Man Down by Nathan Burrows

Author:Nathan Burrows [Burrows, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Lizzie put her medical bag down next to Adams's and watched as he trudged back towards the irrigation ditch. What she really wanted to do was to take off her helmet and run her fingers through her hair. As she looked at the soldiers around her, she could see that although they had a variety of different uniforms, the two things they were all wearing were body armour and helmets. Besides, she thought, judging by the sweat dripping down the back of her neck, if she did take her helmet off it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.

She heard Jackson calling out, and when she looked up, he was beckoning her towards him. Lizzie walked across to him, leaving the bags where they were in the sand. As she got closer to him, she could see the serious look on his face.

‘Lizzie, you and your boss need to get cracking, mate,’ he said. He really was attractive, Lizzie thought, but she reminded herself that there was a time and a place for everything. And now definitely wasn’t the time or the place. ‘The Chinook’s on its way back in to get you guys and the casualties.’

‘Okay, no worries,’ Lizzie said, resisting the urge to wipe sweat from her face. ‘Adams is just getting the stretcher he left in the ditch, then he’ll be back and we’ll get ourselves sorted.’

‘Do me a favour though, would you?’ Jackson said. ‘Keep an eye on him over the next few days.’ Lizzie looked at him, surprised at how serious he sounded after being so flirty a few minutes ago. ‘I’m guessing that he’s probably not slotted someone before.’ Lizzie thought for a second.

‘I’m pretty sure that he hasn’t,’ she replied.

‘He won’t have processed it yet,’ Jackson said. ‘But at some point, probably when he’s back in his scratcher, he’ll come down hard.’

‘Okay, thanks. I’ll make sure we look after him. Where’re the casualties?’ Jackson pointed towards one of the Land Rovers.

‘They’re in the back of that one,’ he said. Lizzie started walking towards the vehicle. She looked over her shoulder and raised one of her hands.

‘Cheers, Jacko, I’ll see you later.’

As she walked the short distance to the Land Rover, her boots kicked up small clouds of fine dust. Lizzie looked down at her feet and could see dried out poppy heads on the surface of the soil. By the time she reached the Land Rover, Lizzie was sweating hard. She pulled her damp shirt away from her skin a couple of times to try to ventilate her chest, but it didn’t make any difference. Lizzie reached the Land Rover, and another soldier got out as she approached the driver’s door.

‘Corporal Booker,’ he said with a broad smile and a handshake. ‘I’m the medic in the FOB.’ As she shook his hand, Lizzie noticed the small red cross on his arm.

‘Sergeant Jarman,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’m the paramedic from the TRT, and my boss is about somewhere as well.’

‘Well, you certainly chose an interesting time to turn up,’ Corporal Booker said.

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