General surgery, day 1. Ana and I enter the room with prof. X, we'll witness a real surgery. We're so excited, giggling and admiring ourselves in scrubs. The room is cold, X has already started. It's a gluteal abscess, he says, with his forearm sinking into a butt cheek. Every time he moves his hand, red waves of blood follow. He picks off something invisible deep in the cheek. Think I've reached the bone, he says, and I glide with a fading smile towards Ana, who collapses in a dignified silence on the tool table.
(Translated by Eleonora Manea / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year II / Corrected by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)
Versiunea în română a acestui text se poate citi aici, în rubrica Ficţiuni Reale.