Summary

Scene 6 (p. 41-44)

A moment from the past is portrayed: Vivian, five years old, reads a Beatrix Potter story with her father. As she reads, she comes across the word soporific. Her father explains soporific means something that makes you sleepy. When Vivian sees the sleeping bunnies in the picture, she is delighted the image bore out the definition of soporific.

Vivian tells the audience about her love of words, her love of Donne’s words in particular (concatenation, coruscation, tergiversation,) and her custom of looking up relevant medical terms to gain knowledge.

Scene 7 (p. 44-48)

Susie helps Vivian as she arrives at the hospital one night with fever and chills. Jason examines her. Susie tells him she thinks the dosage should be lowered for the next round of chemotherapy. He replies “No way. Full dose. She’s tough. She can take it...