Scarred Hearts (Inimi cicatrizate)

SCARRED HEARTS

when I seek to reconstruct each past moment,

in its particular sadness or joy, I get the feeling of the transience of life

and of the unimportance of what we call human existence

Here.

Thank you, Sir.

- Who are you looking for? - Dr. Ceafalan.

First corridor left...

Stand aside!

- Are you afraid, Manu? - No.

Nothing to be frightened of.

It will be alright.

Hold your breath when he says so.

I want a good X-ray image.

Lie down.

You are cold, in this heat?

A little.

It will only take a minute.

The plate.

Now.

exhausting despair was buzzing around in his head

Good picture!

But, as I suspected,

this is no mere rheumatism.

One vertebra is affected, a piece of bone is missing.

- Missing?! - Have a seat.

How, you ask?

It wasn't stolen, like from a store. It was worn away by microbes.

Completely eaten. Like a tooth with a cavity.

In the spine?

Isn't that where the verterbrae are?!

It's destroyed.

Pott's disease: bone tuberculosis.

It's in the vertebrae.

Is it serious?

You came here to get well.

This scaredy-cat mewling won't help you.

Have some courage, it can be cured.

Another suspicious thing...

Just as the X-ray showed.

These are the affected vertebrae.

Good thing there is no gibbousness.

Otherwise, you'll end up like Richard III.

- You like theatre? - He does.

Supine decubitus!

The belt!

There's an abscess here.

The pus from the vertebra pooled here.

- We'll have to puncture. - How?

It's easy...

Is this a bad time?

No.

We'll do it later. I'm sure-handed.

You may dress.

I came to say goodbye and to thank you.

Such a dear...

As they say: Doctors prescribe, but God only cures!

Splendid!

She came here last year.

Wait, in '35. And now she is cured.

- Congratulations. - Thank you.

- Do stop by sometime. - I will.

Don't forget us.

- The best of health! - Thank you.

Have you had the abscess for long?

It's full of pus from the sick bone.

I've never noticed it. Could it burst?

Of course. Good thing we caught it in time - if it had burst...

- It would have been troublesome. - Now I notice it.

Can you afford the expenses? It isn't cheap.

I'll make every effort. He's our only son.

- Where are you from? - Roman.

I bet you are a merchant.

I have two crystal shops.

- Is that a problem? - God forbid!

he felt very loosely glued together

Carmen Sylva.

In patria nostra multae silvae sunt.

Quae bestiis abundant.

- Let's take a look at the sea. - Sure.

- Came to visit? - Yes.

- Join us! - I'm going inside.

I haven't seen you in whole aeons!

I was caught up in some stupid work.

I was in Kladovo to see Mum.

- Lies! - I got back yesterday.

- Some lemonade? - No, thank you.

- Need help on the stairs? - Go see to your patients.

- I hate that! I'm not a child. - Fine.

Be good while you're here.

I'll send you money, you'll get well.

I'll work.

I'll do it all for you, don't forget it.

Both me and your mother.

Our children are all we have.

I'm sorry, I'm a little agitated.

I feel grateful, but also guilty.

This situation makes me feel outraged.

You'll get well and look after us in our old age.

I will.

I'll lie in bed and yell:

Manu! The war is starting!

It's the Battle of Marasesti, get me my rifle!

We're fighting General Mackensen!

Call General Grigorescu!

How will you handle me, my boy?

I'll take care of you. With a bullet to the head.

Patients lead normal lives here.

They go out, listen to music, wear normal clothes...

They lie in the sun on the terrace...

And not a care in the world!

They just have to lie down.

You can even drive a carriage reclining.

Like in a sulky.

Yes.

I'd like some gefilte fish .

There, gefilte goby!

Come back!

- Don't leave without telling anyone! - Sorry.

Your room.

It's disinfected with sulphur.

The bathroom is at the end of the corridor.

Excellent! Do you like it, Manu?

It's like a hotel! Grand Hotel Victoria Româna !

Ritzhak Hotel!

You won't even feel like an ill man.

- Who stayed here before? - Many people.

- Anyone who died? - Of course not!

The last one was a girl, but she went to Berck-sur-Mer.

The doctor will come soon.

Are there many patients like me?

Like you? I don't even know what to call you...

"Call out three words: champagne, wine, Rhein!"

- I mean easy? - Yes!

Some have ten sick vertebrae. Or their legs...

You're fine, I hear your abscess isn't even fistulised.

- Fistulised? - It means "burst".

A leaky hole.

It's not burst.

Some say an open fistule is an open door to death.

- Doctors? - No, superstitious patients.

Animals...

new expectations and new hopes, immense, were born in me

Anaesthetic!

If the abscess isn't open, there is almost no danger.

She'll finish in a second.

We need to drain the pus so it won't burst.

What if it does open?

The pus may get infected in contact with bacteria,

causing blood poisoning.

Sometimes... the patient croaks in a few days.

Other times the patient makes it.

And the abscess keeps leaking for years.

You should know, so you avoid any agitation.

The pus will stop forming.

The abscess will disappear.

Don't move!

Done!

Look here, my friend. Pus!

The abscess was full.

Lie on your back.

Let him get used to lying down.

We'll let you settle in.

Then we'll put you in a cast.

- A cast? - It's nothing serious.

It protects you from spine fractures.

a claw sank into the anaesthetic-petrified flesh

When he pierced your belly with that thick needle,

I felt my knees give way.

Any longer and I would have collapsed.

You're so brave, son.

I'll go pay.

Don't go anywhere alone, even to the toilet.

Ring the bell and I'll bring the bedpan.

For you, Mr. Nelu.

But Sir is too generous.

Take care of him.

- He's still a boy. - He won't want for anything.

Whatever you need, just ring and I'll be right here.

Thank you.

those around me seemed pitiable for how naively they believed

in all they did and felt

Why are you laughing?

It's ridiculous!

Doctor, don't!

- I'll miss you. - Stop that.

Remember the gramophone.

I'll send it as soon as I get home.

- Be brave. - I will, don't worry.

Give a kiss to Mum and my sisters.

Send the radio, too.

I'll make a list of books, too.

We'll talk on the telephone.

- We have one. - They have one!

Bye, then.

Be strong. And good.

Have a safe trip!

Keep a steady heart, Your Grimyness! May you be a furry carp soon!

Have a safe trip!

the impression that nothing is real