Chapter 21 Chapter 20
As word spread throughout Spinalonga that the danger to the island had been quelled, it was not long before everyone knew that Dr. Crittis had single-handedly dispersed the clamoring mob.He became an instant hero.When Crittis came to the island as usual the second Wednesday, he was more eager than ever to see Maria.The doctor himself was taken aback by the fact that he had such strong feelings for her.During that week, he seldom thought about anything else.Maria picked him up at the pier, a familiar figure in a green coat, and today she had a big smile on her face.
"Thank you, Dr. Crittis," she said before he jumped out of the boat. "My father told me how you resisted those people, and everyone here is very grateful for what you did for us."
Now Critics stood on dry land.With all his heart and soul he wanted to hold her in his arms and declare his love to her, but this natural gesture was thwarted by the reticence he had been accustomed to all his life, and he knew he couldn't do it.
"Anyone would do it, it's all right," he said quietly, "I did it for you."
The words he said were so off guard, even though he knew he should be more careful.
"It's also for everyone on this island." He hastily added.
Maria didn't say anything, and Krittis wondered if she heard.As usual, they walked through the tunnel together, their shoes crunching on the rough ground, neither of them speaking, but tacitly agreed to go to her for coffee before going to the hospital.But as they turned the corner, he saw immediately that today was a little different than usual.It was dark at the exit, and the main street of Spinalonga, which was usually visible there, was now also blurred.The reason soon became clear—a large crowd, perhaps two hundred people, had gathered there.Almost all residents on the island who could walk out of their homes came out to meet the doctor.Children, young men, and old men with canes, in hats and collars turned up, all showed up on this cold morning to express their gratitude.When Kritis appeared, warm applause erupted from all around.He paused, startled at being the center of attention.After the applause subsided, Papadimitriou came out.
"Dr. Kritis, on behalf of every resident of the island, I would like to thank you for your actions this past week. We know you saved us all from aggression, injury or death. You will be forever grateful. "
Pairs of expectant eyes looked at him.They want to hear his voice.
"You all have the same right to life as anyone else on the mainland. As long as I am connected with you, no one can destroy this place."
The islanders once again burst into warm applause, and then dispersed one after another, doing what they should do.Kritis has been submerged in everyone's warm welcome, and he is relieved when he no longer attracts everyone's attention.Papa Dimitrio came to him now and walked with him.
"I'll accompany you to the hospital," he said, not realizing that he was depriving the doctor of precious time with Maria.Maria looked at the scattered crowd and knew she couldn't expect Kritis to go to her house.It's too inappropriate in this situation.She looked at his back as he went away and returned to her home.Two teacups were placed in the middle of the small table, and when she poured a cup of brewed coffee and sat down to drink, she said to the imaginary figure on the other side of the table: "Okay, Doctor Crittis, now you are a hero." .”
At the same time, Crittis is also missing Maria.How could he wait until next Wednesday to see her again?Seven days!One hundred and sixty-eight hours!However, there are plenty of things for him to think about here.Hospitals are under pressure.Dozens of leprosy patients needed urgent care, and only two people managed the entire hospital. Lapakis and Manakis were more relieved than ever to see him come.
"Good morning, Nicholas!" cried Lapakis mockingly, "the best doctor in Crete, the saint of Spinalonga!"
"Oh, come on, Christo," Crittis replied, a little embarrassed, "you'd do the same thing, you know."
"I'm not sure, you know. Anyway, they're rough."
"Okay, that was last week," Kritis said, brushing the episode aside. "We're going to get on with today. How about the trial patients?"
"Let's go to my office together, and I will tell you the basic situation."
Lapakis had a large stack of papers on his desk.He picked them up and gave his friend and colleague a brief account of each patient receiving the drug. Most of the fifteen tested positive, but not all.
"Two people reacted very strongly," Lapakis said. "One has a temperature of 104 degrees since you left last week. Athena just told me that the other patient's screams at night made the whole island No one on board fell asleep. She kept asking me why she couldn't feel her hands and legs, but she could feel terrible pain. I couldn't answer."
"I'll have a look at it later, but I think it's best to stop the treatment for now. There's a good chance it will heal on its own, and if so, dapsone is damaging."
