Chapter 28: Healing

I was assaulted by a wealth of sights, sounds and smells. The sudden mayhem was overwhelming. I was at a wedding, in India. Everywhere there were bright colors, flowers, and people dressed in formal attire. There was a lot of red. I knew it wasn’t my wedding - or rather that it wasn’t Jeevan’s, whose memories I was experiencing. In it, he was about ten years old. Why this was a memory he didn’t want me to see became apparent when I saw he had continuously stuffed his face throughout the entire day and ended up vomiting all over the bride’s father. As the nephew of the groom, he’d been sent home in disgrace.

I had asked to see his guilty secrets, and there were quite a few from when he’d been a child, including the time he’d inadvertently walked in on his eighteen-year-old sister in the bath and was accused of doing it deliberately. Nothing from his childhood stood out to me; I raced through the memories and didn’t see or feel anything particularly sinister or malicious. Jeevan had not been a perfect angel as a child, but then again, I imagined that was true of nearly everyone.

I cringed again when I saw his wedding night, though not quite for the same reason. He and his very beautiful bride had both been virgins, and I witnessed their first time together through his eyes. I felt bad to have invaded his privacy in such a way. I did feel, however, somehow uplifted by the experience. It hadn’t made me horny; it had been a moment filled with love, and I felt included in that love. There was no guilt whatsoever; rather, it was simply a deeply private memory that he didn’t want me to see.

His argument with his parents when he had told them he was moving to the US had been vicious, and his father had died before they had reconciled. Jeevan had brought his mother to the US after her husband’s death, though, and apparently they were very close.

Strangely, I saw that he’d known all along that he had power, or at least from the earliest memory I experienced. He used it to play pranks on his siblings and school friends. When he was twelve, his uncle took him on a trip out into the country, told him all about his powers, and started to train him in their use. Jeevan, like me, had had the epiphany when he’d realized he could use his powers to control women to do his bidding. His reaction had been very close to mine. He had been afraid to tell his uncle about it, but his uncle had picked the event out of his mind at their next meeting. He had actually praised him, and had reassured him that the thought had been a perfectly natural one, and that Jeevan’s reaction to it had been very appropriate.

There were several memories of times with his wife, and I regretted over and over the way I had phrased my question. I thought I had been quite clever in asking him to show me what he wouldn’t want me to see. I had thought it would give me access to his guilty secrets, not a POV porn show of all the times he had sex with his wife.

Watching his daughter being born was both amazing and revolting. I had no idea why any woman would want to go through that.

Jeevan had been about forty when he’d started his training as a Healer. He and his uncle had lost touch when Jeevan had come to the U.S. in his late twenties. Jeevan had found himself a job in sales. Knowing what the buyer is thinking during a sales process gives you an amazing advantage. I didn’t find a single instance where he’d Compelled anyone to buy something they hadn’t wanted or needed, but he’d been shameless in using his Telepathy. He hadn’t invaded people’s minds, but he had listened in to their surface thoughts, and that had made him a top salesman.

He’d been spotted by an old man, a Healer, when he’d gone with his mother to a hospital appointment. After a lot of talking and meetings, he’d convinced him to join their ranks. He’d been trained by that old man, who, sadly, had since died. He had been very old when they had met, although Jeevan had never found out his actual age.

I had no idea how long I was in Jeevan’s mind, but I could find nothing to indicate that he was anything other than he had told me he was. I saw several of his Healings - some that worked and some that didn’t. I saw his failures where the patient had either refused Healing or had died despite his best efforts. I saw his frustrations when he’d known that if he had only been stronger, he would have been able to save patients - sometimes a child, sometimes even a baby - but he just hadn’t had the raw power.

One interesting fact I pulled out of Jeevan’s head was that, despite him being an Empath, he had never had any kind of sex with anyone other than his wife. His wife had no powers. He felt the urge to ‘share,’ but he loved his wife so completely and knew it would destroy her if he did. He suppressed his need, and it was hurting him. I could see the damage it had done to him over the years. He had never told his wife. Jeevan knew his wife loved him so much that she would have been devastated to learn he was suffering on her behalf, and would have insisted, despite her own feelings.

