The Scroll by Grant R. Jeffrey

Author:Grant R. Jeffrey [Jeffrey, Grant R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-72927-9
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2011-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY

Darkness gave way to bright light. Numbness gave way to pain. Chambers wished for the former. It took a few moments for the world to make sense to him again. The tunnel was gone; the hard stone upon which he had fallen had been replaced by a soft bed with the whitest sheets he had ever seen.

Then he saw the bed rail. A hospital bed rail.

He blinked several times, forcing his eyes to clear. Last he remembered, his eyes were full of dust and grit from … from what? Explosion. He tried to rise, but a hand pressed him back to the bed. “No you don’t, Dr. Chambers. I’m not done yet.”

A male voice. It came from behind him, calm, sure.

“Where am I?”

“Beth Israel Hospital in Jerusalem.” Accent saturated the words.

“How did I get here?” He tried to turn to face the doctor.

“Stay still, please, I’m trying to do a little medical art back here.”

“What kind of art?”

“Stitching. I’m an artist when it comes to stitching up wounds. I have a reputation to protect.”

Memories were coming back like jigsaw pieces, leaving him to put things back together. “I don’t feel anything.”

“That’s twenty-first-century drugs. This won’t take long.”

Chambers relaxed on his side and tried not to move. He decided he didn’t want to see what the doctor was doing.

“I’m Dr. Karlin. You are a lucky man, Dr. Chambers. Fortunate indeed.”

“I’m not feeling all that lucky. How bad … I mean … wounds …” It occurred to him that he could hear more clearly.

“You’re going to live, but you’ll have a few scars to frighten the grandkids with.”

“I was hoping for something a little more medical.”

“I can do that, but I’ll keep it simple. I imagine you’re still a little groggy. Your injuries are minor compared to what they could be. You presented with second-degree burns to the back of your neck and arms. Not serious, but your bed sheets will probably feel like sandpaper. There is some blistering but not much. We’ll send you home with some ointment to help with the surface pain. You also received several impact wounds to the back. There’s some bruising, and I had to dig out a few stone shards. All superficial, though it won’t feel that way once the local wears off. While you were out, we did a few scans and x-rays. No broken bones, but you damaged a tendon in your right knee. I imagine you noticed that when you did it.”

“I seem to recall a massive, stomach-turning pain.”

“That would be the reason. We’re going to treat that with an elastic brace since the tendon is still attached. There is a good chance, however, that you may be facing a leg surgery in your future. How’s your hearing?”

“Some ringing still.”

“That should pass with time. Hopefully. Sometimes tinnitus is permanent. Only time will tell. You’ll be happy to know that your eardrums are intact. Which surprises me. From what I hear, I expected to see more damage than I do. Again, you are a lucky man.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.