“She has one chance in—let us say—ten” the doctor told Mum in the hallway. “And she’ll lose her ability to see in three days.” I overheard the conversation, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. I started weeping at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in Mum’s arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself, I went back to my ward alone. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable armchair. Into this I sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that kept a firm grip on my body and seemed to reach into my soul. “She has one chance in-let us say-ten” the doctor told Mum in the hallway. “And she’ll lose her ability to see in three days.” I overheard the conversation, with a paralyzed inability to Accept its significance. I started weeping at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in Mum’s arms. When the storm of grief had collecting itself, I went back to my ward alone. There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable armchair. Into This I sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that kept a firm grip on my body and seemed to reach into my soul.