The Last Redemption

The woman entered the small office. From the evident agitation on her face, everyone in the waiting room understood that she had run up the stairs connecting the second floor to the street.

She sat down and said nothing for a couple of minutes. She took a gulp of air and then said in a loud, desperate voice.

— My head feels heavy!

And she stood up suddenly, as if some mechanism had catapulted her from her seat.

The robust woman manning the reception desk replied almost immediately, in an anguished tone.

— Calm down, Mrs. Liliana, nothing's going to happen to you!
— I feel like my head is going to fall off, like it's moving in all directions
— Settle down, Mrs. Liliana, your head is still in place. Have you taken your medications?
— Yes, I've taken all my pills, but this time is different
— The doctor is seeing patients and he has a full schedule. You'll have to wait a good while

Liliana Preciado was 54 years old, extremely thin, with a face of tired skin that seemed to drip all the way to the floor, as if it were melting. She shook her legs nervously, making the weak floorboards of the office creak.

— I can't wait that long, Claudia. It's an emergency!
— All right, Mrs. Liliana, wait just a moment, I'm going to speak to the doctor to see if he can see you

And the rotund receptionist organized her monumental body to unstick herself from her chair. She emerged between two languid plastic palm trees decorating the counter, moving her immense hips, churning all the pulp of her flesh. She had to walk sideways to avoid tripping over the legs of the patients who crammed the little waiting room. Some grabbed the armrests of their chairs as if thinking the floorboards might give way under the fat woman's weight.

The woman entered the office and came out right away.

— The doctor says he'll make an exception due to the emergency. But you must go in after the patient who's inside comes out.

Liliana didn't answer her, only whispered to herself "this time is different, this time is different".

She waited for Claudia to return so as not to cross paths with her in the narrow corridor and walked to the doctor's door. There she waited standing, positioning herself against the wall in every imaginable position, as if scratching her back, as if something hurt, as if she were uncomfortable. She grabbed her head and wiped her forehead frequently.

After five interminable minutes, the doctor came out with his patient to see him off at the door. He said goodbye calmly, exchanging smiles, seeming unperturbed by Liliana's impatience, who raised her eyebrows trying to catch the doctor's eye.

At last, she said, interrupting the farewell… "Doctor, my hands are tingling, this time is different!".

The doctor made a mocking gesture and said "Liliana, trust me, absolutely nothing is going to happen to you, you have my word".

Liliana said "this time is different, doctor".

It was after that when Liliana collapsed like a sack of loose bones. The floorboards sprang up, making the flaccid body bounce until it lay motionless.

The doctor, now anxious, sent for smelling salts to revive her, but it was useless. Little by little the body became disfigured and rigid, while the agitated patients rushed in and out of the office in human torrents not knowing how to help, causing the floorboards to sway like waves, making the sprawled body jump, adopting various positions.

Liliana died that April 3rd, with a fossilized smile on her lips, a grimace that seemed to scream "I told you this time was going to be different!".