Chapter 10, enjoy!

disclaimer in chapter 1

WARNING: A certain jerk shows up B

A Healing Hand

Capable Hands

Stephanie watched, with unwavering attention, as Heidi slung the battered black suitcase, the one Diesel gave her, on top of the coffee table in her hospital room. Heidi took out an ancient looking key and unlocked the suitcase. She took out a heavy ancient looking book, an ink well and a golden feathered quill. Along with all these items, Heidi took out a pair of small golden glasses, which she put on and opened the faded leather covered book.

Jeanne thanked Rosa for giving her Stephanie's files and then walked over to where Heidi sat, writing in the huge book. Heidi looked up at Jeanne and asked, "Patient's name?" dipping the quill in the inkwell.

"Stephanie Plum," Jeanne said, sitting beside Heidi, earning a sound.

"Age?"

"32."

"Weight?"

"112 pounds."

"Height?"

"5'9 and three quarters."

"The Aliments?"

"Primary Bone Cancer, secondary bone cancer, both at Stage 4, common cold, and Staph infection from radiation catheter."

"And the medications she is on?"

"Morphine drip, estimated 500 grams every ten minutes, Iodine 131, radiation treatment, 2000 grams, cisplatin and doxorubicin, chemotherapy, 2000 grams each."

Heidi looked up at Stephanie, and then said, "Goodness, and you are still able to sit up? They had you on potent drugs, well, I shall make sure you will not need those drugs any longer."

Stephanie let out a sound and asked, "How did Ranger pay you, since you don't accept money."

Heidi looked up from writing in her tome, and then said, "He cried, that is all I wanted from him, his tears. He had placed a mask on, trying to protect you and himself, it caused him more harm than good, keeping emotions bottled up like that does not help your health."

Stephanie could not believe it, this small, frail and sickly looking woman made a bad ass mercenary cry, like a baby. Stephanie shook her head and said, "He cried, I can't believe it."

"Oh believe it, he cried for you Stephanie my dear, those tears were from a man in so much pain, because he cannot do anything for the one he loves, nor could he take away the pain you are in." Heidi said softly, pulling her glasses off to look at Stephanie, "That is true love Stephanie, savior it."

Heidi got up and walked over to Stephanie, placing a cold hand on Stephanie's hand. Stephanie let out a sound, feeling the cold seep through her skin, soothing her aching bones. Heidi smiled and said, "True love is such a rare gift, I have lived long enough to know the difference between what people perceive as true love, and what true love really is."

Heidi turned and walked away from Stephanie. She turned to Jeanne and said, "Jeanne, be a dear and go check on Thaddeus, Lester and Carlos down at the cafeteria, I would like some private time with Stephanie."

Jeanne nodded her head and then turned to leave the hospital room. Heidi closed the door and locked it. she turned to Stephanie and said, with a smile, "I thought we would have some private time, just between us women."

Heidi pulled out the pipe that Diesel bought smiling softly. She took out a small box with a hinged box and opened it, to reveal dried up red leaves. Heidi placed a small amount of leaves in the end of the pipe. She looked around quickly, before she went over to the window in Stephanie's room and opened the window. She sat on the ledge of the window and lit the pipe, sighing in bliss, blowing purple smoke out her nose. Heidi took a good look at Stephanie, her eyes roaming up and down her sickly body. Her amber eyes seemed to pierce into Stephanie's body, past it, and right into her soul. Heidi inhaled from the pipe again, blowing out the exotic smelling smoke, the smoke clouding her vision.

"Three weeks," Heidi said softly, her eyes half lidded, "It will take three weeks for me to heal you of your aliments, three long and trying weeks, like I told you, Stephanie, this will be an ordeal that will try and test what mental and physical strength we both posse."

Stephanie nodded her head looking at Heidi who tapped the ashes from her pipe and cleaned it, slowly, "Why is it going to take you so long? You got rid of my cough so quickly, with just a simple touch."

"That is because it was just a simple cough," Heidi said, slipping the pipe into her flannel shirt, "The cancers, however, are not so simple, they require much more time and energy. The fact that the cancer has spread and is quite advanced is another hindrance in your healing process."

"Oh," was all Stephanie could say, it did make sense, kind of, but what was Heidi going to do, If it required three weeks? "What are you going to do, if I can ask you Heidi?"

"There is only so much I can do, with your case," Heidi said waving her hand around, as if to dispel the rest of the smoke, "What I can do with my hands alone, will not aide you, I will be adding several methods of healing, from incenses, meditation and several other methods of new age healing."

Heidi unlocked the door to Stephanie's hospital and opened it. when she did, she blinked, seeing a tall man standing in the doorway looking a bit hesitate. He wasn't anyone Heidi had seen before, she had no idea who this man was, and with that being the case, she sure as hell didn't want him around Stephanie. Heidi made to close the door again, but the man placed his foot in between the door and asked, in a horsed voice, "Is Cupcake in there?" peering over Heidi's frail shoulder.

"There is no one in this room named, Cupcake," Heidi said, trying to force the man out the doorway, "Now, pardon me, I have to go and check on my patient."

"Don't bullshit around with me," The man grounded out, pushing against the door, "I fucking know she's in here! The nurses at the station told me so now you're going to let me in, so I can have a talk with my cupcake!"

Heidi let out a grunt as she went flying into partly opened door of the bathroom, thanks to the fucking lug of a man in the doorway, her shoulder making a loud cracking sound on the side of the door. With her left shoulder and arm useless, for the time being, the man walked into the hospital room, with a triumph smile on his face, "Cupcake, I heard from your mom that you have cancer."

