Angel of the Night Read Free Page A

you ever so much, Doctor. It means the world to me that you appreciate my work.”
    Wendy walked up just as Dr. Hudspeth appeared to be ready to end the conversation and be on his way. She didn’t want to let her apology go without delivering it. “Doctor Hudspeth, could I have a word with you?”
    The doctor quickly glanced at his watch. “I suppose so, Miss Shafer. But please be quick about it.”
    Wendy was taken aback. The doctor had been solicitous to the point of affability to Sophia, but now acted as if he had better things to do than to deal with Wendy. As far as Wendy could remember no one had described the doctor as hard to work around. Away from surgery he had always been polite and professional with Wendy. Maybe he was just tired from a long surgery. Wendy decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, it was her apology that he needed to hear.
    “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I was about allowing the artery to get in your way. I thought that I had it far enough…”
    Dr. Hudspeth interrupted, “Don’t worry about it, but also don’t let it happen again. You are a competent enough surgical nurse, but you also aren’t as good as you ought to be. I need a better performance out of you in the future, or I’ll be talking to Captain McGuire about assigning you to post op duty in the future. This is no place for amateurs to learn. This is a place for professionals to shine. Now, is there anything else?”
    Wendy was stunned into silence. Angry words boiled up just behind her lips, but she swallowed them. She knew that she had made two mistakes. The first mistake had occurred in the operating theater. But the second mistake had been her expectation that the doctor would accept her mea culpa without giving her a verbal blast. If Wendy had known that he was going to take her apart like that she would have waited to talk to him privately. As it was, Dr. Hudspeth, had denounced her in a public place and in front of a nurse that was junior to Wendy, both in nursing and battlefield experience. She couldn’t let this kind of treatment go without response.
    “Dr. Hudspeth, I came to you to apologize, but I don’t think that I deserved to be talked…” Wendy would have considered it a small success just to be able to finish a sentence; however, that wasn’t going to happen today.
    “Another time, Miss Shafer. I’m late for an appointment.”
    Wendy was about to retort in an angry fashion when she and Dr. Hudspeth were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream from just inside the storage unit that was closest to the surgical building of the medical complex.
    “Oh my God! Oh Jesus! Somebody come quick! General McKillop is dead!”

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    An Army base is usually an atmosphere of controlled and disciplined hurry. Kabul Air Base was anything but that in the moments that followed the shouts about General McKillop’s demise. Medical personnel raced from the hospital, whether they were on duty or not. An ambulance was dispatched. General chaos erupted as word spread rapidly through the camp. To the shock and dismay of those stationed at the base, corroboration of the original report was quickly gained. Gen. McKillop was dead.
    The body having been removed, military police and investigative units sealed the area. Yellow “Crime Scene” tape was produced, and the inquest into the killing was underway within an hour of the discovery of General McKillop’s body. Brigadier General Cole McKillop was more than just a one star member of the military elite. He had been commanding officer to some of the senior staff when they had been rising through the ranks, and was well-liked by everyone with whom he came into contact. His untimely demise, and subsequent discovery, against a wall in the storage unit created a great shock wave throughout the camp. In the days to follow many stories were to be told about the General and the impact that he had on the troops at Kabul Air Base.
    General