Part 25 - Second Healing Magic Trainer

The women finished cleaning up the lunch dishes when Christie turned to Karen and asked, "So, what's your Mom like? Is she going to be okay with getting ordered here without any prior warning?"

Oddly, Karen blushed. "Ah, perhaps I should warn ye about me Mum. . ."

"Karen," Amanda interrupted. "Your Irish is showing. You'll want that under control before Aunt Jessie gets here."

"True. All TOO true, Amanda, and thanks. Anyway, Christie, you must understand that one of my Mother's things was working as a battlefield surgeon during Operation Desert Storm. She's always been a bit. . .well, gruff and authoritative about her work, but she really liked how the military docs did things and how everyone snapped to when she gave an order. My Mom really LIKES giving orders. The only thing she likes better is when her orders are promptly and exactly obeyed. Her corrections can be rather . . .harsh."

Christie nodded her understanding. "Kinda like Gunny over at the gun range, Mum? Especially when he's instructing a newbie on gun and range safety?"

"An apt comparison, dear," Amanda replied with a smile. "Only remember that Gunny has become somewhat more civil in his reprimands of erring students. He's gotten more used to dealing with civilians and their inadequacies. I don't think Aunt Jessie has or ever will, right, Karen?"

Shaking her head, Karen almost groaned. "No, she hasn't, and she won't, most especially when she's been called in to train a new healer. I'd sort of hoped to be able to get you started before I had to call her in. You know those army comedies where young recruits are beleaguered by their training sergeants, Christie?"

"Yes, I've seen a few of those."

"Well, let them be your guide, at least until Mum decides you are worth her time."

"Seriously?" Christie asked, and when both older women nodded emphatically, "Wow. Okay, then."

Just then, the quiet of the early Sunday afternoon was shattered by the full-throated roar of a carburated, over-revved V-8 engine. "Oh God," Karen almost whined, "And she's at least ten minutes earlier than my worst guess. C'mon, you two! We definitely don't want to keep her waiting."

~-~

Jessica MacTire, MD, Ph.D. Professor Emerita of Medicine, University of Edinburgh, climbed out of a fire-engine-red 1969 Ford Mustang Mach One muscle car. To Christie's eyes, Both the vehicle and the woman looked as if they were annoyed to have stopped running. Jessica was taller than her daughter and possessed a huskier, more powerful build. Jessica MacTire exuded an unmistakable aura of 'She who WILL be obeyed! Or ELSE!', and Christie was pretty sure she didn't EVER want to experience that implied 'or ELSE!'

"Oh, shite, Mum! You ran off with Poppa's car??! How could you?"

"Eh, he had my truck," the intimidating woman said as she strode up to embrace her daughter. "'Sides, you said 'Stat,' didn't you?"

"Yes, Mum. I guess I did at that."

"And I'd have been here sooner, but yer Poppa needs to tune that beastie up some. Barely made 125 on my way here."

"MOMMA!??!" Karen tried to sound sternly disapproving, but her Mother shut her down with a glare.

"Aw, quit your blatherin', colleen. No copper is ever gonna see me go by, let alone catch me! Well, Amanda. What're you waiting for, girl? Where's my hug?"

Laughing, Amanda moved into Jessica's hug. "You haven't changed a bit, have you, Aunt Jess?"

"I have," the older woman refuted quickly. "I've gotten meaner and less patient, and didn't I tell you to call me Jess or Jessie last time we got together? Aunt makes me feel old. Now, is this lass staring at me like I was some type of kelpie or questing beastie your daughter? Present her already!"

"Yes, Aunt. . . I mean, yes, Jessie. May I present my daughter, Christie McKellar? Christie, this is Dr. Jessica MacTire, MD and Ph.D. in psychology. When I first came into my healing talent, she was one of my trainers.

Christie had no idea where it came from, but she felt an overwhelming urge to curtsy to their guest. She did and was sure she looked ridiculous in her T-shirt and shorts. "It is an honor, Dr. MacTire."

"Well, you've taught her manners, Amanda, and I would guess Karen taught her how to say my name since she didn't mangle the Gaelic TOO badly. Well, it's bloody hot out here. Let's go inside, and you can all explain why I'm here and not riding my Indian around the mountains of West Virginia."

