at last with a grunt of satisfaction it came free of its niche, and
Cooper drew it out carefully.
David heard the metallic ping as it was dropped into a waiting dish.
Good! Good! Cooper gave himself a little encouragement as he plugged
the hole left by the fragment with beeswax to prevent haemorrhage. Now
we will trace out the optic nerves.
They were two white worms, David saw them clearly, converging on their
separate trails to meet and blend at the opening of the bony canal into
which they disappeared.
We have got extraneous bone-growth here, clearly associated with the
foreign body we have just removed.
It seems to have blocked off the canal and to have squeezed or severed
the nerve. Suggestions, Dr. Friedman? I think we should excise that
growth and try and ascertain just what damage we have to the nerve in
that area. Good. Yes, I agree. Sister, I will use a fine bonenibbler
to get in there.
The swift selection and handling of the bright steel instruments again,
and then Cooper was working on the white bone growth which grew in the
shape of coral from a tropical sea. He nibbled at it with the keen
steel, and carefully removed each piece from the field as it came away.
What we have here is a bone splinter that was driven by the steel
fragment into the canal. It is a large piece, and it must have been
under considerable pressure, and it has consolidated itself here He
worked on carefully, and gradually the white worm of the nerve appeared
from beneath the growth.
Now, this is interesting. Cooper's tone altered. Yes, look at this.
Can we get a better view here, please? The camera zoomed in a little
closer, and the focus realigned. The nerve has been forced upwards, and
flattened by pressure. The constriction is quite obvious, it has been
pinched off, but it seems to be intact. Cooper lifted another large
piece of bone aside, and now the nerve lay exposed over its full length.
This is really remarkable. I expect that it is a one in a thousand
chance, or one in a million. There appears to be no damage to the
actual nerve, and yet the steel fragment passed so close to it that it
must have touched it Delicately, Cooper lifted the nerve with the blunt
tip of a probe.
Completely intact, but flattened by pressure. Yet I don't suspect any
degree of atrophy, Dr. Friedman? I think we can confidently expect good
recovery of function. Despite the masked features, the triumphant
attitude of the two men was easily recognized, and watching them, David
felt his own emotions at war.
With a weight upon his spirits he watched Cooper close up, replacing the
portion of Debra's skull that he had removed, and once the flap of scalp
was stitched back into place there was little external evidence of the
extent and depth of their penetration. The image on the screen changed
to another theatre where a small girl was to receive surgery for a
massive hernia, and the fickle interest of the watching students changed
with it.
David stood up and left the room. He rode up in the elevator and waited
in the visitors room on Debra's floor until the elevator doors opened
again and two white uniformed male nurses trundled Debra's stretcher
down the corridor to her room. She was dead] pale, y with dark
bruised-looking eyes and lips, her head swathed in a turban of white
bandages. There was a dull brown smear of blood on the sheets that
covered her and a whiff of anaesthetic hung in the corridor after she
was gone.
Ruby Friedman came then, changed from the theatre garb into an expensive
light-weight grey mohair suit and a twenty-guinea Dior silk tie. He
looked tanned and healthy, and mightily delighted with his achievement.
You watched? 'he demanded, and when David nodded he went on
exuberantly, It was extraordinary. He chuckled, and rubbed his hands
together with glee.
My God, something like this makes you feel good.
Makes you feel that if you never do another thing in your life, it was
still worthwhile. He was unable to restrain himself any longer and he
threw a playful punch at David's shoulder. Extraordinary, he repeated,
drawing it out into two words with relish, rolling the word around his
tongue.
When will you know? David asked quietly. I know already, I'll stake my
reputation on it! 'She will be able to see as soon as she comes around
from the anaesthetic? David asked.
Good Lord, no! Ruby chuckled. That nerve has been pinched off for
years, it's going to take time to recover. 'How long?
It's like a leg that has gone to sleep when you sit wrongly. When the
blood flows back in, it's still numb and tingling until the circulation
is restored How long? 'David repeated.
Immediately she wakes, that nerve is going to start going crazy, sending
all sorts of wild messages to the brain. She's going to see colours and
shapes as though she is on a drug hinge, and it's going to take time to
settle down, two weeks to a month, I would guess then it will clear, the
nerve will have recovered its full and normal function and she will
begin having real effective vision.
Two weeks, David said, and he felt the relief of a condemned man hearing
of his reprieve.
You will tell her the good news, of course. Ruby gave another buoyant
chuckle, shaped up to punch David again and then controlled himself.
What a wonderful gift you have been able to give her. No, David
answered him. I won't tell her yet, I will find the right time later.
You will have to explain the initial vision she will experience, the
colour and shape hallucinations, they will alarm her. We will just tell
her that it's the normal after-effect of the operation. Let her adjust
to that before telling her.
David, I - Ruby began seriously, but he was cut off by the savage blaze
of blue in the eyes that watched him from the mask of scarred flesh.
I will tell her! The voice shook with such fury, that Ruby took a step
backwards. That was the condition, I will tell her when I judge the
time is ripe.
Out of the darkness a tiny amber light glowed, pale and far off but she
watched it split like a breeding amoeba and become two, and each of
those split and split again until they filled the universe in a great
shimmering field of stars. The light throbbed and pulsed, vibrant and
triumphant, and it changed from amber to brightest purest white like the
sparkle from a paragon diamond, then it turned to the blue of sunlight
on a tropical ocean, to soft forest greens and desert golds, an endless
cavalcade of colours, changing, blending, fading, flaring in splendour
that held her captive.
Then the colours took shape, they spun like mighty Catherine wheels, and
soared and exploded, showered down in rivers of flame that burst again
into fresh cascades of light.
She was appalled by the dimensions of shape and colour that engulfed
her, bewildered by the beauty of it and at last she could bear it no
longer in silence and she cried out.
Instantly there was a hand in hers, a strong hard familiar hand, and his
voice, dearly beloved, reassuring and firm.
David, she cried with relief.
Quietly, my darling. You must rest.
David. David. She heard the sob in her own voice as new torrents of
colour poured over her, insupportable in their richness and variety,
overwhelming in their depth and range.
I'm here, my darling. I'm here. What's happening to me, David? What's