After briefly browsing the medical records, it was time for the two doctors to inspect the ward.It's a brutal job.One patient, with pus-filled lumps all over his body, was tearing up in pain as Lapakis wiped the sores dry with trichloroacetic acid.The other listened quietly to Dr. Kritis's suggestion of amputation, which was the best way to deal with the dead bone in the hand, a simple operation that didn't even require anesthesia, since that part of the body was insensible.Another patient was optimistic after Lapakis said he planned to have a tendon graft in his foot so he could stand.At each bedside, doctors consult with patients on what to do next.Some patients will have pain medication injected, and others may have infected skin removed.
The first outpatients arrived.Some came just to re-bandage their festering feet, but some were tiring, one woman in particular came to ask for a leprosy nodule on her nose to be removed, and a lot of epinephrine cotton pads were used to stop the bleeding.
These things lasted until noon, and then it was time to check on patients receiving new treatments.One thing is clear—in the months since the trial, the new drug therapy has yielded encouraging results, with most patients free of the side effects Kritis feared.He watches weekly for signs of anemia, hepatitis, and delirium. Other doctors who have used dapsone have reported possible side effects, but he is relieved that none have been reported here.
"We're going from twenty-five milligrams of dapsone to three hundred milligrams twice a week," Lapakis said. "That's the most I can give them, right?"
"I certainly wouldn't recommend raising the dose any further. If the current dose is producing these results, I think we should look at that as the upper limit of the dose, especially given how long they've been injecting the drug. The latest guidance is in patients. We should continue dapsone for a few more years after the germs have ceased to be active," said Crittis, pausing and adding, "That's a long stretch, but if it's curable, I can't think of anything they can do. Good to complain about."
"How about moving on to the next group of patients?"
Lapakis was excited and impatient.No one can boldly claim that these leprosy patients are cured. It will be months before they can actually pass the test and there is no more leprosy bacteria in their bodies.He felt in his heart that after so many years of negotiating, false starts, and no real belief in healing, the turning point had finally come!Hope replaced abandonment and despair!
"Yeah, there's no point in waiting. I think we should take fifteen more if we can. Like before, they should be in good health," Kritis said.
He wanted wholeheartedly to make sure Maria was on the list, but he knew it was unprofessional to include his own influence.His thoughts wandered from discussing the new treatment options to when he would see Maria again.Every day passes like a century.
The following Monday, Fotini came to the island as usual.Maria wanted to tell her about the heroic reception Dr. Kritis had received last week, but she could see that Fotini had broken news.She said it almost before entering Maria's house: "Anna is pregnant!"
"Thank God, finally!" said Maria, not sure if the news was good or bad. "Does my dad know?"
"He couldn't have known, or he'd have told you about it, wouldn't he?"
"I guess he will," she said thoughtfully. "How did you find out?"
"Through Antonis, of course. Anyway, the speculation has been going on at the estate for weeks."
"Then tell me. Tell me what they're talking about," Maria said, eager to find out.
"Well, for a few weeks, Anna was not seen outside the house, people said she was sick, and then one day last week she finally reappeared in front of everyone - obviously a lot fatter."
"But that doesn't necessarily mean she's pregnant?" said Maria.
"Oh yes, pregnant, because they announced it: she's three and a half months pregnant."
During the first few months of pregnancy, Anna was plagued by discomfort.Every day, starting in the morning, she vomited and felt nauseous all day, and what she ate couldn't stay in her body. For weeks, her doctors doubted whether the baby would survive.He had never seen a woman so reactive to pregnancy, so debilitated by pregnancy.After the vomiting passed, a new problem arose—she began to bleed.The only way to keep your baby is absolute bed rest.Yet the child seemed determined to hang on to her.It wasn't until the fourteenth week of pregnancy that things stabilized.To Andrés' relief, Anna was able to get out of bed.
Anna looked at the face in the mirror that was haggard a month ago, and now it was round again. When she turned sideways, she could clearly see the bulge of her stomach.Her signature slim-fitting dresses, all tucked into her closet, now wear baggy clothes under which her belly bulges.
This became a cause for celebration at the estate.One evening, Andres opened his wine cellar, and all the workers gathered outside under the tree to drink the best wine of the previous year.Manoli was there, too, and he was the loudest as people toasted the upcoming baby.
Maria found it hard to believe as Fotini described recent events.
"I don't believe she thought of going to see Daddy at all," she said. "She never thinks of anyone but herself, does she? Shall I tell Daddy, or shall I wait until she finds time to talk about it herself?"
"If I were you, I'd tell him. Otherwise he'd be sure to hear it elsewhere."
