Shoulder the Sky by Anne Perry Read Free Book Online Page B

was beginning to work already. The anaesthetic mask was not there yet. Charlie was still conscious.
    The wound was ghastly, still pumping blood, even though the first-aid station had done all they could.
    Then Prentice was there, staring. "What's happened to him?" he asked. "God in heaven! His genitals have gone! There's nothing left!"
    Charlie's eyes filled with tears and there was a gurgle in his throat. Joseph felt his fingers curl, and then loose again as the surgeon at last put the anaesthetic mask mercifully on his face.
    Wil turned round and looked at Prentice. The young American's skin was grey, his eyes wild and he gasped and gagged for breath. He teetered for a moment, as if trying to keep his balance, then he lunged forward, swinging his fists, and caught Prentice on the side of the jaw.
    Prentice went staggering backwards, but Wil followed him, lashing out again and again, left fist, then right, then left. Prentice crashed into the far wall, sending a tray of instruments flying off the small table. He put up his arms to shield his face, but it was useless. Wil was in a red rage and he went on striking him on any part of his body he could reach head, shoulder, chest, stomach.
    The surgeon swore. "For God's sake, stop him! Somebody get hold of the bloody lunatic!"
    Prentice fell over and slid down against the wall, half on top of the girl who had fainted. Wil grabbed his arms and yanked him up again, punching at him at the same time. Prentice gave a high-pitched scream as his shoulder dislocated with the twist of his own weight against the grip. Still holding on, Wil hit him again and he crumpled.
    The orderly stood frozen. Marie O'Day looked around for something to hit Wil with, before he actually killed Prentice.
    Joseph, forcing the picture of Charlie Gee out of his mind, stepped forward behind Wil and put his arms around his neck, throwing his weight backwards so Wil was forced to let go of Prentice to save himself. But he struggled, trying to swing round and rid himself of the restraint.
    "Stop it!" Joseph said fiercely. "You'll kill him, you fool! That isn't going to help anyone."
    Wil jerked against him, almost pulling Joseph off his feet, then recoiled back again as his neck met the lock of Joseph's arm.
    Prentice was clambering to his feet, his face streaming blood, his uniform torn and his left arm hanging limply, oddly angled at the shoulder. His mouth was a snarl of pain and fury, but he was equally clearly terrified.
    Joseph kept his grip on Wil, but he met Prentice's eyes. "Back off," he said 'or I'll let him go."
    Prentice was gasping, blood from a broken tooth running down his lip. "I'll have him court-martialled he choked out the words. "He'll spend the next five years in the glasshouse!"
    "You can't have him court-martialled Joseph replied coldly. "He's a volunteer. You can sue him in civil court, if you can get an extradition order. He's an American over here to help us in the war."
    "General Cullingford is my uncle!" Prentice wiped his hand over his moth and winced with a cry as it jagged his broken tooth. The gesture did nothing to stop the blood. "I'll see he's kept here!"
    "For what?" Joseph asked, eyes wide. "Nobody here is going to have seen a thing! Are you?" he demanded, glancing sideways at Marie O'Day, working beside the surgeon, up to her elbows in blood, and the orderly, passing instruments, swabs, needles threaded with fresh silk.
    "Don't know what you're talking about," the surgeon said without looking up. "Get that bloody idiot out of here."
    "You should take him out under arrest!" Prentice gasped, spitting more blood.
    "Not him, you!" the surgeon snapped.
    "I'm injured! He's broken my damn teeth!" Prentice said furiously.
    "I don't do teeth." The surgeon was still working on Charlie, head down. "See the regimental dentist, if you can find him."
    "You'd better tell him you got too near an explosion, and fell on one of the props," Joseph eased his hold on Wil Sloan, who straightened