Petrified by Graham Masterton Read Free Book Online Page B

pigtails. She burned so fiercely that Braydon could feel the heat on his outstretched hands.
    He didn’t know how long she burned. Eventually, however, her head collapsed into her neck, and then her chest collapsed, and then she was nothing but two burning legs supporting a burning pelvis, like some kind of sacrificial bowl.
    Braydon managed to take one step back, and then another. His eyes were crowded with tears and his throat was raw. His lungs were so filled with smoke that he couldn’t even cough.
    Sukie. I killed you. Sukie, I burned you alive. How can you ever forgive me ?
    A woman’s voice very close to his left ear said, ‘Mr Harris? Are you awake?’
    Braydon opened his eyes. He was lying on one of two beds in a small recovery room. A black nurse in a pale blue uniform was leaning over him with her hand on his shoulder.
    â€˜How do you feel?’ the nurse asked him. ‘Do you feel any pain?’
    He lifted his head, and saw that his right arm was supported by a gray vinyl sling, and that his right wrist was encased in a hard white plaster cast. He could feel a dull, underlying throbbing, but no real pain.
    â€˜I’m OK. I think I’m OK. Where am I?’
    â€˜You’re in the specialist burns unit at Temple University Hospital. You’ve been sleeping for over an hour now.’
    â€˜Temple University Hospital?’
    â€˜Philadelphia, Mr Harris.’
    He looked up at her. ‘Oh, Jesus,’ he said. ‘Sukie.’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ said the nurse. ‘But Doctor Berman has made your daughter comfortable, and she’s not in any pain. You can come and see her now. Let me help you put on your shoes.’
    Braydon rolled himself sideways on the bed and managed to sit up. When he tried to stand up, however, his knees gave way and he promptly sat back down again. The nurse took hold of his elbow and helped him to his feet. ‘How bad is she?’ he croaked.
    â€˜Well, you can see for yourself. She has deep facial burns, but Doctor Berman is brilliant when it comes to treating children with injuries like hers.’
    â€˜I thought – I dreamed she was dead.’
    â€˜She’s a very sick little girl, Mr Harris. She has damage to her mouth and throat and lungs, and her digestive tract, too. But, like I say, Doctor Berman is one of the world’s leading specialists when it comes to pediatric burns.’
    Braydon nodded. ‘OK. Can I see her now?’
    â€˜Of course. But I think there’s one more thing I should tell you. Your ex-wife is here, too.’
    Miranda was sitting next to Sukie’s bed. She didn’t turn around when Braydon was ushered into the room. She was wearing a dark green silk scarf tied around her head and from the back she looked bonier than ever – with visible vertebrae and angular shoulders. In the middle of one of their more spectacular rows, Braydon had told her that she had all the physical charm of a praying mantis.
    Doctor Berman was standing on the other side of the bed. He was big and heavily built and bespectacled, with two double chins that were covered with a graying beard. He held out his hand when Braydon came in, and in a booming voice said, ‘Mr Harris? How are you? Terrible thing to happen. Just awful. I want you to know that you have all of our sympathy.’
    Braydon heard Miranda say, ‘ Huh !’ but he ignored her and approached the bed. Sukie’s face was charred scarlet and black so that it looked like an aerial view of some volcanic island. Her nose and her lips were hideously puffed up and most of her hair had been burned off, so that her scalp was covered with nothing but blackened stubble.
    â€˜How is she?’ he asked.
    â€˜Oh, she’s just dandy,’ said Miranda, still without looking around. ‘You can see for yourself, can’t you?’
    â€˜In herself, she’s doing not too bad,’ said Doctor Berman. ‘We have her on