They sat in silence for a while.The prospect of children is often the most exciting, especially among women and such close relatives.However, this time is not the case.
"Perhaps it belongs to Andrés?"
Maria said the unspeakable words.
"I don't know. I have a hunch that Ana doesn't know either, but Antonis said the rumors were still circulating. They were all very happy and toasted to the safe arrival of the newborn, but behind Andres , and many people are still chewing their tongues."
"That's not surprising, is it?"
The two women talked for a while longer.This important new development in the family brushes aside everything else, temporarily distracting Maria from the thoughts of Crittis and the heroic act of last week, which they have seen for weeks, Fotini For the first time she realized she hadn't heard Maria babbling about the doctor. "Dr. Critics here, Dr. Crittis there!" She laughed at Maria, pointing out the latter's intensified infatuation, and Maria's face suddenly turned red like a mountain poppy.
"I've got to tell Papa about Anna as soon as possible," Maria said. "I'm going to give him the good news that Anna's too sick to see him. Besides, it's more or less true."
When they got back to the pier, Giorgis had unloaded all the boxes he had brought and was sitting on the low wall under a tree, smoking quietly and watching the scenery.
Although he has sat there a thousand times, the combination of weather and light makes every day a different scene.Sometimes the bare mountains that emerged behind Plaka were blue, sometimes yellowish, sometimes gray.Today, there are some low clouds in the sky, and the mountains can't be seen clearly at all.The wind whipped the sea, and in some places the waves rolled up and splashed in all directions, flying over the water like a stream.The ocean seemed to dissolve into a hissing boiler of boiling water, but in reality it was as cold as ice.
The women's voices woke him from his daydream, and he stood up, readying the boat for departure.His daughter quickened her pace.
"Dad, don't rush away. There's news! Really good news!" she said, trying to sound happy.Giorgis stopped.The only good news he wanted to hear was for Maria to say one day that she could go home.It was the only thing in the world that made him pray.
"Anna is pregnant," she said simply.
"Anna?" he said vaguely, as if forgetting who she was. "Anna," he repeated, staring at the ground.In fact, he hasn't seen his eldest daughter in about a year.Since the day that Maria started living on Spinalonga, Ana had not seen him once, and since Giorgis was a persona non grata at the Vendorakis, contact had been broken.It was terribly sad at first, but as time passed, he gradually forgot that he had such a daughter, even though he knew the bond would always be there.Occasionally he would think, these two daughters were born and raised by the same parents, and they have been raised in the same way since they were born, how could there be such a big difference?But that was all he had thought about Anna recently.
"That's fine," he said finally, trying to respond. "When is it?"
"August, we reckon," Maria replied. "Why don't you write to her?"
"Yeah, maybe I should write a letter. That's a good excuse to get in touch."
How should he react to hearing that his first grandson is about to be born?He had seen several of his friends ecstatic about becoming grandfathers.Just a year ago, when his best friend Pavlos Angelopoulos celebrated the birth of Fotini's baby, drinking and dancing impromptu, it seemed like the whole of Plaka had flocked to the tavern to join him celebrate.Giorgis couldn't picture himself drinking Chicodia to celebrate the birth of Anna's baby, at least, that was an excuse to write to her.Later that week he would ask Maria to write the letter, but there was no rush.
Two days later, it was the day when Kritis came to visit.Whenever he was to come to Spinalonga, he would wake up at five in the morning, anticipating the taste of espresso on his lips in the last few miles of the long journey from Heraklion.He could see Maria was waiting for him, and he had mentally rehearsed what he was going to say to her many times today.In his mind, he saw an eloquent but passionate self, quiet but passionate, but when he got off the boat and saw the face of the beautiful woman he loved, he knew he shouldn't be so in a hurry.Although she looked at him like a friend, she spoke to him as a patient. As her doctor, he realized that the dream of professing love to her was nothing but a dream.It is impossible for him to cross the barrier of identity.
They walked through the tunnel as usual, but this time, to his relief, there was no cheering at the end of the tunnel.As usual, the cups were on the table and Maria had made the coffee before he came to save time.
"People are still talking about how you saved us," she said, taking the coffee pot off the stove.
"It's kind of them, so grateful, but I'm sure they'll forget it before long. I just hope the troublemakers stay away in the future."
