"Who was singing that beautiful song?" Cynthia asked in wonder.

  "Her name is Aria," Dr. Cole replied. "She's a coma patient at the Harbor View Burn Center. She's been singing songs similar to this one since yesterday morning, even though her brain is in a vegetative state. Until just now, everyone who has been healed was in her presence as she sang. We recorded her last healing session to see if recordings would work as well as live performances. They appear to work just fine."

  "How is she singing if her brain isn't functioning?" Cynthia asked in puzzlement.

  "That's the big mystery," Dr. Lorenzo replied with a sigh. "She is defying everything we understand about how consciousness works."

  "We would appreciate it if you kept this miracle to yourself for a week," Dr. Cole said gravely. "We need to get as many songs as possible on the internet before the FDA tries to put a halt on it."

  "Why would the FDA try to stop the cure for cancer from being shared?" Cynthia asked in shock.

  "Because they do whatever the big pharmaceutical companies tell them to do, and these songs are going to get rid of all the diseases in the world almost overnight," Dr. Lorenzo explained with a disgusted shake of his head. "This represents the end to their empire of drugs and malpractice. They'll fight for their survival with everything they've got."

  After leaving the cancer research center, Rhapsody couldn't stop thinking about the foreign words in Aria's songs.

  "So, what's the plan now?" Rhapsody asked the two doctors with a raised eyebrow.

  "Now, we start bringing in every kind of diseased patient we can find," Dr. Lorenzo replied. "I noticed that Aria sings differently depending on what the patient's condition is. If there is a unique song to cure each of the major illnesses in this world, I want to get them recorded while we have the chance."

  Rhapsody nodded her agreement. While it was beyond amazing to heal cancer, aids, and cystic fibrosis, it would be positively astounding to be able to heal of the world's illnesses. She was still having a hard time believing this wasn't some kind of epic dream.

  When they returned to the burn center, Dr. Lorenzo and Dr. Cole reconnected the microphone array and laptop to the bed. The rest of the day was spent recording new songs as the two doctors kept returning with different patients. There were several attempts by reporters to sneak in, but the security team nabbed them every time.

  The days began to blur together for Rhapsody, as she watched a steady stream of sick patients wait their turn to enter Aria's room. Rhapsody had finally convinced Harmony and Melody to spend a few nights a week at their own house. Aside from Aria's continued singing, there had been no indication at all that she might wake up suddenly.

  After two weeks of marching sick patients into Aria's room, Dr. Lorenzo and Dr. Cole did a mass upload of all of the recordings to every video and audio site they could find. Each song had a title to match the illness it was meant to heal. There were hundreds of millions of downloads before the medical industry realized what was happening and began shutting the videos down with claims of copyright infringement. It was too late though; every time one of the songs was pulled offline, one hundred more of the same thing replaced it.

  Rhapsody couldn't help chuckling to herself in amusement as the media tried to smear the source of all of the healing. It looked like they were resorting to outright lies, claiming that many people who had listened to the healing music had suffered from heart attacks and strokes. If they were dealing with common cold or flu patients, their tactics might have worked; but they were dealing with people who already had terminal illnesses and severe disabilities. These people were willing to gamble a lot for a chance to have a normal life again.

  The stock market crashed within a few days of the songs being published to the internet, as shares in pharmaceutical company's plummeted like a rock. Rhapsody felt a sense of grim satisfaction at the giant's collapse.

  By the time the FDA had regrouped enough to start banning the use of Aria's music, the majority of the world's illnesses had been cured. The political landscape quickly changed as the funding from Pharmaceutical lobbyists quickly dried up. The EU and Canada made a point of rubbing the United States nose in the fact that if they had switched to universal healthcare several years ago, their economy wouldn't have crashed.

  After two months of being in the hospital, the doctors released Aria to Harmony and Melody to take care of at home. The medical equipment was ridiculously expensive, but thanks to Harmony's booming chain of karaoke bars, as well as an anonymous donation of fifty million dollars, she was able to afford it. They had erected a kind of shrine for visitors to stop at outside the house, where Aria's voice could still reach them with its healing power. There was always a steady stream of amputees, deformed bodies, and serious injuries that required her to heal them individually.

