Eagle in the Sky

of matter, enclosed in its tough covering membrane of the dura mater

that was Debra's brain.

Deftly Cooper incised a flap in the dura.

We have exposed now the frontal lobe, and it will be necessary to

displace this to explore the base of the skull.  Working swiftly, but

with obvious care and skill, Cooper used a stainless steel retractor,

shaped like a shoe horn, to slide under the mass of brain and to lift it

aside.  Debra's brain, staring at it, David seemed to be looking into

the core of her being, it was vulnerable and exposed, everything that

made her what she was.  What part of that soft pale mass contained her

writer's genius, he wondered, from which of its many soft folds and

coils sprang the fruitful fountain of her imagination, where was her

love for him buried, what soft and secret place triggered her laughter

and where was the vale of her tears?  Its fathomless mystery held him

intent as he watched the retractor probe deeper and deeper through the

opening, and slowly the camera moved in to peer into the gaping depths

of Debra's skull.

Cooper opened the far end of the dura mater and commented on his

progress.

We have here the anterior ridge of the sphenoid sinus, note this as our

point of access to the chiasma David was aware of the changed tone of

the surgeon's voice, the charging of tension as the disembodied hands

moved slowly and expertly towards their goal.

Now this is interesting, can we see this on the screen, please?  Yes!

There is very clearly a bone deformation here, The voice was pleased,

and the two students beside David exclaimed and leaned closer.  David

could see soft wet tissue and hard bright surfaces deep in the bottom of

the wound, and the necks of steel instruments crowding into it, like

metallic bees into the stamen of a pink and yellow bloom.  Cooper

scratched through to the metal of the grenade fragment.

Now here we have the foreign body, can we have a look at those X-ray

plates again, sister The image cut quickly to the X-ray scanner, and

again the students exclaimed.  The girl puffed busily on her stinking

Gauloise.

Thank you.

The image cut back to the operating field, and now David saw the dark

speck of the grenade fragment lodged in the white bone.

We will go for this, I think.  Do you agree, Dr. Friedman?  'Yes, I

think you should take it.

Delicately the long slender steel insects worried the dark fragment, and

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