Chapter 28 Section 22

Lucy Mancini, in the year since Sonny's death, still missed him terribly and terribly, more than any romantic lover.The important reason why she misses him is: he used to be the only man in the world who could make her body complete the act of love.In her young and innocent mind she still believed that he was the only man in the world who could do it. Now, a year later, she basks in the mild Nevada air.At her feet, the slender, blond young man was stroking her toes.They spent Sunday afternoons by the hotel pool; he ran his hands from her feet up to her bare thighs, despite the crowds around them.

"Oh, Julius, don't be like this," Lu Xi said, "At least a doctor will not get carried away as easily as ordinary people." She smiled when Julius. "I'm a Vegas doctor," he said, running his hand up the inside of her thigh to tickle.He was surprised that such a small gesture excited her so much.Her excitement was evident on her face, although she tried to hide it.She was indeed a very simple and innocent girl.So why couldn't he make her obey?He had to make an estimate of that.Don't bother with the nonsense about lost love that can't be made up.Dr. Julius Sigal made up his mind and was going to try to force it in his room this evening.He hadn't played any tricks before, and he had tried outspokenly to get her to comply, but it hadn't worked.But if sleight-of-hand tricks were necessary to succeed, he was a man who was good at it.Of course, everything is for scientific research.And besides, the poor girl was really crazy about that.

"Julis, stop, please stop." Lucy's voice was trembling. Julius immediately retracted his hand. "Okay, dear," he said. He put his head in her arms and took a nap, using her soft thigh as a pillow.He found it very interesting.When she puts her hand on his head and brushes his hair, he teasingly grabs her wrist, holding her hand with infatuated admiration but actually giving her her pulse.Her pulse was beating violently.He could get her tonight.Then he can solve the mystery and find out what the reason is.Dr. Julius Sigal fell asleep with confidence and peace of mind.

Lucy surveyed the people around the pool.She never imagined that in less than two years, her life had changed so much.She never regretted the "stupid thing" she did when Connie Corleone was married.It was the happiest thing that had ever happened to her.Again and again in her dreams she relived the enjoyment of that time, and the ecstasy of the months that followed. Sonny visited her once a week, sometimes several times a week, but never less than once.The relationship between them is naked sexual need, without adultery or any form of rationality.This kind of love, in terms of nature, is the most vulgar, a kind of carnal love, a kind of carnal love that yearns for the flesh of the opposite sex.

Whenever Sonny called to say he was coming, she made sure he had enough to drink.Supper and breakfast had to be prepared, as he usually did not leave until long after dawn the next morning.He had his own key, and as soon as he entered the door, she flew into his arms and let him wrap her in his thick arms.The two of them were always direct and instinctive like animals. At first she was a little ashamed of her own excesses, but she soon discovered that there was an animal directness in all this behavior, which flattered and flattered her lover.The two of them are happy together. When Sonny's father was shot in the street, she felt for the first time that her lover might be in danger too: shut in her room alone, howling and howling like an animal, as Sonny When he didn't visit her for nearly two weeks, she lived on sleeping pills and booze; when he finally came, she didn't leave him nearly every minute.From then on, he came at least once a week until he was killed.

She knew he was dead from newspaper reports, and that very night, she had taken an overdose of sleeping pills.For some unknown reason, these sleeping pills did not kill her, but they seemed to make her seriously ill. She staggered out of the house and collapsed at the elevator door in the corridor. She was found and sent to the hospital.Her affair with Sonny was generally unknown, so her attempted suicide accounted for only a few inches in the children's tabloids. Tom Hagen had visited her to comfort her while she was in the hospital, and he had put her in a Vegas hotel run by Sonny's brother, Freddie.Tom Hagen had also told her that she would receive an annuity from the Corleones; Sonny had set aside some savings for her.He also asks if she's pregnant, as if that's why she overdosed on sleeping pills.She said she was not pregnant.He also asked her if Sonny had visited her that ill-fated night.She replied that Sonny had neither visited her nor called her.She said she had been waiting for him when she got home from get off work.She told Hagen the truth.

