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&039;And do you really believe that?&039;

I stay quiet I don&039;t honestly knohat I believe

&039;I think you&039;re talking crap,&039; she snaps &039;None of what you&039;ve said explains why I watched a perfectly healthy and normal eleven year-old boy beat the hell out of the headteacher this , does it?&039;

I still stay quiet I&039; different happens on the news channel The usual presenters behind their expensive-looking desk have suddenly disappeared and we&039;re noatching a round table discussion between four people who are probably all politicians or experts in so for a couple of minutes so we&039;ve oing to be able to tell us?&039; I grumble &039;How can these people be experts if no-one knohat&039;s happening yet?&039;

&039;Just shut up so we can listen,&039; Lizzie sighs

I can&039;t help being sceptical The whole set-up reminds me of the start of that film &039;Dawn of the Dead&039; where the views of another so-called expert are ripped apart by a non-believing TV presenter I knoe&039;re not dealing with a zo to each otherup what they say with any facts No-one has anything to offer other than half-baked theories and ideas No-one see

&039;The police force is already operating at full stretch and our hospitals are struggling to cope with the increase in injuries,&039; a grey-haired lady is saying &039;The situation ht under control soon or ill not have the capacity to react If this situation continues indefinitely and at the rate of increase we&039;re presently seeing we&039;ll be in danger of reaching saturation point where we si&039;

&039;But what is happening?&039; soed man I think he&039;s a doctor Not sure if he&039;s a medic or a shrink &039;Surely our priority must be to identify the cause and resolve that first&039;

&039;I think with this situation the cause and the effect are one and the sa man (who, I believe, is a fairly senior politician) says &039;People are reacting to what they see on the streets, and their reactions arethe situation appear far worse than it actually is&039;

&039;See,&039; I say, nudging Liz

&039;Shh&039; she hisses

&039;Do you seriously believe that?&039; the other es &039;Do you really believe that any of this is happening purely as a result of the violence we&039;ve already seen?&039;

&039;The violence is a by-product,&039; the grey-haired lady says

&039;The violence is part and parcel of the probleues &039;The violence is the problem Once we&039;ve restored order we can start to&039;

&039;The violence is a by-product,&039; the grey-haired lady says again, annoyed that she&039;s been interrupted &039;You&039;re right in as far as there is a huge element of copycat violence, but the violence is not the cause There&039;s an underlying reason for what&039;s happening which needs to be identified before&039;

&039;There&039;s no evidence to suggest that&039;s the case,&039; the politician says quickly

&039;There&039;s no published evidence to suggest that&039;s the case,&039; the edwithheld? This is unprecedented With an escalation in trouble of this scale there has to be an identifiable cause, doesn&039;t there? For this to be happening independently in so ions there has to be an identifiable cause&039;

&039;If you look at e&039;ve seen over the last few days,&039; the politician says, shaking his head, &039;there has been a steady increase in the recorded levels of violence around h population levels This is wholly expected With situations like this the raphic area, the more likely it is that trouble will develop there&039;

I stop listening I sense that this bureaucrat is launching into soed spiel in which he&039;ll no doubt deny all cover-ups and hidden agendas This sounds likepart in the debate challenge hiles to keep control, he ultiraed as a public relations exercise but it&039;s failing miserably The politician&039;s unease and the way he&039;s blatantly avoiding the questions people are putting to hiovern and is sienuinely don&039;t have a clue Both alternatives are equally frightening

Twentyto close The debate is over and the headlines are back on They say that the military may be drafted in to help maintain law and order if the police do becoested in the debate earlier They also say that the probleely limited toto other countries Most worryingly of all, there&039;s talk of an after-dark curfew and other restrictions being introduced to keep people off the streets and out of each other&039;s faces

It&039;s what isn&039;t being said that bothers me I&039;m just concerned that no-one see on

