Dead Tomorrow

116

Marlene Hartmann was striding anxiously down the tiled corridor, her normal steely composure already shot to pieces, when she heard the screams. She broke into a run, then saw what looked like utter mayhem spilling out of the operating theatre.

She stormed through the supplies room and saw her theatre team frantically trying to restrain the massive nurse, who had blood gouting from her face and spurting all over her white tunic. She was lashing out with all her considerable strength and screaming hysterically as, blood-spattered, Sir Roger Sirius and two junior surgeons, the anaesthetists and the scrub nurses all wrestled with her. Simona lay on the operating table, wires and lines all around her, oblivious to everything.

‘Gottverdammt, what is happening?’

‘The girl went crazy,’ Sirius said, panting.

Then, before he could say anything further, Draguta’s meaty fist smashed into his cheek, sending him reeling backwards and crashing on to the hard floor.

Marlene ran over to him, knelt and helped him to his feet. He looked dazed.

‘There’s a police helicopter here!’ Marlene yelled at him. ‘We need to do a lock-down! Pull yourselves together! Do you understand?’

Draguta fell, with several green-gowned members of the team crashing down on top of her.

‘I’m blind!’ she screamed in Romanian. ‘God help me, I’m blind!’

‘Get her sedated!’ commanded Marlene. ‘Shut her up! Quickly!’

A junior anaesthetist grabbed a syringe, then scrabbled around on the trolley and picked up a vial.

One of the nurses said, ‘We need to get Draguta to an eye hospital.’

‘Where’s the English girl? Caitlin? Where is she?’

Blank, dazed eyes stared at her.

‘WHERE IS THE ENGLISH GIRL?’ Marlene Hartmann shouted.