"Oh, I think they will. Fotini told me it was started by a rumor that a local boy had been taken to the hospital in Heraklion for leprosy. But the boy and his father Came back last week. They just went to Hariya to visit the boy's grandmother and decided to stay there for a few days. He was not sick at all."
Crittis listened intently to Maria, determined to keep his emotions in check.Otherwise it would be wrong and against his identity.
“The results of the drug treatment have been encouraging,” he said, changing the subject. “Some patients actually see improvement.”
"I know," she said. "Dimitri Rimonias is one of them. I was talking to him yesterday. He said he felt the change."
"Probably psychological," said Kritis. "It's easy to irritate a patient with this kind of treatment. Dr. Lapakis is compiling a list of personnel from which we will select another group. Finally, I hope that all Almost all islanders have access to this new drug."
He wanted to say he wanted her on that list.He wanted to say that if she was saved, all these years of research and experimentation would be worth it.He wants to say he loves her.But he didn't say a word.
As much as he wanted to stay a little longer in Maria's beautiful room, he had to go.Another seven days would be slogging through before he saw her again, but he couldn't stand being unpunctual, either himself or anyone else, and he knew everyone in the hospital was waiting for him.His diligence and punctuality took on all the more importance as Wednesday shone like a ray of sunshine on a dark week of toil and overwork for him and Dr. Lapakis.Overworked by the use of medication, the two doctors were stretched to the limit.Not only did they have to take care of patients who had a leprosy-like reaction, but now they also had to take care of those who had side effects.For many consecutive nights, Lapakis did not leave the island until ten o'clock, and sometimes returned at seven o'clock the next morning.Before long, he had to consider increasing the frequency of his visits to Spinalonga, to two or even three times a week.
Within two weeks, Dr. Lapakis had shortlisted a second group of new treatments.Maria was among them.One Wednesday in mid-March, when the wildflowers on the northern slopes of Spinalonga were in full bloom, and the tightly-wrapped buds on the almond trees were in full bloom, Crittis came to Maria's house to see her.It was six o'clock then, and she was surprised to hear a knock at the door.She was even more amazed to see the doctor standing outside the door, knowing that he was usually eager to join her father before he began the long journey back to Heraklion.
"Doctor Kritis, come in... what can I do for you?"
The evening light came in through the gauze window, casting amber light, as if the whole village was burning outside. At this moment, Crittis's thoughts were all on Maria, and he might have thought that the village was really burning.To Maria's surprise, he grabbed her hands.
"You're starting treatment next week," he said, looking her in the eye, adding with absolute certainty, "One day, you'll be off this island."
He has practiced many words many times, but when this moment really comes, he can only express his affection with silent gestures.And to Maria, the hands that held her, the hands that held her cold fingers lightly, were more intimate than any words, a clearer declaration of love.The revitalized emotion of skin-to-skin connection nearly overwhelmed her.
When Maria and Kritis sat down to discuss those abstract matters, even in the intervals of silence, she felt whole and content.That's how she felt when she found a lost wallet or a key, that peace and wholeness that came after a frenzied search—that's what it felt like to be with Dr. Crittis.
She couldn't help comparing him with Manoli, whose flamboyant talk and frivolous behavior always flowed freely from him like water from a burst pipe.The first time they met at the Vendorakis' house, he'd grab her hand and kiss it as if he'd fallen in love.Yes, that was it: she knew with absolute certainty that Manoli was not really in love with her, he had only the idea of being in love.At this moment, Kritis, judging from his various performances, he was not aware of his emotions.He is too busy and absorbed in his work to recognize the signs or manifestations of love.
Maria looked up.Their eyes, their hands are now tightly intertwined.His eyes were full of kindness and sympathy.The two of them stood for an unknown how long, as if a century had passed, enough to end their lives and give them a new life.
"I'll see you next week," Kritis said finally. "By then I hope Dr. Lapakis has set a date for you to start the new treatment. Goodbye, Maria."
He leaves her home.Maria watched the slender figure of Crittis disappear around the corner, out of sight.She felt that she knew him already.Even earlier in her life, when he came to Spinalonga before the German occupation, she knew him from the first sight she saw.Though he had made no impression on her then, she now found herself unable to imagine what it would be like not to love him.In her heart, what was originally living in the large space that Critics occupied now?
