Final Diagnosis

 

By James White

Hewlitt was born on the planet Etla of human parents. But two odd things happened to him when he was a youngster. First, he climbed up a very tall tree and dined on very poisonous fruit of that tree and then fell to what should have been his death. But he survived virtually unharmed, neither by the fall nor by the poisonous fruit he ate. Secondly, he (and his pet cat) survived a vehicle crash that killed both his parents and should have killed Hewlitt and his cat. They survived unharmed. 

As Hewlitt grew up, his health was quite good. Except when it wasn't. The strangest, most unlikely things were apt to result in his near death. The medical folks could not understand what his problem was. Which is how he ended up at Sector General, the multi-species, deep-space, hospital. 

Undergoing extensive medical tests and interviews, Hewlitt's condition was shown to be extremely serious when a routine blood draw put him into cardiac arrest. After nearly killing their new patient, the staff becomes much more careful in their treatment of him. 

The ward Hewlitt was in contained other patients, none of whom were human. One of the worse cases was Morredeth who was severely injured in an accident. Although Morredeth survived the accident, they were disabled in a way that incurable. But when Hewlitt touched them, by accident, Morredeth experienced complete healing, in condition as good as before their injury. At first, the medical experts had no explanation for this occurrence. Until they found out that Hewlitt had touched Morredeth.

Eventually the medical team decided that whatever made Hewlitt different had its origins in his childhood on Etla. And so they loaded him up and set off for Etla. When they got there, it was clear they were on the right track. Because Hewlitt's pet cat from his childhood was still alive and still healthy, even though it was about thirty years old. 

Not a lot happens in this novel. Yes, there is Hewlitt's two childhood accidents. But beyond that we don't get much about his life as an adult, other than the fact that he is impotent and very lonely and has weird health crises. Yes, he nearly dies in the hospital, but the doctors save him. And then there is the healing of Morredeth. But other than that, it's mostly just a lot of talk, talk, talk. Talk with various nonhumans but also with various medical persons who are mostly humans. It was a bit boring. 

Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews.