Summary of “FAITH, LOVE,

TIME AND DR. LAZARO”

By: Greg Brillantes
21stcenturyliterature Uncategorized December 17, 2017 3 Minutes

From the upstairs veranda, Dr. Lazaro had a view of stars, the countryda
rkness, the lights on the distant highway at the edge of town.

Dr. Lazaro thad heard it countless times, in the corridors of the hospitals,
inwaiting rooms: the perpetual awkward misery.

Dr. Lazaro brushed aside the stray vision as he strode out of the whitewa
shedroom; he was back in his element, among syringes, steel instrument
s, quickdecisions made without emotion, and it gave him a kind of blunt
energy.

He’s all right, Dr. Lazaro thought as they swung smoothly into the main a
venueof the town, past the church and the plaza, the kiosko bare for once
in a seasonof fiestas, the lam-posts shining on the quiet square.

Dr. Lazaro gazed at the wide darkness around them, the shapes of trees a
ndbushes hurling toward them and sliding away and he saw the stars, ha
rdglinting points of light yards, black space, infinite distances; in the un
measureduniverse, man’s life flared briefly and was gone, traceless in the
void.
“ Dr. Lazaro watched the young face intent on the road, a cowlick over th
eforehead, the mall curve of the nose, his own face before he left to study
inanother country, a young student of full illusions, a lifetime ago; long b
efore theloss of faith, God turning abstract, unknowable, and everywhere
, it seemed tohim, those senseless accidents of pain.

In the two years Ben had been away in college, they had written a few bri
ef, almost formal letters to each other: your money is on the way, these ar
e thebest years, make the most of them Time was moving toward them, w
as swirlingaround and rushing away and it seemed Dr. Lazaro could alm
ost hear its hallowreceding roar; and discovering his son’s profile against
the flowing darkness, hehad a thirst to speak.

In the windless space, Dr. Lazaro could hear Esteban’s labored breathing
, theclank of the metal nozzle as the attendant replaced it in the pump.

“Lead the way, “ Dr. Lazaro said, handing Esteban the flashlight.

With the boy close behind him, Dr. Lazaro followed Esteban down a clay
slopeto the slope and ripple of water in the darkness.

Esteban wade waistdeep into the water, holding the boat steady as Dr. La
zaroand Ben stepped on the board.

In the darkness, with the opposite bank like the far rise of an island, Dr.
Lazarohad a moment’s tremor of fear as the boar slide out over the black
water; below prowled the deadly currents; to drown her in the dephts of t
he night Butit took only a minute to cross the river.

Unsteady on a steep ladder, Dr. Lazaro entered the cave of Esteban’s hut.

Dr. Lazaro removed the blankets that bundled the child and injected a w
holeampule to check the tonic spasms, the needle piercing neatly into the
sparseflesh; he broke another ampule, with deft precise movements , an
d emptied thesyringe, while the infant lay stiff as wood beneath his hand
s.

Dr. Lazaro glanced at his watch; it was close to midnight.

“I did everything: Dr. Lazaro said.”It’s too late –
“ He gestured vaguely, with adull resentment; by some implicit relations
hip, he was also responsible, for themisery in the room, the hopelessness.

Unhurried, his pace no more than a casual stroll, Dr. Lazaro felt the oppr
essionof the night begin to life from him, an emotionless calm returned t
o his mind.

“The Church teaches, the church says.” God: Christ: the communications
ofsaints: Dr. Lazaro found himself wondering about the world of novenas
andcandles, where bread and wine became the flesh and blood of the Lo
rd, and awoman bathed in light appeared before children, and mortal me
n spoke ofeternal life; the visions of God, the body’s resurrection at the te
nd of time.

In the headlights, the dust sifted down and when the air was clear again,
Dr.Lazaro, swallowing a taste of earth, of darkness, maneuvered the car b
ack ontothe road, his arms exhausted and numb.

Dr. Lazaro sat there a momen, in the stillness, resting his eyes, conscious
of themeasured beating of his heart, and breathing a scent of dust that li
ngered onhis clothes, his skin.