Back Alley Doctor Glenn/Chapter 10

v **·** e

* English
* Japanese

> **Chapter 10: Hope**
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> It was the evening three days before Hugo's amputation was to take place. After the date had been decided, Rufus, as the boy's doctor, had been visiting his room each day to explain a little more about the procedure.
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> 'Are you listening, Hugo?' Rufus asked, in a tactful tone of voice. Since his surgery had been scheduled, Hugo had been absent-minded and listless.
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> The reason was clear to everyone there: he had no hope for a future without his hands. A future where he would never again play the violin. Sherry, the nurse assigned to care for Hugo and assist Rufus, could hardly bear it.
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> 'I hate this,' Hugo said suddenly, gazing down at the thick gloves that covered his crystallized hands. 'Why me?! Why am I the one that has to go through this!?'
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> Sherry bit her lip to hold back her frustration. 'It'll...be okay, Hugo,' she said. Having lost her sister to the illness, she knew just how hollow her words must have sounded to the boy, but she couldn't think of anything else to say to him.
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> Dr. Rufus, however, calmly responded. 'I've seen many patients over the course of my career. Among them, there were some whose lives slipped away without even so much as a glimmer of hope that they might survive. In your case, however, your survival can be guaranteed. As long as you undergo the procedure, you will live on. You will be able to find a new path in life. I think that's fortunate...don't you?'
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> His words left the boy no room to object.
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> Hugo gritted his teeth for a moment, but seemed to deflate a bit afterward, as though resigning himself to his fate.
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> This is fine, Rufus thought. As long as he lives, he will still have possibilities. He only needs to find a new passion. Not like Katarina... When she lost her life, she also lost all her potential futures.
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> 'An answer like that is just like you,' a baritone voice interrupted. Everyone there turned to look at the entrance to the room. There, his burly figure filling the doorframe, stood the back alley doctor.
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> 'Dr. Glenn!' Sherry gasped, her heart filled with relief for what felt like the first time in a while. Glenn showed her a small smile.
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> 'Why are you here?' Rufus adjusted his glasses and shot a glare at the unkempt man from behind his silver rims.
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> Without answering, Glenn merely stared back, the look in his eyes alone repelling the question. Rufus frowned. The Glenn that stood before him now seemed worlds apart from the man he last saw on the hospital's roof.
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> Glenn looked at Hugo in the bed. A flash of discomfort briefly washed over the boy's face as he recalled the doctor's previous rough treatment. The feeling quickly faded, however, as the apathy and despair that had taken hold of Hugo's heart reasserted itself.
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> 'Your name is Hugo, right?' Glenn asked, looking down at the boy in the hospital bed. 'Tell me...are you willing to risk dying?' Glenn's abrupt statement startled everyone present.
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> Not waiting for a response, Glenn continued. 'There's a procedure that can cure your crystallization without amputating your hands. But it comes with a high risk. It's not something you can just overcome through sheer determination. The danger is real, and the consequences could be fatal. You must be willing to accept that. Are you?'
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> Each word he uttered was like a weight dropped on the 14-year-old's mind. The look in Glenn's eyes made it clear: he was not overstating how risky this procedure was. It truly could result in Hugo's death.
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> But if he had the resolve, if he was willing to take that risk...then everything could be over without losing his hands--without losing his musical aspirations.
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> Hugo, overcome with emotion, started to cry. The wishes he had buried, the feelings he had repressed for the sake of his survival burst out from him all at once.
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> 'I...I...! I would die for these hands!'
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> The light of hope was shining in his heart.
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> **第１０回　希望**
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> ヒューゴの手術が３日後に迫った日の夕方。
> 手術の期日が決まってから、
> 彼の病室には毎日のように
> 担当医のルーファスがやってきていた。
> 来たる手術について、少年に説明するためだ。
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> 「……ヒューゴ君、聞いているかね。」
> ルーファスが神経質そうな声で尋ねる。
> ヒューゴは手術が決まってからどこか上の空で、
> ときどきこうして話を聞いていないことがあった。
> 理由は明白だ。
> 手術後にバイオリンを弾けなくなるという事実に
> 未来に希望を持てないでいるのだった。
> 助手の形でルーファスに付き添うシェリーは
> やりきれない気持ちだった。
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> 「……やっぱり、イヤだよ。」
> 自分の厚手の手袋を
> 恨めしそうに眺めていたヒューゴが言った。
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> 「なんで俺だけがこんな思いをしなくちゃならないんだよ！」
> 行き場のない怒りを放出するその姿に、
> シェリーは胸を痛めた。
> 「ヒューゴ君、元気を出して。」
> そんな言葉をかけても意味がないことは、
> 同じ病で姉を亡くした彼女が一番分かっていた。
> だが、医師ルーファスはあくまで冷静に対応した。
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> 「……私は今まで沢山の患者を見てきた。」
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> 「中には何の希望も与えられず、無下に命を落とした人々もいる。」
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> 「そんな中、君の場合は手術を受けさえすれば必ず生き延びることができる。」
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> 「それは……幸運なことじゃないかね？」
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> この説得には何の反論の余地もなかった。
> ヒューゴは無理矢理納得させられて歯噛みしたが、
> やがて諦めたように落ちついた。
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> これでいい、とルーファスは思っていた。
> 生きてさえいれば、
> 数え切れないほどの可能性がある。
> 夢など、また探せばいい。
> 命を落としたカタリナは、
> それすらできなかったのだから。
> 「──お前らしいな。」
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> よく通る低音の声と共に、病室の扉が開かれた。
> 現れたのは──闇医者、グレン。
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> 「グレン先生っ！」
> 来てくれた──シェリーは心の中で喜んだ。
> グレンはそんな彼女にニヤリと笑みを見せる。
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> 「……何をしに来た。」
> ルーファスの眼鏡の奥の双眸は、
> 現れた闇医者の姿を睨みつける。
> グレンはその問いには答えず、
> 代わりに視線を弾き返すように睨み返した。
> 捨て台詞を吐いて病院の屋上を去った時と
> 明らかに違う雰囲気に、ルーファスは眉をひそめる。
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> 次にグレンは、ベッドにいるヒューゴを見た。
> 以前狼藉を働いたグレンの姿に一瞬嫌な顔をしたが、
> それもどうでもいいという諦めの表情になる。
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> 「ヒューゴとか言ったな。……お前に、死ぬ覚悟はあるか？」
> グレンが唐突に発した言葉に誰もが驚く。
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> 「お前の《結晶病》……腕を失わずに治せる方法がある。」
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> 「ただし、それに挑むには死ぬ覚悟が必要だ。」
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> 「根性論なんかじゃない。本当の意味で、死のリスクを負う覚悟だ。……お前に、それはあるか？」
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> まくし立てられた言葉の一つ一つが、
> 若干１４歳のヒューゴの心にのしかかる。
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> 彼の鋭い眼光には一切の容赦が感じられない。
> “死”という言葉の重みは本物だ。
> ──“死”。
> その覚悟があれば、
> ヒューゴの腕は……バイオリニストの夢は、
> 失くならずに済むかもしれない。
> ヒューゴはそう考えると、感極まって涙をこぼした。
> 生きるためだと押さえつけていた、
> 胸の中のものが溢れ出す。
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> 「……俺……俺……！この腕のためなら死んだって構わない……！」
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> 少年の心には、確かな希望の光が差していた。
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