Chapter 7

I was up bright and early the next morning getting myself ready. Knowing that I was going to have to make a quick side trip to a clothing store, I dressed as lightly as I could. Needless to say, that was the easy part, since I didn’t really have any clothes that would fit me very well. I was probably going to have to do a lot more shopping later but I felt the need to get just a couple sets of clothes so that I could have something decent to wear to get married in and then something to change into afterwards.

I was also going to have to see what I could do to get John into some good clothes also, but he would be a rather difficult fit due to his size. I did know of some men’s big and tall stores that might, hopefully, have something that would fit him.

Once I was ready, I woke John up so that he could get himself ready. I knew he would have a hard time in the shower due to his size, I felt he could make due regardless. If anything, I could rig a hose up outside and run it in the window or the bathroom, which is sort of what he told me he did whenever he needed to take a shower. Or at least he said he would hang a hose up someplace and get an outdoor shower at least. He didn’t really like taking a cold one but most times, he had no choice in the matter. He did prefer hot ones though.

Once both of us were ready, we stopped at the local mall and went into the JC Penney store where I was able to get a couple sets of clothes, shoes, lingerie and other vital necessities. We then went to the big and tall store where we were able to get John a couple of sets of clothes too. He looked sharp in the suit I got him although he did look rather uncomfortable. I knew how he felt since as a man, I hated to wear a suit or as I heatedly called them: monkey suits. His situation was that he had never worn anything like it before, since he was rather difficult to fit, again because of his size.

One of the last things I purchased was two wedding rings so that we could seal the vows with. Since gold was a scarce commodity these days, I purchased two tungsten rings that would serve just as well. John’s wound up being almost large enough to be used as a bracelet on my now slenderer wrists.

A quick drive to the city hall, we purchased the marriage license, luckily we didn’t have to have a blood test since the state took away that necessity a couple years before. We went and made arrangements with the local Justice of the Peace to perform the wedding ceremony. While we waited for them to get the morning court session over with, I held John’s hand and cuddled up against him. I felt so warm and secure with him that I really didn’t want to leave his side.

The wedding itself was over rather quickly since the Judge wanted to get off to his lunch. It didn’t make it any less romantic to me since I was in heaven next to the man who I had quickly grown to love. We got our certificate and left. A bite to eat, or at least a bite for me, we packed ourselves into the motor home and left the city.

John enjoyed the ride, since he normally had to walk or ride in the back of a pickup because he was too big to fit in normal vehicles. Since the driver seat was barely big enough to fit me, I did all the driving. Of course, John had never learned how to drive but that was fine with me. We drove to the state capital where I knew there would be a large enough hospital that catered to sick children.

Once we arrived, I found a place to park the rig for the night that wouldn’t be too costly for us. Fortunately, the campground was only a couple of miles from the hospital and there was a mall nearby where I could get some more clothes to wear. I didn’t want to have to wear the same outfits all the time.

I managed to spend a mere $2500 on clothes and accessories but I still left out a lot of stuff that I would wind up getting in the coming weeks. But I felt that since summer was coming on, I could limit my wardrobe to things that I would be able to wear during the warm months ahead. I did get some cooler weather clothes but I limited them for the reasons as stated before.

John, I did manage to find him some clothes that would fit his gigantic frame that he was more comfortable in. At least he didn’t look like a down and out homeless man in his clothes. I knew that if we were going to have any sort of contact with hospitals or people inside them, he would have to look better than a bum. He wasn’t happy about it but I did get him a few nice outfits that made him look classy but not like he did at the wedding.

That night, after our wedding night nuptials, we lay in post orgasmic bliss. I had been thinking about another way of making money that I had to approach him about.

“John, honey, can I ask you something?”

“Ya jus’ did sweethawt.” He said with a smile on his face.

Knowing he was just teasing me, I gave him a light pat on his chest to chastise him. “Silly, you know what I mean.” I told him playfully.

“Ah knows what cha mean. But go ahayd an’ ask what ya wanted ta.”

“I have been thinking about another way to make more money but it will depend on what you think about it.” I told him.

He got a real serious look on his face when I brought up the ‘M’ word. “Ah hopes dat ya ain’t plannin’ on usin’ mah gift fowr yar own parpuses. Ah won’ be a party to it. Ah’ve had udders trah ta do dat ta meh befowar an’ Ah wooden’ let em. Dat goes fowar yew.”

It was my turn to go serious on him. “John, I really hope you don’t think that low of me. I don’t think of you as my own personal bank roll. If anything, I would like to help other people like myself who have had their sex changed by surgical means or are about to. Can you do what you did to me to others?”

The stern look on his face relaxed a bit as I said that. “Ah ken do dat but Ah wood has ta use de gift to mak shoer dat dey desarved ta use it on dem. Ah kent leyt someun’ get it fowar bad reasons. Ah wood has ta touch dem an’ Ah don’ts lahks ta touch peepul unlesses Ah has ta.”

