The Last Raid (Blood War Book 5) by Rod Carstens

Author:Rod Carstens [Carstens, Rod]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-30T22:00:00+00:00

31

Sol System

Earth

Confederation Naval Hospital

Sand slowly opened his eyes. He was in a darkened room, lying on a bed. Not the usual wake-up after one of those dreams. He was not in his quarters; he was somewhere else. Then he remembered, he was in the hospital. Large lamps like arms arched over his body, bathing him in the pale blue light of sterile fields. The kind of lamps they used for surgery. His mind was a jumble. Why was he in the hospital? It came to him in snatches.

“Yes, General, you can have artificial replacements for your limbs now, but you know we can’t guarantee we will ever be able to remove them.”

“Of course, of course. Can we get on with this?”

The doctor held out a pad, and Dasan pressed his palm against it. When it glowed green, the doctor handed it to a nurse.

“Was that necessary? I’m already lying on the goddamned operating table.”

“Yes. By law, we are required to give you a final chance to opt out, given the long-term consequences.”

“Fuck it. Let’s get this over.”

Sand had some hazy memories of being asked to raise his leg, or maybe that had been a dream.

A woman’s face appeared over him, looking down. “Oh, you’re awake. Good,” she said.

Sand tried to move his legs, but he couldn’t. They seemed to be tied down. “What—”

“I’m a doctor, your surgeon. You’re in recovery from your surgery. You’re restrained now, so don’t try to move yet. I want you to just lie still until the anesthesia wears off. Do you understand?”

Through the fog of the drugs, Sand was able to say, “Yes, yes, I understand.”

“Ok, can you do something for me now?”

“Yesss,” Sand answered hesitantly.

“Can you feel this?”

Sand felt a hand on his left leg. Wait, I don’t have a left leg. No, that’s right, that’s why I’m here. He was having artificial limbs permanently attached. He had a left leg now! “Yes, yes, I can feel it.”

“Good, now is this a sharp pain or a dull one?”

Again, the doctor did something to his leg.

“It’s…it’s dull.”

“Ok. Nurse, increase the sensitivity on the skin on his left leg.”

Sand felt a tingling in his leg, and the doctor again reached down and touched it. “Ouch, that hurt,” Sand said.

“Good. Nurse, let’s leave it on that setting and finish the attachments.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

The surgeon went through a similar set of tests on his left hand and arm. She touched his right arm and asked, “Does that feel like your left now?”

“Yes, yes, it does.”

“Good, that’s what we want. Now I’m going to give you something to help you sleep. I want you to get some rest.”

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