I pulled my awareness out of his mind and looked at him guiltily.

“I am so sorry Jeevan,” I said. “I never meant to see all those personal memories.”

He smiled at me. “Caleb, my brother. All memories are personal. They are what make us who we are. It is of no matter if it is an intimate moment with a loved one or watching a man on the subway read his paper. Those experiences mold us, each in their own way. I hope that seeing who I am - how the Jeevan you see before you came to be - has eased your mind.”

I looked at my watch. It was getting on for dinner time.

“Can I invite you to eat with us?” I asked.

He smiled. “Thank you, that would be welcome.”

I went into the kitchen and introduced Jeevan to the rest of the household. They welcomed him, and they all sat chatting in the living room as I cooked. Since I had just spent a good amount of time in his memory, I had a good idea of the kinds of foods that he liked. Fortunately, he was quite happy with standard fare.

After dinner, the girls offered to clean up. Jeevan and I went back into the den; it was the moment of truth. I had to decide whether to trust him or to walk away. I considered what I had learned from him and could see no reason not to trust him. Once more, the feeling of being enveloped in the love Jeevan and his wife had shared on their wedding night washed over me, and I made my decision.

I dropped my shields.

I felt him enter my mind. It wasn’t like before. Every time anyone other than Dianna had been in my mind, it had felt like an itch - something that was irritating and shouldn’t be there. I’d had to consciously suppress the urge to fight with them and push them out.

When Dianna had taken my memories that first time, it had felt like being enveloped in warmth - almost a feeling of love. Jeevan’s didn’t feel like that. It did feel right, though - like whoever was in there was a friend.

An hour passed. After the first fifteen minutes, I started to meditate to pass the time. It was Jeevan’s chuckle that roused me. I felt his mind withdraw from mine. Almost as a reflex, my shield was back up and I was cloaked again.

Jeevan was still chuckling. “I have never seen a cow dance before,” he said.

I blushed. “I have absolutely no idea why I did that,” I responded. “Judging by the look I got from her when it ended, she was not pleased with me either.”

He smiled at me. “Bhaiya, I can see that you are a good man. I would be pleased to teach you, although I think you need some Healing first before we begin. Indeed, there are a couple of occasions when you have used the principles of Healing already. Firstly, you blocked pain. That is a primary principle. You have become adept at that, and so have a head start on where I was when I began. You gave a boy diarrhea on the first day of your powers. That is also a principle of Healing, although used in a negative way. You forced his body to do your will. You did no permanent harm, and nobody will hold that incident against you, but it is not something you should repeat without just cause.

“There were two points that I need to discuss with you. You had a meeting with Vincent Wragge.”

“Yes,” I said. “He helped me with my problem with the FBI. He works for the NSA.”

“I saw that,” he said. “However, he left something in your mind.”

I stared. “He was supposed to be a friend.”

“I think he was,” he said. “I have never seen such a thing before. I would like you to drop your shield for me once again. I need to pull you into an illusion.”

Strangely, I had no qualms. I dropped my shield.

The den door opened, and a little girl, no more than six, wearing an elaborate nightgown stepped in. “They got you again Papa,” she said, grinning.

“The tell,” I said. I fully remembered everything that had gone on in my meeting with Vincent Wragge and why he had told me he was in my debt. That had been a niggle for me since that meeting. I also knew that I wouldn’t remember it once I left the illusion.

“This is a very useful device,” Jeevan said, still inside the illusion. “I can remove the part that makes you forget about it once the illusion is over if you wish.”

“No,” I said. “I gave my word I would keep his secret. I won’t increase the risk that I can’t.”

Jeevan broke us both out of the illusion and I raised my shields once more.