  XXXXX

  Thad re-read the twitter post for a second time, wondering how so many people could be roped into a scam that was so easy to disprove. There were thousands of retweets affirming the original tweet's claims that a massive upload of music capable of healing anything from cancer to the common cold was available on YouTube. Some hacker must have a botnet of drones faking all of the re-tweets.

  Unable to withstand his curiosity, Thad clicked on the YouTube link and listened to the premiere video, titled Cystic Fibrosis. As the song finished, Thad blinked in surprise as he felt wetness on his cheeks. Feeling a faint spark of hope, Thad unplugged his laptop and walked down to his mother's room.

  "Mom, I want to show you a cool song I found," Thad said softly as he sat down on the edge of her bed.

  His mom smiled weakly, looking skeletal with the dark circles under her eyes and hollow cheeks. The wimple covering her bald head was coming undone again. "Sure, baby. Let's hear it."

  Thad took a deep breath as he selected the video titled Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. As the angelic voice began singing, his mother's eyes widened in sudden awe. "Thad, this is beautiful!"

  Thad nodded absently, watching his mother closely. As the second verse began, another voice joined the song. The new voice sang in a strange language, but the sound of that amazing voice defied description! Thad knew his eyes were tearing up again as he got caught up in the effortless ascension of scales that seemed to bring color into a previously drab world.

  The sound of his mother's breath catching brought his attention back into focus. He gasped as the color began spreading back into her cheeks, restoring her skin to a healthy pallor. She was quickly pulling off her wimple, and Thad gasped again as dark-brown hair quickly sprouted from her bald skin. The red spots on her skin vanished even as he watched and the bruises he had become so accustomed to faded into a healthy skin tone.

  "Thad, what just happened?" his mother asked in amazement.

  The sudden life in her bright brown eyes was what convinced him it had really worked. With a sob, Thad pulled his mother into a tight embrace. "You're healed, mom. You're healed."

  XXXXX

  Lillian glared at her tablet angrily as she read the Facebook post from her sister's page. Some charlatan was claiming videos on YouTube could cure people of any kind of sickness. Before her daughter was diagnosed with Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, she might have just ignored hoaxes like this.

  She quickly posted a response, feeling angry tears splash on her hand as she typed.

  "It's bad enough that there are people sick enough in this world to think hoaxes like this are funny, but to contribute to their insensitivity is unacceptable. I thought better of you, Miriam."

  Lillian tossed her tablet down on the couch and walked over to watch the restless sleep of her five-year old daughter. Sometimes it seemed like the whole purpose of life was to provide amusement for some sadistic deity who reveled in the pain and sorrow of everyone and everything. If there was a God, and she was quite confident there wasn't, she had a lot to say to him when she finally met the bastard.

  She was brought out of her brooding by an urgent knock at her door. Frowning, she walked over to the front door and opened it. Her sister nearly knocked her off her feet as she pushed past determinedly, walking over to her daughter's room.

  "What the hell are you doing, Miriam?" Lillian demanded irritably.

  "Watch," Miriam said firmly. "I've already witnessed this work on someone else."

  Lillian frowned as Miriam pulled out an mp3 player and began playing a song on the speaker. Before she could work herself into another rage, the voice of an angel began singing. Lillian slowly closed her mouth as she listened, entranced. When the second voice joined in, she felt something come alive in her that she thought long dead: wonder.

  As the third verse began, she stared in stupefied shock as her daughter woke up and stared at her with a clear gaze, eyes no longer clouded with constant pain.

  "Mommy, she made the pain go away!" Melany grinned at her brightly.

  "Who did, sweetie?" Lillian asked thickly.

  "The girl with the pretty eyes," Melany replied with a grin that split her face from ear to ear. "She said to get better and I did. Why didn't the doctors think of that?"

  "I don't know, sweetie," Lillian choked out as she knelt down and gathered Melany in her arms.

  For the first time in four years, Lillian wept tears of joy instead of bitterness.

  XXXXX

  Rhapsody yawned widely as she recited the novel, , to Aria's slumbering form. Having read it before, it was permanently entrenched in her limitless memory banks. Now that Aria was at home, she was in a queen-sized bed that had plenty of room for the others to gather around her. Melody was already asleep, with one of her arms draped over Aria's midsection. Rhapsody had already taken several pictures.