"He was the only man who could inspire my love," she said, "and I couldn't love anyone else." She saw him smile, but at the same time he looked surprised. "Don't you think that's unbelievable?" she asked. "Is he the one who brought you to the Corleones' house when you were a child? "He changed," Hagen said. "He grew up to be a different person." "I think he hasn't changed to me," Luxi said. "Maybe he has changed to everyone else, but he hasn't changed to me." Her physical weakness and lack of energy further explained how Sonny had always been kind to her.He never lost his temper, never even appeared irritable or unhappy.

Hagen made all the arrangements for her to move to Vegas.A rented room awaits her.He personally took her to the airport and told her that if she felt lonely or things were not going well, she could call him and he would try to help her. Before she got on the plane, she asked hesitantly, "Does Sonny's father know that you take care of me like this?" Hagen smiled. "I speak for myself as well as for him. He is feudal in such matters, and would never object to his son's legal wife. But he thinks you are just a young girl, not sensible, Sonny It's time to be sensible. You've taken so many sleeping pills that you've freaked everyone out.

What he didn't say was that, in the eyes of a man like the old man, it was unbelievable for anyone to contemplate suicide. Now, after eighteen months in Vegas, she was, oddly enough, almost happy.Some nights she dreamed of Sonny.At the moment, she doesn't have a man, but life in Vegas suits her temper well.When she wasn't working during the holidays, she could go swimming in the hotel pool, take a yacht on the prairie lake, or drive across the wilderness.She has lost weight, which enhances her figure.She still lived a life of luxury, but leaned more in the American style and less in the old Italian style.She worked in the hotel's public relations department, a receptionist, and had nothing to do with Freddie at all, though he stopped and chatted with her every time he saw her.She was surprised by the change in Freddie.He turned into a pervert who hangs out among women, and he is also very beautifully dressed.Apparently, he had a knack for running the Gamblers' Inn.He is in charge of the hotel department, a job that big casino bosses usually don't do.Because of the long, hot summers here, and perhaps because his sex life was too active, he had also lost weight.And Hollywood's ingenious sewing skills make him look like a handsome young man, so lively as hell.

Six months later, Tom Hagen came to see how she was doing.In addition to her salary, she also receives an additional check for six hundred dollars a month, which she receives on time every month without delay.Hagen explained where the money came from.He also told her that as a form, she could work as a small boss of five gambling establishments in the hotel where she worked.She also had to go through all the legal formalities required by Nevada law, but it was all done for her.Her personal troubles were minimal.But then again, she was not to talk to anyone about the arrangement without his permission.She will be legally protected in every way, and her money will be insured every month.If the authorities or any law enforcement agency questioned her, all she had to do was send them to her attorney.Thus.She would never be in any trouble again.

Lu Xi agreed, she knew what was going on, but she didn't object to receiving such preferential treatment.This seems like an understandable care.But when Hagen asked her to keep an eye on what was going on inside and outside the hotel, on Freddie, on Freddie's boss, the man who presided over and managed the hotel as a shareholder, she said to him: "Oh, Tom, don't you want me to spy on Freddie?" Hagen smiled. "The old man is worried about Freddie. He has a hot fight with Mo Green. We have to find a way to keep him out of the trap." But he didn't explain to her why the old man funded the construction in a desolate place like Vegas. Such a hostel, not only to provide a refuge for his son, but also to step into the door of a larger event. Not long after this meeting, Julius Sigal came to work here as a special doctor of the hotel.He was thin, handsome, and likable.He was too young to be a doctor, at least in Lucy's opinion.She had a lump on her wrist, and after worrying for days, she came to the hotel clinic one morning.There were also two chorus showgirls waiting in the waiting room, both lovely blondes with pink