Summary

In Part I, “War and Exodus,” Chapter 1, it was 1938, the third year of the Spanish Civil War. Victor Dalmau was working as a medic with the “Baby Bottle Conscription” (3). Having served on “the fronts at Madrid and Teruel, and then at the evacuation hospital at Manresa,” Victor had seen many men die (5). Then one day, he resurrected a soldier by reaching into his chest and squeezing his heart for several seconds. Thereafter, Victor received a reputation for his work.

Victor “had joined the Republican Army in 1936” (7). In 1937, he met an ambulance driver named Aitor Ibarra. Both men were devoted to helping the wounded. In Teruel, Victor “ran into Elisabeth Eidenbenz for the second time” (8). He wanted their friendship to evolve into romance, but she was too invested in her work.

After suffering several injuries, Victor returned to his parents Marcel Lluis...