Although the love between Maria and the doctor was not stated explicitly, Fotini could still clearly perceive many things.When she came on Monday, it was obvious to her that something had changed in her old friend.Their friendship allows her to detect the clues of Maria's emotional changes.If a person's hair looks a little dry, or their skin is sallow, or their eyes are dull, there is always the slightest hint of unhappiness or illness.Women notice these things about each other, just as they notice the sparkle in an eye or a smile that never fades.Maria looked radiant today.
"You look like you've been cured." Fotini laughed at her, and she put the bag on the table. "Tell me quickly. What happened?"
"Doctor Crittis—" Maria began.
"As if I couldn't guess it," Fotini teased her, "go on..."
"I don't know what to tell you, really. He didn't even say anything."
"But what did he do?" Fotini urged, with the enthusiasm of a good friend wanting to know the details.
"He shook my hand, that's all, but that must mean something. I'm sure."
Maria knew that a handshake was commonplace for people out in the wide world, but even in Crete it was a formal ceremony between unmarried men and women.
"He said I was going to start a new treatment soon, he said that one day I would leave the island ... he said it like he cared."
All these seem like feeble declarations of love.Fotini had never met Kritis formally, so how could she judge him?But, in front of her, she saw her best friend full of joy.This is true and true.
"If people here knew about your relationship with the doctor, what would they think?" Fotini was practical.She knew how people talked in small places, like Spinalonga and Plaka, where the relationship between doctor and patient kept people talking late at night at the door.
"Don't let anyone know. I'm sure someone has noticed him coming out of my house every Wednesday morning, but no one has said anything. At least not to my face."
She is right.Some gossips want to spread rumors, but people on the island like Maria very much, and vicious gossip will only stick to those who are not very popular.Mariah's biggest concern was people thinking she was being treated with priority; for example, being first in line for an injection, or getting some other little privilege, no matter how trivial, that was enviable.That would reflect badly on Kritis, and she was determined to make sure he wasn't blamed.Like Catalina Papadimitririo, she's pretty much in the way, she's seen Kritis leave Maria's house many times, and it's also disturbing for someone who wants to control everything around her .The island owner's wife tried every means to find out from Maria what Critics was doing there, but Maria deliberately avoided answering.She has the right to secrecy.Another nuisance was Christina Krostalakis, the purveyor of unofficial information who had spent the past year relentlessly discrediting Maria.Every evening she would go into the tavern, without proof, and tell everyone that Maria Petkis was not worthy of everyone's trust.
"She's flirting with the specialist, you know," she whispered, "and you mark my words, she'll be cured and off the island before we do."
The task of stoking people's anger and discontent sustains her.She had tried, and failed, to do the same to Maria's mother; and now she would do her best to disturb the tranquility of her daughter's mind.But Maria was strong enough to resist this kind of behavior. She was deeply in love with the doctor, and no one else could control her happiness.
Maria's treatment began that month.Since she came to Spinalonga, her condition has progressed slowly, and she has had very few patches of numbness on her skin over the past year and a half.Unlike most islanders, she has no numbness in the soles of her feet or palms, which means she is less susceptible to the pain and decay that cost many lepers the loss of walking and need for care.If a pebble got in her shoe, she felt it quickly, and when she helped the sick in "the block," her soft hands curled up around the ears of the big cooking pot, and they felt it. Just as flexible as ever.It made her one of the lucky ones, but, nonetheless, she was relieved that something was being done to fight the disease.Although the disease did not devour her body, it had completely destroyed her life.
The spring monsoon blows from the south, shuttles between the mountains, and comes to Mirabello Bay, whipping the sea and setting off white raging waves.Meanwhile, the trees on land, already in full bloom and budding, began to rustle.The clatter of dry, bare branches is better than anything.Now it was almost May, and the sun was shining every day, turning the earth into colors, the monotonous sky and rocks disappeared, and the world was covered with blues, golds, greens, yellows and purples.In early summer, the birds twittered happily, and for the next two months, nature quieted down, as if at a standstill.There was no breeze, and the scents of roses and hibiscus wafted in the air.Leaves and flowers struggled to emerge from winter dormancy, were beautiful in June and July, then curled and dried in the hot sun.
Dr. Krittis continued to visit Maria at home once a week.They didn't say a word about each other's feelings.There is something magical about silence too, like the most beautiful and fragile soap bubble rising in space and time, visible and colorful, but best left alone.One day, Maria wondered if her parents always had love on their lips.She guessed so well, they seldom spoke; in their happy marriage there was no need to speak of a sentiment so certain, so unquestionable.
