Law and Order SVU, Magic Pregnant Lady

In Episode 19, Season 1 (The one with the serial subway rapist) Elliot has a cold. At the end of the episode ,when they find the eighth victim, they make a point to show her ignoring Elliot and grabbing his hand instead of his arm. He later makes a big deal about how he had the cold but once she touched him, he was cured. They also seem to make a point of showing that she is really friendly, maybe too much? (As in too trusting, a symptom of some forms of mental retardation.)

So what is the deal with this? Why did they bother with the magic healing portion of this episode? It didn't add much, in my point of view.