"This is Mr. Stallings, doctor."
Dr. Needzak motioned the patient to a chair. Stallings sat down, slowly but limberly. He still held his hat, and placed it in the precise center of his lap. The receptionist handed a form to Dr. Needzak and returned to the waiting room, after looking once over her shoulder.
"You're only 125, Mr. Stallings?" Dr. Needzak asked. The patient nodded sadly. "Well, you should be hale and hearty2 for another 50 years, judging by the report on your preliminary exam. Are you sure that it's any use for you to consult me?"
"I wouldn't bother you," Stallings said, age showing only in the high pitch of his voice, "except for the funny feeling in my chest the other day. I had to visit an office on the twelfth story. The elevator wasn't running, so I walked up. Just as an experiment, I went as fast as I could. The way my chest felt got me so interested and excited that I forgot what I wanted at the office, once I was there. So I thought that that was a hopeful enough sign for me to come around and see you."
Dr. Needzak, a young man at 50 and who looked even younger, hoisted3 the stethoscope amplifier onto his desk, turned it on, and signalled for Stallings to unbutton his shirt. He placed the stethoscope against the bony chest. The bumping of the heart filled the room, drew a wild pattern on the unfolding strip of paper in the visual section of the amplifier, and created magnetic patterns on the tape.
Dr. Needzak listened for two minutes, then thumbed through a reference listing of visual heart patterns. Finally he switched off the amplifier, and said:
"You have no history of heart trouble."
"I'm afraid not."
"Well, I don't want to raise false hopes. The only thing that I can suggest is more physical exertion4. Really vigorous exertion, the kind that makes you pant and tremble and get a bit dizzy. Try that every day for a month and come back to see me. There's just a trace of a flutter now, and we might be able to speed up its development."
The old man smiled for the first time, at something that his eyes saw behind the white plaster of the far wall. Finally, Stallings rose to leave. Buttoning himself up, he said: "You'll send the bill?"
Dr. Needzak laughed genially5. "I can see that you aren't accustomed to visiting doctors, young man. The better the doctor, the more risky6 it is to send the bill. My policy is to request full payment before the patient leaves the office, just in case I've given the right sort of advice. In cases where I prescribe medicine, of course, you may pay for the prescription7 and the consultation8 fee simultaneously9. Before taking the medicine, you understand." Again he laughed.
"I understand. I should have guessed. I work in a bank myself. I hate the work. I'm tired of everything, in fact. But I know how important it is to pay promptly10."
The doctor had just filed away Stallings' physical record when the receptionist ushered in an extremely elderly woman. Dr. Needzak smiled broadly, and said:
"Mrs. Watkins! I didn't expect to see you again so soon." He waved in annoyance11 at the receptionist, who hovered12 behind the new patient. She left, reluctantly.
Mrs. Watkins groped her way to the chair, wincing13 when the receptionist slammed the door. The old woman rubbed her bony forehead with a mottled hand that trembled and said:
"I know that I wasn't supposed to come back for another three months. But did you realize that I'll have my 190th birthday before those three months are up? When a person gets to be that old, she looks forward to seeing the doctor more than she used to look forward for Santa to arrive back in the old days."
"No symptoms since your last visit?" Dr. Needzak spoke14 more loudly than usual in deference15 to her failing hearing, and turned up the light to aid weak, old eyes.
"None." She spat16 out the word. "I'm going to change doctors, if this keeps up. I've heard of a couple of doctors who aren't as scrupulous17 as you are. After living all this time, I think that I could be permitted one little crime, lying to them about a symptom. Then I know that I'd be made happy. What's the use being moral when you're too frail18 and tottery19 to enjoy life?"
Dr. Needzak shook his head, disapprovingly20. "I don't think you're quite as miserable21 as you think you are. Don't go to those quack22 doctors. Suppose you're caught, halfway23 through a crime? You might linger for decades, half-well, half-sick, from the effects of what they'd give you. Even the quacks24 won't supply you with strychnine, you know."
"I know. I shouldn't have suggested it. But I get so tired of living."
"Well, I can't see any physical trouble that could have developed enough to warrant a complete exam since your last one. Maybe those arteries25 will start hardening by the time you have that 190th birthday. Or you could take up chemistry as a hobby. Just think what a fine explosion you might get mixed up in!"
"I thought of that." A couple of tears trickled26 down the wrinkled cheeks of Mrs. Watkins. "But the thrice-great-grandchildren watch me like a hawk27. They don't let me do anything that might hurt me. I suppose I'll just have to wait, and hope, and wait, and pray."
