THE HEALER
treatment

It was claimed by many that he was a Healer...someone with the power to cure diseases, broken bones, and even genetic disorders. To some, he was a gift from God, to others, he was a hoax.

To the U.S. Government, he was a rat…a white rat…to be tested, probed, and explored.

If the Healer was real, it was a waste of time for him to be curing hicks in the Midwest from intestinal disorders…he should be used on prominent world leaders. Imagine the power the government could yield if they could restore health to the aging leaders…and imagine the price they could obtain for such services.

But it isn’t only the government that wants the Healer, corporate (and very rich) businessmen also see the potential. And that makes the Healer a very hot commodity.

Brandon Carlyle is such a businessman. Rumors of this Healer have come to him and he decides to find out if the Healer is real or not. But he doesn’t want a major under-taking and certainly doesn’t want to draw any more attention to the man than already exists. He knows that it is only the Healer’s reluctance to grant interviews or meet with the press that has kept his profile as low as it is. So, he decides to hire a small detective agency, one that will investigate quietly and secretly. One that will perform their duties, get paid, and move on to the next case.

Kent and Michelle Connors, an inter-racial couple, operate the detective agency. Their agency is not like those on most television shows, their duties primarily involve finding information for families with runaway kids, lawyers needing background searches, and of course, credit and insurance cases.

Kent is a big man who was a "can’t miss" football prospect in high school and a "possibility" in college until he blew out his knee. Adept at most things mechanical such as surveillance equipment yet he still can’t program his VCR, Kent has a knack for gullibility and believes the world is in the midst of cover ups and conspiracies. Michelle, an army brat, was the daughter of a Vietnam soldier who surprised his family with a wife when he returned from the war. Because of the constant moving when she was younger, her personality is of a quick and likeable person who most people take to instantly. Quick-witted and a fast thinker on her feet, she is known for her ability to rapidly assess a situation and adapt to it. She is also a proficient computer hack.

Kent and Michelle are use to receiving limited information from their clients. Their quest is to simply find this Healer, monitor his activities, and report back. A simple job that pays well, very well. Kent of course, sees something more behind the case but it is quickly dropped at Michelle’s persistence. They both agree that more than likely, Carlyse has an ill relative that he hopes the relative can cure. It all makes sense.

Although the Healer was not a major news item on the national scene, in the Midwest, his travels were chronicled in the mom and pop newspapers in most of the Small Towns, USA. He was easy to find.

Kent used his usual bravado and pretended he was supposed to be a friend of the Healer and no one stopped he and Michelle as they entered the temporary tent of the Healer for the first time. Kent’s eyes lit up. This case was going even easier than he thought it would. Easy case, big money….the world was looking pretty good for him and Michelle.

The Healer greeted them as friends. He was evidently a man with many friends, although no close ones. He sized up the situation rapidly and knew that Kent and Michelle were here to find out about him. Between his endless flow of coffee and chain-smoking, the Healer informed Kent and Michelle that it was true…he was a fake. Whoever it was that hired Kent and Michelle should know that and so, their work is done. The Healer, who’s named as Ronald Albert Carter, reveals that he does it for the money. As simple as that.

Kent and Michelle decide to stay for awhile, after all they’ve come this far. So, Kent promises Michelle an exciting Saturday night, watching a faith healer somewhere amidst the cornfields of Nebraska.

So, they watched. They watched as he began his speech. Surprisingly, he was not a preacher that spit out fire and brimstone which they expected. His approach was subtle. His soft words were heard only because they were carried from the loudspeaker system set up. He talked of humanity, not of deities. He pleaded for kindness to fellow people, not to secure a place in heaven, but just because it was the right thing to do.

He treated the concept of God as if it were an option, determine only by the faith of each individual. Beliefs, he said, were intrinsic of each person, and on one had the right to tell another what they could or could not believe in.

He called on the name of John Galt, the mysterious hero of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. He said that all men and women should live by the credo…"no man shall live for the sake of another, nor ask another man to live for his."

Only then, did he turn his attention to what they had come to see. It seemed to Michelle, that it was the first time the Healer’s eyes really saw the audience. The faces he saw must have saddened him as he looked out onto a sea of desperation.