cheeks.Just like a pair of angels.Lucy has always been envious of such a beauty.One of them said: "Honestly, if I take another dose of that drug, I won't be able to dance anymore." When Dr. Julius Sigal pushed open the door of the consulting room and beckoned one of the girls in, Lucy wanted to leave.Dr. Sigal was wearing tu-pants, a lapel shirt, and horn-rimmed glasses, which gave him a calm and dignified appearance, but his overall impression was very casual.Like many basically old-fashioned people, she believed that the medical profession was incompatible with a casual attitude. When at last she was in his consulting room, she found a reassuring dignity in him, and all her scruples vanished.He spoke to each patient with the same bluntness, but he was not rude, always in that unhurried manner.When she asked what the lump was, he patiently explained that it was just a very ordinary bump on the flesh, not malignant at all, and not worth making a fuss about at all.He grabbed a thick medical book and said: "Extend your arm." She stretched out her arms timidly.Then, for the first time, he smiled at her. "I can cure you in a simple way, and I'll lose a surgical bill myself," he said. "I'll hit this pimple of yours with this book and it'll collapse. It might come back up later, but if I surgically remove it, you'll have to spend some money and have to use bandages Something. Look, okay?" She smiled at him, and somehow she felt absolute trust in him. "OK," she said. He raised the heavy medical book and hit her hard on the forearm, and she let out a cry.The lump had collapsed and was almost flat. "Does it hurt that much?" he asked. "It doesn't hurt very much," she said, watching him finish writing her medical card, "is that all?" He nodded, but paid no attention to her.she left. A week later he met her in a café and sat down next to her at the counter. "How's the arm?" he asked. She smiled at him. "Very well," she said, "you see the doctor out of the box, quite aggressively, but quite well. He looked at her and grinned. "You don't know how free I am. And I don't know how rich you are. The Vegas Sun just published a list of the hotel's small proprietors. Lucy Mancini Owns ten big casinos. Had I known, I could have made a fortune off that little lump." She didn't answer him, for she suddenly remembered Hagen's warning.He laughed again. "Don't worry, I understand the trick here, you are just a puppet. In Vegas, there are many such puppets. How about going to a show with me tonight? Then, I invite you For supper, I'll even buy you some roulette chips. She could not make up her mind; he demanded her.She finally said openly: "I would have liked to go, but I'm afraid you will be disappointed at night. I'm not like most girls in Vegas. I don't mess with men and women." "That is why I invite you to the play," said Julius cheerfully. "What I prescribed to myself was a night's rest." Lucy smiled at him, then said sheepishly, "Can something like that be so straight to the point?" He shook his head.She added: "Okay, I'll accompany you to dinner. As for the roulette chips, I'll buy them myself." They went to dinner together, and at the same time went to the show during the dinner.Julius had been describing all the different types of thighs and breasts to her in medical terms, and she was amused.But there was no sarcasm in the talk, it was always serious, and then they played roulette in the same casino and won more than a hundred dollars.Finally, they drove to the gravel dam in the moonlight to play.When she refused to obey after kissing him a few times, he knew that she really didn't want to, so he went for it.He still doesn't mind his setbacks. "I told you I didn't want to," said Lucy in a half-confessional tone. After a few months, he became best friends with her.It's not love because they haven't had a love relationship in the form of a sexual act.She discovered that: under the cover of the doctor's appearance, he is a lawless person who only cares about eating, drinking and having fun, without any scruples.On weekends, he drives a beefed-up Citation car to the California Auto Show.When he was on vacation, he would go south to the interior of Mexico, and he would take her with him.In Mexico, a truly wild country, where strangers are murdered for their shoes, life is as barbaric as it was a thousand years ago.Quite by chance, she discovered that he was a surgeon who had long been associated with a famous hospital in New York City. All this made her feel even more bewildered