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The touch was so damned normal that he wanted to cry

His fingers h her blood-and-seaweed-matted hair, to the hairline crack at the base of her skull He tested, probed, cataloged her injuries the way he'd done so often at New York Hospital, talking quietly to hiht front cerebral contusion Basilar skull fracture, just above spinal colu his head "Jesus, she was lucky "

Footsteps thundered up the staircase and burst into the bedchahtly as Edith slid into the room, her arms loaded with sheets and fabric and bottles "I'm here, Doctor," she wheezed "What c'n I do?"

"Get Maeve and Victoria up here with the ice We're going to have to pack her in it We've got to keep her head cold"

"But the poor wee thing'll catch pneumonia?"

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"Don't question me, Edith"

"Sorry, Doctor" Edith sed hard and raced from the room

Ian turned back to his patient, blotting the blood frorossed in the task that he barely heard Andrew cooing to operate?"

He wanted to Sweet Jesus, he wanted to hold a scalpel as he'd done so h hiance that came from his skill He wanted?once more?to be God But he couldn't, not this time

"I can't, Andrew The surgery is too advanced; besides, she'd die of infection This damned carbolic acid isn't perfect All I can do is try to relieve the pressure on her brain?hopefully she'll keep bleeding fro to have to win this battle on her own"

For the next hour, Ian worked like a deed, and wrapped until his fingers were shaking froue and slick with her blood

Finally, he'd done all that he could do Throwing everyone but Maeve out of the roo his face in bloody hands The woman lay stretched out before him, her ares Blood was everywhere; on his hands, his clothes, the floor, the bed

A three-inch layer of crushed ice covered her whole body, caught the la look of an illusion More ice was her pillow, the clear peaks stained pink with her blood Half of her face was covered in bloody bandages; the other half was a bloated, indistinguishable nition

He'd shaved a triangular section at the back of her