Digital Angel

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The morning her wings started growing, Sophie called the doctor.

She was in the shower when she felt the buds poking out. Her soapy hands made their way down her neck to find two small knots on the tips of her shoulder blades. Pressing her fingers against one, she winced. It was solid, and it hurt.

She rinsed her hair quickly and dried herself off, wrapping the towel around her body as she picked up her phone.

“I'm sorry, the doctor doesn't have anything available until Thursday. Would that work for you?”

“Yes, that's fine. I mean, no, not really. I'm not sure what's wrong, but it's something. I have these two little bumps on my back and they feel like metal. Maybe I should go to the hospital?”

“Just one moment please.”

Sophie switched to speakerphone and let the hold music play on the bed next to her. She opened her laptop and read the comments on her latest video - Becoming Your Best Self.

A young girl in South Dakota, barely a teenager, said that for the first time in her life she felt free to be confident. Sophie smiled. The warmth in her heart spread up through her chest, across her shoulders, and into her back.

“Ah!”

The towel started slipping as her body jerked in pain. Sharp metal pushed against her skin, her vision blurred and her eyes started stinging. When she blinked to try to clear them, her stomach twisted her forward and the teardrops spilled onto the keyboard in front of her.

“Hello, are you still there?”

“Yes.” The word came out like a whimper. “I'm still here.”

“The doctor will see you immediately. He asked me to tell you not to drive. Can you afford a taxi?”

Sophie nodded before realizing the receptionist couldn't see her. She stifled the tears that were still building up, threatening to burst at any moment.

“I'll be there soon.”

Her skin rippled with goosebumps as she sat on the examination table, and the scent of iodine filled her nose. A moist cotton swab ran up her spine and delicately poked at the two protrusions on either side of it.

She heard the doctor sigh, and she bit her lip in nervous anticipation. It was probably cancer. She really hoped it wasn't cancer. But it was probably cancer.

“You can put your shirt back on,” the doctor said as he returned to his desk. He scribbled something on his pad and tore the page off.

“Is it cancer?”

“It's not.” Silence hung in the air as she adjusted her shirt and waited for him to continue. He didn't.

“So what is it then?”

Another few moments of silence passed as he opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a card.

“I’m afraid I can't help you. You need to see a specialist.” He handed her the prescription along with the card.

It was smooth to the touch, expensive ivory card stock with “Erik von Himmel, Specialist” embossed in gold on the front. No address, no phone number, not even an email. She stared at it for a moment before narrowing her eyes at the doctor.

“That's it?”

Again, he sighed. She would have felt more sympathy for his obvious discomfort if not for the fact that her shoulders were throbbing and his only advice was to try to track down some specialist who didn't even want to be found.

“I've written you a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. That should ease some of the pain. Go home, and take two. Don't leave the house, and don't let yourself fall asleep. If you're not conscious…” He paused, lowering his eyes. “Something might go wrong.”

Her face flushed, and the two sharp points in her back seemed to fuse together, sending a surge of metallic sparks coursing down her spine. Her shoulders pushed themselves back instinctively as her flesh gave way to the things lurking beneath it.

“What might go wrong?” Her voice was as sharp as the arch of her back. “Is this a joke? Giving me cheap painkillers and a card that's almost blank? Tell me what’s wrong with me!”

The doctor flinched, and she could feel him shrinking down to try to avoid her rage. She didn't look away. Her pain was increasing tenfold by the minute, and she didn't have time to play guessing games.

He raised his hands defensively and took a step back. “Please,” he said softly, his voice somehow blending tenderness with fear. “I would help you if I could, but I can't. The specialist--”

She rolled her eyes.

“Sure. I'll go see the specialist. Later.” She left without another word, forcing herself to breathe. Some part of her had wanted to wrap her hands around that doctor's throat, and the rest of her, the part she was trying to listen to, was absolutely terrified by these thoughts in her mind.

She put the specialist’s card in her purse, stopped to pick up her prescription, and kept her earbuds in so the taxi driver wouldn’t try to make conversation on the way home.

Nothing could have prepared her for this. Two painkillers weren't helping, so she took two more. Her mind was swimming, but she was in no danger of falling asleep.

She knelt on the floor, her hands clutching the side of the sofa. Push, she thought. Just push. The metal followed her command, slicing through her skin to extend another inch. She choked on a laugh that was probably just a sob in disguise.