that he had accepted a medical job in the hotel.When she asked about Xianglis, he said: "Tell me your secret, and I will tell you mine." She blushed and stopped asking the question.Julius didn't ask further.Their relationship continued. Now, as she sat on the edge of the pool, with Julius's blond head in her arms, she felt a great affection for him.So she unconsciously reached out to stroke his neck affectionately.He seemed to be asleep and seemed to be out of touch.She felt him close to her, and she became excited.He suddenly raised his head from her arms, then stood up.He took her hand and led her across the lawn to the concrete sidewalk, and she followed him obediently.Even when he led her into the cottage where he lived alone, she followed him obediently.When the two of them were in the house, he mixed two large glasses of wine.Having just been exposed to the scorching sun, coupled with the fire of love, she went up as soon as she drank the wine, and she was dizzy. Julius stretched out his arms and hugged her, the bodies of the two of them.They were naked except for the swimsuits that concealed their shame, and hugged each other tightly.Lucy murmured: "do not do that." But her voice was not so determined, and Julius ignored her at all. ... When he rolled off her body, she shrank to the corner of the bed and began to cry.She was very ashamed, and then, to her great astonishment, she heard Julius smile slightly, and say: "You are an ignorant and ignorant 'Yu Dali' Yu Dajie, maybe this is why you have been rejecting me these past few months? You are so ignorant. He said "you're ignorant" with great friendship, and she turned to him again.Then, he said: "You are as ignorant as the people of the Middle Ages. You are really ignorant as the people of the Middle Ages." However, the tone sounds very comfortable and can play a comforting role, because she Still crying, he obviously intended to comfort her. Julius lit a cigarette and put it in her mouth, and the smoke choked her and the crying stopped. "Hey, listen to me," he said, "if you had been brought up with common family knowledge of the twentieth century, your problem would have been solved years ago. Now let me tell you, your problem is your pelvis deformity, and we surgeons call it a weakened pelvic plate. Most of this occurs after childbirth, but it can also be due to poor bone structure. It is a common phenomenon, and many women suffer from it. In fact, A simple operation can cure them. However, because of your beautiful figure, I didn't expect you to have this problem at all. I think your problems also have psychological reasons. I know your past You've told me enough of a story about you and Sonny. Just let me give you a thorough examination and I'll tell you how much surgery you need. Now you go in and wash Take a shower." Lucy went in and took a shower.Julius was very patient, regardless of her repeated objections, and insisted that she lie on the bed. There was a small table covered with glass plates beside the bed, and some medical equipment were placed on it.Right now, he is concentrating on his business work and checking her carefully. Julius's every movement during the examination was cheerful and clearly concerned for her.In this way, Lucy will no longer feel ashamed and embarrassed. "It's also a health problem," Julius said, "and if you don't get it right, you're going to have massive problems all over your excretory and reproductive system; It is getting softer and softer. It is a pity that the old-fashioned social atmosphere prevents many doctors from performing normal diagnosis and treatment of this disease, making it inconvenient for many women to ask this question. "Stop talking about it, please stop talking about it," Lucy said. He could see that she was still somehow ashamed of her hidden disease, embarrassed by her "nasty flaw."Though his trained mind thought it foolish to be so secretive about physical illness, he was wise enough to forgive her.This emotional harmony also made her feel better. "Well, I know your secret, now let me tell you mine," he said.You keep asking me, as one of the youngest and most powerful surgeons in the east, what am I going to do in this small town in the west? He was imitating the tone of some newspaper articles about him. "Actually, I'm an abortion specialist. It's not a bad job in itself. It's half a medical career, but I got arrested for it." up.I used to have a friend, a doctor named Kennedy, and we were interns together.He was a straight tempered