“Hon, one thing I wouldn’t do is force you to do something you didn’t want to do. If you need to screen candidates, then that is your right. All I would like to do is help people like myself to live a better life. Already I’m happy with mine. It will be better being with you, my love.” I told him.

His demeanor melted when I called him ‘my love’ and I knew he would accede to my request. But I wasn’t going to push the matter with him. I cared too much for him to actually stress and already touchy situation with him. Nor would I ever make the demands of him to do so. It was his life to do as he saw fit and I just wanted to be there to share it with him, in the up and downs that it might bring. I wanted to share it as his partner as well as his wife.

I gave him a warm kiss and wrapped my body as well as I could around his and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 8

The next day, once we had both woken up sufficiently and eaten, we made our way to the hospital we had decided to start with the healing of the children. I had no idea how we would actually be able to get to the point we could heal them, but I figured that I could volunteer my services as an aid to help out the children that needed it the most. That way, I could gain the trust and confidence to approach the parents that were coming to visit their sick children.

Volunteering was the easy part since the hospital was understaffed and it was hectic around there. My first day there was hard and very emotional. I had to watch three children die who had been sick with cancer or leukemia or even AIDS. I had shed so many tears during the day that I was mentally and physically exhausted. I felt reluctant to even return the next day because of the emotional nature of being there.

Regardless of how I felt after the first day, I knew John was on the right track. These little innocents deserved to be able to live longer than they were. I had to help them out myself.

The second day started out somewhat like the first one in that I was assigned to help the older children again. These were the ages of 10 to 16. They were the ones that were the most heartbreaking, since they knew they were going to die and yet they still had a will to live that made my struggle to live seem feeble. I drew encouragement from them since they all had seen how I reacted to the ones who had died.

I was given hugs by several of the younger ones and welcomed back. It heartened me to know that I was welcome there. I did a running assessment all that day on who was the sickest and steeled myself to talk to their parents when they came in to visit. I made my choice and waited for the parents.

It wound up being nearly evening before the girl’s parents showed up. Both of them were haggard looking. It was hard to tell if it was because of the pressures of their daughter being sick or the struggle to keep a sanity factor with the knowledge that their daughter was going to die. I didn’t know which it was but I felt that it was the right decision to approach them.

When I did finally get the chance to talk to them, they were laughing it up with their daughter, telling her about the antics of her puppy that was at home. Though their lips were smiling, the sadness was highlighted in their eyes. Little Sarah was smiling bravely at the pictures they had brought of her puppy. I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.

I caught the attention of her father and motioned for him to join me to talk. He nodded and made an excuse to leave his daughter and his wife alone for a moment. He followed me to a small waiting room and I asked him to sit down.

“Hi Mr. Stanton. My name is Michelle Coffee. I have been volunteering here in the hospital for the last few days and I couldn’t help but be taken by your wonderful daughter’s spirit. I have a proposal that I would like to put past you. I would also like you to discuss it with your wife and daughter but I would ask you not to talk to anyone else about it. It would be vital to the safety of someone dear to me that I ask this.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Mrs. Coffee. What would this be about?” he asked.

“It has a lot to do with healing your daughter of whatever the illness that is affecting her. I have a way for her…” I started to say.

“What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull on me? My daughter is dying and nothing can be done about that. The tumor in her head is taking up half her brain and it is a wonder she is still alive right now. Now you expect me to believe that you have some sort of ‘miracle cure’ that would take it away when the doctors here only give her at most a month before it kills her? Bullshit! I’ve had to live with this for several years now and all the crap that the doctors have tried have not done anything to solve the problems she has. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go spend some time with my daughter.” He rose from the chair and moved towards the door.

“Mr. Stanton, before you leave, let me tell you this: last week, I was given two months or less to live because I had stage 3 breast cancer. Today, I am cured and I don’t have any trace of the cancer in my body. That is what I would like for your daughter to get.” By this time, I had tears running down my cheeks. “Your daughter is a precious little girl and she is entirely too young to die. I had to sit and watch three children yesterday die when I knew that I could have helped them live. I don’t want that to happen to anyone anymore. I would hate myself if I wasn’t able to get you convinced that your daughter could live, if you would give me a chance to help her.” At this point, I completely lost it and was sobbing openly.

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders. A softly spoken voice said, “I’m sorry I was so harsh to you. I hope you can see what sort of things my wife and I have been through ever since our daughter was diagnosed with the tumor. Somehow, I believe you about you having cancer but you look so healthy that it is hard to swallow that. Let me tell you this: if there was any way you could cure my daughter of the cancer, my reward for that would be unlimited.”

I was brought to sniffles by then. “If I can do as I said I could, I wouldn’t ask for an unlimited reward. My reward would be enough that my husband and I could survive for a while.”

