Duty and Obligation by Sean Benjamin

Author:Sean Benjamin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2018-10-11T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Raferty Hawkins awoke in the morning as his drugs wore off, and his upper leg started throbbing again. He ignored it as best he could as he looked around the unfamiliar room. He was confused for a second, but then the memories came tumbling over him. The prison attack, the wound, the shuttle to Nemesis, and the long trip aboard Nemesis to this place—it all came back to him in pieces. Then he remembered the overwhelming leg pain and the calm medical people measuring it with a detached air of well-trained specialists going about their work. He knew where he was now and, for the first time since his wounding, he felt that a good outcome was possible. He looked around for a method to call for a nurse or whoever else who would be on duty. As his eyes scanned his near surroundings, a nurse walked in the room.

She smiled a professional smile and talked in a cheerful voice. “Good morning. How is your leg feeling?”

“It aches.”

She gave him the professional sad face. “I’m sorry, but we can’t administer anything for the pain for now. You are scheduled for your surgery shortly. First, our team will examine your wound a second time to ensure all is well from the cleanup work and mapping done yesterday; then the surgery to replace the muscle mass you lost will begin. Unfortunately, the operation is done without a painkiller or sedative of any type. As the team connects the nerves, the only way to measure their success is if you feel more pain, and it registers on our instruments. It is not pleasant but necessary.” She went back to the professional happy face. “After a successful procedure, we will administer a painkiller to ease your discomfort, and you should be up and around very soon.”

Raferty nodded. He had not known the details of such an operation, but he did know about the “no sedative or painkillers” part. Anyone who knew anything about replacement knew about that facet and hoped it would never be necessary for them. Rafe had a more important concern right now. “Didn’t I come in with another patient?”

“Yes. She is in the next room.” The nurse pointed at the wall behind the head of the bed. “She is resting comfortably, still under a sedative. She is scheduled for her operation tomorrow as it takes longer to prepare a hand, wrist, and lower arm. She will have her pain registration and mapping this afternoon right after your surgery. Her wound cleanup was yesterday along with yours, but no mapping or pain measurement was done as her surgery is much more delicate than yours, and the mapping procedure is longer.” Rafe got the professional smile again. “Both of you will be fine. You’re at one of the best clinics on Potenka for this work, and Doctor Bergeron will personally do both operations. You couldn’t be in better hands.”

Hawkins nodded. He agreed with the last statement. He had known Bergeron for many years and had seen him work under very primitive circumstances.

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