Number Forty-Seven

Carla had cut her hand washing the dishes. It wasn't deep, but it kept bleeding, so she went to the clinic. The receptionist asked for her insurance card and gave her a number. Forty-seven.

Carla je porezala ruku dok je prala suđe. Nije bilo duboko, ali je stalno krvarilo, pa je otišla u kliniku. Recepcionarka je zatražila njezinu zdravstvenu iskaznicu i dala joj broj. Četrdeset i sedam.

The screen above the door said "Now serving: 31." The waiting room was full. A man was reading the same page of a magazine for ten minutes. A young father was holding a sleeping baby. A teenager was staring at his phone.

Ekran iznad vrata pokazivao je 'Sada na redu: 31.' Čekaonica je bila puna. Muškarac je već deset minuta čitao istu stranicu časopisa. Mladi otac držao je uspavano dijete. Tinejdžer je buljio u svoj mobitel.

Carla sat down and watched the numbers change. 32. 33. 36. The numbers did not move in order. She wondered if she had been forgotten.

Carla je sjela i gledala kako se brojevi mijenjaju. 32. 33. 36. Brojevi nisu išli redom. Pitala se je li zaboravljena.

After an hour, the screen finally showed 47. She walked through the door to the small office. The doctor looked at her hand for two minutes. "It's nothing," he said. "Clean it twice a day. No stitches."

Nakon sat vremena, ekran je napokon pokazao 47. Prošla je kroz vrata u mali ured. Liječnik je pogledao njezinu ruku dvije minute. 'Nije ništa ozbiljno,' rekao je. 'Čisti to dvaput dnevno. Nema šavova.'

When she left, the waiting room was almost empty. The teenager was gone. The baby was awake. The man had finally turned the page.

Kad je izašla, čekaonica je bila gotovo prazna. Tinejdžer je otišao. Beba je bila budna. Muškarac je konačno okrenuo stranicu.