guy, and he said he would do me a favor.As far as I know, Tom Hagen once told him that if he needed help in any matter, the Corleone family was obliged to help.So he interceded for me before Hagen.What happened next, as far as I know, all the accusations against me have been settled.However, the Medical Association and Eastern Medical Branch have blacklisted me.So the Corleone family found me this job here.These showgirls are often pregnant, and I've been thinking about having a father-son talk with Fred Corleone, especially since I've treated him three times for gonorrhea and once for syphilis.Freddie is a man who is shirtless in love and is in a tight siege. Julius stopped here. He made a deliberate slip of the tongue and said something that shouldn't be said. He never talked nonsense.The reason why he deliberately talked about Freddie just now is mainly to let Lucy know that some people she knows and fears, including Freddie Corleone, also have shady secrets . Two weeks later, Julius Sigal stood in the operating room of a Los Angeles hospital watching his friend Frederick; Kelney underwent special surgery, and before Lucy was given anesthesia but still unconscious, Julius Bend down, leaned in front of her and whispered to her: "I have already told him that you are the girl I like very much." After the operation, the two of them rolled Lucy out on a trundle bed with wheels underneath and sent her to the recuperating ward.Then, Julius chatted with Karnai.Kyle Nai's relaxed and happy performance is the best proof that the operation went well. "No complications, boy." Julius laughed out loud. "Doctor, you are a Pygmalion. Seriously, your operation is amazing." Kyle snorted. "It's as simple as a child's game, as simple as your curettage. As long as the whole society can face the reality, then people with real talents like you and me can do important work, and leave this trivial work to those A man who only knows how to do things by the book. By the way, I'm sending you a girl next week, a very pleasant girl, and she is one of those girls who are often pregnant. I will replace you today After this operation, you will perform that operation for me in the future, so we can settle the bill." Julius shook his head. "Thank you, doctor. Come by yourself whenever you like. I promise you will receive all kinds of hospitality. . . Karna gave him a wry smile. "I play money every day, and I don't need your roulette wheels and tables. I'm actually fighting with fate. Julius, you're wasting your time there. In two years, you may put Forget about serious surgery, and then you won't be fit to be a surgeon." After all, he turned and left. Julius understood those words, the intention was not to blame, but to warn, however, those words really hurt his heart.Because Lu Xi couldn't leave the ward for at least twelve hours, he took the opportunity to go to the street and got very drunk. Part of the reason for his drinking was that he knew that Lucy was going well, and he felt relieved. When Julius came to visit her in the hospital the next morning, he was surprised to find two men at her bedside and flowers in the ward.Lucy sat with her back against the pillows, her face glowing.Julius was surprised because Lucy had already had a falling out with her family, and had told him that unless something happened to her, she didn't have to notify her family at all.Of course, Fred Corleone knew she was in the hospital for a minor operation.This operation is also necessary, so the two of them can ask for leave.Fred also told Julius that all the expenses of Luxi's operation can be reimbursed by the hotel. Lu Xi introduced them to each other.One of them, Julius recognized immediately, was the famous Johnny Fontane.The other was a fat, somewhat haughty Italian named Nino Valenti.They shook hands with Julius one after another, and then paid no attention to him.They were amusing Lucy, talking about their old neighbors in New York City, people and things that Juris couldn't get into.Seeing this situation, Julius said to Luosi: "I'll come back later, and I have to see Dr. Kelney by the way." But Johnny Fontane read his mind, and added a word that struck right at his heart. "Hey, buddy, we have something to leave, you should stay with her and take good care of her. You are a doctor." Julius recognized that Johnny Fontane's voice was unusually hoarse, and it occurred to him that the singer had not sung in public for more than a year.At the same time, he also thought that the singer had won an