He was afraid of the big vaccine needle. And the young woman aide clearly didn’t know how to stick the needle in without inflicting pain. Dr. Mendoza saw this and placed a gentle hand on the nurse’s shoulder. “¿Puedo probar?” he said. May I try? He never liked to make the aides feel inadequate. “Por supuesto, Doctor,” the young woman said right away, nodding, handing him the hypodermic. The boy, who looked to be around three, was yowling and bucking in his mother’s strong arms. And who could blame him? To little children, all hypodermic needles looked big and scary. “What is his name?” he asked the mother. “Santiago,” the mother said. She was missing most of her front teeth. “Santiago, I’d like you to meet my friend Nicolás.” He pulled from the front pocket of his white coat an orange rubber toy with colored nobs for eyes and ears. “Nicolás is a Martian.