  Harmony was asleep on a twin bed right next to the queen. She was a flopper, so she didn't trust herself to not get tangled in Aria's cables when she fell asleep. Melody and Harmony had quickly adapted to the fact that Aria might not wake for years. Being able to carry on a crude form of communication with her through songs made it bearable, barely.

  They had taken the last of the bandages off of Aria that morning, as the last vestiges of damaged skin were replaced by healthy tissue. Her hair was no longer midnight black; it was honey-blonde and almost down to her chest. Her face looked like a makeup artist had spent hours making every color and shade compliment her delicate features. It was hard to believe that it was just her natural skin pigmentation. Her lips were a dark plum, almost black. Her eyelids were dark as well, and her eyelashes had grown back long and thick. She no longer had any body hair. Rhapsody wasn't sure if her cellular regeneration was just unable to rebuild the hair follicles, or if she had taken a more conscious role in her healing process.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  She was no longer an identical twin to Melody. Her skin was several shades lighter, and her features had changed subtly during the healing process. There were still more than enough similarities to make them look like sisters, even if they weren't identical.

  Rhapsody sighed after reciting the last page of the novel. While the story was beautiful, it was still heartbreaking. She hoped Aria's story had a happier ending. Picking up her tablet, she browsed some of the alternative news sites. She had learned years ago that the mainstream media made a point of censoring any kind of news that didn't conform to their agenda.

  The first article made her grin.

  CDC WARNS PUBLIC THAT SO-CALLED HEALING MUSIC CAUSES CANCER IN HEALTHY PEOPLE

  Rhapsody snorted and moved on to the next headline.

  GIRL HAS ALIEN HAND THAT HAS A MIND OF ITS OWN

  Pursing her lips, Rhapsody glanced at Aria speculatively.

  With another ginormous yawn, Rhapsody put her tablet down and snuggled up to Aria's other side and immediately fell asleep.

  As the years slowly ticked by, Rhapsody felt her optimism wane. It had been over three years of the same routine every day. Aria was an easy patient to take care of. She no longer produced any kind of body waste. The doctors theorized that her constant singing was burning up all of the liquids she was receiving from the IV. She had grown skinnier, to the point that she looked like an hourglass where her waist narrowed to a tiny size. All of the tests indicated she was still healthy though.

  The three women started each day by giving Aria a wash down with damp cloths. Pumping Aria's legs and arms to keep her muscles from atrophying had turned into a good work out for the rest of them as well. During the first two years, Aria had spent most of her day in song as the never ending stream of hopeful people who had lost limbs or suffered from other deformities waited in a line over a mile long. The city had provided a dozen police officers to keep the line of disfigured supplicants out of the roads, as well as preventing any more attacks on Aria by fundamentalists.

  After the first two years, the line had started shrinking as Aria methodically healed the masses of disabled people. They usually only had a couple dozen people a day now. Aria rarely sang new songs anymore. They had recorded over a thousand unique melodies, each one as beautiful as the last. Her name always popped back into the headlines when she would sing a new song. The world had largely accepted Aria as a kind of divine messenger from beyond the veil. There were still plenty of fundamentalist Christian and Muslim groups that claimed she was an agent of evil, but they were by far the minority.

  There were thousands of websites dedicated to Aria, as billions of people expressed their gratitude for the gift she had given to the world. Libraries and schools were naming their buildings after her as well. The ripples from her gentle touch on the world had transformed every person's life to one degree or another.

  The pharmaceutical companies were a thing of the past. Hospitals were closing down or reducing their staff to focus on just treating physical injuries. The economists who had predicted worldwide collapse after the demise of the pharmaceutical companies were sadly disappointed. Most of the scientists and doctors who had worked for the medical industry before had started a group of research centers in an attempt to decode Aria's songs and figure out how she was healing people.

  A growing group of people were proposing a new calendar that started the day Aria went into her coma. Before Aria, and After Aria was how many people looked at the world now. Many of the more progressive Christians were proclaiming Aria as the vessel Christ was using for his second coming, pointing out scriptures that prophesied a thousand year period without disease and war. Rhapsody was pretty sure that nothing was going to put a stop to all of the warmongering in the world.

  As she lay down on the queen bed for the night, with Aria sandwiched between her and Melody, she felt tears fill her eyes. "Aria, please tell us what to do to bring you back to us. Please, please come back to us."