She rose, very suddenly. Then she shook her head disgustedly. "I don't even get dizzy when I do that, like most people my age. Thank you, anyway, doctor." Mrs. Watkins walked out with dignity.
Dr. Needzak noticed that his waiting room was filling rapidly, during the two seconds that Mrs. Watkins opened the door to leave. He fumed28 inwardly at his patience in dealing29 at length with cases like the last two, whom he couldn't possibly be sure of helping30.
But his ill-humor was replaced by astonishment31. The receptionist introduced a woman even younger than he. She was very pale, but Dr. Needzak guessed that that pallor derived32 from tension, not some rare organic disturbance33.
"Are you sure that you haven't made a mistake, Miss Tillett?" He asked the question quietly, trying to catch her eyes. She kept them resolutely34 on her hands, which were folding and unfolding in her lap.
"I talked with several good friends before coming to you, doctor," the girl said. Her voice was very low. "You had been a good doctor for their grandparents or great-grandparents. They told me that you could help me, if anybody could."
"But your preliminary examination shows nothing whatsoever35 wrong with you," the doctor said. "It'll be another century before you would normally develop the slightest symptom on which I'd be allowed to work. And people of your age just don't go to doctors. It's only when you're past the century mark, and know that decade after decade stretches out ahead of you, that you start feeling that a doctor might—"
"Please," she interrupted, almost inaudibly. "I don't think that a physician should allow the consideration of a patient's age to enter into his course of action. For personal reasons, I may need a doctor more than the average person six times my age."
"Will you tell me something about yourself? I'm not curious, except as far as knowledge might affect my recommendations."
"I don't care to discuss personal problems. Now, doctor, your assistant who gave the preliminary examination overlooked the reason for my coming to you. Right here," and she carefully touched a spot on the well-tailored dress. "I think that it might be a tumor36."
"What good does it do to come to a doctor for that?" Dr. Needzak said. "Tumors are so rare that there's very little chance that it's more than your imagination. And the best physician can't speed up the growth of a tumor, or change it from benign37 to malign38."
"A physician can diagnose," she answered. "If it's malign, I'll be able to have patience. I won't need to break the law." Unexpectedly, grotesquely39, she drew one finger across her throat in a cutting gesture, and looked squarely at him for the first time.
Dr. Needzak walked softly to the door that led to the reception room. He drew noiselessly a bolt across the jamb, locking it. Then he pointed40 to another door, telling the girl: "Go in there and undress. I'll be ready for you in a moment."
He whistled softly under his breath, as he pulled instruments and jars of colored substances from the deepest recesses41 of a cupboard.
The girl already lay calmly on a metal table in the inner room when Dr. Needzak entered. He staggered a trifle under a precariously42 balanced pile of equipment in his arms. He explained:
"I should let the receptionist do the hard work like this. But I don't let her snoop around in this private room."
"Will you really need all those things?" the girl asked, uncertainly. "I thought that you just snip43 out a tiny specimen44 with a little gadget45, to make a diagnosis46."
"I could probably get along with just that one gadget," the doctor said. He pulled a mask from a drawer and snapped on the sterilite. "But I'm an old boy scout47 at heart. Always prepared." Unexpectedly, he plopped the mask squarely over the girl's face. Her cry was almost inaudible, as the thick gauze clamped itself over her mouth, clung tightly beneath the jaw48.
Dr. Needzak pinioned49 her shoulders to the table, while her legs kicked wildly for a few seconds. The anesthetic50 stopped the kicking within five seconds. He waited for a count of ten, before he wrenched51 the mask free. Turning up the sterilite to full strength, Dr. Needzak began to line up surgical52 instruments in a neat row, humming under his breath.
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1
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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risky
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| adj.有风险的，冒险的 | |
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7
prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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8
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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wincing
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的现在分词 ) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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18
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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tottery
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| adj.蹒跚的，摇摇欲倒 | |
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disapprovingly
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| adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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24
quacks
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| abbr.quacksalvers 庸医，骗子(16世纪习惯用水银或汞治疗梅毒的人)n.江湖医生( quack的名词复数 )；江湖郎中；（鸭子的）呱呱声v.（鸭子）发出嘎嘎声( quack的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
arteries
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| n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道 | |
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trickled
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| v.滴( trickle的过去式和过去分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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28
fumed
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| 愤怒( fume的过去式和过去分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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tumor
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| n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour | |
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benign
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| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
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malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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grotesquely
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| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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41
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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42
precariously
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| adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地 | |
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43
snip
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| n.便宜货，廉价货，剪，剪断 | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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gadget
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| n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿 | |
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46
diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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47
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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48
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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49
pinioned
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
anesthetic
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| n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的 | |
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51
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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52
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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