“If you do as you say you can, all you would have to do is name your price and I would pay it gladly.” I was told. “The only thing you would have to do is get your daughter out of the hospital for a little while and I would take it from there.”

“When would you want to do this?” He asked.

“The sooner the better. If we could do it today, she would probably be able to go home tomorrow or the next day.”

“Where would we have to take her?” He asked.

“Not far. I have a motor home out in the parking lot of the hospital and that is all the further you would have to go.”

“I think we can do that. Since she isn’t being given any chemo, we can at least take her outside for walks in a wheelchair. Could you give us half an hour to get it arranged?” he replied.

“Sure. All you have to do is look for the only motor home with a brightly colored bird flag flying over the top of it. I will be there waiting for you three.” I told him.

Nothing else was said, but he quickly exited the waiting room to go rejoin his wife and daughter. I checked out with the nurse’s station and left the building to rejoin John at the motor home.

Chapter 9

By the time I got back into the motor home, I was ready to collapse. My mind was drained as well as my emotions being strung out. I reached out to John to be hugged and kissed.

Once I was more relaxed, I advised him on the upcoming meeting. I knew he was rather nervous about the whole thing. But I knew he would do as he said he would.

All too quickly for either of us, a knock sounded at the door. I had cleaned up the bedroom area of the home so that we could take Sarah into there for the healing. I opened the door and stepped out to greet them. I knew they were going to have to meet John before they would be taken inside.

“Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, Sarah, I would like you to meet my husband. John, could you come out here please?” I called into the camper.

The weight of his massive body caused the camper to rock slightly as he came to the door. His massive frame bent down to come out the tiny door and he had to turn slightly sideways to get out. Mr. Stanton took a step backwards as John finally hit the ground and stood up to his full height.

“Oh my god!” was all he could say.

I had to calm him down. “Mr. Stanton, this is my husband, John Coffee. I think it’s a good idea to meet him out here instead of inside the camper. There’s more room out here, as you can see. He is sort of cramped inside because of his size. But don’t let how he looks scare you. He really is a big teddy bear and won’t harm a fly.”

John held out his hand towards Mr. Stanton. Gingerly, he slowly extended his arm, almost as if he was expecting John to take it right off his shoulder. John lightly grasped the man’s hand and shook it. He then delicately took Mrs. Stanton’s hand and shook it also. He murmured greetings to each of them. Then he turned his attention to the little girl in the wheelchair. He got down on one knee to lower himself to a more viewable level.

“How’re ya feeling little princess? Ah hopes Ah din’t scared ya.” He told her.

“Nah Mr. After all I’ve been through, I wouldn’t be scared of a big teddy bear like you. But I’m not really doing too good. I’m going to die soon, the doctors have told me. Daddy and mom didn’t tell me what I had to come out here for but I’m glad I was able to meet you though. I can tell all my friends that I met the world’s tallest giant.” She told him.

I could see John melt at her words. “Well, little princess, Ah rally hopes dat ya won’t die. Ya see, ya comes out here ta see meh. I hopes dat ya wood layt meh takes away yas sickness. Den ya wooden haf ta be sicks no mowah.”

“Mr. If you want to take away my sickness, you’re welcome to it. The doctors can’t seem to be able to get rid of it.”

“Den woods ya lahk to come wit’ meh so dat we ken get yas sickness gone?”

Sarah looked up at her mother and father for permission. Neither one of them felt too confident about the prospects but they both nodded yes to her.

“Sure Mr. What do we have to do?” She asked him.

“De fust ting we needs ta do is go isahd de campa. Aits too hawt out heyah ta do anyting.” He bent ove r and picked her up out of the wheelchair.

It was a strange sight seeing that huge man picking up this tiny slip of a girl. She looked like a baby doll in his arms. He went back in the door of the camper and made his way to the rear bedroom.

I signaled her parents to join me but to do it quietly. Once we were inside, I closed the door to the outside world.

John had laid Sarah on the bed and was in the process of getting her comfortable. He was very gentle with her as he did so. When it seemed like he was ready, he told her, “Nayow, Ah’m gonna has ta touch ya buts Ah’m not gonna harms ya. Do ya trust meh ta do dis?”

She didn’t say anything but just nodded her ok.

John gently took her head in his hands and lowered his face towards hers. He acted like he was going to kiss her and at that point her father made a move to stop John from doing so. I put a hand on his arm to hold him back. He glanced at me and when I made the head motions that it was going to be ok, he relaxed somewhat.

When John was a couple of inches from her mouth, a bright light emerged from his mouth and went into hers. Her body tensed up and her eyes closed out of fright. The light was blinding to the observers in the room and we made motions to cover our eyes from the brightest part of the glare. Then the light vanished and John moved away from Sarah. Sarah visibly relaxed as she moved from consciousness to sleep. John got up and left the bedroom and made his way to the area where he was able to sit comfortably.

