I was repeatedly asked whether I had passed gas or had a bowel movement.
Something was moving forward in accordance with the recovery of my intestines.
A drain was connected to my abdomen, and fluid and blood were coming out.
There was so much I did not understand.
Even so, I was experiencing the strangeness of the body firsthand.
“You are doing well,” they told me.
I could not feel what “doing well” meant.
There was nothing to do but trust it.
And believing that this was the best possible course felt like the only thing I could do.