Bandaged

Hi Dad! You're finally home. How was the hospital?

As usual, you know.

Let me rest five minutes,

then get your things and come in the office.

No clearly, you haven't understood the main point.

When one can't figure the antiderivativa

of an integral function,

one uses the integration by parts. Here, for example.

Now…

We don't know how to calculate the antiderivative of xcos(x).

But since we know the product,

we can try the calculation of the integration by parts.

Suppose that u'(x)=cosx and v(x)=x. Then u(x)=sinx et v'(x)=1. Thus:

"Idle Youth By all things enslaved"

Through sensitivity I've wasted my days.

Let the moment come When hearts love as one.

I told myself: Wait And let no one see:

And without the promise Of true ecstasy.

Let nothing delay This hiding away.

I've been patient so long

I've forgotten even The terror and suffering

Flown up to heaven,

A sick thirst again Darkens my veins.

So the meadow Freed by neglect,

Flowered, overgrown

With weeds and incense, To the buzzing nearby

Of a hundred foul flies.

Thousand widowhoods Of a soul so poor

It bears only the image Of our Lady before!

Does one then pray, Lucille?

To the Virgin today?

"Idle Youth By all things enslaved…" Lucille!

Lucille!

It is 8:05!

Excuse me, I didn't hear. I was reading.

If you wish to read, do so in the evening, after supper…

Yes father.

Next time you go without supper if you insist on arriving late.

Such a storm this morning!

The weather is crazy.

When I was young it never rained this time of year.

Human beings consume too much. We're suffocating the planet.

Can they prove it scientifically, dad?

Yes… naturally…

If you'ld like to learn more, I could get you an advanced text on meteorology.

For your 18th birthday.

For my birthday?

That would be a good practical present.

Yes, but…

Practical and educational.

A far cry from our advertising TV culture.

What I'ld really like to do is… to go to college…

that would be educational… to study poetry.

Poetry?

Yeah… Oscar Wilde, Rimbaud, Baudelaire... and literature too.

What good is studying literature and poetry?

You can read yourself and that's sufficient.

Oscar Wilde doesn't deserve all the attention you give him.

The man was a pervert and it's just as well that he was imprisoned.

And if you'd like to write poetry

you can do it to your heart's content right here at home.

But I'd learn more if I went away to college.

Not really… One doesn't learn as effectively in a group setting.

But since you really don't like teaching me poetry…

You'd be better off with the sciences.

You could help me here. Before you wanted to be a doctor, like me.

I've changed my mind.

And that's just the problem. You never stick with anything.

Remember what happened when you were twelve?

You wanted to go away to boarding school,

but you were back home three months later.

You told me that you couldn't make any friends

and that you cried yourself to sleep each night. Isn't that right?

When your mother was sick those two long years…

What good is studying literature and poetry?

… your father asked me …

You can read yourself and that's sufficient.

To come and take care of you…

The man was a pervert and it's just as well that he was imprisoned.

… but I couldn't come then.

Now, clearly, you haven't understood the main point.

You'd be better off with the sciences.

And if you wish to write poetry

you can do it to your heart's content right here at home.

I hate you! Let me out!

Let me out!

You're all that he has.

Thank you. Goodbye.

I am Lucille's great aunt.

I'm so glad that you've come to help with her care.

Joan Genova. Yes. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be here.

I hope it wasn't too hard to get out here.

Oh no no. I managed to find a driver who knew the way from the main station.

So, you are from Italy?

Yes, from Calabria, the mountains.

When I was 15 my parents sent me to my uncle's in Boston.

I imagine you must resemble your mother?

Yes.

In our family too, the girls all resemble their mother.

Let me show you to Arthur's. I'm sorry, Doctor Baert's office.

Thank you.

Come in.

Please be seated, Miss Genova.

You are later than we expected you.

Yes, I'm so sorry.

I shall explain the situation.

One week ago my daughter had an accident.

She suffered third degree burns on her face

and tissue loss around the left cheek and nose.

After first making an incision,

I treated the most serious wounds with a series of allografts

through which I have avoided any serious hydro-electrical complications.

She shows no respiratory complications, but

you must nonetheless observe closely to forestall any hypermetabolisation,

guard against infection, and help her maintain nutritional levels.

I would like her watched twenty-four hours day.

I shall remain with her as much as is necessary.

In this house I do not wish to hear any mention of the hospital.

Yes, of course.

I will show you to your room.

Those are Italian shoes, right?

Yes.

Very good.

"Pharmaceutical Formulary for Surgeons and Nurses."

Lucille, your nurse has arrived.

Come in.

Good morning, Lucille.

She remains in a state of shock.

Mutism and paralysis of the extremities.

Bandages, compresses, disinfection, sodium chloride solution

cortisone, everything you need is right here.

Very good.

You will give her six of these and two capsules four times a day.

I must leave now.

I'll be back at 6:30 sharp if I have no emergencies.

"Flowers of Evil." Baudelaire.

Lucille has not had any problems?

She refused to eat.

You may leave us now.

Lucille, my dear… you know that today is your birthday…

I'll heal you quickly,

I promise you.

Just look at your present.

Your mother made me promise that I give them to you on your 18th birthday.

I keep them for you… just for now…

Soon everything will be just as it was.

I'm sure of it…

Is something hurting?

That itches… Is that it?

That doesn't itch anymore…

look at me…

Breath deeply now…

Zygomaticus major:

39.

…Zygomaticus minor:

31.

Levator anguli oris:

18.

Masseter:

28. Got it?

You will apply this cream twice a day.

It will regenerate the tissue underneath the bandage.

Really now, be careful!

Always the same scarring.

Look at this.

These idiots. Incompetents!

Lucille will have no scars… not like Anna.

It began with a tissue sample, followed by an ablation.

They were never sure of anything so they cut.

In the end, they gave her back to me covered with scars

without ever having healed her.

My poor Arthur…

I should have kept her at home.

You would have taken good care of her.

She has developed a strong fever.

I'll be back. Above all, don't put this one back in the cage with the others

Poor Lucille, I should make her one of her favorite dinners.

Here, give her this injection.

Above all, keep an eye on her breathing.

Grandma… are you sure this is really what you want?

I can't possibly take it from you.

But she really wants you to have it.

Let me go!

A pervert…

imprisoned…

you can't make friends...

idiot…

it's fearful outside...

he's right… yes, you see… I can't … nothing nothing nothing

I'd rather die… I'm better off dead.

Here, take this book on reconstructive plastic surgery.

It's incomplete, of course…

Thank you.

Like all the other books, they haven't included my new research so

they're a bit outdated…

Yes… I'm sure.

I'm thinking that you must be up to date… Lucille…

Yes …that is, how so?

Because of her attempted suicide.

You have too much imagination!