As he passed me, I could hear the coughing that was the signs of the sickness that he removed from Sarah. It sounded just like when he removed my cancer.

Both Sarah’s parents stood by with puzzled looks on their faces. They had no clue as to what had just happened. They kept looking at their daughter and then back to John. John sat in his chair coughing and trying to get a hold on the preparations to release the sickness from within himself. I motioned to the girl’s parents and waved for them to watch John.

About that time, John gave one final cough and tilted his head backwards. The mass of dark spots buzzed out of his mouth and headed for the ceiling. As with what happened to me, they winked out in a burst of light and puff of smoke. Quickly, all the motes were gone.

Both of Sarah’s parents were dumbfounded as to what they had just witnessed happening. Neither one could say a word. All they could do was stare at John.

Fatigue washed over Johns face as he finally looked up into the faces of the parents of the child he had just cured of a deadly disease. He eased his chair back into a reclined position and was quickly asleep.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Stanton turned to me with looks of bewilderment written allover their faces. It was Mr. Stanton that was able to give voice to the questions that I knew were forthcoming.

“What in the hell was all that? I have never seen anything like that in my life.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Stanton, would you please join me in back with your daughter? I’ll explain what it is that you just saw.” I led them both into the bedroom. I sat down and motioned for them to join me.

Once they did, I filled them in on John’s abilities. I didn’t say where it came from or how it worked, since I really didn’t know how it worked myself. By the time I was through telling them everything I could, they were looking at their daughter, who continued to sleep. Her color was now a healthy pink coloration instead of the pale white she had been before. Mrs. Stanton had tears running down her cheeks while her husband sat in mute joy. I suggested to them that they take their daughter back into the hospital for the night but in the morning, have the doctors run some additional tests on her to see if her cancer was cured in reality.

As Mr. Stanton picked his daughter up carefully in his arms, I could tell he was afraid to wake her up. It was almost disconcerting seeing a normal looking ten year old in her father’s arms when she had looked like a doll in John’s. Mr. Stanton exited the camper and his wife followed behind him pushing the wheelchair. They made their way back to the hospital with their daughter no longer in the chair nor possibly ever needing it again.

I felt good about what had happened that day. I knew we had done the right thing and I knew there would be more like that to come, once the word got out. I went back inside and sat down at the table with a cold drink. I wanted to wait for John before I went into the bedroom. I would have to wait for a while.

Chapter 10

It took John around six hours to wake up. I was now able to see first hand the effects of the using of his gift. I felt bad about the whole thing but I could see the tenderness he showed to little Sarah when he was talking to her. With that, I knew he would be a great father to children someday.

Once he was awake, I drove back to the campground where we were able to get a bite to eat and afterwards, we talked for a bit. The more I knew about this deeply intellectual man, the more I loved him. There were depths to him that at a casual glance, he would seem rather shallow. He wasn’t uneducated, rather the opposite. He did graduate high school but being browbeat a lot because of his size caused him to affect the clipped speech he spoke with. I think with time, I could help his self esteem boost to the point where he wouldn’t feel so self conscious about himself.

We talked about numerous things that could affect our future together. We talked about the past for each of us. Some of the things he told me about himself brought tears to my eyes. How my heart ached from the pain the man had suffered at the hands of his so-called peers. Unmercifully teased at the age of 12 when he was already 6’-6” tall. Losing his father at the tender age of 6 and his mother at 14. The things he suffered were more than most people could deal with without breaking. This giant of a man had an inner strength that was shining more and more to me.

He talked animatedly about his feelings in healing Sarah. When he had shook her parents’ hands, he felt even better about doing this sort of thing. Both of them were saddened about the future loss of their daughter and were trying to put on a brave face. Both of them blamed themselves for her getting the cancer, even though neither one of them were the cause.

Finally at around 1AM, I was borderline comatose even though John was still alert. I told him that I had to get to bed or I wouldn’t be worthwhile in the morning. Even though he wasn’t really tired, he joined me in bed and we made love for a while longer before both of us fell asleep.

#*#*#*#

When I got into the hospital that morning, I was beset upon by the doctors who were all trying to find out what it was that I had done to cure Sarah Stanton of her cancer. It seemed that her parents had had more tests run on her, as we had requested, and all came up negative for her having anything wrong physically. It was such a drastic turnaround for her state of health that it had the hospital in an uproar.

True to their promise to John and I, Mr. and Mrs. Stanton never said anything about what had happened but the hospital had video feeds everywhere and many showed me going with Mr. Stanton into the waiting room and staying with him for a while talking. Nothing was audible to them on the video but they knew something was up with what happened to Sarah.

I was hounded all day long as I tried to do my volunteering work. I could only deny doing anything to Sarah, which was the truth. I tried as hard as I could to ignore all the hoopla but it finally got the best of me and I broke down sobbing while fleeing to the nearest restroom.