  Aria's heart monitor sped up for a fraction of a second, confirming Rhapsody's belief that the comatose girl could hear her. Despite the passage of three years, Aria had not continued to noticeably age. Aside from her chest developing as she matured, her legs were the only part of her body that appeared to have grown at all. They were disproportionally long compared to her torso, but it wasn't a bad look. The public world had still never seen her face since the bandages were removed, and Harmony planned on keeping it that way. When Aria woke up, she didn't want her to be a spectacle for everyone to fawn over, especially if she didn't remember anything.

  With a heavy sigh, Rhapsody closed her eyes and let sleep pull her into its dark embrace.

  With a gasp, Rhapsody spun around as her heart began beating at a dead run. She was floating several dozen miles up in the air, looking down on the night-darkened American continents. As she stared around in panic, a swirling orb of brilliant light materialized in front of her.

  Rhapsody realized. She took a deep breath as her heart rate slowed down to a normal pace. "Is that you, Aria?"

  The orb of light pulsed slightly in acknowledgment.

  "Aria, how can we get you back into your body?" Rhapsody asked desperately. "What do we need to do?"

  Aria left a streak of light like a shooting star as she shot down to the east coast of the United States. Rhapsody hesitantly followed, amazed that her body was moving where she wanted it to in the empty air. As she drew closer to Aria, she realized she was in the state of South Carolina. Aria was waiting for her several feet above some kind of college campus.

  "What are you trying to tell me?" Rhapsody asked in confusion. "Am I supposed to go to college again?"

  Aria bounced up and down once.

  "And I'll learn how to bring you back if I go here?" Rhapsody asked hesitantly.

  Aria bounced again, then wavered and vanished.

  XXXXX

  Rhapsody sighed in boredom as she waited for her plane to touch down in Charleston, SC. After trying to puzzle out the meaning of her dream, she had settled on studying medicine. The field was quickly vanishing, so there wasn't a lot of competition to get in. Not that she would have had a problem getting in with her professional background. She had no idea what she was supposed to be looking for at the college. She hoped it would be obvious when she found it.

  She had only been gone for one day, and she already felt an emptiness in her chest as the four year internship at Charleston Area Medical Center stretched out in front of her. She planned on visiting Aria and her family every spare second she got, but after being with them nonstop for three years, it felt like she was withdrawing from a highly addictive drug. God, she loved that small family!

  She felt like a robot as she mechanically retrieved her luggage and made her way to a taxi. She shook her head in disgust when she saw a street preacher holding up a sign about false prophets showing signs and wonders. If the devil was responsible for healing the world's sick, then Rhapsody had no interest in joining the side of a God who didn't seem to care. Rhapsody thought darkly, remembering the mob of 'Christians' who had attacked her.

  "Where to, ma'am," the cab driver asked as he pulled away from the curb.

  "The CAMC," Rhapsody replied heavily.

  "You look kind of familiar," he noted as he observed her in the rearview mirror. "Have I given you a ride before?"

  "This is my first visit to Charleston, so probably not," Rhapsody replied with a sigh.

  "You must have one of those celebrity faces or something," he continued studying her. "It's right on the tip of my memory."

  "I'm just an intern at the CAMC," Rhapsody supplied helpfully. "You're probably just mistaking me for someone else."

  "I guess so," he said doubtfully. He kept glancing back at her throughout the whole drive as he tried to jog his memory. Rhapsody was glad he hadn't figured it out before she left him. Being in the limelight was not her idea of fun.

  She didn't waste any time carrying her luggage to her dorm room. She had decided to play the role of a normal, broke and starving college student. She was supposed to share the dorm with another girl; she hoped the girl wasn't a bitch. If she turned out to be unbearable, Rhapsody wouldn't hesitate in moving to more suitable living quarters.

  "Hello, sugar," a voice called from behind her as she stood in front of her empty bed.

  She turned around and found a petite girl with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes watching her interestedly. "Hello."

  "I'm Capella," the girl walked over and offered her hand.

  "Rhapsody," Rhapsody replied with a smile as she took the girl's hand firmly.

  Capella had tiny hands. She had her left hand stuck in her pocket as they shook hands. Rhapsody caught a light whiff of tantalizingly feminine perfume.

  "Ooooh," Capella exclaimed brightly. "You have a musical name too! I can see the wheels of destiny working all around us."

