One Small Step, an anthology of discoveries by Tehani Wessely Marianne de Pierres

Author:Tehani Wessely, Marianne de Pierres [Unknown]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FableCroft Publishing

∞¥∞Ω∞¥∞

Enoch spent their return journey in prayer over Sara. Tek’tek ripped up some of Enoch’s clothes and bound his wounds. Sara lay wide-eyed, fighting sadness and sedatives. “Those poor people,” she said. “Cut off from the world, giving birth to monsters. They must have thought they were cursed.”

“I didn’t realise he had pinned so much hope on joining them,” Tek’tek used eyeview.

“He’s looking for a wife,” Sara returned. “That was what the lace and the other gifts were for. To show that he could look after her.”

“Not much hope of that now,” Tek’tek said, sickly. Enoch had come a long way in accepting those not made to God’s image. He had prayed for the girl as if she was human. Tek’tek shut his eyes and saw her dead face. The hitherto abstract notion of mortality bit deep.

“It’s not your fault,” Sara tried to comfort him. “We should have foreseen…” Her voice tailed off.

Professor Xi had everything organised as soon as they touched down. Sara and Enoch were sent to hospital. A rescue team was dispatched. They found that the boys had abandoned the huts and vanished into the woods. The rescue team left food and supplies, and a letter telling the boys how to contact them. It was all they could do.

Sara recovered rapidly. By the end of a fortnight she was limping around, although she would not fly for weeks.

Enoch recovered slowly, then ceased to recover at all. He lay in his hospital bed staring at the ceiling. His face went grey, his eyes sank back into their sockets, and the gash on his forehead became infected.

Interns scurried around campus stripping willow bark to make an old pain relief medication called aspirin, and snatching up mouldy fruit. “We’re looking for a fungal spore, penicillium,” Dr Greggog explained. “It’s a natural antibiotic. I fear we’re too late. Enoch has taken a psychological blow from which he cannot recover. In layman’s terms, he has lost hope.”

It only occurred to Tek’tek then that Enoch was dying. He sat by Enoch’s bed, big hands dangling uselessly. He read Enoch’s Bible through, and read aloud all the passages he could find about hope. He even gritted his teeth and joined Enoch in interminable prayer. It was no use. Enoch was sunk in a deathly despair.

“This is stupid,” Tek’tek complained to Dr Greggog. “Give him modern medicine, just don’t tell him.”

“No treatment without consent.” Dr Greggog was firm. Her fishy eyeballs glowed moist with keen sympathy. “My interns found out something that used to be popular in the old days when medicine was not so beneficial. It’s called a placebo. If you have any ideas let me know.”

“placebo, n. a medicine which performs no physiological function but may benefit the patient psychologically,” eyeview said.

Tek’tek went back to his bedroom. He took the feather from its hiding place. Enoch didn’t need to know he got hold of it. “Sara thought you might like it,” he told the sunken-eyed figure in the hospital bed.

Enoch let the feather drop to the covers, then he picked it up.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.