All's Well

That evening, Miranda seeks treatment from John, an unaccredited physical therapist, in his garage. John observes that Miranda’s body is misaligned and that her chronic pain has significantly worsened. Miranda does not tell him about other treatments she has pursued, not wanting to offend him. As John massages her, she realizes she cannot feel his touch on her back but pretends the treatment is working. From upstairs, John’s wife complains about Miranda’s late appointment.

Later that night, Miranda drives home from the appointment with John in worsening pain. She imagines her students staging Macbeth under Fauve’s direction, with Briana playing Lady Macbeth. Miranda imagines that her own blood will be on Briana’s hands and considers suicide. Instead, she drives to The Canny Man, in pursuit of the golden drink that took her pain away.

Inside, she finds the three men at the bar, and they greet her by name. They seem to know all her troubles: the dean, the change of play, Briana’s poor acting. They serve her the glowing, golden-green drink that provides instant relief from her pain. Miranda thinks its shade is like Briana’s green eyes and Hugo’s golden hair. After she drinks it, they clap for her, and Miranda feels strangely moved, even explaining how she contemplated suicide earlier.

The men, who call themselves the Weird Brethren, reveal that they know about her professional and physiological troubles. They explain that pain can be transferred from one person to another. They ask her if they can show her the “trick,” and Miranda says yes, though she suspects this is a mistake. To demonstrate the transfer of pain, the fat man grabs Miranda’s wrist, and she is overcome with paralyzing pain. It is more than she has ever experienced, and she thinks she is dying. As she lies immobilized, she has a vision of the now-healthy fat man performing the song “Get Happy” on a stage. His skin is clear, he moves easily, and his gray hair has turned golden. He then lies beside her, touches her face, and whispers: “All’s well.”

The following afternoon, Miranda awakens in her bed with no memory of how she got home. Her own pain has returned to a manageable level, especially compared to the intensity of the pain she experienced the previous night. She receives a text from Grace asking her where she is and if she approved Macbeth since the students are rehearsing it. Miranda rushes to campus and bursts into the theater, where she finds Briana leading the rehearsal from the new script, with Fauve’s encouragement.

Miranda calmly confronts the group and asks to see the play. Briana hugs the script to her chest instead of handing it over, and Miranda tries to grab it, tightening her grip around Briana’s wrist as she does so. Briana’s eyes widen, and she drops the Macbeth script pages. Miranda is concerned about whether she hurt the girl, but she calmly tells Trevor to pick up the pages. The other students go over to ask Briana if she is in pain.

At that moment, the dean arrives, looking extremely happy. He announces that the college’s Theater Studies program has received a record-setting donation from some local businessmen who are fans of the theater and Miranda’s acting. The donation is conditional upon the department producing All’s Well That Ends Well. Miranda guesses that the three men from the bar are the donors, and she feels that her authority is restored.

The next day, Hugo invites Miranda to his workshop. He congratulates her on the donation, saying he is happy she gets to stage the play she wanted, though he also says it is “weird” that the donors think so highly of a college production. They share a celebratory glass of whiskey, and Miranda flirts with him, wondering at her own confidence. He remarks that she seems different, and Miranda fakes confusion, though she does feel different. The previous day, after she grabbed Briana’s hand, she felt a reduction in her own pain. She was able to bend without difficulty, and at home, she was even able to sit on her couch rather than lying on the floor as she usually does. Hugo invites her to get a drink with him after work. He suggests the Canny Man, but Miranda decides they can go somewhere else.

As Miranda walks down the hall with a newly brisk pace, she realizes she is no longer dragging her leg like she used to, though her hip and back still hurt. She spots a student named Jacob Fox, and instead of avoiding her students as she typically does, she engages in conversation with Jacob, who appears intimidated by her newfound confidence.

On Friday evening, Miranda arrives at rehearsal to find her students sitting in silence, holding their All’s Well That Ends Well scripts. She notices that Briana is absent. Miranda asks Ellie to read the part of Helen, which Ellie performs from memory. After the rehearsal, Grace seems suspicious as she asks Miranda about her improved demeanor. She also questions Briana’s sudden absence, though Miranda dismisses it, guessing it must be an illness like the flu. Grace says the dean’s sudden announcement the previous day was “weird,” and when she invites Miranda for a drink at the Canny Man, Miranda refuses, saying she wants to stay back and work.

Late that night, as Miranda is exiting the building, she finds Ellie waiting for her in the theater foyer. Miranda compliments her performance of Helen, and Ellie reports that Briana is at home, bedridden with severe pain. Ellie then asks if Miranda used the special herbal bath she prepared for her. She admits she “cast a bit of a spell on it” to help Miranda heal (142). Miranda lies and confirms that she did, allowing Ellie to believe that her spell witchcraft is responsible for Miranda’s sudden recovery.

On a subsequent afternoon, Miranda visits the SpineWorks clinic for an appointment with Mark. She is excited as she demonstrates her dramatic physical improvement, but Mark is dismissive. He attributes her recovery to his prescribed exercises, which Miranda confesses she has not been doing. Angered, Mark straps her to a table and performs an aggressive traction therapy that causes her debilitating pain to return.

Afterward, Miranda is unable to stand and collapses to the floor. As Mark reaches down to help her, Miranda firmly grips his wrist, replicating the action the fat man had performed on her at the bar.

Immediately after her appointment, Miranda flees the clinic, still wearing her medical gown under her jacket. In a brief flashback, she recalls seeing Mark’s face drain of color just after she gripped his wrist, at which point her own pain vanished. She watched him stumble backward, lose his balance, and hit his head on the wall. She left him sitting on a chair, unable to even speak. Her clothes were under him, so she left them there. Miranda drives to the Canny Man, seeking answers from the three men, but they are not there. However, a new Scottish bartender greets her, and they flirt with one another. In the bar’s mirror, Miranda glimpses her glowing, healthy reflection. She notices the bartender is a wearing a pendant of three silver skulls on a leather cord around his neck, and he has a tattoo on his arm that reads: “The primrose way to the everlasting bonfire” (158).

Miranda and the bartender go to her apartment and have sex. She is amazed that her body is lithe enough to enjoy pain-free sex, and she awakens the next morning feeling healed and energetic. The bartender is gone but has left behind his necklace and pendant. Outside her window, Miranda sees three crows.