Throughout the summer, Maria, and half the islanders, continued to take dapsone.They know it doesn't mean a cure will happen overnight.Or, as the sarcastic put it, a "daydream under the gallows."But at least it brings them hope, and even those who are still waiting for treatment are beginning to be immersed in optimism.However, not everyone is healthy.In July, two weeks after starting her course of treatment, Elpida Kentumaris entered the leprosy reaction phase.The doctors weren't sure if it was the result of the medication, but they stopped the injection immediately and did everything they could to ease her pain.Her body temperature was out of control, and it didn't drop below 105 degrees for ten consecutive days.She was rotting and aching, and every nerve was fragile; Maria insisted on seeing her in spite of all the hospital's regulations.Dr. Lapakis allowed her to enter the old lady's small ward, where Elpida lay crying and sweating.
She saw Maria through her half-closed eyes.
"Maria," she whispered hoarsely, "they can't help me."
"Your body is fighting the disease. You must never give up hope," Maria encouraged her, "especially now! For the first time, the doctors are so confident they can cure it."
"No, listen to me," Elpida begged Maria through the burning wall of uncontrollable pain, "I've been sick for so long, I just want to go now. I want to be with Petros ...please tell them to let me go."
Maria sat on an old wooden chair by the bed and held the old lady's weak hand.Did mother go through the same death process, she thought?The same brutal battle, the exhausted body finds itself attacked without any defenses?She couldn't say goodbye to her mother here, but she wanted to stay with Elpida until the end.
Sometimes, that hot night, Athena Manakis would come to comfort her.
"Come on, go get some rest," she said. "If you sit here all night without eating or drinking, it won't do you any good. I'll stay with Elpida for a while."
Elpida's breathing is weak now.She seemed to be pain free for the first time.Maria knew she might not live long, and she didn't want to miss the moment when Elpida was gone.
"I will stay," she said firmly, "I must stay."
Maria's instincts were right.Not long after, in the quietest hour of the night, when people were about to stop their activities and the birds were about to move, Elpida gave a final sigh and left.She was finally freed from her ravaged body.Maria cried out her tears and cried so hard that she couldn't help herself.Not only did she feel sorry for the old woman who had given her so much friendship from the first day she set foot on the island, but she also wept for her own mother, whose final days must have been as painful as Elpida's.
The funeral was a big event, and everyone on the island poured into the chapel of San Pantalemon, the priest performed the service at the door, and the hundreds of people standing in the sun-baked street could compete with those who had packed into the cooler churches. People come to participate.When the hymns and prayers were over, the coffin strewn with flowers was carried out and marched at the head of the procession, which snaked past the hospital, the "blocks," and around uninhabited parts of the island from which rocks fell into the eerie The waters of hell.
It's the last week of July, and San Pantalemon's Feast of All Saints falls on the twenty-seventh day of the month.It seems both good and bad to have such a celebration at this time.On the one hand, with the recent burial of many beloved islanders, it appears that the patron saint of healing is not doing his job.On the other hand, some of the medicated people on Spinalonga are starting to show early signs of recovery.In some people the skin infection stopped spreading; in others the blood returned to the organs, and the paralysis seemed to heal.For at least a few people, they felt a miracle was about to happen.Santa Panta Raymond's birthday celebrations had to go ahead, despite the thought that they should mourn their lost friend.
Bread and pies made especially for the holidays are baked the night before.During the day, people procession to the church, candles are lit and prayers are said.In the evening, dancing and martina singing, without the lack of enthusiasm that some recent festivals have seen.When the wind blows towards Plaka, people there can hear the music of lyre and bouzouki floating across the sea from time to time.
“People need a future,” she told Maria Kritis as he sat at his desk the following week, “even if they’re not sure what it’s going to bring.”
"Did you hear what they said?" he asked.Maria is Crittis' eyes and ears in the real world of the leprosy colony.
"Nobody's said they're leaving here yet," she said. "I think we all know it's early days. But the mood has changed. People who haven't started treatment are starting to get upset. They know it's important."
"It's okay. It might seem slow, but I promise you, it's really going to be different this time."
"How slow will it be?" she asked.The question of how long it will take Maria has never asked.
"Even when the disease is no longer active, we need to continue treatment for one to two years, depending on the severity of the disease."
A year or two is but the blink of an eye for this ancient disease, the earliest known disease.But when Crittis looked at Maria, he knew it seemed like eternal life to him, even though neither of them would say it.
