Page 118 of Cry Havoc

“I saved it for you. It looks like a full metal jacket nine millimeter. Maybe a little smaller than a nine mil,” Dr. Brenner said, holding the disfigured bullet between a pair of large stainless surgical tweezers for Tom to view. “It held together for the most part.”

“A nine-by-eighteen Mak,” Tom said.

“What’s that?” the doctor asked.

“Soviet caliber for their Makarov pistols.”

“As you may recall, I told you it stopped just after entering the dura.”

“I remember,” Tom said. “What’s the dura?”

“It’s the outermost meningeal layer that protects the brain and spinal cord.”

“That doesn’t sound great.”

“We slit the muscle to remove the bone fragments and cut into the dura to get the bullet. We can’t sew the dura completely. It’s like closing a water balloon that’s filled to capacity. It will leak for a while, but unlike a water balloon, it will eventually seal itself up.”

“How many of these have you done?”

“Procedures like this? For someone who lived? Exactly, one. You.”

“First time for everything, I guess. How long did you say I’ll be here?”

“I am not one hundred percent sure. At least eight weeks. Your spinal cord looked intact when I did the surgery, but there are a lot of unknowns with something like this. Every case is different. The swelling around the spinal cord will go down over the next two weeks. You have movement in your fingers and toes, so you should be able to start walking around then. For a while you will have a splitting headache every time you stand up, but that too will dissipate over time. We are going to keep you on a high dose of steroids, anti-inflammatory methylprednisolone. It will disrupt your sleep and maybe make you a little paranoid.”

“Just what I need.”

“First ten days you need to be in bed, head flat and secured. Then seven to ten days working on just sitting up before standing with support. After that, it’s learning to walk again with the use of parallel bars. And then, it’s two weeks of gradual mobilization and rehabilitation. Nurse Maxwell will be here to assist you, and I’ll check in daily.”

“Doc, has anyone been here to visit. A woman?”

“No, but there’s a man outside who has been here every day, waiting to see you.”

Serrano remained standing where Tom could see him with his head strapped to the bed.

When the door closed Tom shut his eyes and asked the question.

“Is she dead?”

“Ella? No.”

Tom let out an audible sigh.

“Was she shot?”

“No.”

“Her father.”

“Dead.”

“The assassins?”

“Both dead.”

“But there was a third. Somebody shot me.”

“Yes. We have not located him. No leads other than he was not dressed as a waiter, as were the other two, and witnesses say he was white with short black hair.”