“A Blue Ribbon Affair”
Bertie Shields (a student) and Joyce Renfew (a nurse) are taking a dead woman’s body to a morgue that is known as Brady. The dead body is reclining on a stretcher and it is covered by a sheet. As the stretcher is being pushed, the sheet covering the corpse falls which exposes her face. Bertie fantasizes about Joyce’s thighs. Then, he looks at the corpse and sees that she is wearing a blue ribbon. Also, Bertie concludes that the corpse is of a woman.
Bertie shields reflects about the blue ribbon on the dead woman’s body. He holds that the blue ribbon should not be removed, from the body even though she is dead, as it is gleaming and outstanding. Eventually, they get to the basement where Joyce Renfrew and Bertie chat casually. At the basement, Joyce Renfrew’s body comes into contact with Bertie’s body and Bertie becomes anxious and sexually excited. In the course of the chat, Bertie Shields seeks to know what caused the lady’s death. Instead of answering Bertie’s question, Joyce Renfrew asserts that death is inevitable for all human beings and they should make the most of it as it is a one-way journey.
They put the corpse in the refrigerator. The only thought that Bertie Shields is drawn into after the storage of the corpse is the blue ribbon. Then Joyce Renfrew flirts with Bertie. Finally, they have sexual intercourse on top of the same stretcher that they had used to convey the corpse.
“The Consultation”
A doctor is attending a medical convention in an unspecified place. Suddenly, the doctor feels bored and decides to call up Gloria Snurkowski who is a Polish prostitute to entertain her sexually. They communicate by way of phone and make arrangements to meet that evening for dinner and sex. They meet and the doctor observes Gloria’s mannerisms. He concludes that Gloria is a peasant. They go into a private room and spend the entire night together.
The doctor wakes up earlier than Gloria and caresses her body including the breasts. Then, he realizes that there is a lump in one of Gloria’s breasts. The doctor is frightened upon discovering the lump and withdraws his hand immediately from Gloria’s body. The spontaneous withdrawal of the hand awakens Gloria from sleep. The doctor goes into the bathroom and freshens up. He offers Gloria the payment of a hundred dollars which is the amount that they had agreed on. After paying her, the doctor tells her that she has a lump in her breast. He shows her the exact location of the lump.
The doctor is apprehensive about informing Gloria that the lump in her breast could be malignant. Gloria says the word cancer first which lessens the doctor’s burden of saying the word himself. The doctor reflects about the lump and it disgusts him as it is analogous to his competitor. The lump is challenging the doctor in the quest to have Gloria's body. The doctor insists that Gloria should have the lump tested even though Gloria is adamant that her breast would not be dealt with.
The doctor's parting shot is that Gloria should be prudent in the decision she makes regarding the lump in her breast. Before the doctor leaves the room, Gloria takes ten dollars, from the hundred that he had paid her for her sexual services, and offers him as payment for the consultation he offers her. The doctor rejects the payment by asserting that his practice does not include “house calls.”
