Chapter 21
“What happened in there?” Noah asked when I finally came out of the building. He was waiting by the door with Rachel, Claudia and Nick.
“What's this? Why are you girls here?” I asked Claudia and Rachel, puzzled.
“We heard all the news through the grapevine,” Claudia explained. “Did you really do mind movement?”
“Yes, I did. And yes, I realize it's never been done by a newcomer. And yes, I realize how rare it is.”
“I was just going to say you're a freak,” Claudia teased.
“That's pretty cool, dude,” Noah admired. “Imagine the stuff you could torture Mr. Meade with.”
I snickered at the ideas that flooded my mind. Good pranks. Fun stuff.
James, Matthias and Sam came out the door, squinting from the sun.
“You kids can move on to your next class now,” James said. “Jake, you're with Matthias for more healing work. I'm going to let Matthias take you off grounds for your session. Good luck with it.” He walked away with not another word.
I said goodbye to the group and followed Matthias to the medical building to gather some supplies. He was quiet. Maybe he was concerned about the energy shift now too.
“Where are we going, Matthias?” I asked as I helped stuff medical supplies into a duffle bag.
“We're going on a mission, Jacob. This is the best part.”
“Where? What do you mean?”
“We're going to heal some real subjects. Here, put these on.” He handed me a white doctor's coat, stethoscope and green doctor's face mask.
“Why?” I asked as I pulled the coat on and hooked the stethoscope around my neck.
“We're going to the hospital to heal people, like I said.”
It took about a half an hour to get to the hospital. Matthias pulled into a "reserved" parking spot and we both got out, adorned in our hospital gear.
“So who are we supposed to be?” I asked as I caught up to Matthias.
“You will be Dr. Rovert. I am Dr. Matthias Carver, head surgeon here at the hospital,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yes. And I am always toting along a resident doctor, so no one will question your being here,” he said.
We entered the hospital and Matthias stopped to grab a few charts at the nurses’ station. I followed him down the hall and through the emergency room doors.
“Dylin Boyce?” Matthias called into the room of waiting patients.
We waited for the patient to catch up to us in his hospital-borrowed wheelchair, then Matthias led us down the hall to an examination room.
“What seems to be the problem, Dylin?” Matthias asked.
“I fell off my roof. I think I broke my leg.” His voice quivered as he struggled to keep his leg from moving.
“Your roof, eh?” I laughed. “What were you doing up there?”
“Taking down the Christmas lights, actually. I told my wife we should just leave them up since it’ll be Christmas again before we know it.”
“I guess that didn't fly?” Matthias said.
“Nope,” he chuckled.
“Well, let's get some X-rays of that leg and we'll see what the damage is.” Matthias led him down to the X-ray room and they were back within minutes.
“Dr. Rovert,” Matthias began, “I'd like to review the images with you first.”
I followed Matthias to the back room and he showed me the X-rays. He pointed out where the bone was clearly broken. I squirmed.
“So it's definitely broken?” I asked.
“Yes, and although this isn't a life or death situation, I am going to ask you to heal his leg for your test. Are you comfortable with that?”
“Of course. Let's do it.”
I went back to the examination room and sat down next to our patient. I asked him some questions about his fall and what it felt like and where he thought it broke. I gently laid my hands on his leg, pretending to feel around for any lumps.
“Does this hurt here?” I asked as a distraction so I could focus on healing his leg.
“Yes. Yes, a lot, actually,” he complained in response.
“And how about here?” I closed my eyes to focus some more.
“Not as much. Only a little, I think.” He didn't seem as sure now.
I opened my eyes and lifted my hands off his leg as Matthias entered the room.
“Dylin, I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but the images didn't come back as clear as I would have liked. Could I get you to come back for some more, please?”
“Sure,” Dylin complied, following Matthias back into the other room.
They returned a minute later with the new X-rays in Matthias' hand.
“Well, that's interesting. Good news, Dylin,” Matthias said holding up the images. “Your leg isn't broken. You probably just pulled some muscles and I'm sure you'll be one hundred percent by the morning. Go home, get some rest, and forget about those Christmas lights. Most people leave them up all year round now anyway.” Matthias chuckled as he gave Dylin a light tap on the shoulder.