I had known that I would catch the brunt of the attention since I was the most visible of John and I. I resolved to harden myself to the attention. I had made arrangements for Mr. and Mrs. Stanton to talk to one of the other parents of a sick child and have those parents take their child out to the camper without me being there.

During the day, I received a page of the intercom to report to the information desk due to a package that needed to be signed for. I was curious, so I swiftly made my way to the desk. Waiting there was a FedEx courier. I had to present identification as to who I was (thankfully I had taken the police Lt.’s advise and had my DL updated, my skin was now what could be termed as African-American) and I signed for the package that was delivered to me.

When I was able to find some alone time, I opened the package. Inside was a cashier’s check to John for $25,000 from Mr. and Mrs. Stanton. It had a lovely letter of thanks from them for healing their daughter. I had to put the check away in my purse and make sure that the locker where it was placed was locked securely. I called John on the cell phone I had given him and let him know what they had paid. He sounded upset that they would pay so much, especially since he hadn’t once requested any money from them and I didn’t put a price tag on the service.

After a while all the hub-bub going on around me let up so that I could concentrate on the attention I should have been paying to the children I was working with. In the latter part of the afternoon, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Stanton with their daughter in a wheelchair going down the hall. Mr. Stanton saw me and gave me a big smile. A questioning eyebrow cocked upwards. I interpreted it as he was asking me if I had gotten the check. I gave a quick nod but indicated that it was too high. He shook his head no and pointed to his daughter and gave a sign that it wasn’t high enough. All I could do was shrug my shoulder as it being ok with me if it was ok with him. Another smile from him said so. All this took place in seconds and nothing seemed out of the ordinary to anyone else.

After I was done with my volunteering for the day, I went out to the camper in the parking lot. John was asleep in his chair and there were signs that someone had been there prior to me entering. Knowing what had happened, I busied myself tidying up a bit.

John didn’t take too long in waking up, about three hours after I came into the camper. He told me that the Stantons had sent someone else out earlier who had a very sick son. The boy had leukemia and they hadn’t given him very much longer to live. After it was done, the parents took their son back into the hospital but they promised to make sure he was paid for healing their child. All John could do was hem and haw but never outright refused. But I could tell he was still happy about what he had done for them.

That night, I worked with John on his diction so that he would be able to come across more intelligently. He still had a problem with his Southern drawl and the deep vocal range of his speaking voice. Eventually, I was able to get him to talk a bit clearer and more precisely. He still had a lot of work to do in the future but I praised for the effort he put out in his speech. That night as we made love, he was so gentle and tender that it made my reactions more intense.

Chapter 11

The next several weeks, we managed to get away with over 30 healings of sick children before the hospital officials caught on to the system we were using to heal the children. I knew they would catch on eventually but it took a bit longer than even I thought it would take.

We had taken to moving the camper to various locations in the hospital parking lot so that it wouldn’t be in the same place more than one day. The word of mouth from parent to parent worked quite well for the most part. The money the parents paid John was incredible. There were times where the parents couldn’t pay very much and one time the grateful parents paid out $250,000. John was so flabbergasted that they would pay so much but they always knew a way to placate him. Of course, John was happy to be doing it for the children more than anything else.

I think it had a lot to do with the child-like nature of his personality. He had a near innocence about him that was very endearing to me and it also set the parents at ease and made the children like him instantly.

It really didn’t take long for the terminal children’s wing of the hospital to empty out. Slowly but surely, there were no new cases being brought in and I was sent to other areas of the hospital to work.

One day, after I reported in to work, I was approached by the director of the hospital and told to go with him. I knew what was up so I went with him quietly.

When I got into the office, the first thing I noticed was John was in there also. They had had to find him a large steel framed chair to sit in. I had noticed a broken wooden chair in the outer office and I realized what had happened with it when I saw John in the metal one. His weight couldn’t be supported by a normal chair. I calmly sat down in the chair next to him and took his hand.

The director went behind the desk where he sat trying to intimidate us both with glares. I just smiled at him as if I didn’t have a care in the world as to why I was there. Through my clasped hand with John, I could tell he was very nervous, it was shaking a bit. I gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally after his attempts to intimidate us failed, the director spoke up. “I hope you two realize the trouble you are in because of your meddling in the affairs of the hospital. You have cost us millions of dollars and we are going to see that you are suitably punished by the law for everything we can do to you. What have you got to say for yourselves now?”

Since I was the one who got this started, I spoke up. “I’m not really sure what you mean. We haven’t done anything that could hurt your hospital like you say we have.”

That sort of made him angry. “What do you mean you haven’t done anything? You’ve been practicing medicine without a license, operating in a non-sterile environment, not to mention risking the health of the children that were under our care for terminal diseases. What if one of those children your treated were to have died while in your care? I’ll tell you what: the parents could have sued us for negligence for allowing their child outside the building where they were being treated.”

