[ WP ] Diseases ca n't be cured , only passed on to someone else . It 's common for those about to die from old age to act as recipients , allowing the young to live lives free from illness .

The house was quietly bustling with people. Amber lights warmed the night as snow fell like a milky blanket upon the lone wooden lodge amongst the trees. 
 The doctor gathered close family members around the bed where Arthur laid propped up against the headboard he has made 40 years ago. The same industrious hands now gently clutched the upturned palms of the very motivation for this labor of love. 
 He stroked Mary's wrist with his thumb as she seemed to be looking right past the tension encircling her husband's bed and straight out into the woods. 
 In the distance, a pair of headlights cut through the foliage and lit up her face and seemed to make her lips tremble. 
 `` They're here.'' said one of the guests. The temperature in the room dipped as the door opened and the air seemed to contract and expand simultaneously for a second. 
 Through the bedroom door, a small boy was lead to the side of the bed by his parents. If Arthur's grandson would have survived, he'd be about the same age. The sight of the boy seemed to have had an effect on Mary. The lines on her face softened, the trembling lips turned faintly upward into a knowing smile, and the color in her cheeks returned in a faint glow. 
 Mary scooped the boy into her arms and pulled him into her lap. 
 They painted a picture that Arthur never thought he'd see again. When Ben died from pneumonia, it seemed like the earth was determined to wipe out all signs of hope. They'd moved out into the forest to minimize chances of contracting a sickness. Everyone said it was easier to get sick with all those people around but one could n't possibly leave. It was a chance they had to take being the only family Ben had left. There would n't be a transfermant close by if one was needed, but they'd have a fighting chance. 
 Transfermants are hard to find and transfers are not an exact science. We simply have n't had enough time to study it. When Arthur and Mary were kids, the scientists, doctors, and liberal activists were hysterical about how Bio-Fatigue was going to be the end of man kind. That the pharmaceutical practices are unsustainable and we'd all die horrible deaths from sickness without cures. Some people laughed. Arthur remembered eating his breakfast and seeing grownups argue about what was in the end, inevitable. 
 `` This is the kind of paranoid conspiracy left wing hippies make up to attack the American way of life. Traditional medicine saves lives, not take lives...'' Before the pundit on live stream could finish his sentence his co-host interrupted with heated rebuttals. 
 `` You ca n't possibly think that drug resistance is a conspiracy? It's been tested and proven and people are dying from this.'' The woman was so indignant she choked on her last word. 
 `` Look...'' the greasy haired host takes the opportunity to reassert his position, `` People, are dying because they are not seeking the treatment they should.'' 
 The woman listened to this with exaggerated disbelief. She shook her head with open mouth and outstretched palms. 
 `` There are other ways of treating patients that has less life threatening impacts. Sustainable alternatives...'' She looks to the audience for nods in agreement. 
 `` I would let you finish but those so called alternative technologies are decades if not centuries from being mature.'' The man insists. 
 
 The memories trailed off as the boy in Mary's lap spoke for the first time. 
 
 `` Arthur. Will it hurt?'' He looked the old man in the eyes with earnestness. 
 
 `` No, buddy. It wo n't hurt a bit. You'll feel better in fact.'' said Arthur with a smile. 
 
 `` Will it hurt you?'' The boy pressed on as others in the room tried to hold back tears from the thought of what was about to happen. 
 
 `` I'm three times as big as you are. It will only be a pinch.'' He replied with an assuring nod. 
 
 The boy reached out to the edge of the bed and began to climb. He laid down next to the man who will save his life on his deathbed and curled his small arms around the frail but stocky body. 
 
 Arthur nodded to the doctor, and the room fell into complete silence. A whimper escaped the lips of the boy's mother as she looked on. 
 
 As Arthur closed his eyes, he reached out for Mary's hand and gave it one last gentle squeeze.
