The Devil's Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF Page B

here he was, saying that his doctor had taken him off all the drugs. Strange.
    Max laughed.
    “Don’t look so horrified. There’s such a thing as self-healing, don’t you know? That’s what they mainly focus on here. The healing power of nature.”
    Max made a sweeping gesture toward the sloping lawn, the glass-fronted buildings, and the mountains.
    “Good, nourishing food. Clean air. Peace and quiet. Tried and tested therapies that got forgotten when we came up with all those chemical treatments. People often seem to think it takes a huge amount of effort to help or calm someone down. That we’re these massive steel constructions, difficult to knock over and then just as difficult to put back on our feet after we have fallen over. But just think what a bit of stress can do to a person. There are several people here at the clinic suffering from exhaustion. Have you ever seen someone like that? One woman would just sit there staring in front of her; she didn’t even know her own name. She had to be fed, because she’d forgotten how to use a fork. You might think some sort of terrible trauma had made her like that—war, or torture. No. It was just ordinary stress. Too many demands, pressure from all sides. It’s odd that you can be so completely crushed by that. But in actual fact, we human beings are fairly simple constructs. It doesn’t take much to make us fall apart. And it doesn’t take that much to put us back together again. Time. Peace and quiet. Natural surroundings. Simple things, but often overlooked.”
    Daniel nodded thoughtfully.
    “So you’ve…healed yourself, then?”
    Max turned toward him with a broad smile. “Well, I’m well on the way, according to Dr. Obermann.”
    “I’m very glad to hear it.”
    Max gave a quick nod, then clapped his hands together noisily to signify that the subject was at an end.
    “Well, now we definitely need some food!”

7
    TO DANIEL’S great surprise, the clinic contained a restaurant that looked much like any other high-class establishment. It was located in attractive rooms on the first floor of the main building, with an ornate plaster ceiling and Oriental carpets. There were white tablecloths, slender glasses, and linen napkins. Except for one solitary elderly man at a table in one corner, they were alone.
    “Is this for the patients?” Daniel exclaimed in amazement as Max made his way toward a table and sat down.
    “What patients? There are no patients here. We’re customers, paying a fortune to have a bit of a rest. Some decent food in a nice setting is surely the least we can ask for. We’ll have the trout.”
    Max waved away the waitress, who was trying to hand them menus.
    “And a bottle of Gobelsburger. Chilled.”
    The waitress gave him a friendly nod and went off.
    “So, how are things with you, Daniel, or have I already asked? If I have, I can’t remember what you said,” Max said.
    “Things are fine. You know I’m living in Uppsala now. Life at the EU got a bit too stressful. I was in a pretty bad way toward the end, actually. With the divorce and everything. Well, you know.”
    “Here comes the wine!”
    Max tasted the sip of wine that the waitress had poured and nodded happily.
    “Taste this, Daniel. I have a couple of glasses most days. Maybe it doesn’t go with everything, but I don’t really give a damn.”
    Daniel took a sip of the wine, which was dry and fresh, actually very good.
    “Well, like I said. It got too much,” he went on.
    “Too much? Have you been drinking already?” Max said in surprise.
    “No, no. Too much… Never mind. The wine’s great. Fresh. Invigorating.”
    “Invigorating! That’s the word! You always have such fantastic words for everything, Daniel. But I suppose you are a linguistic expert.”
    “No, no. I’m an interpreter. Or was, anyway.”
    “If interpreters aren’t linguistic experts, I don’t know who is.”
    Daniel gave an embarrassed shrug.
    “I just find languages easy,” he