Ada sta male — Ada Is Ill

In an Italian hospital

Cattinara is the main hospital of Trieste, on a hill above the city. In Italian hospitals a patient is ricoverato in a reparto — cardiologia, ortopedia, medicina — run by a primario, the head physician. Discharge is le dimissioni, from dimettere: the same word used when someone resigns from a job. Alex, who resigned from his company in the fall, has now met both meanings. Family plays a large part in hospital life. Relatives bring glasses, books and clothes, keep the patient company during visiting hours and often talk to the doctors on the patient's behalf. Italy's emergency medical number has long been 118, and many regions now route emergency calls through the European number 112. The grammar of this lesson is the grammar of feeling. Emotion and fear take the congiuntivo when the subject changes (mi dispiace che sia successo), and di + infinitive when it doesn't (mi dispiace di averle chiesto troppo). Comfort comes in fixed phrases — vedrai che, non è colpa tua, coraggio — and in the loose spoken che of «Siediti, che ti preparo una camomilla».