~-~

Christie sat quietly while her Mother and Karen detailed what they had done and learned about Christie and her powers over glasses of Amanda's iced tea. Jessica took it all in and then turned a stern, assessing eye on Christie.

"You got anything to add to all that, girl?"

"Not really, ma'am, at least nothing quantitative. I just feel like I'm walking around with a high-powered, fully loaded pistol with a hair-trigger and no safety."

"So, you've been trained to use guns?"

"Yes, Ma'am, by both my Mom and the retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant who oversees our local gun range."

Nodding, Jessica replied. "That's good, then, because your analogy is right on point. However, if you're too powerful for my daughter to inhibit you, it's more like you're walking around with armed explosives. Perhaps between the two of us, we can inhibit you enough to train you as we normally would, but if not, this all just got a great deal more challenging. In that event, it is all on you. You have to control your power. You're too powerful to walk around uncontrolled. Just looking at your aura, I don't think we'll be able to inhibit you, so you will need discipline."

"That's what Grandfather Kim, I mean, Grand Master Kim told me - after I destroyed Tad's knee. He won't even let me spar with anyone he hasn't personally approved. It's one of the reasons he's been teaching me meditation and other psychic arts."

"All right, that will help. Now, I'm gonna apologize before we even begin, Missie. If I come off like a pissed-off Regimental Sergeant Major dealing with a boot camp reject, it's because that's the way I know I can lead you through what you need to learn. It's not personal - it's caution and caring."

"I'll do my best, Ma'am," Christie promised.

"Then let's get on with it. I just scanned my daughter and found those individual cell wards you put around those cancerous cells on her ovary. Let's start with those and how you knew they needed warding. Then we'll get into how you knew how to do it."

~-~

Much later, Jessie turned from her daughter to look at Christie. "And you say this 'wrongness' you see is very tiny and restricted to inside each warded cell?" At Christie's confident nod. "So, it seems likely that your hypothesis that what you're seeing is in the cell nuclei is correct. I just wish I could see what you're seeing. I see just fine to the cell level, but trying to see anything finer is beyond me."

"Umm . . Maybe . ." Christie began, unsure.

"What is it, girl?" The doctor snapped.

"Well, maybe if I merged with you, I could add enough power to your own that you might be able to see what I see?"

"WHAT?!? Merge? That's unheard of! Why would you even think of such a thing?"

Shrugging, Christie looked at her Mother before turning back to Jessica. "Because I've done it - twice. Once where I used my Mom's power and once where she was able to draw on mine."

Jessica looked from Mother to daughter and back again, her mouth open to speak but said nothing. Amanda merely nodded her agreement with Christie's assertion. "How?"

Christie stood and walked over to stand behind Jessica. She reached out to put her hands on the doctor's bare arms and stopped abruptly. "May I lay my hands on your arms, please? Momma and I had physical contact both times we did this, and I think that was necessary for the power to flow."

"Do it," Jessica ordered and then yelped. "Holy Shite!! I can bloody FEEL your strength - it's like a reservoir of power! Now what?"

"I'm not sure. We just did what we normally did, but we somehow used that reservoir to augment our power. Try looking at Karen again with the Sight."

"Oh. . . My . . . God! Christie! This is amazing! It's like the first time I looked at human hair through a microscope - only more! And you can just . . .do this?!?"

"With my Mom and evidently with you. I didn't know it was anything special because the first time I did this was before I fully emerged."

"Something for us to work on with this young lady, daughter. It's like I finally got a pair of glasses that worked after years of thinking everyone saw things as fuzzy as I did. Now, if I could just figure out something to do about those wrong little beasties in there . . ." Jessica finished, obviously talking to herself now.

Christie gave a slight cough before shyly offering. "I think I can do something, but I just wasn't sure it was a good idea, so I didn't."

Jessica spun about so quickly that their physical contact with Christie was broken. "What do you think you could do??! How?"

