THE OUTLAND

26

“They say there were giants here.

- Yura, I'm sorry, we all ... - Edik winked at me fervently, without completing the sentence.

He got better though. Albeit not as fast as I would like, and warm April has already managed to smoothly flow into an almost hot May smelling of herbs, but still. Edik returned to duty. The inner yard of the hospital is overgrown with grass, so far short, dotted with whimsically walking paths, trees, bushes, where it is so convenient for patients to walk after the operation. Although, of course, "walking" is not really about us. A wheelchair, a rigid frame around the neck that makes it difficult to turn the head - and this is after almost a month under anesthesia.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that I sometimes forgot about it, Edik turned fifty. And this is not twenty or even thirty years, when most of the sores heal almost instantly. He was not even considered elderly yet with an increased life expectancy, but without specific therapy, the incisions on his