Every Breaking Wave

03

Kathmandu, Nepal

Doctor Strange said, "Excuse me. Kamar-Taj? Do you know where Kamar-Taj is?

A sign said, "Himalayan Healing! Find Peace! Find Yourself!"

Doctor Strange said, "Kamar-Taj? Kamar-Taj... Okay." He was surrounded by a groupd of men. "Guys, I... I don't have any money.

"Your watch," a man told him.

"No, please. It's all I have left."

"Your watch."

"All right." He left, not wanting to give up the watch.

Mordo walked up and asked, "You're looking for Kamar-Taj?"

Doctor Strange frowned, looking at the building. "Really? Are you sure you got the right place?" He noticed another building, much fancier. "That one looks a little more... Kamar-Taj-y."

"I once stood in your place. And I, too, was... disrespectful. So might I offer you some advice Forget everything you think you know."

"Uh... all right."

"The sanctuary of our teacher, the Ancient One."

"The Ancient One? What's his real name?" The Ancient One walked in, and he saw the Ancient One was a she. "Right. Forget everything I think I know. I'm sorry. Thank you for... huh! Okay, that's, uh... a thing...Thank you. Hello. Uh, thank you. And thank you. Uh, thank you, Ancient One... for... seeing me..."

"You're very welcome," the Ancient One replied. "Thank you, Master Mordo. Thank you, Master Hamir. Mr. Strange!"

"Doctor, actually."

"Well, no. Not anymore, surely. Isn't that why you're here? You've undergone many procedures. Seven, right?" She gave Doctor Strange a mug of tea.

"Yeah..." He drank the tea. "Good tea."

"Yes."

"Did you heal a man named Pangborn? A paralyzed man?

"In a way."

"You helped him to walk again."

"Yes."

"How do you correct a complete C7-C8 spinal cord injury?"

"Oh, I didn't correct it. He couldn't walk; I convinced him that he could."

"You're not suggesting it was psychosomatic?"

"When you reattach a severed nerve, is it you who heals it back together or the body?"

"It's the cells."

"And the cells are only programmed to put themselves together in very specific ways."

"That's right."

"What if I told you that your own body could be convinced to put itself back together in all sorts of ways?"

"You're talking about cellular regeneration. That's... bleeding-edge medical tech. Is that why you're working here, without a governing medical board? I mean... just how experimental is your treatment?"

"Quite."

"So, you figured out a way to reprogram nerve cells to self-heal?"

"No, Mr. Strange. I know how to reorient the spirit to better heal the body."

"Spirit... to heal the body. Huh. A... Al... Al... all right. How do we do that? Where do we start?"

She noticed Doctor Strange looking at a map. "Don't like that map?"