The Host (The Host 1)

She put the microphone down and hurried around to where I stood swaying. Her arm went around my waist.

"Oh, honey, what happened to you?"

"So careless," I muttered. "I was hiking. . . I fell down the rocks. I was. . . cleaning up after dinner. A knife was in my hand. . . "

My hesitations seemed like part of the shock to her. She didn't look at me with suspicion-or humor, the way Ian sometimes did when I lied. Only concern.

"You poor dear! What's your name?"

"Glass Spires," I told her, using the rather generic name of a herd member from my time with the Bears.

"Okay, Glass Spires. Here comes the Healer. You'll be fine in just a moment. "

I didn't feel panicked at all anymore. The kindly woman patted my back. So gentle, so caring. She would never harm me.

The Healer was a young woman. Her hair, skin, and eyes were all a similar shade of light brown. It made her unusual looking-monochromatic. She wore tan scrubs that only added to that impression.

"Wow," she said. "I'm Healer Knits Fire. I'll get you fixed up directly. What happened?"

I told my story again as the two women led me down a hallway and then through the very first door. They had me lie down on the paper-covered bed.

The room was familiar. I'd been in only one place like this, but Melanie's childhood was full of such memories. The short row of double cabinets, the sink where the Healer was washing her hands, the bright, clean white walls. . .

"First things first," Knits Fire said cheerfully. She pulled a cabinet open. I tried to focus my eyes, knowing this was important. The cabinet was full of rows and rows of stacked white cylinders. She took one down, reaching for it without searching; she knew what she wanted. The small container had a label, but I couldn't read it. "A little no pain should help, don't you think?"

I saw the label again as she twisted the lid off. Two short words. No Pain? Was that what it said?

"Open your mouth, Glass Spires. "

I obeyed. She took a small, thin square-it looked like tissue paper-and laid it on my tongue. It dissolved at once. There was no flavor. I swallowed automatically.

"Better?" the Healer asked.

And it was. Already. My my head was clear-I could concentrate without difficulty. The pain had melted away with the tiny square. Disappeared. I blinked, shocked.

"Yes. "

"I know you feel fine now, but please don't move. Your injuries are not treated yet. "

"Of course. "

"Cerulean, could you get us some water? Her mouth seems dry. "

"At once, Healer Knits. "

The older woman left the room.

The Healer turned back to her cabinets, opening a different one this time. This, too, was filled with white containers. "Here we are. " She pulled one from the top of a stack, then took another from the other side.

Almost as if she were trying to help me fulfill my mission, she listed the names as she reached for them.

"Clean-inside and out. . . Heal. . . Seal. . . And where is. . . ah, Smooth. Don't want a scar on that pretty face, do we?"

"Ah. . . no. "

"Don't worry. You'll be perfect again. "

"Thank you. "

"You're very welcome. "

She leaned over me with another white cylinder. The top of this one came off with a pop, and there was an aerosol spray nozzle underneath. She sprayed my forearm first, coating the wound with clear, odorless mist.

"Healing must be a fulfilling profession. " My voice sounded just right. Interested, but not unduly so. "I haven't been in a Healing facility since insertion. This is very interesting. "

"Yes, I like it. " She started spraying my face.

"What are you doing now?"

She smiled. I guessed that I was not the first curious soul. "This is Clean. It will make sure nothing foreign stays in the wound. It kills off any of the microbes that might infect the wound. "

"Clean," I repeated to myself.

"And the Inside Clean, just in case anything has snuck into your system. Inhale this, please. "

She had a different white cylinder in her hand, a thinner bottle with a pump rather than an aerosol top. She puffed a cloud of mist into the air above my face. I sucked in a breath. The mist tasted like mint.

"And this is Heal," Knits Fire continued, twisting the cap off the next canister, revealing a small pouring spout. "It encourages your tissues to rejoin, to grow the way they should. "

She dribbled a tiny bit of the clear liquid into the wide cut on my arm, then she pushed the edges of the wound together. I could feel her touch, but there was no pain.

