Magic Touch

Chapter 3 - Home, Quiet Home

As she performed her second surgery of the day, Kate's thoughts kept wandering back to the woman she'd met at lunch and her words.

"Would you mind if I were?"

And Kate had answered that she wouldn't. Even though she had made the deliberate decision not to date. Given her powers it was just too risky. Normals couldn't see the glow of magic in action, sure enough, but they could still see the effects of its workings. If someone stepped inside Kate's apartment they might see levitating dishes, drawers opening and closing on their own, or the clothes iron leisurely straightening out her shirts. She guessed that most people would either run away screaming at that point, or grab the nearest blunt object and whack her the moment she came into sight. That was the reason she always left her blinders closed.

Witches weren't any more popular than they had been in the past. The few that existed would either keep their powers to themselves, or meet a nasty end. When Kate was younger her mother had once told her that witch meet ups did exist, but were highly secretive. Her mother never went to one, still considering them too risky. Even then someone had discovered her in the end. Kate shuddered at the thought. Luckily her own powers hadn't yet awakened at the time - she turned out to be a late bloomer - and an unsuspecting family of normals had adopted her.

When Kate used her magic in the operating room she always carefully considered the moment and strived to stay within the realm of the theoretically possible. That was why her successes were attributed to exceptional skill, and not luck.

By most people, at least.

"I can't understand why Anna is still reluctant to work with you," Mari mused while munching on an energy bar. She was referring to a colleague, one of the most experienced anesthesiologists on staff. "She always says your success with difficult cases is down to sheer dumb luck. I could buy into that in the beginning but you're just way too consistent for that to be possible."

A small smile formed on Kate's lips below her surgical mask. "Can't win them all."

Mari gulped down another bite of her energy bar. Kate always wondered how she was able to maintain her slim figure as she always seemed to have several bars at hand for every case. "At this point I feel like Anna is just being stubborn about not wanting to admit that she was wrong."

"Who knows," Kate responded with a shrug.

She didn't blame Anna. Her case choices had brought her under scrutiny more than once. She'd been through several nasty disciplinary hearings. Luckily for Kate, someone higher up had raised an objection each time and she had been allowed to continue the same way as before. Even so, she had found the mere act of the possibility being raised to be hugely stressful. She was thankful that it had been many years since the last time at this point. Hopefully things would stay that way.

The surgical assistant groaned. "Can we skip this song? I'm getting sick of it."

Operation room etiquette dictated that the surgeon was the highest authority in terms of deciding the soundtrack. Kate shrugged. Dominance had never been particularly important to her and she didn't mind what was playing as long as she didn't absolutely hate it. She'd never been opposed to skipping a song or two for the sake of harmony.

The circulating nurse picked up on the sign and, in a free moment, went to the back of the room to fiddle with the buttons on the stereo.

***

In spite of the fact that she always changed before returning home, the hospital smell still clung to Kate when she reached her apartment. She stepped inside, locked the door behind her and threw her jacket off. It hovered the final twenty centimeters to the clothes hanger.

Would a potential date mind? She wondered. As soon as she realized what she was thinking, she slapped her left hand against her forehead. She knew exactly what potential date her brain had been considering. Her cheeks flushed at the realization. While she couldn't clearly picture the face she did remember the woman's clothes and scent.

"No," she told herself. "Not happening. Absolutely not."

No dating. That was the rule she had decided on. Back then, she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't make the same mistake as her mother.

She switched on the lights and walked into the living room. Little natural light could make its way in through the blinders that were always down. It was safer that way. The cream-colored walls made up for it to some extent through their lightness. Separating the kitchen and the living room was a plain wood counter. There was also a balcony right outside the living room, though she almost never used it and kept the glass door covered.

It might not look like all that much, but it was her safe haven. Kate drew a deep breath and exhaled, feeling the stress of the day fade from her muscles. She walked over to her wine colored couch and sat down, flicking a finger in the direction of the kitchen. A cupboard opened and a pan and pot lazily bobbed over to the kitchen counter. She flicked her finger again and a selection of ingredients left the fridge in the same manner. One gesture later dinner was preparing itself and Kate was leaning back into her couch, eyes closed.

She groaned. It was always such a hassle when someone caught her eye. She needed to quell the feeling before it grew into something bigger. Find a fault of some sort, or some unappealing feature. It didn't prove so difficult in this case.

"Kate, she's just a visitor," she told herself. Sometimes it seemed easier to convince herself when she spoke out loud. "She'll be gone by tomorrow, or maybe a couple of days after. Either way you're going to be fine. Just don't do anything silly if you happen to run into her again."

She nodded in response to her own advice. Put into words like that it sounded very simple. Exactly. It was simple.