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And of course the vaginal opening, the weak spot itself in the pelvic floor, had to be

brought forward, brought under the pubic arch and so relieved from the line of direct

pressure above. Repairing the pelvic sling (ремень, канат) was called perincorrhaphy.

Suturing (to suture [‘sju:t] – накладывать шов) the vaginal wall was called

colporrhaphy.

Jules saw that Dr. Kellner was working carefully now, the big danger in the cutting

was going too deep and hitting the rectum. It was a fairly uncomplicated case, Jules had

studied all the X rays and tests. Nothing should go wrong except that in surgery

something could always go wrong.

Kellner was working on the diaphragm sling, the T forceps (хирургические щипцы,

пинцет ['fo:seps]) held the vaginal flap (что-либо, прикрепленное за один конец;

клапан), and exposing the ani muscle and the fasci (фасции) which formed its sheath.

Kellner's gauze-covered (gauze [go:z] – газ /материя/; марля) fingers were pushing

aside loose connective tissue. Jules kept his eyes on the vaginal wall for the

appearance of the veins, the telltale danger signal of injuring the rectum. But old Kellner

knew his stuff. He was building a new snatch as easily as a carpenter nails together

two-by-four studs (stud – гвоздь с большой шляпокй; штифт).

Kellner was trimming away the excess vaginal wall using the fastening-down stitch to

close the "bite" taken out of the tissue of the redundant (излишний, чрезмерный

[ri'dndnt]) angle, insuring that no troublesome projections would form. Kellner was

trying to insert three fingers into the narrowed opening of the lumen (канал, проход

/анат./ ['lu:mn]), then two. He just managed to get two fingers in, probing deeply and

for a moment he looked up at Jules and his china-blue eyes over the gauze mask

twinkled as though asking if that was narrow enough. Then he was busy again with his

sutures.

It was all over. They wheeled Lucy out to the recovery room and Jules talked to

Kellner. Kellner was cheerful, the best sign that everything had gone well. "No

complications at all, my boy," he told Jules. "Nothing growing in there, very simple case.

She has wonderful body tone, unusual in these cases and now she's in first-class shape

for fun and games. I envy you, my boy. Of course you'll have to wait a little while but

then I guarantee you'll like my work."

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Jules laughed. "You're a true Pygmalion, Doctor. Really, you were marvelous."

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Dr. Kellner grunted. "That's all child's play, like your abortions. If society would only be

realistic, people like you and I, really talented people, could do important work and leave

this stuff for the hacks (наемная лошадь; поденщик). By the way, I'll be sending you a

girl next week, a very nice girl, they seem to be the ones who always get in trouble. That

will make us all square (так мы сочтемся) for this job today."

Jules shook his hand. "Thanks, Doctor. Come out yourself sometime and I'll see that

you get all the courtesies of the house."

Kellner gave him a wry smile. "I gamble every day, I don't need your roulette wheels

and crap tables. I knock heads with fate too often as it is. You're going to waste out

there, Jules. Another couple of years and you can forget about serious surgery. You

won't be up to it." He turned away.

Jules knew it was not meant as a reproach but as a warning. Yet it took the heart out

of him anyway. Since Lucy wouldn't be out of the recovery room for at least twelve

hours, he went out on the town and got drunk. Part of getting drunk was his feeling of

relief that everything had worked out so well with Lucy.

The next morning when he went to the hospital to visit her he was surprised to find

two men at her bedside and flowers all over the room. Lucy was propped up on pillows,

her face radiant. Jules was surprised because Lucy had broken with her family and had

told him not to notify them unless something went wrong. Of course Freddie Corleone

knew she was in the hospital for a minor operation; that had been necessary so that

they both could get time off, and Freddie had told Jules that the hotel would pick up all

the bills for Lucy.

Lucy was introducing them and one of the men Jules recognized instantly. The

famous Johnny Fontane. The other was a big, muscular, snotty-looking Italian guy

whose name was Nino Valenti. They both shook hands with Jules and then paid no

further attention to him. They were kidding Lucy, talking about the old neighborhood in

New York, about people and events Jules had no way of sharing. So he said to Lucy,

"I'll drop by later, I have to see Dr. Kellner anyway."

But Johnny Fontane was turning the charm on him. "Hey, buddy, we have to leave

ourselves, you keep Lucy company. Take good care of her, Doc." Jules noticed a

peculiar hoarseness in Johnny Fontane's voice and remembered suddenly that the man

hadn't sung in public for over a year now, that he had won the Academy Award for his

acting. Could the man's voice have changed so late in life and the papers keeping it a

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secret, everybody keeping it a secret? Jules loved inside gossip and kept listening to

Fontane's voice in an attempt to diagnose the trouble. It could be simple strain

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(растяжение), or too much booze and cigarettes or even too much women. The voice