Nambari arobaini na saba

Carla anakata mkono wake. Anaosha vyombo nyumbani. Anaenda kliniki. Anapata nambari: arobaini na saba.

Carla cuts her hand. She washes dishes at home. She goes to the clinic. She gets a number: forty-seven.

Skrini inaonyesha thelathini na moja. Chumba kimejaa. Mwanaume anasoma jarida. Baba anabeba mtoto. Kijana anaangalia simu yake.

The screen shows thirty-one. The room is full. A man reads a magazine. A father holds a baby. A teenager looks at his phone.

Nambari zinabadilika polepole: thelathini na mbili, thelathini na tatu, thelathini na sita. Hazifuati mpangilio. Carla anasubiri.

The numbers change slowly: thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-six. They do not go in order. Carla waits.

Baada ya saa moja, skrini inaonyesha arobaini na saba. Carla anaingia. Daktari anaangalia mkono wake. "Ni ndogo," anasema. "Isafishe mara mbili kwa siku."

After one hour, the screen shows forty-seven. Carla goes in. The doctor looks at her hand. "It is small," he says. "Clean it two times a day."

Carla anatoka. Chumba karibu kimetupu. Kijana ameondoka. Mtoto ameamka.

Carla leaves. The room is almost empty. The teenager is gone. The baby is awake.