Stephanie wasn't looking at Joe Morelli, she was looking at Heidi who was gritting her teeth, her broken shoulder shifting back into place, as though it was being healed. Joe was clucking his tongue, looking at Stephanie who was glaring weakly at him, "Well, well, well, this is what happens when you mess around with street thugs and criminals. They give you cancer, and leave you dying, alone in the hospital."

"Ranger and my friends didn't give me cancer, if you weren't so fucking single and narrowed minded, you would know that," Stephanie said weakly, watching Heidi from the corner of her eye, watching the frail looking woman go over to her suitcase on the coffee table "Get out Joe, and never show your face around me!"

"Oh, and how are you going to stop me, Cupcake, you're sick as a dog, and your little watchdog, if you could call her that, is so weak looking , what a fucking joke."

"I say you are the fucking joke," Heidi said, closing her heavy suitcase and hefting it up in one hand, "Rule one of anything, underestimation of any enemy can be a deadly mistake."

Joe turned around to Heidi, just in time to see the suit case swing up and hit in the face, knocking him out cold on the hospital floor. Heidi made a sound in the back of her voice and then said, loudly, "Boyfriend….boyfriend!"

Diesel appeared, a second later, in a cloud of smoke standing on top of Joe's prone body. He turned to Heidi and said with a smile, "What can I do, Chicky-boo?"

"For one, you can get off that man, and two, get him out of here, I wish not to see his ugly mug any longer." Heidi said her suitcase falling to the ground with a heavy 'thud,' "He came in here, harassing my patient, what kind of hospital is this? No clearance or anything, I do not want Stephanie in this place any longer, hurry up and get rid of that trash."

Stephanie let out a snort, watching Diesel grab Joe by the scruff of his shirt and drag him out the hospital room. Minutes later Ranger, Jeanne and Lester were walking in the hospital room, looking worried.

"Diesel caused a fucking scene in the cafeteria, disappearing like that, he only does that when you call for him," Jeanne said to Heidi, who was rotating her shoulder, "Everything alright?"

"He was getting rid of a loud and aggressive man by the name of Joe Morelli," Heidi said looking at the three, her face dark with anger, "Carlos, you and Jeanne pack up all of Stephanie's things I want her out of this place, they let strange and violent men in without any clearance or warning to the patients, I for one do not want my patient near any establishment that is so reckless."

Ranger 's face darkened as well, at the mention of Joe Morelli, he went over to Stephanie and asked, "Did he hurt you in any way, Babe?" gently grabbing her frail hands, and nuzzling them to is face, "All you have to do is say the word, and he's gone, for good."

Stephanie shook her head and said, "No I'm fine, no need to spill blood on my account, you don't need to, Ranger."

"I'd do anything for you, Stephanie," Ranger murmured softly, kissing Stephanie on her lips, "I love you too much."

Jeanne smiled softly, grabbing Lester's arm and asking, "Why don't you say gushy stuff like that to me?"

"Because, when I do, you call me a pussy, so I tend to say not so gushy stuff to you, like, you're sexy, and talented, and I know you're capable of killing off any enemy on your own."

"You know what to say to a woman" Jeanne cooed, walking over to the dressers in Stephanie's hospital room, "Let's pack Plum up."

"Jeanne," Stephanie said softly, making the woman look up, "Can you come over here, please?"

Jeanne walked over to Stephanie, who let go of Ranger's hands and grabbed Jeanne's hand, making her blush and turn her head away from her, "Jeanne, I can't thank you enough for asking Heidi to do this for me, I know you've never liked me, but it tells me a lot about you, when you could have rubbed it all in my face, or have not helped me at all."

Jeanne felt her face darken some more and then she said, "Please, Plum, without you, there'd be no one to be an enemy with, Heidi's my boss and Joyce Barnhart is a twat….I was doing myself a favor."

"Sure you were," Heidi said with a smile, as Diesel walked back into the hospital room, dusting his hands off, "Thaddeus, where do you think we should go? I want somewhere peaceful, like near a lake or a river, or a field of flowers."

"Oh, we should go to the main island of Japan, to Kyoto, to that mansion you own, the one near the river and water fall. That would be a good place for Stephanie to go and get healed," Diesel said smiling suddenly," It's calm and peaceful, and Kyoto Is quite pretty around this time of year."

"Indeed," Heidi said picking up her suitcase to pack up her book, "The River has natural healing properties, we shall go to Kyoto to heal you, Stephanie, Kyoto, an ancient Japanese city, an enigma wrapped around mystical stories and myths, what an odd choice, Thaddeus…."

Ranger looked over to Heidi and said, "As long as Stephanie is healed, I don't care if we go to Antarctica."

"Watch what you say, Carlos, Antarctica is chilly this time of year as well." Heidi said with a wink, "Who knows, we might have to go there to heal Stephanie, just joking…." Heidi giggled at the look Stephanie gave her.

Heidi took her pipe out again, and walked over to the open window, she ignored the looks given to her, and stuffed her pipe with the dried red leaves. She lit the tip and inhaled deeply, blowing smoke out of her nose, "We shall leave tonight, if you would, Jeanne, once we are there, open all the doors, and air out the tatami mats and the futons, goodness knows it has been a while since we have been to Kyoto. Thaddeus, we should have a traditional Kyoto dinner, I hope you are in the mood to make a five course meal, packed with protein and leafy greens, Stephanie needs all the vitamins, protein and iron she can get ."

Stephanie watched as Heidi blew purple smoke from between her lips, the tip of her pipe hanging from her lips. Heidi turned to Stephanie and smiled, "You will be fine, Stephanie, you are in capable hands now, I hope you will enjoy Kyoto as much as I love it."

Stephanie got the feeling that she would indeed love the city and the three weeks she would spend with Heidi and the rest of the group. With all the support surrounding her, the cancers lingered less on her mind.

Heidi would get rid of them, Stephanie was certain of that. she was in capable hands, after all.

TBC…

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