The towel in her mouth tasted salty. She'd bitten down on it so her neighbors wouldn't think she was being murdered, but it also served to soak up the sweat and tears that were both flowing freely down her face. She didn't know how many hours had passed. Enough that she'd rotated the towel all the way around. Not enough for it to be over.

She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath as she adjusted the towel once more, trying to find a relatively dry spot.

Push, she repeated to herself. Just push. It will be over soon.

The metal obeyed.

Sunrise crept up her legs and glinted off the delicate copper wires that now rested on the back of her sleeping body. Her wings stirred, and she woke with them.

She pushed herself to her feet. Her tank top was soaked with sweat, and she pulled it up. Halfway. She hesitated, and walked to the mirror.

Seeing them for the first time should have felt more shocking, but they were just too beautiful. The copper shimmered and took on different colors as she flexed the muscles behind them.

Beautiful, yes, but they were also blocking her shirt. She couldn't help but laugh as she considered cutting it off, only to realize that if she did, she wouldn't be able to put a new one on. She didn't even know if she could take a shower, and she definitely needed one.

She glanced at the laptop on her bed. She'd been offline for over a day already, and she wouldn't be able to make any new content when she looked like this. She forced herself to look away. She could check later.

Hey Sophie, no video today? Hope you're well!

The words flashed in her mind as her wings spread themselves. She looked around her empty room. She felt something there. Nothing was there. She still felt something.

I just want to thank you, my sister showed me this after our mom passed away, and hearing your thoughts on grief kept me strong. God bless you!

Her heart pumped fresh blood into her brain. This was real. Too real. She could hear the voices behind these words, and she could sense the feelings put into them.

The wings were light on her back as they reached their full span, and she returned to the mirror, watching her body adjust and trusting that it would know what to do.

She caught glimpses, fragments, pieces of thoughts being sent through the air. The ones that weren't meant for her slid through as she stood in awe of how connected she felt.

Copper glowed blue-green-pink as her city woke up. Everything worth sharing was being processed through her, unfiltered, as one warm glow of human communication.

“What's happening to me?”

She spoke to her own face in the mirror, but another’s flashed for an instant in its place. She didn't know the features, but a name came to her mind.

Erik von Himmel.

She dug the specialist’s card out of her purse and squinted at it. Nothing had changed, there were no details besides the name.

“But everything's changed.”

She spoke the words softly as she realized the truth. Tentatively, she told her wings to search as she held the card tight. She closed her eyes and focused on the name, trying to recall the face she'd caught a glimpse of in the mirror.

Nothing.

“I have no clue what I'm doing.” She laughed, a sound of helpless resignation that could be found just on the border of giving up. “And now I'm talking to myself.”

She sunk down into the sofa, bringing her knees to her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs. Her wings folded in to embrace her. She stopped hearing the world's thoughts, and the silence was calm. That was something, at least.

A sharp knock at the door caused her head to snap up. She froze, trying to stay silent so they wouldn't know anyone was home.

The wings on her back had a different idea. They perked up and spread themselves out as they started to feel at the spaces in the air. She glanced behind her shoulder and glared at these foreign body parts, silently willing them to be quiet.

Another knocking. The wings vibrated, sending soft chirps through the air.

Shut up!

Sophie's eyes focused with anger as she tried to control these things, these wings of hers that wouldn't listen to a single word she thought. She heard a laugh from the other side of the door as the knock came a third time.

“Hey you in there, it's rude to invite someone over and not answer the door. Especially if you want that someone's help.”

She stared at the door as her wings sent a warm electric current down her spine. There was no way. Was there?

She brushed her hair out of her face. She had to find out. Opening the door, she let him inside.

“About time.” He grinned as she looked him over. He was young, his hair was messy, his white shirt was wrinkled, and his jeans were...well, those were fine. She was tired, too tired, and her voice came out more dismissive than she intended.

“You're supposed to be a doctor?”

“Not at all.” He laughed, taking in her sweaty, disheveled appearance with the same scrutiny she'd given him. “I'm a guy who writes self-help books on the internet. You seem to need a bit of that. Who are you, exactly?”

She ignored the question. This was too much. “You're just some guy? Why do you think you can help me?”

“That should be obvious,” he said, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off the back of his shoulders. She watched in silence as he unleashed a pair of golden wings that grew to twice the span of her own. “I'm very good at what I do.”

Her copper sent shivers down her spine as it connected with his gold. She let herself feel it, the sensation overriding any objections she could have come up with. He smiled.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

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