Chapter 20

“I’ve got two legs, Doctor. If I come out of surgery with anything less than the two, I will come after you, if I have to drag myself over hell’s creation, and I’ll have no qualms in shooting off a favourite piece of your anatomy.” I dropped my gaze to his groin. “Trust me on this.”

A nurse slapped an ether mask over my nose and mouth, but before I slipped into unconsciousness, I thought I heard him chuckle.

When I regained consciousness once more, a doctor was sitting beside my bed, scribbling something on a chart. My leg was encased in plaster and suspended above the mattress by a metal frame. “Fairly clean break, Brevet Lieutenant.”

I knew I was groggy from the aftereffects of the anaesthesia but, “Are you sure you’ve got the right man? I’m not an officer.” I’d been promoted to sergeant simply through attrition, and I’d been content with that rank.