Chapter 10 Summary

Chapter ten opens at the hospital. Sophie and Otto go to have Sophie's wound treated. They are low in the hierarchy of treatment, so they have to wait. The hospital has a very sterile, impersonal feel. The attendant asks them brusquely for their name and information and he tells them that Sophie should have come in sooner. The waiting room is like an old bus station, smelling of leather and disinfectant; sick people surround them. Sophie is upset by the appearance of everything and wants to leave, but Otto tells her to deal with it. They wait an hour or so, and observe others who are sicker. Otto and Sophie are eventually called into the treatment room. A black attendant helps Sophie by comforting her and looking at the wound and Sophie's nurse chides her for not coming in sooner. They have to...