My second super power has emerged.
Some of you may remember that I was bitten by a bat two years ago. I underwent rabies treatment. Once you’ve done that, you’re immune for the rest of your life, which is pretty cool. At the time, I figured that was as close to a super power as I would ever have.
I just may have been wrong.
The other night I was baking some peanut butter cookies while helping Jay with dinner. He was cooking us a steak on the grill and he asked me to throw some beans on the stove so I did. Long story short; I turned on the wrong burner. When the oven was ready for cookies, I grabbed the tray with my left hand and discovered my mistake.
I was quite surprised and hastily threw the tray back onto the stovetop quickly, yet carefully enough that only two raw cookies bounced to the floor.
Jay went right into first responder mode and stuck my hand under cold water, ordering me to keep it there as long as I could. Then he dealt with the burners and moved the cookie sheet elsewhere.
“I can’t believe you put the tray back down.” He said, incredulous that I hadn’t just dropped it like a sane person.
“That’s how much I respect the cookies.” I told him. We’re talking peanut butter kiss cookies, here, not snickerdoodles, for heaven's sake. You don’t just drop them on the floor, I don’t care how many fingers you’ve just fried.
I looked at my hand under the water. My two middle fingers had gotten the brunt of it; I could see the skin turning bright red where I’d taken the weight of the sheet; both pads and a streak down to the second knuckle. They hurt.
You forget how badly burns hurt.
I took some Tylenol and thanked my lucky stars it was my left hand instead of my right. I figured I wouldn’t be able to type or do needlepoint for a few days but at least I could still hold a paint brush.
Damn, they hurt.
“They’re going to hurt a lot,” Jay warned me, looking at them. “They’ll swell up and blister and throb for a few days but it could have been a lot worse.” I know he meant “you should have dropped the cookies.” But the cookies turned out really well! I’m glad I didn’t drop them.
Especially the following morning.
I awoke to no pain. I looked at my hand. Where my fingers had been livid red last night, they were faintly pink. No swelling, no blisters. It had been less than twelve hours since I lifted a hot cookie tray with my bare hand yet instead of an injured hand, all I felt was the equivalent of a light sunburn.
That was yesterday. Today, it’s as if it never happened.
This is actually the second time this has happened. A few years ago, I stupidly grabbed a pan of brownies that had come out of the oven with my bare hand. I felt the burn that time too but within a few hours there was no trace of an injury.
Now, I knew my right hand was covered with callouses. I wasn’t all that surprised that the burn didn’t take. I had no idea my left hand was also coated in epidermal armor.
Good to know.
Not that I’m planning on tossing out my oven mitts any time soon. That burn hurt when it happened.
So in addition to being rabies proof, I’m able to recover from mild burns quickly. But only on my hands and feet. My feet are made of stuff that barely qualifies as human tissue.
As far as super powers go, they’re pretty lame. Definitely side kick material.
But it’s a start!