  Rhapsody laughed at the irony in the girl's voice. Capella had a pleasant alto that was very expressive. "Yeah, I seem to always end up with friends that have musical names."

  "So where are you from?" Capella asked enthusiastically. She reminded Rhapsody of an excited puppy.

  "Seattle," Rhapsody replied, hoping she didn't put two and two together.

  "That's so cool!" she exclaimed excitedly. "That's where that Aria girl is at! Did you ever get to meet her?"

  "Not exactly," Rhapsody answered evasively. "Where are you from?"

  "Salt Lake City, Utah," Capella replied with an infectious giggle. "And before you ask, the answer is no, I don't have any sister-wives or five mothers waiting for me at a polygamist colony back home."

  "The thought never crossed my mind," Rhapsody assured her with a small smile. "So are you a Mormon?"

  "I was raised Mormon," Capella replied in a more serious tone. "I left the church when I discovered their lack of tolerance for civil rights issues."

  "I see," Rhapsody nodded thoughtfully, wondering which act of intolerance she was referring to. Unfortunately, there were quite a few to choose from in most religions.

  "Are you religious?" Capella asked, her voice picking up steam again.

  "I don't believe in organized religions that ask for money," Rhapsody replied with a shrug. "So I suppose I'm not religious."

  "Good!" Capella quipped firmly. "Religions are the root of all evil."

  Rhapsody laughed as she imagined the looks on several televangelists' faces if they ever heard that quote. "I'm going to have to agree with you on that one, I think."

  "So how old are you?" Capella asked intently.

  "Twenty-three," Rhapsody replied. "How about you?"

  "Twenty," Capella said with a frown. "Do you drink much? I'm still underage, so I don't want to get you in trouble."

  "I don't drink at all," Rhapsody assured her with an involuntary shudder. "I can't stand the taste of alcoholic beverages."

  "A woman after my own heart," Capella crowed happily, causing Rhapsody to blush. "So what have you got planned for the night? Would you like to go clubbing? Or a movie? How about rollerblading?"

  "Slow down…" Rhapsody laughed helplessly. "A movie sounds fun. I need something to distract me from being homesick. What shows are playing?"

  "Avatar 2 and The Future of Yesterday," Capella ticked the names off on her fingers. "Which one sounds good to you?"

  "Hmm…" Rhapsody frowned thoughtfully, tapping her lips with her index finger. "How about Avatar 2? The first one was the coolest movie since The Matrix, so hopefully the second one lives up to its reputation."

  "I was hoping you would pick that one!" Capella grinned, bouncing on her toes. "Come on! Let's go get a seat before they sell out!"

  "We still have over an hour," Rhapsody told her dryly. "And they invented this nifty thing called the internet that lets you purchase your tickets in advance."

  "My sarcasm meter is broken, so if you were just being sarcastic, it went right over my head," Capella warned with a teasing sparkle in her eyes. "Okay, you order the tickets, and I'll make some scotcharoos to sneak into the theater."

  "Deal," Rhapsody replied with a chuckle. Her worries about having a nightmare for a roommate were quickly put to rest. This girl was going to be hilarious to live with.

  After quickly unpacking her luggage, Rhapsody called Harmony and Melody.

  "Hey, girlfriend," Melody's voice answered seductively. "You miss my underage loving already?"

  "Melody!" Harmony's voice admonished in a shocked voice as Rhapsody giggled into the phone.

  "I just wanted to let you two know that I made it safely, and that my roommate is awesome," Rhapsody told them with a grin. "And I wanted an update on Aria."

  "She's still slumbering," Harmony sighed sadly.

  "That's great that you didn't end up with a bitch!" Melody exclaimed.

  "Melody!" Harmony snapped in exasperation. "Behave!"

  "Blasphemy," Melody gasped in mock horror. "Thems are fightin words where I come from!"

  "You see what you're missing out on?" Harmony said with a helpless laugh.

  "Yeah, I do," Rhapsody replied wistfully.

  "When are you coming to visit?" Melody asked hopefully.

  "On Labor Day in two weeks," Rhapsody replied, trying to ignore how long two weeks was going to be without her girls.

  "Okay, well stay out of trouble," Harmony said firmly. "You don't have an Aria there to heal you if anything happens."

  "I'll certainly do my best to avoid trouble," Rhapsody replied dryly. "Love you."

  "Love you back," they both responded.