The Time Capsule

Chapter 12

Devin stood in the hall, waiting for the woman whose lab coat read Dr. R. Keller, to come out of the patient’s room. His hands were sweating. He had known this would all come out eventually, and it seemed that now was the time. He thought about how he needed to be bold and confident, but he wasn’t sure he could pull it off.

After almost a full minute, she exited the room, carrying her sling and wrist immobilizer. The confidence she had when she’d first walked into the room was gone. She was visibly confused and seemed apprehensive.

“What’s your name?” Doctor Keller asked.

“Devin Baker.”

“Devin, what did you do in there?”

Devin smiled. “You can feel and see it for yourself. I healed you.”

“How many patients have you touched?”

“Four. Plus you.”

“How’d you do this?”

“I really don’t know. All I do is touch people, and they’re healed. Now that’s all I have to say. I want to discuss this with whoever is in charge.”

Robyn nodded, thinking about the request. She wasn’t taking a kid to hospital leadership with the wild claim he could heal with a touch, even if her wrist seemed fine now. Also, considering what she’d witnessed, she couldn’t have security escort him out of the facility.

“Before I take you anywhere, I need to see this for myself. I’m not going to come off as a nut with some outrageous story about something I haven’t even seen.”

Devin nodded. “I understand. It’s all quite strange. Even I’m still getting comfortable with this whole thing. Follow me.”

As they walked up the hall, Robyn felt irritated that this guy had somehow taken control of the conversation.

Devin led her into an empty patient room.

“There’s no one in this room,” she said.

“I know. Let me see your hand.”

“Why?”

“If you want proof, show me your hand,” Devin insisted.

She did as he’d asked. Devin took her wrist with his right hand and rotated it so the palm faced upward. He took his left index finger and touched her palm. At the same time, he tightened his right-hand grip just enough so she couldn’t move her arm. An incision about an inch-and-a-half long opened up on her palm, and she tried to pull away.

“Just watch,” Devin commanded.

She stopped resisting and stared with wide eyes as the opening in the flesh began to disappear. Devin released his grip. Robyn jerked her hand back with a look of shock and examined the spot where moments ago the skin had been split open.

“Convinced?”

She nodded. “How’d you do that?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I wish I knew.”

After a short pause, Robyn walked out of the room. “Follow me.”

They headed back toward the elevators and heard some commotion back near the nurse’s station. They couldn’t understand everything they were hearing, but it was about a specific patient and they did catch the words miraculously healed. Upon hearing this, Devin smiled. Robyn didn’t.

miraculously healedAs the elevator moved, Devin thought about this unplanned situation. He only intended to try to heal a couple of people and leave, but now he had to improvise. An opportunity had developed, and he decided to try to make something of it. He’d known this would have to happen at some point, but his plan had been for things to move a bit slower.

“Devin, why are you here? Are you just trying to heal a few people, or is there more to this?”

“This whole healing thing is new to me. I’m trying to understand it.”

As the doors opened, Dr. Keller looked at Devin. “I’m not screwing up my status in this hospital. You keep quiet and let me talk first.”`

“No problem. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

She looked at the man who had healed her wrist and thought it was already too late for that. There would be many conversations about what he’d done here today, and she had stumbled into the middle of it. Then she considered her wrist and how much inconvenience Devin had saved her from, and felt her frustration with the situation decrease.

They entered the large office area of Hospital Director Dr. Stephen Collins. His administrative assistant wasn’t at her desk, so Robyn walked into the director’s office.

She looked at Devin, and said, “Wait here.” Then shut the door in his face.

Devin was initially shocked but then began to understand. She was stuck in an awkward position and needed to protect herself. Introducing him to the man who probably was her boss’s, boss’s boss could be a significant risk for her professionally if it turned out Devin wasn’t as special as she thought. He’d make sure not to say anything that would cause her embarrassment.

After just a couple of minutes, the door opened and Robyn waved him in. “Devin, this is Doctor Collins. You wanted to talk to someone in charge, and this is him.”

Devin walked up to the director and held out his right hand. “Glad to meet you, sir. I’m Devin Baker.”

Dr. Collins took the offered hand and immediately felt a sensation he couldn’t identify. Feeling something also, Devin widened his eyes, wondering what he’d just healed. Neither of the men was aware the peptic ulcer that caused frequent discomfort in the doctor’s stomach would never again be a problem.

“Devin, Doctor Keller here is saying some outrageous things about you. She had me call down to 3B and they’re also saying some things that don’t make much sense.”

“I understand, sir. Please know Doctor Keller just happened to fall into this. Her first concern was that no patients were harmed, and then she had a tough decision as to what to do with me.”

“Thank you, Devin,” said the director. “She says you can convince me as to the legitimacy of your claims.”

Devin rotated his right forearm so the anterior surface faced upward. He then took his left index finger and traced a line halfway from his elbow to his wrist. As he did, the skin and muscle split open.

“What are—?”

“Just watch,” Robyn Keller said, responding before Devin.

As the wound started closing, Dr. Collins moved forward, studying the process. Devin could see the doctor’s mouth drop open in amazement as he observed.

Wide-eyed, he stared at Devin. “That’s incredible! How’d you do that?”

Devin smiled at the simple question, “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“And you can do this to other people, too? Not just yourself?”

“Yes, I demonstrated to Doctor Keller.”

Director Collins looked at the surgical resident, and she nodded. “He did the same thing, but on my hand.”

“Is this something you’ve always been able to do?”

“Doctor Collins, how about we sit down and I tell you the whole story?”

The director dismissed Robyn to return to her duties, asking that she not discuss what had happened. Then Devin and Dr. Collins sat, and for fifteen minutes Devin gave an in-depth explanation of what he’d been experiencing. As they spoke, the director pulled up the hospital records from Devin’s admission five years before and read about the incident that occurred at the beginning of his fantastic story.

“Devin, that’s fascinating. I guess my first question is, why are you here? What is it you were trying to get out of your visit today?”

“The honest answer is, I’m experimenting. I believe this is a gift from God, but I still don’t fully understand what it is I can do. Can I fix brain or spinal injuries? What about disfigurements from years ago? What happens if I touch someone who had a leg amputated? I doubt it will grow back, but what will happen? I recently saw a dog who was hit by a car and had a leg injury. I stopped and touched him, but nothing happened. I need to understand these abilities, and I’m hoping you’ll help. I need to know what I can do so I can make a long-term plan as to what to do with this ability.”

Devin took a deep breath. He felt like he was talking too fast, and he hoped this hospital director would be willing to help.