See All Evil

Chapter One : 20th. April, 2011

CHAPTER ONE :20th. APRIL, 2011

“s**t!” The bandages were unbearably tight around Alex’s head and he wished somebody, anybody, would loosen them enough to ease the throbbing pain in his damaged skull. There was little of his head not tightly bandaged apart from his nose and mouth. He tried, with fingers that did not feel like his own, to fumble with the bandage, but, try as he might, he was still unable to find a loose end. “s**t! s**t!” He was not, under normal circumstances, the kind of guy who casually uttered even this mildest of profanities, but, now, in his present situation, it actually felt quite excusable.

The effort exhausted him and he gave up, sinking back onto the bed, defeated and deflated. Naively, he hoped that nobody had observed him pulling at his bandages, but a nurse had and rushed over to his bedside. “Alex! Please leave your bandages alone. They are tight for a reason.”

Alex grunted. He knew Debbie, the nurse, was correct, but this did not lessen his feelings of frustration. He lay exhausted from his futile efforts.

Sensing his frustration and sadness, Debbie softened a little. “Is there anything I can get you, Alex?”

There was not a hint of humour in his voice as he replied, “How about a new body?”

She gave a wan smile. “Listen, Alex. You do have a good body, believe me.” She was not just saying this to please him. Debbie had seen him naked many times and wished she had a guy with such a muscular frame in her own life. With Alex, “everything”, and she really meant “everything”, was in the right proportion.

Debbie was single and, at twenty-eight, after a few forgettable relationships, wondered if there would ever be someone special in her own life. Her past s****l partners had, to put it simply, not come up to expectations. Why a man should think that a two or three minute fumble should be enough to satisfy a woman, she could never comprehend. Why is it that men find it impossible to understand what a woman really needs? Her blushes, at these most intimate thoughts, went unseen. “You’re healing well and, with a little patience, you will make a full recovery.”

If anyone knew what his body was like, it was Debbie and her colleague, Susan, who worked alongside her. Ever since Alex had been flown from Afghanistan and brought into the Intensive Care Unit, three weeks earlier, these two women had bathed, cleaned and assisted him to use the bedpan and probably knew every inch of his body in far greater detail than anyone else, even including himself. They had fed him intra-venusly when he was incapable of looking after himself as a result of the heavy cocktail of drugs necessary for pain relief.

He struggled to speak clearly, his voice not following his thoughts, coughed a little and then tried again. “I could do with a drink, please, Debbie. My mouth is so dry.”

“Of course.” Debbie pressed the controls to raise the head of the bed, making it easier for her difficult patient to drink. She placed the cup into Alex’s hand and, using a straw, he gulped down a few, welcoming mouthfuls of fruit juice.

“Thanks, Debbie. That’s much better. I’m sorry for being such a pain in the butt.” He laid back, irritated that even the slightest effort, such as sitting up, exhausted him. He had never felt so incapable and useless as he did now. He felt that his abilities had been reduced to that of a baby and not a very intelligent one, at that.

“Don’t worry, you are getting better and I am not joking when I tell you that we have had much worse patients than you.” She hesitated, uncertain if she should tell Alex of one of her more memorable experiences which had left her in tears, but, then, after only a moment’s hesitation, continued, with some bitterness in her voice. “About ten months ago, a Colonel Peter Bower was admitted into this unit. He had lost his leg, after being caught in a Taliban suicide bombing. He received the same amount of attention as everybody else in Intensive Care, but this had never been quite enough for him. One day, I had been late with his medication, as a consequence of one of the more critically ill patients dying. I was upset as the unfortunate young soldier had been a war hero and, to my mind, the string of obscenities and insults from the Colonel was completely unjustified and unnecessary.” Brushing away a tear at these painful memories, she added, “I could never imagine you emulating the officious Colonel.”

After hearing her story, Alex realized how truly dedicated all the nursing staff were and, in that moment, he was determined not to make their jobs any more difficult. “I am so sorry, Debbie.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s all part of the job and I really do love my work.” The diligent nurse adjusted Alex’s bed again, using the remote control, made certain he was as comfortable as possible and, quietly, returned to her nurses’ station.

He could smell her perfume as she had leaned over him and the sweet, distinctive scent had lingered even after she had moved away. “Nothing wrong with my sense of smell”, he thought. This was not the only sense which had survived, but had, like most young men, always been lurking, just beneath the surface. “Wonder if she is good-looking?” He imagined that she had slim, attractive features. Bright, seductive eyes, small, angular nose and full, soft, delightfully-tempting lips.

