Scene 6: Surgeries for Kids Who Don’t Need Them

In the therapy room, Mrs. Pinzetti put on her white doctor coat and had Karen sit on the gray mat. As with Mrs. Schmidt, the final exercise was the calf stretch. Karen sat on the mat with her legs straight in front of her. Mrs. Pinzetti knelt at her feet, as she pushed down hard on Karen’s left knee with her left hand and pushed forward against her left toes with her right in an effort to straighten the leg and relax the ankle so that Karen’s foot would work normally when she walked. Karen tried to relax. She knew that Mrs. Pinzetti was not cruel in the way that Mrs. Schmidt had been, in spite of what she had heard her tell Mrs. DeLuca in the hallway.

The swish of the PT room’s door caught her attention, and she twisted her neck to look over her left shoulder. Mrs. DeLuca had quietly pushed the door open.

“Excuse me,” she said. “Mrs. Pinzetti is wanted on the phone in the school office. Dr. Lambert says he must speak with her, immediately.”

Kitten saw Mrs. Pinzetti’s eyes go blank. The therapist’s right hand raised itself to her face, where it rubbed the round scar abrasively, as if she were trying to rub it away.

After a moment, she said, “I should talk with Dr. Lambert, now. Mrs. DeLuca will complete your treatment. Perhaps she should start over. I’m so sorry, Sugar, but I have to go, now.”

Karen watched as Mrs. Pinzetti’s elegant figure stood and then slipped out of the room. For a moment, she wondered if she would ever become so beautiful and graceful. Then, Mrs. DeLuca began the whole therapy sequence at the beginning.

In a few minutes, Mrs. Pinzetti returned. Her face was still tense and pale. Mrs. DeLuca excused herself from Karen and went into the hallway with Mrs. Pinzetti. She closed the therapy room door, but Karen could hear them through the gap between it and the floor.

“What did he want?” Mrs. DeLuca whispered.

Mrs. Pinzetti replied in the lowest whisper, but Karen could still hear.

“Surgeries! He wants more surgeries. That’s why he got me fired from my last job. Do you see this scar on my cheek? I refused to refer enough children to him for surgery, so he got me fired and promised to ruin my professional reputation so I would never work again. That night I went home, got drunk on cheap red wine, and fell asleep on my own cigarette. I burned a scar into my own face. Not enough surgeries! I can’t afford to lose this job, but we’re running out of children who need surgery. We’re going to have to start on the ones that don’t need it.”

Mrs. DeLuca replied, “I need my job, too. We have to give him what he wants.”

The bell rang exactly at three. It was time to go home. Karen put on her shoes and waited a few minutes. She knew that the children who were able to run were all racing to the coatroom for their coats and lunch bags. She did not want to get knocked over in the rush. She had to get home and talk to Pegasus and Mama.

As she walked by the two therapists in the hallway, they both said, “Have a good evening, Karen,” and then went back into their room.

Original text ©2022 by Karen Lynn-Chlup. All rights reserved.