Each thing she tells you is going to be worse, but if you don’t stop this story now we’re not going to have enough time for what I have to show you.
I’m confused. Right now I can only concentrate on Carla’s story.
Do you see me?
Yes.
Where am I?
I’d forgotten, but yes, you’re here, sitting on the edge of my bed. It’s high, and your feet hang in the air. When you move, it makes the iron frame creak under the mattress. It’s been making noise this whole time.
Where are we?
I know where we are. In the emergency clinic, we’ve been here awhile now.
Do you know for how long?
A day, or five.
Two.
And Nina? Where is Nina right now? The men unloading the barrels smile when they pass us, they’re nice to her, but now she gets up from the grass and shows me her dress, her hands. Her hands are wet, but it’s not from dew, is it?
No. Can you get up?
Get out of bed?
I’m going to get down.
The bed is creaky.
Do you see me?
What makes you think I can’t see?
Put your feet on the floor.
Why are you in pajamas?
If you take twelve steps forward we’ll reach the hallway.
Where is Nina? Does my husband know I’m here?
If you need, I can turn the lights on.
Your mother tells me that the dog made it to the stairs of your house, and sat there for almost a whole afternoon. She says she asked you about the dog several times, and each time you replied that the dog wasn’t the important thing. She says you locked yourself in your room and refused to come out. She says that only when the dog finally slumped to the ground the way she’d seen the ducks do, only then did you come out of the house. You dragged the dog to the backyard, and you buried it.
If you need to, you can lean on my shoulder.
Why is Carla so afraid of you?
Do you see the drawings on the walls?
They’re children’s drawings. Nina draws, too.
How old are these children? Could you say how old they are?
David.
Yes.
I’m confused, I’m mixing up times.
You told me.
Yes, but I understand clearly what is happening, at certain moments.
I think that’s true.
What are you going to show me? I don’t know if I want to see it.
Careful with the stairs.
Slower, please.
There are six steps and then the hallway continues.
Where are we?
These are the rooms in the emergency clinic.
It seems like a big place.
Everything is small here. It’s just that we’re walking slowly. Do you see the drawings?
Are there drawings of yours?
At the end of the hall.
Is the clinic a day-care center too?
Here I am with the ducks, the dog, and the horses, this is my drawing.
What horses?
Carla will tell you about the horses.
What are you going to show me?
We’re almost there.
Your mother has a gold bikini, and when she moves in the driver’s seat the perfume from her sunscreen wafts through the car. Now I realize: she makes that movement on purpose, she intentionally lets the strap fall.
Do you still see me? Amanda, I need you to focus. I don’t want to start again from the beginning.
From the beginning? Have we already done this other times? Where is Nina?
We’re going to go through this door. Here.
Is this happening because of the worms?
Yes, in a way. I’m going to turn on the light.
What is this place?
A classroom.
It’s a preschool. Nina would like this place.
It’s not a preschool. I call it the waiting room.
I don’t feel good, this isn’t a waiting room, David.
What do you feel right now?
I think I have a fever. Is that why everything is so confused? I think that’s why, and also because your attitude is not helpful.
I’m trying to be as clear as possible, Amanda.
That’s not true. I’m missing the most important information.
Nina.
Where is Nina? What happens at the exact moment? Why is all this about worms?
No, no. It’s not about worms. It feels like worms, at first, in your body. But Amanda, we’ve been through all this, too. We’ve already talked about the poison, the contamination. You’ve already told me four times how you got here.
That’s not true.
It is true.
But I don’t know, I still don’t know.
You know. But you don’t understand.
I’m about to die.
Yes.
Why? My hands are shaking a lot.
I don’t see them shaking.
Back in the field, they’re shaking now as I watch Nina leave the well and come over to me.
Amanda, I need you to concentrate.
Carla asks me if I understand now, if in her place I wouldn’t have felt the same way. And now Nina is very close by.
Amanda, don’t get distracted.
She’s frowning.
Do you still see me?
“What’s wrong, Nina? Are you okay?”
Nina looks at her hands.