academy award for his outstanding performance.Could it be that the man's voice has grown so strong at such an age that the newspapers are silent and everyone is silent?Julius likes secret chat material, so he has been listening to Fontane's voice carefully, trying to diagnose what is wrong with his throat.This disorder may usually be due to simple nervousness, excessive smoking and drinking, or even excessive sexual intercourse.The timbre of his voice sounded harsh now, and he was no longer a sweet singer who crooned sad songs. "You sound like you have a cold," Julius said to Johnny Fontane. Fang Tan said politely: "I was just a little nervous. Last night I sang desperately. I am so crazy that I can't admit that my voice has changed. You know, I am getting old. After all, he said helplessly to Juris I smiled wryly. Julius said casually: "Didn't you see a doctor? Maybe you can be cured." Fang Tan's expression was not so pleasant at this moment.He gazed at Julius for a long, icy look. "Already almost two years ago, I made it a priority to see a doctor, and mine was a top-notch specialist. My doctor was said to be the best specialist in all of California. They told me to rest and I was fine. , that is, getting older. When a person gets older, his voice will change accordingly." After all, Fang Tan ignored him and only talked to Lucy.As he charms all women, he charms her.Julius still listened intently to his voice.There must be something growing on his vocal cords.But then again, why on earth didn't the experts check it out?Can it be a malignant tumor that cannot be treated?Otherwise, there are other reasons. He interrupted Fang Tan and asked, "When was the last time you checked?" Fontan was obviously a little impatient, but for Lucy's sake, he tried his best to appear polite. "About eighteen months ago," he said. "Does your doctor give you regular checkups?" Joris asked. "Does that even matter?" Johnny Fontane said impatiently. "He sprayed me with codeine and gave me a thorough check."He told me that it was because of my aging voice, excessive smoking and drinking, and other reasons. Could it be that you know better than him? " "What's his name?" asked Julius. Fontane showed a proud look and said, "Tuck, James Tucker. What do you think of him?" The name is familiar, the close association with famous movie stars and actresses, the same luxurious rural retreat. "He's a bandager in the hospital, very smart," Julius said, grinning. At this time, Fang Tan became angry: "Do you think you are a better doctor than him? Julius laughed loudly: "Are you a better singer than Carmen Rumbashe?" He was surprised to see that Nino Valenti burst out laughing suddenly, shaking his body and shaking his head. They touched the back of the chair. In the breath of Nino laughing wildly, Julius smelled strong whiskey, so he concluded that even in this early morning, Mr. Valentine was about to be drunk. Fontane grinned grinningly at his friend. "Hey, you seem to be laughing at a joke I made, and next is a joke he made. At the same time, Lucy reached out and pulled Juris to the side of the bed. "He looks like an average athlete, but he's actually a great surgeon." Lucy was explaining to them both, "If he says he's better than Dr. Tucker, he's better than Dr. Tucker."What about John, you'd better listen to him. " The nurse came in and told them to leave.The resident doctor wanted to give Shanxi physical therapy, so he couldn't help but allow others to be in front of him.Julius was pleased to see Lucy turn her face away.So be John.When Fontane and Nino Valenti kissed her good-bye, their lips could only touch her face, not her mouth, but that was what they both seemed to have expected.She asked Julius to kiss her on the mouth, and said in a low voice, "Come back in the afternoon, okay?" He listened and nodded. In the hallway outside, Warren asked Joris, "Why the operation? What's the serious problem?" Julius shook his head.Just a mild gynecological condition, very common, take my word for it.I care more than you two, and I wish to marry this girl. " They both looked at him as if to judge, and he asked: "How did the two of you know that she was hospitalized? "Frett called us and asked us to come and see her," Fontane said. "We used to be neighbours. We grew up together. Lucy was maid of honor when Freddie's sister got married." "Oh!" Julius sighed in surprise.He didn't want it to be seen that he knew all too well.Maybe it was because they were both evasively protecting Lucy's honor from her