Mothers held infants who refused to be fascinated by the world they were brought into; young children hobbled by deformities that denied them the opportunity to swing on a tire or jump rope; cripple who knew the politically correct buzzword of being called "physically challenged" provided no new hope; and th4e sick who could feel the battle ground inside their bodies, tearing them apart.

He pledged nothing more than to try…and to try as long as he could. He could promise nothing more than that. As he went from person to person, he was becoming spent. It was as if he were injecting these people with his own life force…a self imposed vampire who gave instead of taking.

There were no chants, no prayers, no screams of God entering his body. The Healer simply put both of his hands on the bodies of the sick, the lame, the crippled,…and shut his eyes.

When he finished, there were no miraculous cripples jumping up with the use of both legs, no cancer patients declaring their bodies were now clean, no blind person blinking in bewilderment at never before seen sights.

He had warned them all…he healed…he did not cure or restore. A shriveled leg that lay dormant for years would have to learn to walk again. The ears that could only absorb sound would have to learn to filter and distinguish noises. The deadly cancers cells would have to be flushed out of the body through normal processes and the burned scarred tissue would only slowly be replaced by healthy tissue.

Michelle and Kent watched as he stumbled to a little girl. She swung a malformed arm from her shoulder. She only held it so it wouldn’t flap uncontrolled. He tenderly held it….caressed it…. stroked it…as if it were a kitten purring in contentment. Michelle and Kent watched to see if there was a glimmer of recognition from the young girl. Had she been through this routine countless times before? Was she a planted rube? Her eyes yielded nothing.

The Healer collapsed. The show was over. The crowd left quietly. There were no cried from them asking for more. There were none of the Healer’s followers passing out donation cans. There were no shouts or cries. Only a few murmurs of gratitude.

Kent watched as the followers left the tent. There was a single barrel with a slit cut in the top…for donations. No hard sell…it was just there. He did notice however, that virtually every single person deposited some money, though.

Kent and Michelle interviewed many of the followers to find out what they thought. It was a typical performance. Michelle kept after the angle of the little girl, but no one had ever seen her before except one woman who said she was from the small town of Lincolnville and she was definitely born with the deformed arm.

After watching another appearance by the Healer, Kent and Michelle see that it’s the same as the first. They are quite surprised by the hospitality of the followers and they are considered almost members. No one questions them. Michelle compares it to a travelling caravan, much like the Dead-Heads that followed the Grateful Dead around. They are accepted and actually enjoy the company of the people. No one tries to convince the Connors of anything, yet it is evident all of the followers strongly believe in the Healer.

Kent stays with the travelling show as it moves from one small town to the next. The appearances of the Healer are about every seven to ten days as he must rest between performances. Michelle heads back to the city to finish up some paperwork on other cases and to investigate Carter, the Healer, a bit more.

Michelle uses her considerable skill to check into Carter’s background. She finds out about his history which holds no answers. She begins to find a money trail as an enormous amount of money has been put into the Healer’s account. Now, she has something to go after.

Michelle gets a list of many of the people that were "supposedly" healed by the healer. She starts to explore them but a lot of the cases are a bit ambiguous. Most doctors won’t admit that the healing happened, it just worked out that way. Michelle then goes to Lincolnville. At a playground, she sees the little girl, Janie, that had the crippled arm. Michelle watches her for a bit…her bad arm is still held by the good arm. Suddenly, one of the girls throws a ball to Janie…and Janie tries to catch…with both arms! Sheepishly, Janie admits to the other girls that she hasn’t gotten used to using her other arm and they just tell her that now, they can teach her lots of things.

Michelle finds out the money trail has an ending. All of the money has been donated to small hospitals and schools…every penny. She also finds an article about how the Healer is a fake and when she investigates it, she fins that the person responsible for the article was rebuked by the Healer for a private healing.

Michele hurries back to Kent. She can’t believe it but she tells Kent that the Healer must be real. Kent just smiles…he knows already. During the performance of the Healer, Kent fills Michelle in on what he has seen and gives further proof.

Kent then informs Michelle about a major problem. There are three government agents who have been travelling with the group for a week or so. Kent feels that they are about to take the Healer away as they have already made arrangements with the local sheriff. Michelle can’t believe it and both of them realize that the Healer will become a government hostage. They aren’t sure what they can do about it and Kent is very distressed as he and the Healer have gotten pretty close to each other.

