murakami, haruki - Norwegian wood

you to one of our sessions if possible, and the doctor was in favour of
it, but Naoko was against it. I can tell you exactly what her reason
was: "I want my body to be clean of all this when I meet him." That
was not the problem, I said to her; the problem was to get her well as
quickly as possible, and I pushed as hard as I could, but she wouldn't
change her mind.
I think I once explained to you that this is not a specialized hospital.
We do have medical specialists here, of course, and they provide
effective treatments, but concentrated therapy is another matter. The
point of this place is to create an effective environment in which the
patient can treat herself or himself, and that does not, properly
speaking, include medical treatment. Which means that if Naoko's
condition grows any worse, they will probably have to transfer her to
some other hospital or medical facility or what have you. Personally, I
would find this very painful, but we would have to do it. That isn't to
say that she couldn't come back here for treatment on a kind of
temporary "leave of absence". Or, better yet, she could even be cured
and finish with hospitals completely. In any case, we're doing
everything we can, and Naoko is doing everything she can. The best
thing you can do meanwhile is hope for her recovery and keep sending
her those letters.
It was dated 31 March. After I had read it, I stayed on the porch and
let my eyes wander out to the garden, full now with the freshness of
spring. An old cherry tree stood there, its blossoms nearing the height
of their glory. A soft breeze blew, and the light of day lent its
strangely blurred, smoky colours to everything. Seagull wandered
over from somewhere, and after scratching at the boards of the
veranda for a while, she stretched out next to me and fell asleep.
I knew I should be doing some serious thinking, but I had no idea how
to go about it. And, to tell the truth, thinking was the last thing I
wanted to do. The time would come soon enough when I had no
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