"I'll seal this up before I move on. " She opened another container, this one a pliable tube, and then squeezed out a line of thick, clear jelly onto her finger. "Like glue," she told me. "It holds everything together and lets the Heal do its job. " She wiped it over my arm in one swift pass. "Okay, you can move that now. Your arm is fine. "

I held it up to look. A faint pink line was visible under the shiny gel. The blood was still wet on my arm, but there was no source anymore. As I watched, the Healer cleaned my skin with one quick pass of a damp towel.

"Turn your face this way, please. Hmm, you must have hit those rocks just exactly wrong. What a mess. "

"Yes. It was a bad fall. "

"Well, thank goodness you were able to drive yourself here. "

She was lightly dripping Heal onto my cheek, smearing it with the tips of her fingers. "Ah, I love to watch it work. Looks much better already. Okay. . . around the edges. " She smiled to herself. "Maybe one more coat. I want this to be erased. " She worked for a minute longer. "Very nice. "

"Here's some water," the older woman said as she came through the door.

"Thank you, Cerulean. "

"Let me know if you need anything more. I'll be up front. "

"Thanks. "

Cerulean left. I wondered if she was from the Flower Planet. Blue flowers were rare-one might take a name from that.

"You can sit now. How do you feel?"

I pulled myself up. "Perfect. " It was true. I hadn't felt so healthy in a long time. The sharp shift from pain to ease made the sensation more powerful.

"That's just how it should be. Okay, let's dust on a little Smooth. "

She twisted the last cylinder's top and shook an iridescent powder into her hand. She patted it into my cheek, then patted another handful onto my arm.

"You'll always have a small line on your arm," she said apologetically. "Like your neck. A deep wound. . . " She shrugged. Absentmindedly, she brushed the hair back from my neck and examined the scar. "This was nicely done. Who was your Healer?"

"Um. . . Faces Sunward," I said, pulling the name from one of my old students. "I was in. . . Eureka, Montana. I didn't like the cold

. I moved south. "

So many lies. I felt a twist of anxiety in my stomach.

"I started out in Maine," she said, not noticing anything amiss in my voice. As she spoke, she cleaned the blood from my neck. "It was too cold for me, too. What's your Calling?"

"Um. . . I serve food. In a Mexican restaurant in. . . Phoenix. I like spicy food. "

"Me, too. " She wasn't looking at me funny. She was wiping my cheek now.

"Very nice. No worries, Glass Spires. Your face looks great. "

"Thank you, Healer. "

"Of course. Would you like some water?"

"Yes, please. " I kept a grip on myself. It wouldn't do to bolt the glass down the way I wanted to. I wasn't able to stop myself from finishing it all, though. It tasted too good.

"Would you like more?"

"I. . . yes, that would be nice. Thank you. "

"I'll be right back. "

The second she was out the door, I slid off the mattress. The paper crackled, freezing me in place. She didn't dart back in. I had only seconds. It had taken Cerulean a few minutes to get the water. Maybe it would take the Healer just as long. Maybe the cool, pure water was far away from this room. Maybe.

I ripped the pack off my shoulders and wrenched the drawstrings open. I started with the second cabinet. There was the stacked column of Heal. I grabbed the whole column and let it clatter quietly into the bottom of my pack.

What would I say if she caught me? What lie could I tell?

I took the two kinds of Clean next, from the first cabinet. There was a second stack behind the first of each, and I took half of those, too. Then the No Pain, both stacks of that. I was about to turn back for the Seal, when the label of the next row of cylinders caught my attention.

Cool. For fevers? There were no instructions, just the label. I took the stack. Nothing here would hurt a human body. I was sure of that.

I grabbed all the Seal and two cans of Smooth. I couldn't press my luck any further. I closed the cabinets quietly and threw my arms through the straps of the pack. I leaned against the mattress, making another crackle. I tried to look relaxed.

She didn't come back.

I checked the clock. It had been one minute. How far away was the water?

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Had my lies been as obvious to her as they were to me?

Sweat started to dew up on my forehead. I wiped it away quickly.

What if she brought back a Seeker?

I thought of the small pill in my pocket, and my hands shook. I could do it, though. For Jamie.

I heard quiet footsteps then, two sets, coming down the hall.