03 Omdurman (Soldier of the Queen #3) by Griff Hosker

Author:Griff Hosker [Hosker, Griff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sword Books Ltd
Published: 2022-12-31T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

I knelt next to him and cradled his head in my arms. “Cowley!”

“I knew you would be the one. Isn’t that daft? I mean Egypt is a huge place but I knew that the one who would come through that door would be my big brother.”

“Of course, I came. Cowley! What happened? Did they do this to you?”

He shook his head, “My own fault. I tried to run when they were bringing us. I fell and broke my leg. It has gone bad. The smell makes me sick.”

I forced a smile, “Don’t worry. We have medical help.” I turned to shout again and I saw Cowley appear with his medical kit in his hand.

“I came as fast as I could, Sergeant Major.”

I looked up, “This is my brother, Billy. He has broken his leg.”

He looked down and I saw, from his face, what he thought of it. He took his bag and said, “Sergeant Major, if you could clear the room…”

“Of course.”

“Right, gentlemen, it is quite safe outside. You can leave my brother with me. He is in safe hands.”

As I turned, I saw that Cowley had given Billy his water skin. He was taking a bottle from his satchel. “Right, young man. If you have a drink of this then I can have a look at the wound.”

Billy drank the spoonful of mixture and lay back. He looked up at me. “I am sorry we parted so badly, Jack.” He shook his head, and his eyes began to close. I thought he was asleep but he opened them again, “Bet wouldn’t come, you know. I was lonely here and...” His eyes closed.

“Bill!”

“He is just asleep, Sergeant Major. I need to look at this wound.” He began to unwrap the bandage. The smell was even worse. I saw the two bones peering from the angry red flesh. The orderly turned to me, “Jack, he has blood poisoning. If I had found him a few days earlier, then we might have saved him. He would have lost the leg but he would be alive.”

“Charlie, there must be something you can do.”

In answer, he took off Billy’s trousers and pointed, “He has a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. You can see the ends of the bones. Had they been joined and cleaned there might have been a chance but the blood is infected. The blood poisoning is in his body. If he was a horse or a dog…” he left the words unsaid. “I can make him comfortable and ease the pain but he won’t see Suez, let alone England. When he wakes then make the most of the time you have with him.” I nodded. “You can cut along if you like. This will take some time.”

“I am not leaving.” I took Billy’s hand in mine and held it. It was a good job he was asleep for Charlie had to clean away dirt and dried blood. The ends of the bone looked jagged and I knew that it was too late to try to splint it properly.

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