affair with Sonny. As they walked down the corridor, Julius said to Fang Tan: "I have a doctor's license here. Why don't you let me check your throat?" Fang Tan shook his head and said, "I don't have time." Nino Valenti said: "His throat is worth a million dollars, and he can't have it checked by cheap doctors." Julius saw Valentine grinning at him, obviously supporting him.He said cheerfully, "I'm not a cheap doctor. I used to be the most talented young surgeon on the East Coast until someone asked me to take criminal responsibility for abortion." As he had expected, after this simple self-introduction, the two of them treated him with admiration.While admitting his crime, he inspired them to believe that he was a doctor with real ability and knowledge who dared to compete with famous people.Valentine was the first to realize. "If John doesn't need you, I have a girlfriend who wants you to take a look, but not the throat." Fang Tan said to him nervously: "How long will it take you to check?" "Ten minutes," said Julius. It was a lie, but he thought it useful to tell lies.To be honest, it is incompatible with medical work, and it is only possible to combine it occasionally except when it is extremely urgent. "Then check it out," Fontane said.His voice became more slurred and hoarse with fear. Julius hired a nurse and found a consulting room.The equipment inside was incomplete, not everything he needed was there, but it was barely enough, and in less than ten minutes, he found out that there was something growing on Fang Tan's vocal cords: it was easy to find out of.Tucker, the Hollywood hustler, should have seen the tumor.Christ, maybe this guy doesn't even have a doctor's license.Even if there is, it should be logged out.Julius grabbed the phone and asked for a throat specialist from the hospital.Then, he turned around and said to Nino Valenti: "It seems that you may have to wait for a long time. You'd better go out and have a look." Fang Tan stared at him with wide eyes, suspicious. "You little dog, are you planning not to let me go? Are you planning to make fun of my throat?" Juris was very pleased with himself.He didn't expect him to be so proud, so he straight to the point and asked Fang Tan the question without any concealment. "Whatever you want," he said, "you've got a thing in your throat, it's on your vocal cords. If you can stay here for a few hours, we can get it under control. Whether it is malignant or benign, we can control it. We can also decide whether to use surgery or medicine. I can also tell you the whole situation, and I can tell you the names of experts in this field in the United States. You. We can ask him to come here tonight, at your expense; and if I think it is necessary, I will do so. But, then again, you can also leave here immediately to find your old quack friend或者干脆说那个专门捞油水的骗子。要是你自己决定另找医生，你就快点走吧。那时候，要是证明是恶性的，同时也长得够大了，那他们就得把你的喉头全部切除，不然就可能立即死亡。再不然，你就只能活受罪。你最好同我一道待在这儿，我们在几小时以内就可以把问题处理好。你还有什么比这个更重要的事吗？” 华伦提说：“约翰呢，咱们好歹就待在这儿吧，管它三七二十一。我到下面门厅去给制片厂打个电话，不给他们说别的，就只说咱们两个脱不开身，打完电话，我就来陪着你。 这天下午非常漫长，但却过得很有价值。医院喉科医生的诊断情况，就裘里斯在研究了爱克斯光照片和药检取样化验结果之后所能看到的一切而言，是完全可靠的。检查到中途，约翰呢·方檀因为口腔里涂满了碘，又塞了一卷纱布，难受得“哇哇”地一个劲儿地于呕，挣扎着想逃脱。尼诺·华伦提双手抓住他的左右肩膀，又把他按到椅子上。检查结束之后，裘里斯呲牙咧嘴地对方檀笑了一下，说： “瘤。 方檀没有听清，裘里斯又说了一遍：“长了些瘤。我们要把那些瘤切除，就像剥大香肠的皮一样。几个月之后，你就会复原。” 华伦提情不自禁地”啊呀”了一声，但是方檀仍然皱着眉头。 “那以后唱歌呢？切除之后会影响我唱歌吗？” 裘里斯耸了耸肩。“这，可没有保证。但是，既然你现在就不能唱歌，那还管它什么影响不影响！” 方檀不以为然地瞅了瞅他。“小子。你根本不懂你到底在说些什么。你刚才给我说的也许就是我以后不能再唱歌了，而你说话的那股劲头好像你是在给我传达什么好消息。我以后可能再也唱不成歌了，这是真的吗？” 裘里斯听了也反感起来，没有回答。他以真正的医生的高度责任感施行了手术，他也以此为乐。他给这个小杂种办了一桩好事。而从他的表现看，好像是谁在陷害他似的。裘里斯冷冰冰地说：“听着，方檀先生，我是个医生，你可以叫我大夫，但不能叫我小子。我的确是给你带来了好消息。在我把你带到这儿来的时候，我就坚信你喉头上长的是一种恶性肿瘤。这种肿瘤会引起严重后果，那就是把你的喉头全部切除。要不然，这种肿瘤就会要你的命。我担心病情可能让我必须告诉你：你已经是个死人了。我高兴也就高兴在我可以说'瘤'这个字。因为你的歌声我非常欣赏。当我年轻的时候，你的歌声帮我去勾引姑娘。你一方面是一个真正的艺术家，但另一方面却又是一个宠坏了的任性的人。难道你以为，因为你叫约翰呢·方檀，所以就不会得癌症？不会生不治之症？不会有心脏病？难道你认为你永远不会死？哎呀，人生并非单纯是甜蜜的音乐。如果你想看看真正的苦恼，不妨在这所医院到处走走。之后你也许会围绕'瘤'来唱一支情歌。由此看来，你还是趁早别再瞎胡闹了，该干些什么就好好干吧。你那个不三不四的医护人员可能给你找一个以医务为职业的医生。如果他企图走进手术至，那我就建议你以试图谋杀的罪名把他逮捕起来。” 裘里斯刚要走出这间屋子，华伦提说：“啊呀，好啊，医生，你这些话是会打动他的。” 裘里斯转过身来，说：“你们在午前也总要喝个酩酊大醉吗？” 华伦提说：“是的。”同时向他一笑，笑得很友好。这就使得裘里斯在接着说话的时候进一步表现出了友好态度。比他原来所想要表现出来的友好态度还要友好。 “如果你们长此下去，五年之后你们可能死掉。” 华伦提以小舞步蹒蹒跚跚地向他走去。他伸出双臂，抱住裘里斯，呼出有烈性威士忌的气味，放声大笑起来。 “五年吗？”他问，仍然在哈哈大笑。“唉，还必须活这么久吗？” 手术后一个月，璐西·曼琪妮坐在韦加斯旅社的游泳池旁边，裘里斯挨着她躺着，头就枕在她的大腿上。她一只手端着一杯鸡尾酒，另一只手抚摸着裘里斯的头。 “你不必现在就喝酒来给自己壮胆，”裘里斯说，“我在咱俩住的那套房间里给你准备好了香槟酒。” “你能保险这么快就好了吗？”潞西问。 “我敢保证我的工作没有问题。医疗方案是我拟定的，不过我让我的老朋友凯尔奈动手操作罢了，”裘里斯说。眼下咱俩还是休息休息吧。 " 当他们上楼到了他们那套房间里之后（他们现在已同居了），璐西实在没有料到还得等那么久。晚餐是山珍海味，在她那装满香槟酒的玻璃杯旁边，放着一个盒子，里面摆着一只镶有大金刚钻的订婚戒指。