“Super! Sorry for wasting your time, doctors.” Dylin wheeled himself out of the room and I watched as he stood up and put the wheelchair back against the wall then walked out the front door.
“Good work, Dr. Rovert,” Matthias said with a grin. “How do you feel?”
“Exhausted,” I admitted as I slumped down in a chair by the door.
Matthias laughed. “That’s to be expected. Healing takes a lot out of you. You’ll get stronger the more you train.”
“Hope so.”
“Now, there's one more place I want to take you before we go back to camp.”
“Back to camp? Shouldn’t we just stay here all day and heal people?”
“Jacob, I'm a surgeon. If we heal everyone as they walk through the door, I'd be out of a job,” he laughed.
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, where are we going now?” I asked as I followed him down the hall to the elevator.
“To the pediatric ward,” he said in an uncomfortable tone.
“Where they keep all the sick kids?”
“That's right,” he responded quietly.
We arrived at the pediatric ward, which had a strange sense of sadness about it. Matthias led us down the hall and into a room filled with teddy bears, bright-coloured balloons and a wall covered with colourful drawings and family pictures. Sleeping peacefully in the sterile bed in the middle of the room was a little girl.
“Who is she?” I whispered so as not to wake the girl.
“This is Becca. She's my niece,” Matthias said as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. He lifted Becca's hand and held it to his cheek. “She's like a daughter to me.”
Becca’s face was pale, which was probably why the dark circles under her eyes were so pronounced. Her head scarf covered what I pictured to have been brown hair at one point in her short life. Even though she had tubes running along her arms and up her nose, her relaxed features and quiet slumber suggested she was at peace somehow.
“Why don't you heal her?” I asked.
“I can't,” was all he could say as he choked back tears.
“Why not?” I pressed.
“I just can't. I can't concentrate or something. I don't know. I keep trying, but test after test confirms my failure.” Matthias wiped a stray tear. “But I know you can heal her, Jacob. I know you can save my Becca Jean.” He smoothed his hand across her forehead.
“What's wrong with her?”
“Cancer. Brain tumour. They gave her two months to live . . . three months ago. She's a fighter, but she's losing.” Matthias cried, “Jacob, please?”
“Geez, I'll try, Matthias. I've never done anything like this before. Is it even possible?”
“Anything is possible, Jacob. You just . . . have to believe,” his voice trailed off as he watched Becca's eyes flicker and slowly open. “Good morning, angel girl.”
“Uncle Matty!” her tiny voice whispered in excitement.
> “Angel girl, I brought a friend to see you today. He's going to check you over to see how you're making out. Is that okay, sweetheart?”
“I guess so,” she answered shyly.
I walked over to the other side of her bed and looked at Matthias for direction. “Where should I start?” I tried to sound confident for Becca's benefit.
“The tumour is in her brain, so start there,” Matthias said.
I laid my hands on Becca's tiny head and gently squeezed as I imagined her free from disease and running through the playground, playing with her friends, swinging on the swings, having sleepovers, learning to drive, graduating high school, and living a long and healthy life. I don't know how long I meditated for, but I snapped out of it when I heard Matthias' voice.
“Dr. Rovert, it's time to go. We can come back tomorrow, if need be.”
I looked up to see two adults standing at the end of the bed, watching me with uncertainty. I jumped to my feet and smiled confidently as my legs trembled beneath me. I held the bedrail for security. My body was exhausted and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand for.
“Jacob, this is my sister, Brooke, and her husband, Alex. Becca's mom and dad.” He turned to the couple. “And this is Dr. Rovert, my resident.”
“Nice to meet you,” they responded in unison.
I smiled and followed Matthias out of the room, turning to wave goodbye to the smiling Becca.
On our way out, Matthias stopped by the pediatric nurses’ station. “Patty, I want to order another round of tests for Becca. Can you make sure she gets in there today or tomorrow at the latest?”
“Another round, already? We haven't even gotten the last round back yet. Are you sure, Dr. Carver?” she questioned with hesitation.
“I'm sure, Patty. Thanks for being on top of things though. I appreciate your hard work,” he said, which I noticed made a difference in how quickly she picked up the phone to make the arrangements for Becca's next round of tests.
I crossed my fingers and said a prayer. For Becca Jean. For a chance to experience life past six years.