“The more concerning thing is the bond,” he said. “Before we start training, that has to go. The bond you have with Jules and Ness is fine. The one you have with Amanda and Mary is a corruption - an abomination. It looks designed to hurt those trapped within it. It will bring you no joy.”

“I wish I could get rid of it,” I said, “but I don’t know how.”

He looked at me. “Yes, you do,” he said. “You created the bond. It would be a matter of a thought only to remove it. You don’t want to, because of the pain you think it will cause you.”

“I don’t think,” I said vehemently, “I know. I blocked the bond on that first day. The pain was indescribable.”

“Exactly,” he said. “You blocked the bond. Its anchors were left in place in the minds of you and the twins. When they were unable to connect, that is what caused the pain. You need to remove the bond, not block it.”

“How?” I asked.

“How did you bring it into being?” he asked.

I grimaced, then blushed. “I have no idea. I was kind of distracted at the time.”

He smiled. “I saw, and as much as you felt uplifted by the love you felt at mine and Meena’s first time, the love I felt at yours was staggering. You need to examine that memory carefully. Watch yourself. Ignore the sex, and the love, and watch exactly how you brought the bond into being. Then you will know exactly what to do to remove it. You must remove it from the three of you simultaneously though. If you try and do it one at a time, the others will suffer the pain of disconnection.”

“Can you help me?” I asked.

He shook his head. “You brought it into being; only you can remove it. Trust yourself. Examine the memory. When you understand how the bond was formed, you will know how to remove it. Remember how your powers work. You are a dreamer, imagine the bond is gone, without consequence, and it will be so. You will still feel loss, but not the crushing pain. Make sure that everyone in the bond is together when you do it, as you will need to remake all the bonds, since Jules and Ness are connected to your original.

“I am guessing this will have to be done when you go up for Ness’s birthday in March, so we won’t be able to start training until after then.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Is the bond that much of a hindrance?”

He nodded. “It is, as I said, a curse. It will get in the way and may cause untoward side effects. You need to get rid it before you start doing any serious healing.

“That three months won’t make any difference. As I said, you can already block pain, and have already affected a body’s functions. You will be a quick study, I think. I have some other things for you.

“First, I can make you sterile, temporarily, until you decide you want to have children. Normally, I would guide you through the process, and then you would know how to undo what was done. Once you are free of the bond, I will show you what I did, and instruct you on how to undo it. It will not affect function, only result. I saw that you have concerns about your matriarch tampering with your girls’ birth control. In a normal world, I would say you were being paranoid, but we are not a part of the normal world.

“Thus, it would be wise to do the same to your girls too. If you are ‘sharing,’ and the powers that be tamper with their birth control, it is feasible that they may be impregnated by someone else. Obviously, I would need to have their consent before I performed any Healing on them.

“Another thing I can do would require Jules’s consent. I can stop the pain she gets every month, not just block it. She has a condition called endometriosis. It happens when tissues that should be inside the womb grow outside of it. When they ‘shed’ during her monthly, they cause a great deal of pain. I can get those cells to die away and never return. Once again, once you are free of the bond, I can show you how to do it, and you will be able to cure Ness. Until then, you will have to be content with blocking her pain. I do have to say, though: I am impressed with your ability to do that at such a distance.”

I looked at him for a second. Trusting him with my mind seemed a small thing compared to trusting him with one of my girls. I decided to leave it to the girls.

“Girls, would you come to the den please?” I sent.

There was a knock on the door and Jules poked her head in. She was followed in by the twins.

I sent them the memory of our conversation, and that we would need their consent. I turned to Jules first.

“Yes!” she said to him instantly. “Please. If you can get rid of that for me, and teach Caleb how to do it for Ness, my family will be in your debt.”

“There will be no debt,” he said. “We are family; we care for each other.”

Jules looked at me a little wide-eyed.