“In case you hadn’t noticed, there was nothing you could have done, since the parents were the ones who brought their children outside the hospital. If anything, they were in HERE to die since you couldn’t do anything for them except extend their suffering. Now, they aren’t suffering, they’re at home enjoying their lives. What else would you like to try for?”

“You should watch your tongue and flippant remarks young lady. You want to know what else we can throw at you? Try fraud, since you were working here under fraudulent reasons.”

“Now, you’re really starting to grasp at straws. I wasn’t working here, I was volunteering my services to the children’s ward. I didn’t once receive a single penny for my services in the month that I’ve been serving. I haven’t earned any money at all since I left my job last month. Do you call it fraud when someone cares enough about children to volunteer their time in a terminal ward? Go ahead and try it. See what happens then. As for practicing medicine without a license, there is nothing we did that required one. We didn’t diagnose those children or treat them. They came with their parents to pay my husband a visit. Nothing more. He couldn’t come to visit them inside because a hospital makes him nervous and uncomfortable. His mother died from mistreatment by doctors. I just pointed the children’s parents the direction of where he was at so that he could meet and cheer the child up. Isn’t it good for a child to get out into fresh air once in a while?” I responded to the director.

“Well, young lady, be it as it may, you will have to answer to the charges in court. Officers, you may escort them out of here.” He said to the police officers that had come in behind us and stood there at ready.

Defiantly, I stood up and turned around to face them. To my shock, one of the officers was a parent to one of the children we had cured. I had kept track of all the parents and children we had healed and I had set up a hidden camera to take their pictures. The man looked very uncomfortable with the chore he was assigned. I hadn’t known he was a police officer but then I didn’t care what the parents did, there was a sick child that needed to be healed and THAT was all I concerned myself about. I told John to go quietly also.

I walked up to him, turned around and put my hands behind my back. He reluctantly put the hand cuffs on my wrists. I allowed him to lead me out to his squad car. As he put me in the back seat, he said, “None of the charges they are filing will stick. They are more pissed off about the loss of income they would have from the insurance companies who were covering our children’s medical bills. Both you and your husband will be out in less than an hour. That much I’ll guarantee you. You both have given me my child’s future back and I will be eternally grateful for that.”

“I know what you are going through and I know it won’t be easy to deal with this. All I can say is just do your job but know that things will come out alright in the end. I’m not worried about any of this, nor what they could throw at us.” I told him.

He gave me a warm hug in return.

I watched John being led out of the building with an escort of security guards. They seemed ready to take him down to the ground if he made a wrong move. He didn’t do anything other than smile as they tried to load him into the police car. I watched as the rear end of the car sank to nearly ground level as he climbed in. Since it didn’t explode the tires or bust the shocks, I felt he would be ok, although the car might have a problem going through the speed bumps or speed dips that were around the area.

True to the officer’s predictions, we were out of the jail in less than an hour. The city attorney declined to press any charges since not once did we use any medical knowledge or do anything fraudulent that would be considered criminal activities. We knew we would be watched so our police officer friend (who’s name I never even knew) advised us to stay away from the hospital in the future. He did say that he would be passing the word around to any parent who’s child was sick as to where they would be able to find us. He knew that we couldn’t have more than one per day visit us and he assured us that no one would know otherwise. I felt confident that he would see to that exactly.

John and I picked up the camper from the impound yard where it had been towed, but we didn’t even have to pay an impound fee. I was dismayed at the major disaster that the inside was left in. It was obvious that someone had torn it apart looking for illicit drugs or whatever it was that we used to ‘heal’ the children with. They would never know just how it was done.

That night at the campground, I made John and I some supper and we ate in relative silence. I could tell John was not happy about having to spend more time in jail, no matter how short it had been. I suggested to him that we take a walk around the campground to get a breath of fresh air. He just nodded quietly.

I had multiple reasons for wanting to take a walk. The primary one was to see if I could spot the observers that were more than likely on our tails. We were going to be watched for quite some time to make sure that we didn’t violate the law or anything. What else could they do? We were doing something that they had no idea what it was and that bothered them greatly. They would try their best to get their hands on it and twist it to their way of thinking, but I knew they wouldn’t have a chance to actually get anything valid. We still had to watch ourselves or we could wind up being kidnapped or something and made to tell what we knew about whatever it was we did to heal the children. There were some very unscrupulous people in the world that would give anything to be able to control people however way they could.

In the course of our walk, I was able to see three separate vehicles that didn’t belong there. Fortunately, they weren’t in the campground proper, since that would be cause for alarm from the campground people. I made a silent vow to set up other cameras to show an external view and setup the proximity alert to anyone moving around close to the camper.

Once we were back at the camper, I made the necessary changes to the security of our home. Then we went to bed and settled ourselves in for our nightly session of love making. I really looked forward to this part of the day.

