Blood diagrams the operating table.

“Yeah, that’s the definite article,” says Doctor Pheme. “You going to let it dangle?”

“No!” snaps Doctor Ovid. “We’re going to get him through this prospect. Nurse, I asked for a preterite!”

“Shouldn’t you at least try a drip of interrogative subjunct?” Doctor Pheme is sweating through her cotton participle. “Or a shot of momentane?”

Hands steady, Doctor Ovid is already incising the patient’s nominative absolute. “If you insist, you can start him on an aspect of inchoate.”

“This all depends,” says Doctor Pheme, “on you knowing what you’re doing.”

“Trust me. I’ve perfected this technique.”