No Longer Human ( PDFDrive )

165
face, "I hear you've coughed blood." I felt so grateful,
so happy for that gentle smile that I averted my face <^
and wept. I was completely shattered and smothered _^
by that one gentle smile. -^
I was bundled into an automobile. Flatfish in- „,
formed me in a quiet tone (so calm indeed that it Q,
might almost have been characterized as compassionate)
that I should have to go for the time being to a ^
hospital, and that I should leave everything to them. »*
r
Weeping helplessly, I obeyed whatever the two of
them decreed, like a man bereft of all will, decision 15.
and everything else. The four of us (Yoshiko came OL.
along) were tossed in the car for quite a long time.
About dusk we pulled up at the entrance to a large
hospital in the woods.
My only thought was, "This must be a sanatorium."
I was given a careful, almost unpleasantly considerate
examination by a young doctor. "You'll need
to rest and recuperate here for a while," he said,
pronouncing the words with a smile I could only
describe as bashful. When Flatfish, Horiki and Yoshiko
were about to go, leaving me there alone,
Yoshiko handed me a bundle containing a change of
clothes, then silently offered from her handbag the
hypodermic needle and the remaining medicine. Is