– Royal Armoured Corps
Date of injury: 24 November 2006
Date of admission: 24 November 2006
Date of discharge: 26 November 2006 – 19.30 hours
Onward destination: South General Hospital, Birmingham, UK Reason for return: Reconstructive surgery Current patient status: Unconscious but stable – strapped for immobility Drug treatment: See attached chart
To Whom It May Concern
Lt Charles Acland sustained serious head and facial injuries during an attack on his Scimitar RV. He has fractures of the left supraorbital, zygomatic and maxilla. His wounds have been cleaned, all foreign material, dead and burnt tissue removed and superficial bleeding stopped. Pressure monitor readings of the patient’s brain and arterial flow show nothing significant, although the severity of the patient’s injuries suggest brain damage is likely. An immediate CAT scan is recommended. He has an open wound on the left side of his face – a 2cm wide, 0.5cm deep, 10cm long avulsion – caused by the splitting and cauterizing effects of hot shrapnel. Muscle and nerve damage is extensive and his left eye is beyond repair. An antibiotic regime was introduced on admission and temporary dressings applied to the open wound to prevent infection.
One
WHEN CHARLES ACLAND regained consciousness, he thought he was dreaming about a visit to the dentist. Certainly, the numbness in his mouth suggested novocaine even if the rest of the fantasy was absurd. He was lying on his back, staring up at a moving ceiling, and a bell was ringing loudly behind him.
Somewhere at the back of his mind was a lurking fear that he didn’t recognize. For no reason that he understood, the closeness of the woman worried him. He’d been in this position before – flat on his back and unable to move – and there was a strong association in his mind with pain. Fleetingly, another woman, slender, dark-haired and graceful, appeared in his line of vision. There were tears in her eyes, but Acland had no idea who she was. His instinctive reaction was dislike.
His only points of reference were the alarm and the ceiling moving above his head. Neither had any meaning for him. He could have floated forever in morphine-induced detachment if increasing awareness hadn’t told him this wasn’t a dream. He started to experience sensations. A jolt as the trolley crossed a threshold. The sympathetic tightening of stretcher straps as his body shifted. A low ache at the back of his jaw. A brief stabbing pain that knifed up his neck. A puzzled realization that only one of his eyes was open.
With a sense of dread, he knew he was awake . . . with no idea who he was, where he was or what had happened to him...
*
