Miracle Cure

Someone once said that the hardest part of being an adult is deciding what to eat every night. This was definitely the case for me. I am incapable of predicting what I will want to eat in two or three days or even tomorrow. It was much easier when there were two people to make the choice but since the divorce six months ago it has become the bane of my life. So once again I was walking to the local grocery shop on a Wednesday evening having found nothing at home I wanted to eat. As I crossed the road I noticed a lady in a wheelchair in front of me who was stuck trying to get back on the pavement. One of the front wheels, the driving wheels, was stuck in a hole full of sand digging itself in deeper by the second. The other wheel was off the ground and spinning uselessly.

I walked up behind the chair and offered to help. I was rather taken aback when a very attractive young lady looked up at me with an annoyed expression on her face. Seeing me back off slightly her expression softened and she said that she would really like some help. With a little bit of manoeuvring I was able to get the wheelchair back on level ground. Normally in a situation like this I would rush off with a quick goodbye but something made me stay and make small talk. I had gone through a lot of physical changes over the previous few weeks and maybe it was affecting my personality as well.

We discussed the state of the roads and pavements and how difficult it was to navigate through the town on a wheelchair. I introduced myself and found out the young lady's name was Claire and that we were heading to the same destination. She apologized for getting angry and scaring me when I offered to help. As we made our way to the shop I glanced over at Claire. She was wearing a light leather jacket and jeans and had shoulder length brown hair. I estimated her age to be early thirties which would make her at least twenty years my junior.

She did not appear to be very comfortable manoeuvring the wheelchair along the pavement so when we got to the supermarket I offered to share a shopping cart. Claire accepted the offer and explained she was not used to being out with the chair. In fact, as we started to gather our groceries she admitted that this was her first time out on her own since the accident. I did not think it was the right place to enquire further about the accident so I remarked that she was doing well for a learner driver. Claire had a few near misses in the store with both people and inanimate objects. At one point she rounded a corner and almost took out a lady who jumped out of the way with a look of horror on her face. The three of us froze and stared at each other. Claire broke the ice by saying she was very sorry and the woman dashed off to the safety of another aisle. I lost it and started laughing. Claire looked at me for a few seconds with a worried expression before she too burst out laughing.

This lightened the mood and we teased each other on our food choices as we finished our shopping. I placed my few items in the front of the cart and Claire's purchases at the back so when we got to the self-checkout tills I scanned my things first. When she scanned her items, I tried to help but only succeeded in confusing the machine and we had to get an employee to reset the system. I was then banned from touching anything until she had scanned and paid for her items.

Claire had bought a lot of things and not really thought through how she was going to carry them so we left the store with bags on her lap and on the chair between her legs.

"Will you be okay with all those bags?" I asked.

"My mum dropped me off and she is picking me up in the car park so I don't have far to go," she replied. "Thank you for your help and for making me laugh".

"Would you like to take my number for next time you feel the need to put the people of the town in danger to get your groceries?" I enquired hopefully.

Claire looked at me for a moment and I felt that she was trying to evaluate my motives. I must have passed the test because she agreed and we swapped numbers.

"You should get L plates and a bell for that chair before coming out again," I quipped as she was leaving.

"You should stick to the full-service checkouts in future," she laughed as she headed for the carpark.

As I walked home I thought about Claire and how much I enjoyed our short time together. Of course, in spite of the fact that I now felt like I was twenty again I was still 54 and far too old for her. Still I hoped that she would call me and that we could at least be friends.

****

Five weeks previously my daughter, Gemma, was staying with me for the weekend. Actually, half the weekend as she spent Friday night with her mom and Saturday night with me. She was in her last year at uni. With only a few months to go until her finals she spent a lot of the time studying. I was glad that she came to visit me and that she seemed to be taking the new family arrangements in her stride.

Over dinner on the night she arrived she told me about this offer she found out about where she could get $150 for taking part in a medical trial. She was very disappointed that it was in London for only one weekday and she would not be able to make it down. Unless someone could go in her place and collect the money. I got the hint but said that I was not keen on being a pin cushion for the benefit of some pharmaceutical company. She assured me that there were no needles involved. I just needed to show up, sign a form to say I was in good health, take some medicine and pick up the bounty. Gemma was always able to wrap me around her little finger so I ended up agreeing to call on Monday and sign up.

Monday morning arrived, and I was seriously considering simply giving Gemma the money and bypassing the entire situation, but since I had never experienced anything like this before, my curiosity about their testing got the better of me. I made the call. It turned out to be very easy to arrange so I booked an early morning slot in two weeks' time.

I turned up for the appointment at a small office on the ground floor of a residential tower and it looked like they were still getting setup. A very flustered young woman led me to a small cubical at the back of the office and gave me a few paper forms to complete and told me she would be back in five minutes. The first form was an extensive list of medical conditions to which I had to indicate if I ever experienced any of them. I replied no to all four pages and signed the last page. The second form was an acknowledgment that I knew this was a trial of a new medical procedure and absolving the company of any blame if anything went wrong.

