going to have a beautiful scar and all for
nothing. That happens when . . . “
Alvaro fell silent and swallowed the rest
of the sentence. The letter inside the envelope wasn´t a court
order. It wasn´t even an official letter. The paper was folded
twice. He opened it quickly, and was immediately surprised by what
he saw. He´d never seen anything like it. It was very elegantly
handwritten, in stylized words with long flourishes that gave it a
certain antiquated air. A little overdone perhaps. It was written
in red ink and appeared heavier on some lines than others. Alvaro
couldn´t imagine a fountain pen or biro capable of doing that and
no computer or typewriter had been used either. No, it was
handwritten, but by whom and how remained unknown.
He was hooked before he started reading, and surprised that
his latex gloves hadn´t left blood stains on the letter paper as
they had on the envelope that contained it.
The wor ds formed in his mind with surprising ease, flowing
smoothly, compelling him to read on. For a second, he forgot where
he was and what he had been doing only a few minutes
before.
When he finished reading, Alvaro
understood everything perfectly.
He threw the letter on the ground and
walked to the door, taking his face mask and gloves off as he
went.
“ Where are you going?” The nurse asked.
“ Eh! We´ve got a man with his chest opened
up here on the operating table!” The other surgeon shouted at him,
amazed by what was happening.
Alvaro didn´t pay any attention to either
of them. He took his surgical gown off just before he got to the
door, letting it drop to the floor as he left the room without
saying a word. Nobody there knew what to say or do. The two nurses
and the surgeon stared at each other dumbfounded.
“ It must have been bad news. “ One of the nurses said
bending down to pick up the letter. “Maybe a close relative had an
accident?”
The doctor did n´t believe that. Alvaro had run out of the room
without giving any explanation whatsoever. That wasn´t like him, he
was methodical and even in the event of a serious accident he would
have said something to explain his leaving. No, it wasn´t
that.
“ He should have given us a good excuse to
leave us in the lurch like this. Damn him! Fool!” The surgeon
shouted after him before turning back to the others. “Well, what
does the letter say then?”
The nurse said nothing. But her trembling hands told the doctor
that something was wrong .He lost his patience and snatched the
sheet of paper from her and looked for the explanation
himself.
But t here was none to find. The page was blank.
* * *
Judith was depressed when she got
home. She hung her coat
up but didn’t see the angelic face that everybody said she had in
her reflection in the hall mirror. Instead, she imagined herself as
a twenty year old despite the fact that she was now thirty, and a
sad looking thirty year old at that. If she´d seen her true self
she would’ve given herself a slap to snap her out of her bad
mood.
On the kitchen table she found a pile of
letters that her helper had left there after collecting the
mail. Judith went
through them quickly. Just junk mail. But she stopped flicking
through them when she came to a black envelope with white edges
that looked different from the rest. There was nothing written on
it so she concluded that it wasn´t important. She tossed it into
the fireplace with the others, put two logs on top and started a
fire.
The smell of burning wood relaxed her, and
as the fire built she became lost in thought, the concept of time
receding.
She stayed like that for a while until the
sound of her favorite song, John Lennon’s Imagine, vibrated out of her mobile
phone.
“ Yes?” She said picking the phone up off
the table.
“ Took your time!” Nestor said, on the other end of the line. “I just
want to talk.”
Judith cursed herself for having taken the call without checking
to see who was calling.
“ Not
nothing. That happens when . . . “
Alvaro fell silent and swallowed the rest
of the sentence. The letter inside the envelope wasn´t a court
order. It wasn´t even an official letter. The paper was folded
twice. He opened it quickly, and was immediately surprised by what
he saw. He´d never seen anything like it. It was very elegantly
handwritten, in stylized words with long flourishes that gave it a
certain antiquated air. A little overdone perhaps. It was written
in red ink and appeared heavier on some lines than others. Alvaro
couldn´t imagine a fountain pen or biro capable of doing that and
no computer or typewriter had been used either. No, it was
handwritten, but by whom and how remained unknown.
He was hooked before he started reading, and surprised that
his latex gloves hadn´t left blood stains on the letter paper as
they had on the envelope that contained it.
The wor ds formed in his mind with surprising ease, flowing
smoothly, compelling him to read on. For a second, he forgot where
he was and what he had been doing only a few minutes
before.
When he finished reading, Alvaro
understood everything perfectly.
He threw the letter on the ground and
walked to the door, taking his face mask and gloves off as he
went.
“ Where are you going?” The nurse asked.
“ Eh! We´ve got a man with his chest opened
up here on the operating table!” The other surgeon shouted at him,
amazed by what was happening.
Alvaro didn´t pay any attention to either
of them. He took his surgical gown off just before he got to the
door, letting it drop to the floor as he left the room without
saying a word. Nobody there knew what to say or do. The two nurses
and the surgeon stared at each other dumbfounded.
“ It must have been bad news. “ One of the nurses said
bending down to pick up the letter. “Maybe a close relative had an
accident?”
The doctor did n´t believe that. Alvaro had run out of the room
without giving any explanation whatsoever. That wasn´t like him, he
was methodical and even in the event of a serious accident he would
have said something to explain his leaving. No, it wasn´t
that.
“ He should have given us a good excuse to
leave us in the lurch like this. Damn him! Fool!” The surgeon
shouted after him before turning back to the others. “Well, what
does the letter say then?”
The nurse said nothing. But her trembling hands told the doctor
that something was wrong .He lost his patience and snatched the
sheet of paper from her and looked for the explanation
himself.
But t here was none to find. The page was blank.
* * *
Judith was depressed when she got
home. She hung her coat
up but didn’t see the angelic face that everybody said she had in
her reflection in the hall mirror. Instead, she imagined herself as
a twenty year old despite the fact that she was now thirty, and a
sad looking thirty year old at that. If she´d seen her true self
she would’ve given herself a slap to snap her out of her bad
mood.
On the kitchen table she found a pile of
letters that her helper had left there after collecting the
mail. Judith went
through them quickly. Just junk mail. But she stopped flicking
through them when she came to a black envelope with white edges
that looked different from the rest. There was nothing written on
it so she concluded that it wasn´t important. She tossed it into
the fireplace with the others, put two logs on top and started a
fire.
The smell of burning wood relaxed her, and
as the fire built she became lost in thought, the concept of time
receding.
She stayed like that for a while until the
sound of her favorite song, John Lennon’s Imagine, vibrated out of her mobile
phone.
“ Yes?” She said picking the phone up off
the table.
“ Took your time!” Nestor said, on the other end of the line. “I just
want to talk.”
Judith cursed herself for having taken the call without checking
to see who was calling.
“ Not
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