So, Kent and Michelle decided to on a plan. They’ll kidnap the Healer.

Kent and Michelle in a small, dingy motel. Michelle can’t believe this "dive" could be considered the Honeymoon suite but Kent points out that the motel has hourly rates…that should say something. They’ve been there two days. From the bedroom, the Healer finally comes out of the room…he has been sleeping for almost 48 hours. He instantly grabs a cigarette and looks around for coffee as he hacks from the tobacco.

For weeks, Kent and Michelle drive around the countryside, taking back roads. They’re not sure what to do…all they want to do is loose the government agents until they can figure out something. They soon realize that their ATM cards give away their locations so Michelle makes a trail west, stopping at banks while Kent heads east with the Healer. She joins them later. They leave false clues with their receptionist about their locations and plans, hoping to throw the agents off their trace. They plan on getting to New York via the back roads and getting the healer to go to Europe or Australia.

During their time together, the Healer tells about his gift a bit more. He knew that he would eventually be targeted as he knows how the government operates. He also lets them know that he is virtually spent…each time takes more and more out of him and takes longer to recover from.

Also during this period, the Healer shows a great appreciation for life. It is like he is first noticing the world around him and he finds beauty in even the simplest things. It is as if he truly saw nature for the first time.

In upstate New York, planning to make their next leg of the journey, Kent, Michelle, and the Healer are surprised as they venture out in the middle of the night. The agents have caught them. Assisted by the local sheriff, the trio find themselves surrounded by guns and flashlights. The chase is over.

Kent steps in front of the Healer. He’s not going to let him go. One of the agents goes to push Kent out of the way and Kent grabs him. They struggle before Kent is subdued but the agent has dropped his gun. As Kent stands up, the flashlights turn to the voice that threatens the agent.

It is the Healer. And he has the gun pointed at his head. He warns the agents what a bad career move it would be for them if he were to kill himself. The head agent warns the Healer that if he kills himself, they will be forced to get rid of all of the witnesses (Kent and Michelle). A stalemate.

Finally, the Healer says he doesn’t think that they will do that. And he certainly doesn’t look forward to what the agents have in mind for him. He looks at Kent and Michelle and tells them thanks for everything. Then he pulls the trigger.

As the Healer’s gun goes off, the young sheriff, jumps and accidentally fires his gun. The bullet strikes Kent in the chest. As Michelle tries to help Kent, the agents realize they’ve screwed up and want to take care of the situation…get rid of the witnesses. The sheriff evaluates…two men dead or dying. If they took care of Michelle, it wouldn’t be any problems then. He walks over to the car…looks at the shotgun in the front seat…before picking up the radio to call for help and ambulances.

Inside the hospital, Michelle has been waiting for hours. Kent is in intensive care after hours of surgery. All they can do is wait. The healer is in better shape as the bullet didn’t really penetrate the brain….just enough of a flick of the wrist to cause nominal damage.

The doctor comes up to Michelle and says that Kent will be okay. He’s made a miraculous turnaround and will fully recover. Michelle walks down the hall with the doctor who remarks how ironic things work out. She doesn’t understand. He explains that Carter was doing okay and had left his bed…they found him standing over Kent and practically massaging him. Michelle realizes what happened even though the doctor is unawares. The doctor goes on to explain the irony…Kent is nearly dead and then pulls through whereas Carter was okay and then suddenly weakens and dies. You can never tell.

Michelle looks at the gurney of the healer, covered and starting to be taken down to the morgue. The doctor informs her that it really didn’t matter for Carter as his body was full of cancer and he only had a little while to live. Michelle just murmurs to herself a passage number from the bible and the doctor smiles as he is leaving.

It is a passage that all doctors know. "Physician, heal thyself". Michelle looks at the body of Carter being taken away and just says, "and he couldn’t….".

Notes:
The Healer originally appeared as a single issue within the pages of Raven Chronicles but it is a story that can be expanded to a self contained piece. Although the couple in the treatment are from the Raven Inc. team, they can easily be modifed. The focus is on the Healer discovering during his "kidnapped" travels why the people come to him want to stay alive so much. He learns to appreciate life which he can give and develops an understanding of what the beauty of life is all about.

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