“Rebecca’s been hit, she’s bleeding!” said Carlene.
Howard took a look at my side, tutting through his teeth. “You’re getting careless, Rebecca, we keep having to patch you up, don’t we?” he said with a smile, as we left the house and walked towards the waiting police. I still had the MP5 and Beretta, no one looked in a hurry to relieve me of them.
“I’m fine. We need to get Jon.”
“He’s safe, as soon as the first police unit arrived, he went to them and told them what had happened. He’s in one of the police cars as we speak.”
I relaxed. “The phone, it worked?”
“So it seems,” he said, looking round. “As soon as we got your message, I contacted my counterpart in Paris. He mobilised things this end, once we had a fix on your position. You did a remarkable job here, Rebecca.”
We reached the remaining ambulance, so Howard made me sit and receive some treatment.
“Shall I take them?” he asked, indicating my weapons. I gave them to him and allowed the paramedic to rip my dress to get to my side.
A harassed looking police officer of some rank approached Howard and the two engaged in an animated conversation for some minutes. I couldn’t follow it as it was in French. Carlene relayed the gist of it to me.
“Apparently you’ve killed six men and wounded two others. They’ve arrested four men on top. Howard is explaining about the kidnap attempt, describing you as his top female counter-terrorist operative.”
“Bully for me. I hope they’ll pay for some new clothes, as my stockings are completely shredded!”
She shook her head, chuckling. “And you thought you needed time to learn to be a girl? I’ve news for you, girl, you’ve just graduated, with honours!”
Another helicopter arrived and a tall Frenchman in a suit appeared and approached Howard. As he drew near the police officer shook his head and retired. The two men came over to me.
“Rebecca, this is Claude Gravois, my colleague with the French Ministry. It was his prompt action that mobilised your relief.”
He was a very good-looking man, with slightly too long hair swept back, with what looked like grey wings over his ears. He took my hand and kissed the back.
“Madamoiselle, enchanté,” he said. Then he stood back and surveyed the scene, particularly noting the line of body bags as the police cleared the farmhouse.
He said something to Howard in French, to which both men laughed. I looked at Carlene, who was grinning.
“He said that he’d hate to piss you off!” she translated.
Jon appeared, having left the security of the police car. His face was pale and worried, which looked even more worried as he saw all my blood.
“Oh my God! Tell me she’s going to be okay?” he said.
“I’m fine, it’s just a nick. Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, thanks to you. I did as you said, but when the police arrived and the shots started, I thought I’d better tell them what they could expect.”
“You did good, thanks!” I said, closing my eyes. I was completely knackered, having run on adrenaline since the snatch in the hotel. My side hurt like buggery, as the paramedic patched me up. I just wanted to sleep.
“You saved my life,” he said.
“And mine,” added Carlene.
“All in a days work. Now, bugger off and let me sleep.”
I woke up in hospital, again, with a terrible sense of déjà vu. My first thought was that I’d changed back into Rob, but when my hands sought and found what I hoped they’d find, I relaxed and looked around.
I was in a private room, but the signs above the taps on the basin telling me the water was either drinkable or very hot were in English, so I knew I was back in the UK. My side ached and I could feel there was a big dressing strapped across where I’d been wounded.
There was an IV drip attached to my left arm, so I deduced I must have lost a bit of blood. I was struggling to sit up when a nurse entered.
“Oh, you’re awake?” she said, surprise written across her face.
“Yes, and I want to get out, so can I have some clothes?
“I’m sorry, you don’t have any. You were brought in by air ambulance in the early hours of the morning and have undergone an operation. You can’t leave.”
I slung my legs over the edge of the bed and fought a dizzy spell.
“Watch me!” I said, unhitching the IV and pulling the needle out of my wrist. I then noticed I had a urinary catheter as well. I looked to see how one unplugged it.
The poor girl obviously didn’t know what to do, so she pressed her emergency button. Within a few moments, another nurse and a doctor appeared.
The doctor took charge.
“I’m sorry, Miss Carter, you’ve recently had an operation to remove a chunk of metal from your side, you really ought to stay and rest for a while,” he said.
I felt very dizzy, so let them reattach the IV and help me back into bed.
“I’d like a telephone please, so I can get some clothes and stuff,” I said.
“I’m sorry, not at the moment,” the doctor said.
“Look, did they tell you how I got the chunk of metal in my side?”
The doctor shook his head.
“Then trust me, if I say I’m going to leave, I will leave. Now the telephone, please!”
The doctor looked pained for a moment, but then nodded at the nurse. She left and returned a few moments later with a telephone. I watched as she plugged it in. I took it, dialled Howard’s number. He answered after the fifth ring.
“Hello Rebecca, how are you?” he said before I could say anything.
“How did you know it was me?”
“Ah, that’s why I am what I am. I suppose you’re bored and want to come home?”
“You got it.”
“Well, I’m afraid, as much as I love your company, you are going to stay there for another couple of days at least. The shrapnel narrowly missed your kidney and they had a lot of work to get your blood vessels patched up. So, be a good girl and let the doctors do their job.”
“But, there’s too much…”
“Rebecca, do as you are told!” he said, now my Colonel again.
“Yes sir.”
He chuckled down the phone at me. “Now you’re awake, there are some people who will come and see you. I’ll be over later to give you an update. Things have progressed a little.”
“Who were they, boss?”
“Later.”
“Yes sir.”
“Now, chocolates or flowers?”
“What?”
“Chocolates or flowers?”
“Oh, chocolates, thanks.”
The phone went dead with his chuckle echoing in my mind.
I replaced the receiver and lay back on the pillows. The doctor and nurses looked at me anxiously.
“Okay, I’m staying, so relax.”
The two nurses left, looking relieved while the doctor stayed, smiling nervously.
“Are you in much pain?”
I thought about it, and then shook my head. “No, the painkillers are still working. What damage was done?”
“The metal fragment was about a centimetre long by half a centimetre wide, but was knife-edge thin. It impacted into your side, slicing through muscle, then rupturing some smaller blood vessels before imbedding itself in your lower rib.”
“Any permanent damage?”
“No, you were fortunate, a few centimetres lower and you’d have a damaged kidney, or had it gone between the ribs, who knows, you might be dead.”
“I’m not, so I’m thankful. How long do I have to be here?”
“At least two days. We need to ensure there’s no infection or leakage. You need to stay reasonably still to allow the healing to take place.”
I nodded. I’d been here before. I think they have had to cut about eight lumps of metal out of me over the years.
“One last question, doc, why was the nurse so surprised to find me awake?”
“We weren’t expecting you to recover from the anaesthetic for another three hours at least.”