting to know everyone. When little Sally Sampson happens to stumble on the sidewalk and skin her knee, Emmanuel is the first one to her side, trying to make sure she’s alright. All he has to do is lay his hand on her, and the blood and jagged open wound disappear, leaving nothing but smooth tan skin in it’s place.
“You fixed me!” The girl is so startled that she stops crying, looking up at him with wide, confused eyes. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Emmanuel admits, looking down at his hand like it’s some kind of foreign object. “It is very strange.”
Sally, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care. She pushes up and throws her arms around Emmanuel’s neck, tugging him closer with a smile.
“You’re the best.”
Emmanuel can’t really argue with that logic.
***
The word spreads regarding what Emmanuel can do, and soon people from towns across Alaska are bringing him their sick and crippled, looking to be healed. Maggie stays around to keep people from taking advantage of him.
“It’s a little ironic,” she teases one morning as she drinks her tea, watching him as a man in a wheelchair gets up to walk again. “You have the power to heal every sick person in the world, but you don’t have the power to fix yourself.”
Emmanuel can’t really argue with that logic either.
The two of them quickly learn that he technically can’t heal all the world—there are limits to his power, and he can only heal so many people in a day before he needs to take a break and rest. It seems to be the only thing that actually manages to slow him down. He doesn’t really sleep unless he taxes himself too much, and he seems to show no need to eat, but Maggie feeds him anyway.
“You gotta eat something. Otherwise you’re just going to run yourself even more ragged.”
He eats even though he’s not hungry. Even he knows it would be rude to refuse.
***
Maggie is a rather attractive woman, at least by his standards. Long brown hair with sturdy shoulders and a warm smile. She makes him feel at home in a way that not many people do. He isn’t sure how she feels about him, but she doesn’t make him leave her home, so she supposes that has to count for something.
Emmanuel is fairly certain that he loves her. He’s only been there seven months, but great affection is usually a sign of love. Or, at least that’s what he’s been told.
They sit out on the porch some nights, watching the stars and talking about the world, and he knows that his memory is going to come back one day. His world will change, and he will know who he is, and why he does the things he can do. At the same time, he hopes that it means he will still have Maggie, for better or for worse.
She kisses him on his last night, when she leaves him on her porch and he kisses her back. The action feels foreign and unfamiliar, but he assumes that that has to do with his amnesia, and not anything else. She tells him goodnight, and goes to sleep, with him on her front porch, watching the northern lights.
In the morning, he’ll be gone.
He’s sorry he never got to tell her goodbye.
875 words