Ed was placed in the middle of the floor. All Russak’s usual clutter had been moved to the side of the hut, so the whole of the floor was cleared. They had taken him off the bed, thrown it outside, while he lay on the dried earth floor.
Russak beckoned for me to go forward, and before I knew what was happening, he bound my right hand to Ed’s left hand with palm string. I had to sit on the floor, while Ed, bless him, was blissfully out of it. His horribly swollen knee was still covered with the orange inflatable splint, and he was still doped up to keep the pain at bay.
There was a small fire in the corner, onto which Russak kept throwing funny smelling herbs. I started feeling very strange, and found myself giggling. I realised that it was a mild dope of some form.
Russak was being helped by his daughter Kali, and she was mixing some potion in a small clay pot. Russak took it from her and tasted it by dipping his finger into it. I noted he didn’t take much. Then, he poured some into Ed’s open lips. He swallowed it, making a face in his slumber. Roger moved forward to try to intercede, but I put my hand out and pulled him back.
Russak passed me the pot, so I sniffed the concoction. I sipped a little. It tasted pretty foul, so I went to put the pot down. Russak grinned, indicating for me to take more, so reluctantly I did.
Russak gave a little more to Ed, who was showing signs of coming round. He swallowed again and opened his eyes. I had to smile at the expression of distaste on his face. He lifted his hand and found it tied to my hand. He looked at me and grinned.
“Hey, babe, is this it?” he asked.
“Is this what?” I asked, thinking he was confused because of the drugs and the atmosphere.
“Is this where our questions get answered?” he said, closing his eyes again. He had a big smile on his face.
Russak started chanting, and I found everything very hypnotic, so I had to shake my head to try to prevent myself falling asleep.
Then, I focussed on the smoke, as figures seemed to be formed from within it. I recognised faces and parts of bodies, it was really weird.
Time seemed to sort of stop. I have often tried to describe what happened next, and for the life of me, I just can’t! I must have gone into some form of hypnotic state, which enabled me to have an out of body experience. Because I remember looking down and seeing Ed and me tied together by the hand. I saw Russak, Kali, and a very worried looking Roger in the corner. I was just sitting there, with my head slumped forward, while Ed looked peacefully asleep.
I found that my hand was tied, while Ed was standing beside me, or rather his other self was. His shape shifted and he turned into a stunningly beautiful woman. She grinned at me, and I noticed both knees seemed fine. The smoke was swirling round, and we just got caught up in the smoke and everything started to spin.
Russak leaned over Ed’s bad leg and he stripped off the orange splint. Roger was asleep now, and unaware of anything. The old man held his hands over the bad knee and was chanting away. I tried to watch, but it was very hard.
I heard a sound of scrunching metal and bone, so I looked at Ed, but he was smiling. I looked down, and saw Russak place a tangled piece of metal, covered in blood, into a small pot. Kali wiped the blood off Ed’s knee, and I saw the swelling had gone, in fact the knee looked fine. There was not a mark on it. I had seen his knee before and there had been a livid scar where the surgeons had gone it to undertake the replacement surgery. Even that scar was gone!
That confused the hell out of me. I knew the mangled wreckage was Ed’s artificial knee, and yet there was no a mark on his skin.
I did not stay confused for long, as Ed and I seemed to be in a dance. I focussed on his face as we spun round and round. I was getting dizzy, and it was so weird. If I kept looking at him, I was fine, but if I looked away, then I felt dreadful. So I looked at him, and we got faster and faster.
I then saw that I was looking at me, and smiled, realising that this must be what Ed could see. My hair was a real mess, and my eyes were streaming, and the smoke had made them all red and puffy. I was very strange seeing myself from someone else’s perspective.
The spinning got so fast that I lost contact altogether, and everything went blissfully black!
* * *
Roger
It was the sound of something falling into a clay pot that brought me out of the trance.
The smoke and the smell of the herbs had caused me to drop off, so that, together with the chanting of old Russak, was enough to send me off.
The first thing I noticed was that Russak had taken the splint off Ed’s leg, so I was about to protest, when I saw that the knee looked remarkably better; almost pristine, in fact. The swelling had gone, as had the bruising and the damaged artificial knee joint. It was then that I saw the artificial joint, lying in the pot next to Ed.
I was amazed, for there was no scar, and no sign that it had come from Ed. I picked it up, noticing that it was a complete wreck. Ed had somehow managed to turn the knee inside out to get this to look like quite so mangled!
Ed was asleep and breathing normally, while Gillian was seated next to him, still tied to him by the hand. She was either asleep or in a trance.
Russak looked at me and grinned. I had to smile, as it seems that he had managed to work a medical miracle, and I had missed it.
As I watched, Gillian became aware of her surroundings. She lifted her left hand, sweeping her hair back in a familiar gesture, and then stared at her hand. She then stared at her right hand, which was still tied to Ed, so it was then she saw him lying beside her.
Her left hand fled to her breast, and she shook her head, but then gently sank to the ground in a dead faint.
Ed groaned and opened his eyes.
“Shit!” he said. Some people don’t change.
I smiled and went over to him.
“How do you feel, Ed, how is your knee?” I asked.
He seemed to have difficulty focussing on me, but then he repeated, “Knee?”
“Yes, Ed. Russak has done something to your knee. How do you feel?” I said.
Ed struggled and sat up, resting on his elbows, looking about him. He noticed he was still tied to Gillian, so he frowned.
“What happened?” he asked.
I untied their hands and made Gillian more comfortable.
“I don’t really know. Russak went through some form of ritual, and it seems he has repaired your damaged knee,” I said.
Ed stared at his knee, touching it with his hand. He then flexed it, frowning.
“It was busted,” he said, he seemed still very confused.
“It certainly was,” I agreed.
He let me examine the knee, which appeared to be perfectly normal. It had a normal range of movement, and I could find nothing wrong with it at all.
He stared at Gillian, but then started to smile, which spread into a huge grin, and then he started laughing.
He sat up and lifted Gillian onto his lap, bringing her round, talking soothingly to her.
She stared at him, reaching out and touched his face. Then, she started to smile, and within seconds, both were laughing, with tears pouring down their faces.
Russak was grinning, so I felt that I had missed a really good joke. I picked up the tangled piece of knee joint, and left them to their mirth.
I went and found Russell and Simon, telling them of the medical miracle that appeared to have happened. Craig disappeared to look for his camera, and we were all astounded. Ed appeared at the door of Russak’s hut, still carrying Gillian in his arms.
Craig must have shot nearly a roll of film, as Ed took Gillian back to their hut, which was close by. Russak then appeared, so I went and asked him to explain what had happened.
“The spirits made them well again,” he said, and went off into the bush, chuckling to himself.
The villagers were all repairing the damage from the storm, so we helped. A short time later, I noticed that Ed and Gillian had reappeared, and were helping to replace a roof that had been blown off. Ed was standing supporting the full weight of the roof, as the others all made it fast.