After ten minutes the young women returned and checked that I had completed the form.

Satisfied that everything was in order she produced an iPad and had me enter my account details for the payment transfer. I was then moved to a small room containing just a desk and two chairs. As I waited I could hear voices outside the door that appeared to be discussing the medicine I was to take. One person was saying that they only received one dose this morning but had ten people scheduled to come in. The other person said that they should administer the dose they had and cancel the other volunteers until they received the next supply.

A few minutes later a young guy came in carrying a box and introduced himself as Paul. He went through all the legal jargon and the questionnaires I would need to complete for the next four weeks. He then told me what would happen during this visit. He described the medication I was going to get as nanotechnology to be used a new delivery system to administer drugs which would better target the areas where they are needed. For this trial there were no drugs being administrated so I was only going to get the nanoparticles.

I asked a few questions while Paul unpacked his box. He pulled out two flasks, made sure I was ready and poured the contents of both flasks into a cup. I drank it down in one go. It was bland with no discernible taste. There was a knock on the door and Paul excused himself and left the room. I could hear him talking to someone outside but could only hear his side of the conversion. He confirmed that he had given me the potion and then cursed loudly. Paul came back in looking very flustered and asked me if I was feeling ok. When I confirmed I was fine he said I was free to go.

****

Two days after meeting Claire I received a text from her saying she would need more groceries over the weekend and asking if I was available to help with the top shelf items. I replied that I would be very happy to accompany her on any outings she had planned. I inquired if she had fitted the L plates and whether I should wear any protective clothing. We agreed to pick a safer option than the supermarket and weather permitting, meet in the local park which had wide paved walkways.

The next day was cool but dry so I walked to the park and picked up a couple of croissants and some orange juice on the way. The arrangement was to meet at the main entrance and I arrived a few minutes early. The park was busy on a Saturday afternoon. There were lots of people with children or out walking their dogs.

When Claire arrived, she was wearing a puffy jacket with a woolly hat. We made our way along the main path and discussed what we had done over the past two days. I found out that she lived with her parents and that she worked from home for a publishing company. We came across an area with small tables and I suggested that we stop and have the croissants. I told her about my work and mentioned I was divorced and had a daughter in university. She looked surprised that I had daughter in her twenties. As she would find out sooner or later, I admitted to being 54. She raised her eyebrows but did not say anything.

When we had finished eating I brought up the subject of her accident but let her know that it was ok if she did not want to talk about it. She told me that she had been a very keen mountain biker and raced in competitions all over the country. Nine months ago, in a race in Wales she had hit a tree stump on a corner and was thrown off the side of the trail. She landed on her back and rolled about twenty feet down the slope. The first thing she worried about was if she had damaged her bike and would not be able to finish the race but when she tried to get up she found she could not move. Medical staff arrived and she was taken off the course on a stretcher. When she got to hospital they told her she had broken her right leg in two places and damaged her lower spine. She was rushed into surgery.

I could see that telling the story was very difficult for her and she was understandably getting upset as she relived the events in her head. I told her she did not have to put herself through this and we could come back to this topic another time. She said that she wanted to continue but that we should take in a bit more of the park first. As we went along the path she asked me questions about my work and about Gemma.

I could see she wanted me to talk while she recovered her composure. I tried to keep the conversion light hearted and relayed some stories of how Gemma, even though she was a poor student, always managed to get what she wanted. We circled around the park and ended up back at the tables. When I sat down Claire announced that she was ready to complete her story.

She woke up the next day with her mum, dad and brother around her hospital bed. All looking very worried. She was groggy and had a splitting headache. At first, nobody would tell her what was going on. Soon she realised that she could not feel her legs and when she looked down she could see that her right leg was in a cast. Eventually the doctor arrived and explained that the damage to her spine was too severe and that they were not able to repair it. She was going to be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life.

She paused at this point and I could see tears roll down her cheeks. I wanted to rush over and give her a hug but I was unsure if it would be welcome so I reached out and squeezed her hand. She looked over at me. I could see so much pain in her eyes. After a moment she composed herself and continued with her story.

After a month in hospital she moved back into her parent's house where her mom could help her with daily life. It took another few months before she felt able to resume work and only now was she starting to get out on her own again. She was still a long way from being independent as even getting out on her own meant that her mum dropped her off and picked her up.

When it was apparent that she had finished her story, I told her that she was going through a huge change in her life and it would take time for her to adjust. When suddenly all the futures that you see for yourself are taken away overnight it can take a long time for the mind to process. A whole new set of futures open up but they are not the ones that you had been planning out for years. These futures are not better or worse but they are different. I told her that she was a young lady with most of her life still in front of her.

