Dead Centre (43 page)

Authors: Andy McNab

Tags: #Action & Adventure, #Fiction, #Suspense, #Thrillers

BOOK: Dead Centre

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I kept walking. The last two beds at the end were partitioned off like little cubicles. Maybe that was where the women were.

The one to the right was open. An old woman lay with her family gathered round. She’d been hit in the stomach. Blood seeped through her dressing, and onto her sheets. Her face was pockmarked with red scabs. A mortar round had probably zapped her.

I went to the left-hand door and knocked gently. I didn’t wait for an answer.

She was sitting up, half asleep, supported by pillows. She was wearing a green surgical gown.

‘Nicholas?’

HER BLONDE HAIR was a mess. Her face was washed out and knackered. But she still looked great to me.

‘I called. I tried but …’ I leant over and kissed her on the cheek. ‘You OK?’

She looked me up and down. ‘Are you, more to the point?’

‘Fine. I’ll tell you later.’

I sat down on the steel chair beside her and took her hand in mine.

Things were strained. Or maybe it was just me.

‘Where did you get hit?’

‘Left-hand side. Lower gut. It came from nowhere. There were bursts in the distance. There was an air raid, but nothing too close. Then down I went. The crew were fantastic. They got me here and I had surgery. No organs hit. But it hurts and I can’t be moved just yet.’

The family opposite started to wail and cry. Medical staff came rushing down the ward.

‘What’s wrong, Anna? Why can’t you be moved? It hit nerves on your spine or something? Your legs? Can you move them?’

She was welling up. She bit her lower lip to try and control it.

‘They said it’s the wound track, Nicholas. The round passed through but … very close to my womb.’

I looked at her, waiting for more.

Her hands were now gripping mine.

‘They need to make sure the baby isn’t damaged.’ Tears ran down her cheeks. ‘I’m three months pregnant, Nicholas …’

It was like I’d pulled ten Gs in a fast jet. My arse pushed down into the seat. My whole body felt like I was getting rammed through the floor.

‘Everything’s OK, Nicholas. I just have to rest, and get checked out again in a few days. It’s just that until I get the all-clear I can’t move.’

The family the other side of the partition were led away down the hall. I heard a trolley rattle into the room.

‘That’s good. That’s good …’

She kissed my cheek. Her breath was rancid. I was sure she’d thought the same when I kissed her. Her hands brought my head onto her chest. ‘I was so worried about you.’ She stroked my hair.

Eventually I summoned up the courage to put a hand on her stomach, so gently it was hardly touching. I moved it carefully, like I was expecting something to be there apart from the wound dressing. What the fuck did I know?

‘Nicholas, I’ve been really worried about how you’d take the news. I wasn’t sure how you’d react. We haven’t been together for long and—’

‘Why did you stay out here in this condition?’

‘My grandmother gave birth to all her children while working in the wheat fields.’ She tried to laugh. ‘Stupid, I know. But I guess it was because I knew this had to be my last foreign job.’ She managed a lopsided smile. ‘I’ve got responsibilities now …’

I grinned back. ‘Sounds like I have too.’

I thought of Mong, of Tracy and of Stefan. Maybe it was the end of an era after all. A new one had just begun.

She held my face in her hands and I kept on staring at her and smiling.

Then she looked at me more seriously. ‘Have you finished
Crime and Punishment
?’

I pulled a guilty face. ‘I’ve got to tell you – these classics are doing my head in. I keep telling everybody who asks me that I’m reading it, but you know what? I’m even having trouble with the cheat notes.’

She kissed my head and then gave it a big slap.

I stood and held her close, until long after the old woman was wheeled away and another casualty was brought in to replace her.

About the Author

Andy McNab joined the infantry as a boy soldier. In 1984 he was ‘badged’ as a member of 22 SAS Regiment and was involved in both covert and overt special operations worldwide.

During the Gulf War he commanded Bravo Two Zero, a patrol that, in the words of his commanding officer, ‘will remain in regimental history for ever’. Awarded both the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) and Military Medal (MM) during his military career, McNab was the British Army’s most highly decorated serving soldier when he finally left the SAS in February 1993. He wrote about his experiences in three books: the phenomenal bestseller
Bravo Two Zero
,
Immediate Action
and
Seven Troop
.

He is the author of the bestselling Nick Stone thrillers. Besides his writing work, he lectures to security and intelligence agencies in both the USA and UK. He is a patron of the Help for Heroes campaign.

Also by Andy McNab

Novels featuring Nick Stone

REMOTE CONTROL

CRISIS FOUR

FIREWALL

LAST LIGHT

LIBERATION DAY

DARK WINTER

DEEP BLACK

AGGRESSOR

RECOIL

CROSSFIRE

BRUTE FORCE

EXIT WOUND

ZERO HOUR

Andy McNab with Kym Jordan

WAR TORN

Quick Reads

THE GREY MAN

LAST NIGHT ANOTHER SOLDIER

Non-fiction

BRAVO TWO ZERO

IMMEDIATE ACTION

SEVEN TROOP

SPOKEN FROM THE FRONT

For more information on Andy McNab and his books, see his website at
www.andymcnab.co.uk

TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA
A Random House Group Company
www.transworldbooks.co.uk

First published in Great Britain
in 2011 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers

Andy McNab has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781409011910
ISBNs 9780593065228 (cased)
9780593065235 (tpb)

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