“Calm down,” Clarke said, walking until he stood beside the junkie. The frail man at Clarke’s feet covered his head with his thin arms. It was like protecting a fragile plate with two thin strands of spaghetti. “What did you do?”

“I won’t do it again!” the junkie continued to shout. “I won’t! I won’t!”

“Just stop,” Clarke said, extending his powers into the man. There was a soft light surrounding the junkie’s leg as the bones mended instantly. The man stared at the light for a moment, until he realized that his leg didn’t hurt anymore.

“Right then,” Clarke said. “Now what were you talking about?”

Rather than answer, however, the panicked junkie got on his feet as fast as he could and ran the other way.

“No, don’t!” Clarke tried to warn. However, the junkie didn’t listen, and immediately left Clarke’s sphere of influence. The very moment that he did though, there was a loud crack as his leg broke once more, forcing him to fall unexpectedly and cry out in pain. This time though, the pain was worse as the fall twisted the bone fragments and pierced through the skin.

The junkie started to scream in the most horrible pain of his life, but as soon as he started, he realized he didn’t feel anything anymore. He looked down and saw that his leg had been mended again. Clarke was standing over the man with an arm extended.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Uh… yeah,” the junkie answered. “I think so.” He examined his arms and the rest of his body, as if he were seeing it for the first time. “What did you do to me?”

“I fixed your leg and flushed the drugs from your system,” Clarke said. “You should be able to think clearly now.”

“Oh, uh…” the junkie said. Sitting up, he flexed his arms and legs, touching them carefully. There was no pain anywhere in his body. “I feel… incredible!” the junkie said. He stood up, continuing his curious probe. “I can’t remember the last time I felt this good! How’d you do that?!Rehab’s got nothing on this!”

“Don’t get used to it,” Clarke said sharply. “You’ll only stay that way as long as you stay within five feet of me.”

“What? Why?” the junkie asked. Clarke just stared at him, and when he didn’t get any kind of answer, the man just asked, “Well, if I have to be near you, then why did you bother healing me? You’re not gonna—”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Clarke interrupted. “Your leg is broken because of me. It’s my responsibility to make amends.”

“Wha…?” The junkie turned his head down to look at his leg. “But my leg is fine.”

“Only for the moment,” Clarke explained. “As soon as I walk away, it’ll break, and the drugs will overwhelm you again.”