Alex did know that she had long, silky hair as it had touched his arm when she had leaned over him a few days earlier. He felt certain that, had Debbie strictly followed hospital regulations, she should have had it tied back, but there had been occasions, perhaps on her late shift where she had, temporarily, let her hair down.

“Wonder what colour her hair is?” He could ask her, but, for some inexplicable reason, felt a little reticent. In his mind, her hair would be black, long and silky, contrasting against her soft, milk-white skin. He imagined her naked, displaying her small, firm breasts, slim waist and slender hips. He knew that he may be disappointed if the reality did not meet up to his erotically vivid imagination, but, well, it helped to pass the time. “Bet she’s great in bed”, he thought, remembering stories in his youth of the many s****l antics indulged in by members of the nursing profession when off or even on duty, but, of course, that did not mean that these rumours were true. Still, imagination worked wonders when the body was incapable of much, if any action.

Apart from this interest in the females looking after him, Alex’s feelings were a mixture of anger, boredom and regret that he was unable to see or do anything useful for himself, just as if he was an infant, once again.

Before all this, he was a picture of physical fitness. His six foot two inch, fourteen stone muscular frame enjoyed the admiration of both men and women alike, when he was a twenty-four year old captain in the British Paratroop regiment.

He not only had strength of body, but was extremely confident, self-disciplined and perfect material for the strict requirements of the British army.

At twenty, he had undergone the rigorous training at Sandhurst Military Academy, leaving as a commissioned officer. He had wanted active service and, when he was posted to Afghanistan in two thousand and nine as a second lieutenant, he knew that this was exactly what he wanted. Alex certainly did not relish the idea of a regular occupation, which meant a mindlessly, boring, nine to five desk job, five days a week for the next forty-odd years. For many, this would have been perfectly acceptable and infinitely preferable to having no job at all. For Alex, it would be like living in a permanent state of limbo, with no challenges and no excitement.

He had wanted action, adventure and, of course, a certain degree of danger. His parents, however, were not so convinced and, fearing for his safety, tried to persuade him to take a less leading role in military activities.

Even at the age of six, the energetic youngster had declared that, when he was grown-up, he was definitely going to be a soldier. All through school, as well as achieving good results in academic subjects, he had excelled at swimming, rugby, football, gymnastics and long distance running. He not only had great strength of body, but was also determined enough to excel in anything which would assist his military future.

It was not as if there had even been anyone in the close family with a military background. His father, James, was a barrister and his grandfather, Richard, an accountant, both, in Alex’s opinion, quite sedentary, extremely boring occupations.

The one exception to this was his Mother’s brother, Uncle Robert. After ten years in the Royal Air Force, he was now a senior pilot with Singapore Airlines. He was the only one who could understand the hunger for military action, so apparent in the youngster. When he had the opportunity to talk to Alex in private, he would tell of his own military experiences, particularly his missions in defence of the Falkland Islands and, generally, encouraged the attentive Alex, even creating a degree of tension with his sister and brother-in-law, when they realized how his words were influencing their son. Yet nothing would dissuade the determined youngster from his goal.

Both Louise, his mother, and James, knew that their son had ambitions to have a combat role and were disappointed, though not surprised when he left the U.K. for a six month tour of duty. During this time, he had shown great courage and strength of character and a worthy example of a commissioned officer.

Alex had been involved in many risky maneuvers, coming close to death on numerous occasions. In one of these he managed to rescue a teenage girl and her family after they were threatened and attacked by the Taliban. This was all because the girl was determined to be well educated, something which the Taliban seemed to fear and do their best to prevent. The girl had been injured, but, thanks to the intervention of Alex and his combat group, not seriously. Alex could not understand the mentality of Taliban thinking. Do they really fear domination by women? Is this why females seem to be so dominated by men and repressed within the Islamic faith? He had heard of young, unmarried women who had been brutally, stoned to death after being discovered in an intimate relationship, while the man, apparently would, escape without fear of any punishment. Why should women accept anything less than full equality?

It was a great relief for his proud parents when he safely completed his six month tour of duty and returned to the U.K., as a newly-promoted Captain Alex McCloud.

He had everything going for him. A career he loved and Helen, his fiancé, who had been an important part of his life for the past three years.

The problems started when he returned to Kandahar Province in Afghanistan in December, two thousand and ten. The troubles were escalating and the Taliban were proving to be ever more resourceful in their efforts both to evade and attack foreign troops.