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Fraudulent Fertilisation

Episode 26

Ricardo Ludovico Gulminelli

Global Fiction

First publication: June 2002

http://badosa.com/n145-27

MAR DEL PLATA
Monday 8th May, 1989

The first face they saw when they arrived at Álvez’s practice was Estela Cáceres; she smiled and was affectionate, treating them with a special friendliness. She knew Alicia was a victim of Álvez, because she had listened to a conversation between them, without her presence being noticed. Being sure that the beautiful girl was not a competitor allowed her to treat her with a certain familiarity. After all, she also suffered at the hands of the gynaecologist who humiliated her so. Mabel was pallid and hesitant, she was dizzy and felt sick. Terrified, confused, full of feelings of guilt, she tortured herself without mercy. Her spirit had been broken, but the idea of ending her pregnancy was becoming more and more solid. She couldn’t bear the victim that she was carrying inside; she urgently wanted to be free of it; nothing could dissuade her on this point, she needed to go back to being as she was before, to a carefree life.

Alicia had fulfilled her part of the bargain several days ago, delivering Burán’s semen to Álvez with all speed, following the instructions he had given her. A few hours after obtaining it, she had taken it to the surgery. He had been very pleased, full of enthusiasm. The girl was afraid that Álvez would not keep his promise, that he would refuse to do the abortion, making up some excuse. If that had happened, Alicia would have been capable of killing him. Luckily for her and her sister, the gynaecologist was prepared to keep the promise he had given.

“Come in, please,” said Álvez, who suddenly appeared at the door of his office. “You must be Mabel, is that right? It’s a pleasure to meet you. You’re lucky, dear, I’m going to get you out of the spot you’re in. Don’t be afraid, everything’s been provided for. You’ll be treated well, a specialist will take care of the anaesthetic. To prevent haemorrhages I’ll give you a very good remedy that I’ve received from the United States. Nothing will happen to you, I’ve studied your biochemical tests, the situation is not worrying. You can relax, I’m telling you from experience. Are we ready?”

“Yes, doctor, whatever you say, I’ll obey,” said Mabel with a changed expression.

“That’s the way I like it, girl, come along, go through to the other room, there’s the operating table. Do you want to go in, Alicia?”

“Is it necessary, doctor? Have I got to help with anything?”

“No, nothing, I ask you in case you or your little sister wants you to be there. What do you think, Mabel? Do you want Alicia to go with you?”

“Until I go to sleep, then she can go, I don’t want her to have to suffer watching everything...”

“OK,” said Alicia, “Let’s go in...”

An injection quickly put the little girl to sleep. Alicia, who was out of sorts, went out immediately.

Twenty minutes later, Mabel was carried by Álvez himself to a neighbouring room. There he laid her on a bed and wrapped her up in a blanket; she was still fast asleep.

“That’s it, we’ve solved your little sister’s ‘problem’, are you satisfied now? Everything has gone very well, I don’t think there’ll be any problems. She has coagulated beautifully, stay here to keep her company. When she wakes up, she’ll be anguished, basically because of the effects of the anaesthetic and what she’s been through. Console her, but don’t let her get too desperate. It’s best if you can calm her down, energetically if necessary. Don’t go until she’s almost normal, even if you have to stay here a long time. I won’t be disturbed, I haven’t made appointments with any patients. I want to say two things to you, both are fundamental. The first: I repeat that no one should know what we agreed, nor what you did. If you break your word, resign yourself to the fact that I’ll send the letter you signed to your father. He’ll be horrified to read it, it would be a shame if he had another heart attack, OK?”

“Yes, doctor,” said Alicia, holding back her indignation.

“Right, the second thing is a bit of good news for you; I’m telling you so you can relax. Do you know where the sample of sperm that you got me went?”

“Where, doctor?”

“Down the toilet, dear; my client passed away before she could do the test. In any case, we did a good thing, our intentions were good. I’m sorry you had to carry out your task fruitlessly. Whatever, as you can see, I’m prepared to carry out my part of the bargain, even without any profit. Perhaps you ought to acknowledge it, be a bit more affectionate with me, don’t you think?”

Álvez stroked Alicia’s hair, it was obvious that he wanted to have her. He hadn’t been satisfied with using her as a decoy, now he wanted something for himself. But she no longer felt committed, Mabel was free now. Only one thing worried her: the gynaecologist had refused to return the letter to her. That’s why it wasn’t a good idea to get upset with him. Politely but coldly, she said,

“Doctor Álvez, forgive me, I don’t, for the time being, want to have a relationship with you. I did as I promised, I’ve suffered greatly, I need time to heal my wounds. I’ve degraded myself as a woman, as a person; I want to forget what happened, to start again. Do you understand me, doctor?”

“More or less, I think I deserve a better answer on your part. Anyway, we’ll leave it as it is, perhaps you’ll have to come back sooner than you think. In that case, remember that you still have a small debt with me. One other thing, be careful not to go near Burán, take my advice. I’d better not find out you have, eh? In that case I wouldn’t hesitate to send the confession you signed to your father, think about it carefully... Get used to the idea that that chapter of your life does not exist. I don’t want trouble in the future, understood?”

“All right, doctor.”

“Well, my beauty, your little sister is already waking up. Next time she won’t be so lucky, warn her. When you’re ready, call my secretary, she’ll open the door for you. If you want some coffee, ask her for it. I’ll see you, one day...”

Translation: Peter Miller (© 2002)