Chapter 12

The next morning, I knew that it would be worthless to try to go to the hospital, since I knew that I wouldn’t be permitted to enter the place again. Therefore, I spent the day doing research into the transgendered community for possible candidates for transformation. It was rather hard to do since it was obvious to me that the community was keeping a low profile and that they might not want to be found otherwise.

I did eventually manage to find a bar where they allowed TG people to frequent, but the biggest problem was that it was in a rather seedy area of the city. That was probably because the TG’s weren’t really wanted anywhere else. I discussed this with John but I could tell he wasn’t too comfortable about being in a bar. I knew he was a complete teetotaler and he never drank anything harder than a soda. I didn’t blame him since it was one thing that could get a person in trouble for quicker than anything else besides drugs, which he also abstained from. He preferred to keep total control of his life and not let anyone take his freedoms from him. I certainly didn’t blame him either.

We went to the bar that night and after the experience we had there, I had to admit to John that he was certainly right about avoiding a bar. We had driven in my car there and found a parking spot as close to the bar as we could. The short walk we had was through a gauntlet of rowdies who seemed to prey on the unsuspecting people walking up the sidewalk to the bar. They seemed to be leery of John since he was so big but they looked at me with a hunger in their eyes. Every one of the men that lined the sidewalks were black men and since I could be called a black woman, I was fair game to them. I clung to John’s arm the whole time we walked past them.

Once we were in the sanctity of the bar, I was finally able to relax somewhat. John and I found a booth near the back of the bar to where were able to watch the comings and goings of the patrons. We had several rounds of soda that night but we never did see any TGs that I could identify. I knew what sort of signs to look for since I went through that stage myself. I saw nothing out of the ordinary that night.

At one point, I had to make my way to the restroom since all the sodas I had been drinking had gone straight through me. I could barely hold control of my bladder before I made it to the back area where the restrooms were located. My concentration was so deep in getting into the toilet, I missed the signs of predators nearby.

My relief break over, I washed my hands and prepared to exit the room. I had gone in alone and there were no other women nearby as I exited. Just outside the door, I felt an arm wrap itself around my throat, cutting off my air supply. A hand covered my mouth, preventing me from making a sound. I could feel myself quickly losing consciousness from the lack of oxygen and blood flow to my brain. I could feel myself being dragged someplace but I couldn’t tell where since my sight was fading also. I feebly struggled to stay conscious and put up a fight to stay out of the clutches of whoever had hold of me. I had a huge disadvantage since I had been unprepared for anything happening. I lost the fight as I blacked out.

#*#*#*#*#

The very next thing I knew, I was in extreme agony. My throat hurt, as well as my ribs and I had a horrible burning in my stomach. My crotch also hurt with a sensation I couldn’t quite identify. I struggled back from the blackness I had been in to the sounds of flesh striking flesh. I opened my eyes to see John throwing a body against a wall before turning towards me. I could once again see the grayness creeping back into my vision and I could hear a rattling in my throat while I breathed.

John knelt down beside me, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs for help. I remotely felt his arms pick me up before I again lost consciousness.

#*#*#*#*#

John continued to yell for help all the while holding his wife’s heavily damaged body. The attackers had raped her and then stabbed her several times in the abdomen before slitting her throat. He knew time was of the essence and he reached out with his gift and prepared to heal her broken and nearly lifeless body. He could see the blood flowing out of her slashed throat slow to a mere trickle before ceasing completely.

He pushed with the gift harder than he had ever done in his life. This wonderful person who had taken him into her house, into her bed and then into her life had ceased to live but he knew it was in him to bring back that life.

The light that flowed out of his mouth and into her body was brighter than any other one he had sent forth. He kept at it for nearly fifteen minutes before he heard the sound of a gasp for air above his sobs of anguish over the attack on his wife. He could feel the movement of her chest in his arms and then he felt the movements of her arms and they weakly tried to re-establish the linkage with her brain.

Before he realized that anyone was around him, he heard a gasp as someone nearby that wasn’t his wife noticed the life movements that was emanating from the body of the woman who was wrapped up in the man’s arms. A body that they could have sworn was completely dead moments before.

None of the people standing around John had known where the lights that had been shining so brightly in the darkness had come from but they knew they were looking at a true miracle to see the dead woman moving again. As John slowly lowered her away from his chest, they noticed that her body no longer had any wounds visible. As one, each of them gasped in shock at the sight. They could see that there had been a massive amount of blood shed in the spot. Her clothes were still drenched in it and John was covered in it himself. They couldn’t take their eyes of the sight.

Everyone’s attention was removed from the sight of the man and woman on the ground when the wail of sirens blasted them out of their shock. As one, the group of people started backing away from the two in front of them so that the police could take charge of the scene. John continued to hold his wife as her movements became stronger. He felt immensely tired. He could feel the sparklies beginning to build up in his system in preparation for escaping.