The young woman took a couple of steps back, fighting the urge to cringe under the doctor's suddenly intense and focused stare. "I'm pretty sure . . .very sure, I can just sort of pull the wrongness out of those cells. I did a little web surfing before lunch. If I understand what I read, cancer is basically uncontrolled cellular reproduction. Cellular reproduction starts in the nuclei where the DNA genetic material is stored. If I pull out the nuclei, no DNA, no reproduction. Ummm, right, Dr. MacTire? And even if I'm wrong, it's no more than a few hundred cells right now, and with your wards in place, they aren't doing anything anyway, right?"

Christie suddenly found herself being the focus of three intense and focused stares and decided to seek her mental 'safe place' to avoid showing weakness before these powerful women.

"Hmm. Can you do it while you share your vision with me, lass? I'd like to see if I could."

"I think so. It's really two different things like Mom always says - actual healing instead of the Sight. Shall we try? Karen? It's your body. If we try this, I insist on your permission."

"Hell, girl, I just wish I could see, too! If you think you can get this bloody time-bomb outta me chest, I'm all for ye tryin'!"

Christie looked to Jessica, who simply nodded and turned back to face Karen. "Mom? Would you hand Dr. MacTire that white tea saucer, please?" Amanda did as requested while Christie laid her hands back on Jessica's arms. "Got a visual on the cells, Doctor?"

"Aye, I do. Whenever you're ready then, Christie."

Closing her eyes, Christie concentrated her Chi as she'd been taught by Papa Kim. The cells came into view but quickly resolved into smaller discrete points of 'wrongness.' Focusing as tightly as she could, she reached into each of the warded cells and . . .pulled.

"Tis gone!" Jessica all but crowed. "Every last bit of it, but where . . .?"

"On the saucer, Dr. MacTire," Christie said. "Focus your Healer Sight on that tiny spot of pink."

"Lord above, girl. That's . . .that's what was wrong in those cells. And the cells," Jessica turned back to look at her daughter, "They're dead - ready for the body to dispose of like any cell past its due date. I can't find any sign of cancer or pre-cancerous cells anywhere in her except for that ovary. Can you do the same again?" A second spot appeared on the saucer. Jessica stared at it in wonder. "Holy Shite, girl. You are going to study medicine, aren't you?"

"Well, I want to, so I can figure out what needs fixing and then figure out how. Maybe even without needing magic for the fix, too."

"Good. Apply to Johns Hopkins. Karen!"

"Got it, Mum," Karen replied. "I'll get her fast-tracked. I want her in my laboratory!"

"Good, I may come out of retirement as a consulting researcher or some such thing."

"Christie?" Amanda put in softly. "Is this what you want? Together, Jessica and Karen can scare bulldozers, but I won't let them railroad you into a decision you don't want."

"I'm good, Mom. And now I'll know what to say to Mrs. Dewinter when we meet to revise my senior course schedule. I was already trying to figure out how to do a Pre-Pre-Med program at my high school. Now, I have Karen and Dr. MacTire to advise me and support me with the counselor."

"You, young lass, may call me 'Aunt Jessie' if you please. Gods above, but you have so much to teach us!"

"ME? Teach YOU? That's not the way I see it, Docto, . . .I mean, Aunt Jess."

"We'll all be learnin' from each other, and that's that! So, tell me about this friend of yours that your Momma mentioned. The one with the brain bruise . . ."

~-~

"I'm not comfortable with this, Aunt Jess," Christie said for at least the fourth time since Jessica had laid out her plan.

"Ah, dinna fash yersel, girl! We're just gonna see if you can heal another bruise, just like ya did for my Karen just a little bit ago. I'll make sure you try in a spot where nothing bad can happen if it doesn't work. No problem at all!"

No problem, Christie grumbled. Just another bruise. Sure! Karen hadn't been best pleased when Jessica had thumped the meaty part of her thigh with the handle of a kitchen knife. Evidently, the younger MacTire bruised easily. Christie's Mother taught her to heal bruises by increasing the blood flow to the injured area, thus accelerating the natural healing. Instead, Jessica's idea was different.

