shut him up. Aaron, however, beat him to
it. ‘You don’t talk to my boss that way, scum,’ he said swinging is
heavy boot with all his might.
The boot broke what was left of his teeth and
gave him Le Fort II fracture of the upper jaw.
‘Easy, Aaron, you’ll kill the man,’ Louis
admonished.
‘Sorry, nkosi.’ He didn’t sound sorry at all,
but Louis let it pass. He cocked his head to one side, and faintly
he could hear the beat of the rotors. ‘More leaves, quickly,
Aaron.’
The sleek blue and white Bell Jetranger came
streaking straight towards the pall of smoke hanging in the air
like a giant paper dragon. It dropped its tail, losing speed
rapidly, and turned into the wind. Vick put her down amongst the
trees daintily like a butterfly, a short distance away. The rotors
kept spinning, and Dr. Du Toit and John van Reenen came running,
bent over, carrying an emergency kit and stretcher.
Blood pressure, pulse rate, pupils, a
prodding finger here and there and the doc declared Sam fit to
survive, provided they got him to surgery chop-chop. An IV line was
established and the drip started. ‘Let’s go.’
Louis helped to secure the stretcher in the
chopper. He pressed Sam’s shoulder. ‘I’ll just clear things up here
and grab some kit. I’ll let your folks know. See you in
hospital.’
John was getting into the chopper. ‘It’s OK,
Louis, Skukuza has already put the word out. I’ll give them an
update as soon as we are in the air. Travel with the ambulance and
keep an eye on this other one. He’s going to be made an example of.
See you.’
With a clatter of rotors the Jetranger lifted
off, kicking up a storm. It turned, lifted its tail and sped off in
the direction of Nelspruit, nearly two hundred kilometres away.
Chapter Four
Sam came to with someone twisting a big
red-hot gaff in his guts. He opened his eyes groggily to see John
sitting next to his hospital bed.
‘Everything is OK. They got the bullet out
and cleaned things up inside. You’re going to be here for a while,
but you’ll make it.’
‘Jeez, tell them to put the bullet back. It
hurt a hell of a lot less then,’ Sam croaked. He was aching all
over from the Scoline they had used during the anaesthetic, and his
throat was raw from the intubation. He felt miserable.
‘Your folks should be here in a couple of
hours’ time. They said they’d pick up Estelle in Pretoria.’
‘Oh shit,’ Sam groaned, thinking about the
possible complications.
‘You OK?’
‘Yeah, but it hurts.’
‘Hang on, I’ll see if I can get you
something.’
As John left the private ward in search of a
sister, Sam groaned again. In his mind’s eye he could see a big
pile of crap gathering on the horizon like thunder clouds, and
inexorably moving towards a giant fan spinning in the sky. It was
merely a matter of time. He would much rather face a wounded
leopard than the type of trouble that was heading his way.
John returned, accompanied by Dr. du Toit and
a sour-looking sister. Without much ado she proceeded to jab a
syringe into his buttocks. ‘Hey! Take it easy down there!’ He had
this thing about needles, dating back to his childhood. The sister
carried on as if she were injecting the mattress.
‘Bloody old cow,’ he mumbled once she was
safely out of the room.
Dr. du Toit was all smiles and good cheer.
‘Well, we had better be going now. You’ll be alright. There’s a
bright young houseman that said he knows you, and would definitely
be looking after you. A Dr. Smith.’
Sam groaned inwardly once more. One more
ominous cloud joined the rest on the horizon. He had clean
forgotten Smitty.
The medication was starting to take effect
and, as he drifted off to sleep, he could hear the whap-whap of the
rotors pulling the chopper up from the helipad and away into the
night.
Shortly after 9 pm the ambulance pulled in on
the emergency ramp. Louis got out and stretched his cramped
muscles.
While the heavily
it. ‘You don’t talk to my boss that way, scum,’ he said swinging is
heavy boot with all his might.
The boot broke what was left of his teeth and
gave him Le Fort II fracture of the upper jaw.
‘Easy, Aaron, you’ll kill the man,’ Louis
admonished.
‘Sorry, nkosi.’ He didn’t sound sorry at all,
but Louis let it pass. He cocked his head to one side, and faintly
he could hear the beat of the rotors. ‘More leaves, quickly,
Aaron.’
The sleek blue and white Bell Jetranger came
streaking straight towards the pall of smoke hanging in the air
like a giant paper dragon. It dropped its tail, losing speed
rapidly, and turned into the wind. Vick put her down amongst the
trees daintily like a butterfly, a short distance away. The rotors
kept spinning, and Dr. Du Toit and John van Reenen came running,
bent over, carrying an emergency kit and stretcher.
Blood pressure, pulse rate, pupils, a
prodding finger here and there and the doc declared Sam fit to
survive, provided they got him to surgery chop-chop. An IV line was
established and the drip started. ‘Let’s go.’
Louis helped to secure the stretcher in the
chopper. He pressed Sam’s shoulder. ‘I’ll just clear things up here
and grab some kit. I’ll let your folks know. See you in
hospital.’
John was getting into the chopper. ‘It’s OK,
Louis, Skukuza has already put the word out. I’ll give them an
update as soon as we are in the air. Travel with the ambulance and
keep an eye on this other one. He’s going to be made an example of.
See you.’
With a clatter of rotors the Jetranger lifted
off, kicking up a storm. It turned, lifted its tail and sped off in
the direction of Nelspruit, nearly two hundred kilometres away.
Chapter Four
Sam came to with someone twisting a big
red-hot gaff in his guts. He opened his eyes groggily to see John
sitting next to his hospital bed.
‘Everything is OK. They got the bullet out
and cleaned things up inside. You’re going to be here for a while,
but you’ll make it.’
‘Jeez, tell them to put the bullet back. It
hurt a hell of a lot less then,’ Sam croaked. He was aching all
over from the Scoline they had used during the anaesthetic, and his
throat was raw from the intubation. He felt miserable.
‘Your folks should be here in a couple of
hours’ time. They said they’d pick up Estelle in Pretoria.’
‘Oh shit,’ Sam groaned, thinking about the
possible complications.
‘You OK?’
‘Yeah, but it hurts.’
‘Hang on, I’ll see if I can get you
something.’
As John left the private ward in search of a
sister, Sam groaned again. In his mind’s eye he could see a big
pile of crap gathering on the horizon like thunder clouds, and
inexorably moving towards a giant fan spinning in the sky. It was
merely a matter of time. He would much rather face a wounded
leopard than the type of trouble that was heading his way.
John returned, accompanied by Dr. du Toit and
a sour-looking sister. Without much ado she proceeded to jab a
syringe into his buttocks. ‘Hey! Take it easy down there!’ He had
this thing about needles, dating back to his childhood. The sister
carried on as if she were injecting the mattress.
‘Bloody old cow,’ he mumbled once she was
safely out of the room.
Dr. du Toit was all smiles and good cheer.
‘Well, we had better be going now. You’ll be alright. There’s a
bright young houseman that said he knows you, and would definitely
be looking after you. A Dr. Smith.’
Sam groaned inwardly once more. One more
ominous cloud joined the rest on the horizon. He had clean
forgotten Smitty.
The medication was starting to take effect
and, as he drifted off to sleep, he could hear the whap-whap of the
rotors pulling the chopper up from the helipad and away into the
night.
Shortly after 9 pm the ambulance pulled in on
the emergency ramp. Louis got out and stretched his cramped
muscles.
While the heavily
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