Re: story
Chris Ohlhoff (chrisohlhoff@yahoo.com)
Tue, 13 Jul 1999 07:43:32 -0700 (PDT)
and in the end
the love you take
is
equal
to
the
love
you make
-Chris
--- James J Rovira <jrovira@juno.com> wrote:
> I had fun -- lots -- writing this, so I hope you
> have fun reading it. :)
> First one to guess which album I was listening to
> while I wrote it wins
> a dollar. HINT -- Late 1960s. VERY late.
>
> The Infirmity of Victor Timothy Dodge
> Jim Rovira
>
> “Doctor, it’s his heart, it’s. . .”
> “Yes?”
> “Well sir, it’s shredded, tattered. It looks like
> rags run
> through a
> lawnmower.”
> “That’s not possible. He couldn’t be alive. Let
> me see the
> x-rays.”
> Dr. Mustard concealed his shock well as he examined
> the x-rays, allowing
>
> himself only a slight stiffening of the neck and
> back, a slight tension
> in
> the hands, a deepening of the voice. “He didn’t
> move during the x-rays?”
> “Not at all. The first set came out the same way,
> and I thought
> that
> myself. So I took the second set myself.”
> “Interesting. Thank you, that’ll be all.”
> “But doctor. . .”
> “Thank you, that’ll . . .”
> “But how can he still be alive?”
> “Maxwell, get the hell out of here.” The Doctor
> didn’t hear the
> radiologist mutter “What an asshole” under his
> breath, because after the
> radiologist left the room the doctor virtually
> collapsed in a chair,
> shoving
> aside a small silver hammer then setting the x-rays
> down on the table
> next to
> him. He ran his hands over his face, taking a deep
> breath through his
> nostrils as his hands passed over them. He looked
> again at the x-rays
> then
> tossed them aside. No.
> The doctor began to understand the meaning behind
> the blank stare
> of
> the patient he had just seen. . .alive. He began to
> understand the
> patient’s
> total indifference in the face of his own death. He
> was used to
> confronting
> denial, fear, panic, anger, any number of a host of
> emotions, a wave of
> them,
> but not indifference. Not an indifference so total
> and uncompromising.
> The
> doctor began to understand, but didn’t let himself.
> Instead, he stood
> up,
> put the x-rays back in their envelope, tucked the
> envelope neatly and
> firmly
> under his arm, then went to see the patient again.
> The hospital seemed changed somehow. This time of
> night activity
> was
> fairly low, none of the sounds seemed unfamiliar.
> The shutting of the
> door
> behind him. A cart being pushed by a nurse down the
> hall. The nurses’
> quiet
> gossip and jokes, their same hair pulled back into
> the same nets. The
> tap of
> his shoes on the pale green tile floor. The light
> looked the same but
> had a
> cleaner, brighter quality, somehow a purer white, he
> thought, but no.
> The
> same clean white walls, antiseptic chrome railings
> and door handles, the
> brown paneled elevators. The same perfect
> straightness of the ceiling’s
> lines above him, the smoothness of his coat, the
> firmness of his step.
> All
> the same, yet all utterly alien in the new world
> into which he had just
> walked. The doctor moved down the hall carefully,
> slowly pushed open the
>
> patient’s door then quietly stepped into the room,
> relieved to see the
> patient sleeping.
> Dr. Mustard sat near the bed and simply stared at
> his patient.
> It
> took him about three and one half minutes to stare
> his patient awake, who
>
> began to slowly open his empty eyes. “Doctor?”
> “Mr. Dodge, I happened to be coming by and just
> stepped in to
> check
> on you. How are you feeling tonight?”
> Victor Timothy Dodge read panic behind the Doctor’s
> tight smile
> and
> cordial voice. He saw the x-ray envelope and
> understood. “It’s not
> physical
> damage, Doctor, it’s a disease. Don’t worry, you
> can’t catch it, not
> really,
> but if you get close enough you can feel it.”
> “What?”
> “You’ve taken chest x-rays and you’ve seen my
> heart. It’s a
> mess, I
> know. Don’t worry and don’t try to understand. It
> doesn’t matter.
> Please,
> I’d like to go to sleep now.”
> The doctor was as unused to not being in control as
> he was to the
> new
> universe he’d just entered. “Try to get some sleep,
> Mr. Dodge. I’ll be
> leaving now. I’ve heard your. . .girlfriend?. .
> .will be visiting
> tomorrow.
> Pam, is it?”
> “Pam? You’ve met her?”
> “Yes, she stopped by yesterday. You have a big day
> coming, get
> some
> rest.”
> “Thank you doctor, I will.”
> The doctor left the room.
>
> ***
>
> The young woman who sat herself next to Victor’s
> beside promptly
> at
> 11:52 AM (for visiting hours began at 9:00 AM) was
> said to look like,
> according to the nurses, not quite enough of a near
> fatal accident
> involving
> Saran Wrap and vinyl. And that her hair (blonde)
> was, well, something
> like a
> mannequin’s. For that matter, so was her face. And
> her nails (PINK!).
> But
> her white go-go boots were more Barbie than
> mannequin, that much was
> undisputed. She tried to hold a worried expression
> on her face as long
> as
> she could, but soon got annoyed and poked Victor’s
> arm. “Hey good
> looking.
> Boy have you been hard to see lately.” The patient
> rolled his eyes and
> smiled weakly. “Vic, honey, how are you? The
> doctors said you almost
> died.
> Good Lord, what did they do to your hair?”
> “What?”
> “It’s all cut off.”
> “I didn’t even notice.”
> “Well, you look cute with that flattop.” She
> giggled slightly,
> then
> asked, “So how are you?”
> “I’m fine, Pam,” Victor glanced at the clock, “Boy,
> this is early
> for
> you.”
> “I hardly slept at all last night because of you,
> jerk. Are
> there
> rings under my eyes? You should see what’s left of
> your car! Ohmigod.
> At
> least you can finally get rid of that piece of junk.
> Danny said it was a
>
>
=== message truncated ===
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com