Jeevan looked at Jules and I saw his power flare. I wanted to watch what he was doing, but I didn’t want to distract him while he was working on Jules. I still didn’t understand what he meant by the bond being a curse; I thought it best to do things his way, and stand aside until I’d gotten my own house in order.

“Jules,” he asked, “would you like me to make sure that you are not able to conceive until you wish to do so? I know that Caleb is concerned about someone interfering with the twin’s birth control. Since I accessed Caleb’s mind, I am aware of your special circumstances, but I would make you the same offer as I will make the twins. What do you think?”

“You can do that too?” she asked. “I know we haven’t had sex full yet, but taking the contraceptive pill is a real pain.”

Jeevan nodded. “It would be a good idea to do so,” he said, and then turned to the other girls. “For you as well. Caleb will not impregnate you until he is ready, but if your contraceptives are tampered with, as he fears, your sharing may result in more than you had anticipated.”

Both twins nodded. “If we don’t have to take the pill,” Mary said, “then that’s a bonus too.”

Once more I felt Jeevan’s power flare, and I could sense that he was making some changes to Jules. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but I felt no anxiety. For someone as paranoid as I had become, being so relaxed when someone else was using their powers on my girls was a foreign concept to me, and yet it felt perfectly natural. That, in turn, should have made me suspicious, but it didn’t.

“So,” asked Jules, “where do you want me? Do I have to get undressed or something?” She blushed a little at the thought of doing so in front of Jeevan, but the prospect of getting a permanent cure for her pain overrode her embarrassment.

“No need,” said Jeevan. “It is done.”

Jules looked at me, disbelief in her eyes.

“It will take about ten days for your body to do what I asked it to,” he explained. “After that, it should be all good. I’ll check in and make sure then. By the time you are ready for children, Caleb will have learned all he needs to know to reverse what I have done.”

Tears sprang into her eyes, and she threw her arms around Jeevan. “Thank you,” she said. “Caleb being able to block the pain was wonderful, but knowing I never have to worry about it ever again is so much better. I dreaded the time that he was, for some reason, not able to help me.” Then she looked at me. “It’s not just me you have healed tonight.”

Jules left the room wiping her eyes.

The twins looked at Jeevan and he nodded. “You too. Neither of you is able to conceive until you are ready. Caleb will know how to undo it by then. If anything happens to him, then I or another healer would be able to reverse it easily.”

“Nothing is going to happen to him,” said Amanda vehemently, and I smiled at her. Sensing Jeevan and I still had more to discuss, the twins also left the room.

“Now you,” he said. He looked at me for a moment, and once again I felt his power flare. This time I felt it playing over my body, although I didn’t feel anything physically.

“You will still have some viable sperm in your system for up to a couple of days,” he said. “I suggest you get rid of that.” He grinned at me. “Let’s call it homework.”

I shook my head wryly. “I’ve never had a teacher give me that kind of homework before.”

“Once you reactivate, it will take a couple of days before you are fertile again,” he said. “But other than that, you are now protected. One final thing: extend your shield to cover your entire body. I can’t access your mind, but I could still do you a lot of damage with my ‘Healing.’ You need to shield against anyone using their powers on your body, not just your mind.”

That made perfect sense. If cells and organs could be Compelled, then even with my mind shielded, I was vulnerable to a power user who knew about that.

He stood. “Thank you for the meal; it was delicious. When we start training, you and your girls will have to come and meet Meena. She loves meeting new people, especially those with power. They are exotic to her.”

“Will we keep in touch?” I asked. “Or should I just call you when I have managed to get rid of the bond?”

“Bhaiya, we are family now,” he said with a smile. “We will keep in touch. I am at the end of a telephone if you need me.”

I stood and he pulled me into a hug. “Thank you for trusting me,” he said. “I know how hard that was for you. I promise you; I will not betray that trust.”

I believed him.

As he walked through the living room to get to the door, all three of my girls stood, and, one by one, embraced him and kissed his cheek. He returned the embraces and waved off the thanks. Then he left.