Silence was her gift. He put it into his case, in between the golden tear and the band-aids. On house calls, he would pretend to be giving medicine when, in fact, he was only spreading the silence like a fresh white sheet over a soiled mattress. He soon became the most successful healer in the county. Eventually, he traded in the golden tear for a fluffy blanket and a pillow. “To make them more comfortable,” he explained.