The whisper came before the danger

Emily did not notice it at first She was focused on work The days were full of small hurts cuts burns twisted joints fevers She cleaned dressed cooled lifted held She boiled water again and again and forced everyone who came near her clinic hut to wash their hands in it first Some of them laughed at that like it was silly to wash just to touch a sick person but they did it anyway because she told them to and because they had seen what happened when they listened

People were getting better That was the simple truth The fevered woman could now sit up The boy with the broken arm could wiggle his fingers and grin The shepherd with the deep cut on his hand had pink skin growing instead of black rot And good news travels

But fear travels faster

It started with a woman who would not cross the doorway She stood in the dirt just outside the hut with a bundle in her hands Her face was tight Her jaw shaking She kept saying a word Emily did not know and pressing her fingers into a circle over her chest like a sign for protection

Emily stepped forward with a soft voice I can help She held her hands out gentle palms up

The woman pulled back like Emily’s hands were fire

Emily blinked slow She had seen that look before Not in the hospital not in normal life but once during a night shift in psych intake A family scared not of injury but of shame The same kind of shaking in the breath Not I am hurt Please fix me but I am afraid of what you are

The woman finally threw the bundle down in the dirt and ran off almost sprinting away

Emily stared at the bundle It moved

She dropped to her knees fast and unwrapped the cloth It was a baby The baby was gasping tiny chest heaving skin pale a faint blue around the mouth Emily sucked in air and her whole body lit up with emergency instinct She had seen this She knew this She was already moving before thought caught up

Airway first Always airway

She tilted the baby’s chin up gently and cleared the mouth with the corner of her sleeve No choking no milk stuck She pressed two fingers to the tiny chest counting breaths way too fast and still not enough at the same time She lifted the baby and held it upright against her shoulder then gave a firm but careful pat between the shoulder blades again and again One two three four Breathe Come on baby Breathe for me

The baby made a weak sound like a kitten

Good Sign of life

The baby was still not pulling enough oxygen though Her mind raced Oxygen was normal in her world Hook up the mask Adjust the flow Watch the sats Watch the color Here there was no tank no mask no tube no machine There was only her hands and her will

She sat down on the packed dirt floor with the baby in her lap and cupped her mouth over the baby’s nose and mouth forming a seal She gave the softest slowest breath the kind you use to fog a mirror not strong enough to blow anything out the baby’s tiny lungs were too fragile She breathed then waited watched the chest rise fall She repeated Breathe Wait Breathe Wait Good Good Stay with me Stay here

She kept talking to the baby in a low steady tone You are okay You are okay I know you are scared I am here You are okay

Minutes felt like hours

At last the blue around the baby’s lips began to fade The skin turned a little pink The breaths steadied The tiny hands opened and closed like little sea creatures trying to grab the air

Emily smiled then almost cried from relief She wrapped the baby in warmer cloth and held them close to her own body for heat Skin to skin transfer It was something they taught in neonatal care Hold the baby close Use your body to keep them warm Keep their heart rate steady She hummed low and slow not a real song just comfort

The baby slept

Emily let out the air she had been holding She felt wiped out all the way to her bones but also calm The way she sometimes felt after a successful code in the ER where a life had almost been gone then was not gone anymore That quiet deep calm that felt almost holy

When she lifted her head she saw she was not alone

There were six people at the doorway staring at her not like she was a miracle but like she was something dangerous

Three men Two women All older She recognized one of the men He was from a house on the far side near the mill He had refused to come to her when his wife twisted her ankle and instead wrapped the ankle with dirty rope and prayed He was the kind of man who did not like new things

He stepped forward and pointed at the baby in her arms and said a sharp word It was short and ugly and he said it again louder Wytch Wytch

Emily felt the air shift

Hart the village leader was there too He held out his hand to stop the man but the man brushed him off He took two more steps toward Emily and jabbed his finger again His voice shaking with anger and fear both This is not the work of a woman This is not the work of a healer This is trick This is unclean

Emily rose slow She kept the baby against her chest and stood between the man and the child She could feel her own pulse in her throat

This is medicine she said steady It is care This baby could not breathe I helped the baby breathe That is all That is not dark magic That is not curse It is science