I could see that she had probably heard all those words before and they provided no comfort. I asked her what activities she liked to do before the accident. Her spirits lifted a little as she spoke about mountain biking, hiking, running and playing tennis in college. We spoke about some of the places she had visited around the country and how she loved the outdoors. It was almost time for her mum to pick her up so we headed back towards the entrance.

"I really enjoyed your company. I am sorry if I ruined your afternoon by bringing up the accident but I am glad you shared it with me."

Claire stopped and turned her chair towards me. "That was the first time I discussed the topic with anyone outside my family. It is still difficult to talk about. The events somehow seem more real when I say them out loud. At first, I was so angry that this happened to me. Now I am just very sad when I think of being like this for the rest of my life."

I could not think of any words that might help so this time I took a risk and gave her a hug. She put her arms around me and buried her head in my shoulder. We stayed like that for a few moments. There was still physical distance between us due to wearing thick winter coats but at that moment I felt very close to her.

As we continued out of the park Claire said, "You are a good listener. You are in the wrong profession. You should be a therapist."

I laughed. "I think that my colleagues in work would disagree with you. They are always complaining that I don't listen to their grievances."

***

I went straight to work after participating in the medical trial. The first thing I noticed was that as the day progressed my vision became blurred and I found it difficult to see my computer screen. I was worried that it was a side effect from the liquid I drank.

I went home from work early and decided to switch from my contact lenses to glasses to rest my eyes. As soon as I removed the lenses the blurriness disappeared but returned when I put on my glasses. I took the glasses off again and found that I could see everything in the room without them. I ran to the window to look out and I could see down the street and everything was perfectly clear. I was so amazed that I had to double check that I really had removed my contacts.

Over the next few days I noticed more changes. My left knee that hurt every time I walked down stairs was now feeling like new. The skin on the backs on my hands was more elastic and the brown sun spots were almost gone. The bristles on my face which had been grey for the last few years were now growing out black. After three weeks I had to change my hair style and get a buzz cut as my grey hair was growing out dark which looked very strange. More generally I was feeling much better all the time. When I woke up in the morning I felt refreshed and full of energy. I never seemed to get tired and my memory was much improved. Names and dates just popped into my head when I needed them.

***

Then I got home after spending the afternoon with Claire I wondered if there was some way I could help her. Having experienced the changes to my body after the medical trial, there was a possibility that if she got the same treatment it would fix the damage to her spine. I had no evidence that it could cure anything worse than bad eyesight and doggy knees still I believed that it could do much more.

I tried to think of how I could make this happen. One option would be to get her to participate in the same medical trial but I had received an email the day after I went there saying that the trial was being cancelled. I also suspected that something had gone wrong with the medicine I was given. From what I was told it should have had no effect as there were no active ingredient in the dose I was given.

I tried to think if there was some way to transfer the nanoparticles that were transforming my body to Claire. I was told that all the nanoparticles would be gone from my body in three to four months. There were two ways that they leave the body. One was through any blood loss and the second was when you ejaculate. Once the nanoparticles leave the body they become inactive.

I met Claire twice over the next week and after our conversion in the park I felt there was more openness between us. In spite of this I could not find the courage to say anything about the trial or the recent changes to my body. We talked about Claire's relationship with her parents and how she was finding it difficult to live back home in spite of her parents doing their best to help her settle in. We also discussed my divorce, how it was a mutual decision and how Gemma was handling the situation.

We arranged to meet again the next weekend and I was determined to bring up the subject. It was raining so we met at a local art exhibition. After we looked around at the art on display we stopped at the café. I decided to bring up the subject of the trial and I prefaced the talk by saying that Claire may think I am completely mad and not want to see me again after this conversion. I went through the story of the trial and explained the changes I had experienced since. I showed her a photo of me taken a few months ago looking much older. I explaining how I was sure that they had given me either the wrong compound or the wrong dose because, as they described the test, I should not have had any side effects.

Claire was very quiet while I told her the story. She looked like she was struggling to believe what I was telling her and I can't blame her as I would not have believed it either. In spite of this I decided to plough on and tell her what I was thinking. I recounted what I was told about the nanoparticles and explained how they would leave my body over the next few months. I explained that we could try to transfer some of the nanoparticles to her and see if she would experience any changes to her body. I said that there was no guarantee that we could transfer the nanoparticles and even if we did I have no idea what difference they would make.

She still looked very sceptical but she asked how we could try to transfer the particles. This is the part of the conversion that I was dreading.

"I don't think that a blood transfusion would work because we may not have the same blood group and if we did the nanoparticles would be deactivated before they were transferred."

I hesitated, then said, "That leaves using sperm."

There was a very awkward pause before Claire burst out laughing. I was confused as she sat there with tears rolling down her face. Eventually her laughter subsided to a point where she could talk.

"That must be the most creative way anyone has ever asked for a blowjob," she said while still grinning.