Barbara Walters returns to 'The View'

Barbara Walters, looking, well, pretty darned good, retuned to "The View" Monday morning, revealing a scar on her forehead and relating a story about an unnamed star who gave her the chicken pox that kept her off the air for the past month and change.

And yes, this does sound like a story.

She shared her tale with viewers:

"I'll tell you more than you want to know:

"It all began in January ..."  

She was in Miami at a close friend's home, where a famous actor (whom she declined to name) was also in residence. As (presumably) the clock struck 12, "I gave him a New Year's hug."

Little did she know (and how could she?), he was about to come down with a bad case of shingles. Shingles, as you probably know, are a side effect of chicken pox -- they are literally the virus breaking through the skin many, many years after a person first has chicken pox as a child. They are not itchy but extremely painful for most people.

SEE PHOTOSBarbara Walters through the years

She said she later went to the British ambassador's home for the inauguration, fell into a dead faint, hit the marble floor and was out cold, with blood pouring from her scalp. She was taken to Georgetown University Hospital, where doctors determined she had a concussion.

And then a plastic surgeon went to work on her head.

Yes, she said, the fainting spell was related to the chicken pox, which she never had as a child.

All's well that ends well: "After a lot of rest, I am fine and I am healthy."