Science meant nothing here but her tone carried weight

The man spat on the ground He said more words that she half understood Words like evil and unnatural and danger He pointed at her bag her scissors her melted ID badge He called them tools of spirits

Emily almost laughed The idea of her hospital scissors being demonic would have been funny if the air had not felt like it was getting ready to snap

The two women at the doorway were whispering fast The whole village was watching now People had formed a wide circle around the hut Some faces looked afraid Some looked angry Some looked protective So much tension in such a small space that the ground could split from it

Then the baby cried

It was a normal baby cry thin hungry alive That sound cut through everything It was proof It was life

Every eye turned

Emily lifted the baby just a little so everyone could see The tiny chest rose and fell steady and simple

She spoke loud so they all could hear You left this child to die in the dirt I did not I will never leave a life in the dirt I will always pick it up That is the only difference between me and you

The words hit like a slap The man’s face turned red He opened his mouth like he might rush her like he might grab the baby from her arms by force

That was the moment Hart moved

He stepped between Emily and the angry man full body full stance His voice came out sharp and cold Not pleading Commanding

Hart was old but he had presence His shoulders were still wide from years of work He had lines on his face like dry riverbeds and eyes that could still cut He spoke in a low voice that carried He said many words fast most of which Emily could not follow but she recognized a few Healer Life Debt Owe

The angry man tried to argue Hart did not move He lifted his walking staff just a little Not to strike Just to remind And the man shut his mouth

Emily watched and understood something important

Hart was not just the old one people listened to He was the shield between her and fear He had chosen a side

After a long tense pause the crowd began to break apart Some people drifted away whispering Some stayed hovering nearby but their faces were softer now not hostile curious The two women stepped forward and offered Emily a bowl of warm soup and fresh cloth clean cloth The man from the mill gave her one last hard look and left

Hart turned to Emily and looked at the baby in her arms The baby was still pink and breathing calm His gaze softened

He pointed to Emily then pressed his palm to his own chest and bowed his head slow and deep It was not a fast grateful nod This was different It was public It was formal It was him telling everyone in sight This woman is under my protection

Emily felt her throat tighten

Thank you she whispered even though she knew he did not understand those exact words Her voice was low and honest Thank you

Hart nodded once then pointed to the hut and spoke again Healer stay He tapped the ground Stay here Safe

Safe

It was the first time since waking in this world that anyone had said that to her Even the idea of it made her knees weak

After the crowd fully cleared Emily sat down on the floor of the hut Baby still bundled against her chest She watched the small rise and fall of the tiny body and let her mind slow

The word witch still echoed in her head She knew this fear She had studied enough history to know how women who healed got labeled cursed instead of skilled how men who cut flesh were called surgeons and men of science while women who stopped bleeding with their bare hands were burned She knew that story and she knew how it ended sometimes and she did not like that story at all

She could not let that be her story here

She had to control the story before someone else did

Her mind started to work in quiet steady lines like she was charting a plan on a patient board Do the job Save the life Make people see with their own eyes what you are doing Explain it Show steps Make it repeatable Make it teachable

Teach them

That was the key

If she was the only one who could do these things then she was not a blessing She was a threat If she shared the knowledge then it became village knowledge community knowledge normal not magic

In the hospital world they called that standard of care Here it would be protection for her life

Emily looked down at the baby again The tiny fingers now resting against her skin And she made a promise in that moment

She would teach

She would teach them to boil water and wash hands before touching a wound She would teach them how to keep fever down with cool cloth and slow sips of water She would teach them how to stop bleeding with pressure and clean fabric not dirt She would teach them how to splint a break so a child could still work and live and move when grown She would teach them how to help a baby breathe

If they all could do it then she would no longer be a strange woman from nowhere with power She would be the start of something larger

Not a witch Not even just a healer

A school

A way

Her way

Outside the hut the sun began to fall and she heard quiet voices People were still talking about her but the tone had changed No longer all fear Not yet trust but something close

Inside Emily held the baby and leaned her head back against the wall of her little clinic and let her eyes close for a short breath

She had survived four days in the past and was still alive

She had made her first real enemy

She had earned her first real protection

And now she had a plan