ALBACORA 63 



sprained and you will need hot compresses for a long 

 time, but the hip has not been broken." 



"Thank goodness," I said. 



"Here," Dr. Lombardy said, holding a plate out in 

 front of him. "You can see for yourself. There is no 

 break." 



I am no expert in skeletal structure but I have a 

 layman's knowledge of the human leg and pelvis. I saw 

 a healthy leg and pelvis in the picture, but I also saw 

 something else that looked ominous. "What in the 

 world is that?" I asked Dr. Lombardy. 



"You mean that massive shape?" he asked. 



"Yes." 



"That," Dr. Lombardy announced, "is part of the 

 table on which you were lying." 



"I don't understand," I said. 



"At the hospital," Dr. Lombardy said, "there is not 

 enough electricity for a deep picture. We were far from 

 the power plant. Here we are close to the power plant 

 and there is too much electricity. So we get too deep a 

 picture. Too much X-ray, too little X-ray, that is the 

 way things go here. You will get used to it." 



My first inclination was to say, "You wanna bet?" 

 But on second thought, I merely smiled and told Dr. 

 Lombardy how grateful I was for all his attention. 



Back in bed at the hotel there were more hours of 

 waiting for everyone to return from the sea before I 



