Reflections on life and death through the eyes of a medicine doctor, researcher on blood deseases, under the anguish of consulting a terminally ill young woman.

Life is no bed of roses for Jorge. Agreed, he has a privileged social status: not only is he a doctor but he is the head of the Hematology department at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology. But oncology means cancer, and cancer is too often synonymous with death. Life is all the more bitter as Jorge once fell in love with one of his patients, Clarisse, who had been diagnosed with advanced leukemia. Clarisse and Jorge experienced a brief period of happiness, but the sword of Damocles hung over it, and unfortunately, Death won the game; despite Jorge's efforts, Clarisse died. Now, disillusioned and depressed, he goes on with his work, aware that he will never be able to vanquish the Grim Reaper.—Guy Bellinger