TUESDAY

vi

Jeremy Pearson felt like he was about to be sick He&039;d been okay when he&039;d been prepped for the operation, but noas actually lying on the table in the operating theatre with people crowding around hiht hanging over hione for the general anaesthetic not a local, he thought to hieon walked towards hieneral anaesthetic wouldn&039;t have cost that much more

&039;Okay, Mr Pearson,&039; he said through his green cloth face?&039;

&039;Not too good,&039; Pearson mumbled, too afraid to ohich covered hi,&039; Dr Panesar explained, ignoring his patient&039;s nerves &039;You&039;re the fourth vasectoer than half an hour so far We&039;ll have you out of here before you know it&039;

Pearson didn&039;t respond He was feeling faint Maybe it was the heat in the theatre or was it just the thought of as about to happen that wasa reaction to the anaesthetic they&039;d used to nu in his balls?

&039;I don&039;t feel&039; he tried to say to the fe onto his ar, slipped an oxygen mask over his face

&039;You&039;ll be fine,&039; she soothed &039;Have a bit of air and try and think about so else&039;

Pearson tried to answer but his words wereelse when someone&039;s about to cut into my balls?

&039;Do you follow cricket?&039; an older male nurse on his other side asked Pearson nodded &039;Have you seen the tour report today? We&039;re not doing too badly by all accounts&039;

The oxygen was beginning to take the edge off his nausea That&039;s better Starting to feel more relaxed now

&039;Okay, Mr Pearson,&039; Dr Panesar said brightly, looking up from the area of the operation &039;We&039;re ready to start now I explained what I&039; to do in clinic, didn&039;t I? This is a very s two incisions, one on either side of your scrotum, okay?&039;

Pearson nodded I don&039;t want to knohat you&039;re doing, he thought, just bloody well get on with it

&039;You feeling a bit better now?&039; the fe the back of his hand He nodded again and she re now Although his genitals were anaesthetised, he could still feel ainst the tips of his toes sticking out over the end of the operating table More nausea He was starting to feel sick again Christ, think of so to take your mind off this, he silently screaes and thoughts - the children, his wife Emily, the holiday they&039;d booked for a feeeks ti As hard as he tried he still couldn&039;t forget the fact that so into his scrotum with a scalpel

Is this how I&039;ht? I&039;ht Should it be like this or is soht&039; he en ain The sudden move okay up there?&039; he asked, his voice artificially bright and aniht Mr Pearson?&039;

&039;He&039;s fine,&039; the nurse replied, her voice equally artificially trouble-free, &039;a little light-headed, that&039;s all&039;

&039;Nothing to worry about,&039; the surgeon said as he took a step around the edge of the table and looked into his patient&039;s face Pearson&039;s wide, frightened eyes were dancing around the roohts which shone down over his prone body Dr Panesar stopped and stared at him

&039;Dr Panesar?&039; the nurse asked

Nothing

&039;Is everything all right, Dr Panesar?&039;

Panesar stumbled back to the other end of the table, his eyes still fixed on Pearson&039;s face

&039;You okay, Dr Panesar?&039; his surgical assistant asked No response &039;Dr Panesar,&039; he asked again, &039;are you okay?&039;

Panesar turned to look at his colleague and then tightened the grip on the scalpel in his hand Crouching back down again he slashed across Pearson&039;s exposed genitals and severed his testicles and scrotal sac Blood began to spill and spurt over the operating table from sliced veins and arteries

&039;What the hell are you doing?&039; the surgical assistant derab his hand and wrestle the scalpel from him Delirious with fear, Panesar turned and sliced the onal line down froht shoulder

Panic erupted in the operating theatre The staff scattered as the surgeon lunged towards the his head desperately fro around hi the scalpel Panesar fled fro on? Christ, he suddenly felt strange He felt cold and shaky but his legs felt war? Why all the sudden one to the other end of the table and where was all that blood co fronorant both to the pandeh the private hospital and the fact that he was rapidly bleeding to death, Pearson looked up into the light and tried to think of anything but the fact that his surgeon had just disappeared in the middle of his vasectomy