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Show CHRYSALIS PAGE 45 the piles of tape and gauze. (I think of dying Mercutio's answer when Romeo tells him, "Courage, man. The hurt cannot be much." "No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve. . . .") There is a gaping hole. The place where my right shoulder ought to be is a canyon you could fall into. There is a deep, wide hole. I was not prepared for this. The scar, a fat, purple caterpillar with countless steel legs,curIs in an S from the south end of the canyon to the north end. I'm glad it's not on my face. He removes the stitches gently, with skilled fingers. The wooden splints come away first. At a loss for words, I smile. "A callepittar," I say stupidly. That's what Chris would call it. "What's that?" "I said it looks sort of like a caterpillar. . .but it's bigger than I thought it would be." "Oh. Yes. . .that's a bad place for a scar." He beams, obviously pleased with the results of his stitchery. "You should've seen the size of the piece we took out." My smile stays, but the rest of me races ahead on a stubborn |