Once he knew that his wife was stable, he gently set her back down on the ground and stood up. He looked over at the five men that he had beaten when he had discovered them knifing Michelle. The sparklies were starting to demand release as he walked over to the ring leader. He could hardly contain his anger at what the five of them did to her. He could see the leader struggling to get up but the broken leg he had was preventing that from happening.

John bent down and took hold of the man’s shirt collar and lifted him up to face him. At that moment, the other man’s eyes flew open in shock. As he was about to scream, John released the sparklies from inside him. Only knowing that the men needed to be punished, he directed the sparklies into the man’s mouth. It seemed like an eternity before they finally ran out. Weariness flooded his system and he fought to get back to his feet.

He forgot about the gang bangers that were laying on the ground behind him. His attention returned back to his lovely wife. The police had surrounded her where she lay in repose on the ground. From the movement of her chest, he could tell that she was in the healing sleep that was the result of the use of his gift to repair a damaged body. He had never had to try to bring someone back from the dead before and he was glad that it had worked. He had grown to love her with all his heart in the weeks since they had been married. At first, he wasn’t sure about her reasons as to why she wanted to get married but as time passed, he fell in love with her because of her warm and giving heart. He was relieved that she was still alive.

He approached the group of police and paramedics where they were surrounding his wife. The police took offensive positions around her as if to protect her from him. Many had their hand on the guns holstered at their waists. He knew better than to let them have reason to draw them.

“Ah’m not ahmed, offasuh. Dat’s mah wahf dere on de grownd. Dose men ova der ‘tacked huh an’ hut huh relly bahd. Ah just wants ta mayk shoer she’s awright.” He told them with his hands out from his body in an open handed manner, to show he had no weapons.

The policemen all relaxed somewhat but never really took their eyes off the large man. The paramedics continued to work on the woman on the ground. Finally, one looked up at the policeman in charge and said, “As far as I can tell, she isn’t injured in any way. She looks just like she is sleeping and nothing more. I would suggest transporting her to one of the local hospitals for observation but I really don’t think she’s seriously hurt, unlike her husband just said she was.”

“Well, package her up and ship her off. We need to find out what happened here.” The police officers all turned as one towards John.

“What can you tell me about what happened here? I need to find out what you were doing over there when we first got here. It didn’t…”

Before the officer could say anything else, a gun shot rang out near them. John hit the ground and the officers dove for cover themselves. A dozen guns were pointed up the alley. Several more shots were fired but the officers couldn’t determine if they were the ones being fired upon.

The paramedics surrounding Michelle quickly loaded her onto a gurney and fled the scene of the gunfire. No sense in an innocent being shot. John watched them load her into the ambulance and within seconds they sped off to whatever hospital they were taking her to.

Now John started to panic. He didn’t even know what hospital they were taking her to nor did he have any way of getting there. Her purse was lying on the table in the bar. Now there was something else to panic about. All her documentation, bank account information and other vital bits of matter were still in the purse. John quickly got to his feet and left the scene of violence behind him.

Once he was back inside the bar, he made his way to the table that Michelle and him had been sitting. The table had been cleaned off and nothing was on the seat. He went to the bar and motioned the bartender to him.

When the man finally was in front of him he said very carefully, “Mah wife’s purse was at the table we was sittin’ at a bit ago but now it’s gone. Is there anneh chance dat it was brought up here?”

“Hmm, no one brought a purse up here in the last little bit. Let me check with the waitress who was serving your table. I’ll be right back.” He said and turned away from John.

Several minutes passed and John started to become a bit nervous. The bartender did not come back with the waitress or anything. He decided to go find them himself.

He found them in a back room with a stack of purses in front of them. At the front of the pile was his wife’s purse! Angrily, he pushed them aside and grabbed it. It felt strangely light. He opened it and looked in. There was nothing it in besides a few bits of scrap paper. Michelle’s life had been in there and it was now gone!

He grabbed the bartender’s shirt and pulled him to his feet. “Where is my wife’s stuff?” He demanded.

“I’m sorry sir but that is all there is. It was found in the trash by someone a short time ago with nothing in it. We didn’t know it was hers and brought it back here with the rest of these. We just didn’t know whose it was or we would have brought it out to you.” The man said nearly shrilly, scared out of his wits.

John was really worried now. All of the important information she kept in her purse was gone. Her car keys were gone, the keys to the camper was gone, check book, money, credit cards, driver’s license… all gone. A cold chill crept down his back.

Only Michelle would know what to do and she was going to a hospital that he had no idea where it was or what hospital. He knew he had to go back and talk to the police officers to find out where she was going. Maybe he could make a report about the purse while he was at it. He took it and went outside.

In the short time he had been back inside the bar, everyone had left. No police, no bystanders, no one. What in the world was going on? He knew that the man he had released the sparklies into would be having problems soon but he didn’t really care. He had to find Michelle and quickly.

He didn’t even know where to start…