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remain.”
    Dorota and I left together. She cut her remaining classes for the day.
    “You’re not angry at me, are you?” I asked. “For the Miłosz stuff.”
    “No, not really. I’m too preoccupied by what you said about Kleenex and stoves. I’m afraid to ask you about your life and what happened to you. What you know.”
    “Don’t worry. It’ll come out one day.”
    “In the meantime, I’ll try not to interrogate.” She took my hand. Her wrist was covered in goosebumps.
    “Why did you do it?” I asked her. “Why did you want me to fuck with them? Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing, but how did you know I would catch on?”
    “I didn’t. But I need somebody in my life who doesn’t have to be told what to do, and I need them to see that none of this matters.” She gestured to the walls I routinely scaled in fits of parkour. I wondered if she had ever seen my sneakers rapping on the glass. “Or maybe I’m the one who needs to see that. But you were more than amazing today. You were ekstra .”
    “And if I had failed? What if I had impressed them with shit about the intersection of urban planning, miniature cities, and world art?”
    “Then I would have dropped you and found another friend,” she said with no trace of jest. “Anyway, you don’t know about that stuff, so what does it matter?”

GEMELLI HOSPITAL
    [The Holy Father, Pope Giovanni Paolo II, was taken to Gemelli Hospital this Thursday, February 24, for a routine tracheotomy to ease his breathing. The operation proceeded according to schedule and was a success, and he sends his well-wishes to all of Rome.]
    Dr Krzysztof Mazurkiewicz, emergency surgeon:
    4:26 pm
After ensuring the patient’s comfort, we identified the Jackson’s triangle near the suprasternal notch, and injected a solution of lingocaine and adrenaline to minimize potential bleeding. We disinfected the area from the mandible to the sternum, and pre-lubricated the tracheal tube. A tapered and curved Cook model was chosen, to reduce the risk of damage to the tracheal wall. The Cook model is shaped like a rhino horn.
    [His Eminence is evidently in jovial spirits, and was making jokes shortly after 8 pm. He directed that no general anaesthesia be used, and his wishes were respected.]
    4:30 pm
Pay close attention, in case you have to do this yourself one day. We made an incision between the suprasternal notch and the cricoid cartilage, and dissected the tissue with a cat’s paw retractor. You cannot imagine the pressure of performing these tasks on such an important patient.
    [It is not unusual for the Pope to visit the hospital more than once a month for health monitoring. He catches colds, as all Romans do. We are praying for his full recovery, and by all accounts, His Holiness has bounced back rather quickly.]
    4:55 pm
Once the tracheal rings were visible, and after cauterizing the bleeding, we made a second incision between the second and third rings. Upon reaching this stage, it is ridiculously easy to “make a mistake.” It is common knowledge that the price of making a medical mistake on this patient is instant removal from the premises. And execution.
    [We might remind the media that the Holy Father has been an avid athlete all of his life, and that he has built up a natural resilience to “hiccups” of the body. He sends his love to the faithful in Poland, and says energetically that he “will see you all very soon.”]
    5:12 pm
Unfortunately, the patient continued to bleed in the epidermis from the first incision, with blood leaking into the trachea. This is common in older patients, but there was a man in the operating room known to conceal a pistol, so I cauterized again, even though over-cauterization could have led to complications ...
    [Doctors report that never has a patient made such a quick recovery.]
    5:14 pm
The bleeding stopped, but my staff was still nervous. I knew they had all rehearsed suicide routines in case anything went wrong. We injected a