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I checked that my supplies and suture needles were ready, took a deep breath, and nodded to o"

Myers’s penis, e shyly out of the bushes With the patient’s long legs raised and spread, Ulysses hiy scrotu the size of a hen’s egg, its curve a deep purple where it pressed against the taut inguinal skin

"Jesus, Lord!" said one of the drivers, eyes bulging at the sight "It’s true--he’s got three balls!"

A collective gasp and giggle ensued from the spectators, but I was too busy to correct hly with pure alcohol, dipped my scalpel in the liquid, passed the blade back and forth through the flame of a candle by way of final sterilization, and h to open the skin, and see the loop of gleah the tear in the muscle layer Blood welled, a thin, dark line, then dribbled down staining the blanket

I extended the incision, swishedbowl, then put two fingers on the loop and pushed it gently upward Myersain, buttocks rising, and s

"He’s waking up!" I shouted to Jamie, above the various cries of alarm "Give him more, quick!" Allborne out, but it was too late to change my mind now

Ja open his mouth, dribbled whisky into it Myers choked and spluttered and h of the alcohol e body relaxed Thei snores

I hadthan I would have liked, but his struggles had not brought the herniated loop back down I snatched a clean cloth soaked in brandy and blotted the site; yes, I could see the edge of the muscle layer; scrawny as Myers was, a thin layer of yellow fat lay under the skin, separating it from the dark red fibers below

I could feel the movement of his intestines as he breathed, the dark arers in that strange one-sided intieon’s realency, all consciousness of the watching crowd drop away

I breathed in slowly, matched my rhythm to the audible snores Above the reek of brandy and the faintly nauseating aromas of food, I could sri of urine and the copper scent of blood To another, they would have been offensive, but not to ood, no bad, it simply was I knew it, now; it was mine

They were all mine; the unconscious body in my hands, its secrets open to me; the men who held it, their eyes on me It didn’t always happen, but when it did, the sensation was unforgettable; a synthesis of anisanism, I became part of it, and lost myself

Time stopped I was acutely aware of each ut sutures as I tightened the inguinal ring, but iving directions instantly obeyed, and somewhere far away, a sress of the operation with a reain I took a step back, breaking the link, and feeling slightly dizzy at the unaccustomed solitude

"Done," I said, and the hum fro intoxicated--had I caught drunkenness by osmosis froant low curtsy, facing the dinner guests

An hour later, I was drunk on my own ed to escape briefly, on the excuse of checking on uest roo to the banister while I steadied hter fro, but had dissolved into sroups scattered over the parquet of the foyer and salon Froed heads and gauze-winged dresses bobbing to and fro across the six-sided tiles, buzzing busily over glasses filled with the nectar of brandywine and porter

If Jaht muzzily, he couldn’t have asked for better Whatever had been going to happen had been effectively forestalled But as it--and for how long could it be prevented? I shook my head to clear it--with indifferent results--and went in to see my patient

Myers was still blissfully and deeply asleep, breathing in long, slow exhalations that made the cotton bed-drapes quiver The slave Betty nodded at

"He’s fine, Mrs Claire," she whispered "Couldn’t wake that un, I don’t think"

I didn’t need to check his heart; his head was turned, and I could see the huge vein that ran down the side of his neck, throbbing with a pulse slow and heavy as a ha his skin cool and dans of shock The whole of his enor

"How is he?" Had I been less drunk, I would have been startled As it was, Ibehind me

"He’s fine," I said "You couldn’t kill hi against him, arms around his waist, my flushed face buried in the cool folds of his linen "Indestructible"

He kissed the top ofback a few curls that had escaped fro the operation

"Ye did well, Sassenach," he whispered "Verra well, bonnie lassie"