Chapter 4 part 4

As far as state hospitals went, Sweetwater Creek Center was actually a very fine one. Most of the people who worked there were doing so, not because of the money, since state employees earned just barely above minimum wage, but because they seemed to have a calling to help those who needed their help. Just as teachers who could all earn much more money working in the private sector but chose instead to stay and help improve and better their students lives, the employees at Sweetwater Creek stayed to help those who were less fortunate than they - at least most did.
There were two young men who had figured out how to greatly supplement their income while working at the center. Larry Holmes and Jack Burton were night orderlies at the hospital. Both were 24-years-old. They both worked the late shift, which was twelve midnight to eight in the morning. Their supervisor worked from six in the evening until two in the morning, and then went home. They were usually there alone for the next six hours. If something went wrong with a patient, they were to call 911, their supervisor, and the doctor who was in charge of the patient.
In the four years that they had worked there, they had never had to call. Everyone was asleep most of the time. The fact that a great majority of the patients were heavily medicated for one reason or another was probably why they never had a problem at night. Everyone was in a drug-induced deep sleep.
It was quite by accident they stumbled into a scheme to make an extra week's salary every single night they worked there. On their rounds one hot summer night, a 12-year-old girl had kicked off her covers. She had pulled off her gown to try to get cool. They stopped and stared at her. Normally this happens many times and they just covered the patient back up. At 12, her breasts had just started to blossom. They looked at her and then they both giggled like little schoolgirls. Jack said, 'Let's see if she has started to get any hair yet.'� So they pulled off her panties. Being 12, she had just started to develop a few pubic hairs. They looked at her private parts, and then Jack said, 'Spread her legs; I'm going to go get the camera.'�
The center had several digital cameras they kept in the office to photograph the patients. They kept a photo journal of each patient's physical appearance once a month. Jack came back with the camera, and they took several pictures of the young child in several different positions that they posed her in. Then they put her panties and gown back on her and covered her up. After completing their rounds, they went into the main office, and downloaded the photos onto a computer. They cleared the camera's memory, so that no one would ever find out what they were doing. Afterwards they downloaded the photographs to a disk and wiped the computer clean. Now for sure no one would know.
The next day, Jack went over to Larry's house with the disk. They opened it up and looked at all the disgusting photos they had taken of that poor little girl. They laughed and thought it was funny. Larry sent one of the photographs to a friend of his in New York City. He said, 'I came across several of these; and I thought that I would send you one.'�
Within an hour, Larry had an email from his friend. It seems he knew someone who would pay $20 a photograph for any more naked pictures of this young girl. They sent him 10 more photographs, and the next day $200 was wired to Larry's bank account. For the next 18 months, the two made their nightly rounds with camera in hand, stopping and photographing all the youngest patients. It did not seem to matter if their photographs were of young girls or young boys. They had a buyer every night.
Of course, the buyers started asking for more and more photos in certain positions. They eagerly obliged and gave them what the customers wanted. Then their customers started asking for videos of the young children. They were willing to pay more; sometimes a hundred dollars for a two-minute video. So, Larry and Jack got into the video business. Things were really going well for them.