First, she'd set up the individual cell inhibition wards around the live cells injured by the thump. Then, she'd had Christie look and then 'pull out' anything outside the barriers she sensed was 'wrong.' It Turned out that was mostly blood, other fluids and ruptured cells that wouldn't heal anyway. Jessica was quite satisfied with the effort, pronouncing the bruise almost healed when they'd finished. It certainly wasn't as colorful as when they'd started and Karen had said it didn't hurt as much anymore. Jessica had decided there was no time like the present to try out this new treatment methodology and had immediately dragged Christie, Amanda and Karen off to the hospital.

Mom had been SO right about the MacTire team! She felt like she was being escorted by Caterpillar D11 Bull Dozers!!

"Now, now. If this isn't as successful as I think it will be, it will still do no harm. Moreover, with your ability to see and heal within the cells, we'll eventually learn how you can heal your friend another way. But, as I said, I think this will work."

"Okay, okay. Let's go in and try, but if I don't feel the 'wrongness' or don't feel that I can do anything about the 'wrongness,' we drop back and punt, okay?"

"Now, why would you want to go poling a boat down a river?" Jessica asked, all innocence.

"MOM! Even I know you've become crazy about American Football. Christie, how many women do you know who've painted orange and black Cincinnati Bengal stripes on her GREEN John Deere tractor?!" Karen demanded, giving a slightly exaggerated shudder of distaste.

"Ah, there ya go, daughter, tellin' all my secrets again." Jessica caught sight of the nurses' station. "Is this where we check-in?" At Christie's nod, they checked on Valerie's availability. As it was Sunday, she had nothing but free time until dinner.

Christie led the women into the room. Valerie saw her and called. "McKellar! About time you got here, and where's my pizza!?!"

"The interns on the first floor confiscated it again. You have some very hungry doctors in this hospital. Mom? Cone of silence, please?"

Christie quickly made introductions and explained why they had come. Valerie nodded her understanding. "So this is kind of like a test? To see if this does any good?"

"Or any harm," Christie put in. "Dr. MacTire says it shouldn't do any harm, but we're still going to go slowly with this until we're sure. Until I'm sure."

"Well, if you can't trust the girl you're tied to by a magical mental link, who can you trust, right? Anyway, today's probably a good day to try this. I have another brain scan scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Maybe they'll be able to tell something happened from this when they review that. So. What do we do?"

"I'll do the individual wards again, Christie. If you can handle it, I'd like you to amplify my Sight again while you decide if you can do anything. I'd really like to observe your healing her I can without reducing your effectiveness."

~-~

"Eww!" Valerie complained as she looked at the small brown mass in the white sample dish Jessica had obtained for this project. "THAT'S what was in my head? It looks like gerbil poop!"

"Well, Miss Stevens, I'm glad to say I don't know exactly what gerbil poop looks like," Jessica replied, "But that is what Christie pulled from your head out of that one tiny finger of your bruise. I think what she did will be obvious enough that the doctors will realize something has changed when they review your scan tomorrow. I expect they'll be surprised."

"GOOD surprised or BAD surprised?" Valerie asked.

"All good, I think. The tissue Christie left behind appears normal and healthy to me under her enhanced Healer Sight. That should get your doctors' attention tomorrow. We'll come back after you get the test results back and plan how to do more repairs in a manner that won't get you turned into a medical experiment. I think we could do more right now, but I don't want to overstress Christie since we don't know how much of a toll this takes on her physical and magical resources."

Valerie yawned hugely. "Well, it seems every time Christie comes here to do her magical stuff, I need a nap. I'm exhausted all of a sudden."

"We'll tell the nurses you dropped off. They'll keep an eye on you and make sure you get up for dinner."

"Okay. And next time, McKellar? Wiggle your nose, blink your brown eyes, or shake your boo-thing, but get the damned pizza up here! You're squandering BFF points, girl!"

~-~

As they walked to her Mother's car, Christie stopped and gave herself a little shake.

"Mom? Could we go to the range? Please? I really want to shoot something!"

"And aren't you a girl after me own heart, Christie McKellar!" Jessica crowed. "Yes, let's go to that range of yours! I want to meet this Gunny of yours and then kill some targets!"

Karen and Amanda just stared at each other, then gave a 'what are ya going to do' shrug and followed their two would-be-target-killers to the car.

~-~