It seems that life must be used to balance death, and at the end of August came the news that Anna's child was born.Giorgis told Maria when he came one Friday.It was a daughter, but he hadn't seen the child, and it was Antonis who had rushed back to Braca on Thursday night to tell him.生得很不容易，安娜怀孕的最后一段日子里，病了好几周，分娩很痛苦，拖了很长时间。虽然她还很虚弱，不过医生向她保证，她会很快恢复，可以准备再生一个。但这可是安娜最不想做的事。幸运的是，那个孩子很建康，现在长得很快。
孩子的出生缓和了亚力山特罗斯对吉奥吉斯·佩特基斯的态度，他觉得现在是和解的好时候。这个老人被冷落得够久了。几天后邀请他参加洗礼的信送到了吉奥吉斯手上。洗礼定于下周举行，还有盛宴款待和庆祝活动，这在克里特人来说不需要什么借口。范多拉基家经过十年的等待才有孩子出生，足以成为整个家庭和整个周围地区的感恩和庆祝的理由。拥有土地、为人提供工作机会的人没有子嗣，大家都不喜欢这种被打乱的自然秩序。现在安娜·范多拉基生了一个孩子，人人都相信她还会再生一个，下次应该是个男孩。那就能坚决保证古老模式会延续到下一代。
洗礼在安娜和安德烈斯九年前举行婚礼的同一座伊罗达教堂举行。吉奥吉斯坐在教堂后面硬木板凳上等着。他想，从那以后变化多大啊。教堂里还有几十人，一起在等着他的女儿和丈夫带着孩子来。吉奥吉斯尽量来得晚些，现在坐在那儿，缩在外套里，只想避开同范多拉基家其他人的交谈，那些人他已有两年没见过了。他来的时候，亚力山特罗斯和艾列弗特瑞亚已经坐在教堂前排，挨着他们坐的是马诺里，他正兴致勃勃地和后面一排人说话，他在讲什么趣闻，手舞足蹈，让听的人忍不住哈哈大笑。他还和以前一样英俊，黑发比吉奥吉斯记忆中的要长些，洁白的牙齿在黝黑的皮肤映衬下闪着光。他一定还在想着玛丽娅，吉奥吉斯沉思着，因为他没有再找个姑娘结婚。这时众人站起来。牧师进来了，行经走道，后面跟着安德烈斯和安娜。她抱着一个小小的白色蕾丝襁褓。
吉奥吉斯立即被女儿的出现惊醒了。他以为会见到母爱的光芒，可实际只见到一个憔悴的人影飘过他身边。他回想起伊莲妮在他们两个女儿出生后的样子，那时伊莲妮健康丰满，这对连着好些个月一直怀着孩子的人来说似乎很自然，可安娜却纤弱得像根幼藤。吉奥吉斯好久没有见到安娜了，可是没想到她现在这个样子。安德烈斯也是，吉奥吉斯想，那么僵硬笔直，一如既往地意识到他在这个世界上的地位。
闹哄哄的谈话声停了下来，人群里一片嘘声，让大家安静下来，似乎没人想吵醒孩子。虽然她只知道母亲温暖的手抱着她，幸福得根本意识不到现在是在做什么，这是孩子最重要的时刻。洗礼之前，索菲娅——这是她今后的名字——可能会受到“凶眼”的伤害，可是一旦仪式举行，她的灵魂就将得到保护。
在其他人再次坐下后，马诺里走上前。除了牧师和孩子，他是洗礼上最关键的人物——教父。根据克里特人的习俗，孩子要指定一位教父，他是孩子生命中除了父母以外最重要的人。人们看着、听着牧师念着经文，看到清水洗去孩子尚不存在的罪恶，马诺里和索菲娅的灵魂连接到一起。他双手接过孩子，吻她的前额。这时，任何语言也无法描述萦绕着他的新生婴儿的香味。要珍爱这轻若无物的小生命，这再自然不过。
仪式的最后，牧师用一条洁白的缎带绕过马诺里的肩膀，绕着这个男人与孩子一圈，象征性地打了个结。马诺里低头看着孩子甜美的脸，笑了。她现在醒了，漆黑的、天真无邪的眼睛茫然地看着他。在他脸上，她只看到了宠爱。人们深信不疑，他会永远爱她，会珍爱他的教女，他亲爱的干女儿。
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