Three Times Dead Read Online Free Page B

with all its fingers and toes and now part of that perfect child has been lost. I grieve as well. But together we’ll make it through this.”
    “Don’t use your psycho babble on me, Mum, I’m not one of your patients.”
    “No, you’re my son and I love you. I’ll be here for you every step of the way.”
    “Don’t give me that sentimental crap,” I said.
    “It’ll be all right, Bevan, you’ll see.”
    “No it won’t. Go away! Leave me alone!”
    Mum seemed about to say something but instead gathered all her papers and, with tears in her eyes, left the room. I almost opened my mouth to call her back in, suddenly sorry for what I had said, but I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t have the energy to say it.
    I closed my eyes to blot out the sight of my truncated foot.
     

Chapter 5
     
    Haki winced as Reka eased away the dressing from his ear.
    “It’s almost healed,” she said as she examined it.
    Haki put his hand up and gently explored the wound. The sword had taken off the helix of the outer ear, leaving a jagged edge to the fold of skin. It was crusted over with a thick scab that felt rough under his fingers. Reka pulled his hand away.
    “Don’t touch it. You must allow it to heal by itself.”
    “It itches.”
    “Leave it alone or it will bleed again.”
    She sat back on her haunches, her swollen belly thrust in front of her. Haki took his hand away from his ear and placed it on her belly, feeling the baby beneath kick into the palm of his hand.
    “Already he wants to fight,” Haki said. “He shall be a great warrior. We shall call him Toa.”
    “And if it’s a girl?”
    “It’s a boy,” Haki said with certainty. Then, seeing the frown on her face, he smiled softly. “If it’s a girl, then she shall be called Ataahua, for she shall be as beautiful as you.” And he leant over and kissed her.
     
     
    “What are you smiling at?” It was a girl’s voice.
    I opened my eyes – Reka. I smiled and said, “Hello, beautiful.”
    “Well, hello, handsome.”
    I blinked. The walls of the raupo hut faded as the white walls came into view. It wasn’t Reka; it was Gina. I hadn’t seen her since Piha.
    I was immediately aware of the intense pain at the end of my leg.
    “It hurts,” I said. “Call the doctor, or nurse, or whatever.”
    She reached over and pressed a button at the side of the bed. A nurse immediately came in. I was sweating from the pain and couldn’t speak.
    “He says he’s in pain,” Gina said.
    “The doctor has set up a PCA,” she said, as she briskly rearranged some of the leads around my bed. She placed a bell-shaped piece of plastic in my hand. “You press here,” she said, pointing to a button, and behind me something beeped. “It administers just one milligram of morphine every six minutes. That should bring your pain under control. If you press it more often, nothing will happen. You have to wait the six minutes. See how that goes. You should feel it already?”
    I could feel the drug travelling through my vein as it felt cold, but it hadn’t got to the important bit yet – my brain. I shook my head.
    “I’ll wait with you so we know it’s working.”
    A couple of seconds later I felt the tension leave my body and the pain subsided as a floating sensation filled my head. The pain was still around the seven to eight mark, but at least it wasn’t the eleven it had been before.
    “That feels good,” I said.
    “You’ve got about four minutes until you can administer again. That should build on the previous dose. Let me know if you don’t think it’s working. It won’t take away the pain completely but you should be comfortable. You ok with working it now?”
    “Simple,” I said, and managed to smile. “Time it, Gina.”
    The nurse checked all the cables and lines again and then left.
    Gina looked up from her watch where she had checked the time. “I came down with Mitch and Scott. They’ve gone off somewhere with their skateboards. Not sure