Doesn't That Hurt You?

This is the question I always hear when I tell someone that I use the Light to heal others. It's normally followed up with some comment about how strong or stupid I am, for using a power that hurts myself. I am rarely asked why I do this though. Most are content to be healed and be on their way. I don't mind this, sometimes healing can be a thankless job.

Why? Because there is a feeling, an addicting one, in knowing that an injured man or woman can return home to their family and friends to enjoy them another day and to spare those people of the loss of their loved ones. That alone is worth bearing the pains of channeling the Light. And as dark as it is to say this, I have endured suffering before. More than most people have, I imagine. And if a man has broken his leg and suffers from the pain, then I will bear his burden instead through the Light. For I personally feel that I am better equipped to endure such pains.

Unlike the Bishop and other undead that I have met who act as beacons of Light, it physically burns me. For most it feels as though it were the case. I often wonder what will happen when there comes a day when a wound is too great, or too the gashes and pains become so numerous that I might die from healing so many people. I do not know what would happen or what I would do.

Please, if someone ever reads this, do not take these passages as a martyr's plea for help, or as some sadistic self-agrad aggrandizing of my gift from the Light. I only wish for others to know why I would their health before my own.