Their business changed dramatically one night when a long time customer said that he would pay $500 to see the little 12-year-old girl compromised. At first that even disgusted both Jack and Larry, but $500 is $500. Besides, no one would ever know. That night, Larry held the camera so that Jack's face never showed, and they filmed the rape of a 12-year-old little girl for $500. Once they had gone that far, they just never stopped but would give the customers anything that they wanted to pay to see. Therefore, when a new patient arrived at Sweetwater Creek Center, a young beautiful girl of 10, Larry and Jack knew that her very first night they were going to make a lot of extra money. They saw her being wheeled in and both looked at each other. She was different somehow, so beautiful for her age. But even better for them, she was in a coma or trance and therefore would never give them any trouble in getting what they wanted. They did not start with her that night, but instead went first to their old stand-bys who always made them good money. They took several photographs and a couple of videos of Jack in various compromising positions with a young girl. Entering Mary's room, they walked over quietly to her bed. They raised her gown and took off her panties. They looked at her. It was easy to tell that this girl was completely innocent. Both sneered at each other and nodded their heads in agreement that; this one is going to make us a lot of money. Jack took his clothes off and started to climb onto Mary's bed. It was just at that time that Mary opened her eyes, looked deeply into Jack's eyes and said the same words that she had spoken to Mrs. Harris one day earlier; 'God told me that tonight people would come for me. Some would want to love me, some would want to hurt me, some would be afraid of me. Which are you?'�
The only explanation that the police had was Jack, at 24 years of age, had dropped dead of a heart attack while apparently preparing to rape a young patient. They had found him lying naked on the floor on one side of Mary's bed; there was a camera and a video camera on the floor on the other side of her bed. The video camera caught the whole thing on tape, both Jack starting to climb up on the bed and Mary opening her eyes and speaking. The tape also showed what else had been done that night and the police were now looking for Larry. But they did not have to look far; it seems that Larry had run out of the building, got into his car and was driving very fast, apparently going home. He pulled out to pass a slower car on the two-lane country road and drove right into the front of an 18-wheeler going the other direction. There was nothing left of the car, much less of Larry.
The truck driver, 25-year-old Michael O'Brien, said that this was his first day on the job. His truck was fully loaded with diesel fuel; therefore, he was not able to slow down at all before he hit Larry's car. Michael sat on the ground next to one of the wheels of his truck with his head hanging down. He was visibly shaken by this experience to the point of crying.
The two Alabama Highway Patrol officers who had just finished questioning Michael about the accident began walking back to their police car. Both Officer John Clanton and Officer Bill Bookout were veterans on the force, each having over 30 years of service with the State of Alabama.
'Did you see that car?'� asked Officer Clanton.
'I have never in all my years on the force, seen anything like this wreck before,'� stated Officer Bookout. 'I don't think that God, himself, could have destroyed that car anymore than it was.'�
'And the 18 wheeler had barely a scratch on the front bumper. It just flat ran over the top of the car Larry was driving,'� replied Officer Clanton.
Officer Bookout asked, 'Did you see that tattoo on the truck drivers arm?'�
'Yeah,'� replied Clanton. 'I think he needs to get a lot tougher; if he is going to walk around with a tattoo of a skull and cross bones on his arm. Especially, if it says 'Bad-to-the-Bone' under it. I mean, look at him, that's the biggest man I've ever seen, and he's over there crying like a baby.'�
Larry's home computer was confiscated, and several arrests were made from the addresses of the buyers of his child porn. Some were prominent businessmen, and one was even a judge in a nearby state.
The hospital was allowed to keep the portion of videotape that showed Mary opening her eyes and speaking. Medical doctors, psychologists, neurologists and other specialists in the medical field viewed the tape and studied Mary, but to no avail. None could get Mary to respond. However, after the doctors allowed the employees to view the tape, Mary was treated with a great deal of respect. After all, who could say if it was just a coincidence that a 24-year-old man had a fatal heart attack just as he was about to harm Mary, or was it the hand of God who protected her? None of them were taking any chances, and all treated her as royalty.
Four times in the next four years, Mary woke from her trance-like state. She would walk across the room, looking at everyone. Only the corners of her lips would be curled up in a smile that reminded everyone of the smile on the face of the Mona Lisa. Each time she woke up, a child would be in great pain. The first time, an 8-year-old boy was having an epileptic fit. He was twisting and turning on the floor. The staff was not able to hold him down. Mary walked up to him, reached out, and placed her hand on his back. Immediately he stopped his convulsions; he fell into a calm and deep peaceful sleep. When he woke the next day, it was as if nothing had ever happened to him.
Mary never spoke during any of the times she was out of her trance. She would just get out of the chair where she had been seated in the big room, walk across the room, lay her hand on someone, heal them of whatever was tormenting their soul, and return to her chair. Sitting back down, she would look around the room, smile and then drift away into her trance. One time, as Mary was slipping back into her trance-like state, one of the patients said, 'Go with God, Mary.'� They all repeated it in one voice: 'Go with God.'� From that time on, when anyone asked how Mary was, even the staff members would reply, 'She is with God right now.'�

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