Read The Killing Machine for Free Online Page B

shoulder.”
    â€œThat’s right. And you picked up a very high fever from the infection.”
    She was a pillow-fluffing, bedclothes-straightening, fresh flower-arranging whiz. Most impressively, she could talk even while doing all this. I suppose I was more impressed with her skills than I should have been, but then I was only half alive and she was awfully damned pretty. I’d also noticed that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. I fixed her at midtwenties.
    â€œI’d really like to change your sheets. You sweated through them.”
    â€œFine with me.”
    â€œI’ll have to have you sit in a chair. It’ll hurt.”
    â€œI’ll give it a try.”
    I tried being stoic about it all, the way men are supposed to be. Even though I nearly blacked out twice, I held my response to the pain of sitting up to a few choked-off grunts and groans.
    â€œYou’re a strong man, Mr. Ford.”
    â€œI was hoping you’d say that.”
    She blessed me with a smile. As she stripped the bed and wiped down the rubber sheet beneath with disinfectant, she said, “Women like to hear they’re pretty and men like to hear they’re tough.”
    â€œYou must hear ‘pretty’ a hundred times a day.”
    â€œA hundred would be a slight exaggeration.” She wasn’t facing me, but I could feel her smile. “But you’re running a fever so I’ll let it go this time.”
    In a few minutes, I had a fresh new bed. I was holding as tough as I could but I was getting groggy. The fever was making me fade in and out of awareness. She got me back into bed and said, “You need to sleep.”
    â€œYeah. I think you’re right.” Then: “Tell me something.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou said that doc who came in this morning—if he told me how I got here, I don’t remember.”
    â€œI’m told you were brought here by the marshal and two of his deputies.”
    â€œAll I can remember was hearing Tib and James start screaming. You know who they are?”
    â€œI’m sorry, they’re both dead.”
    â€œYou know anything more than that?”
    She laid a cool, work-roughened palm on my forehead. “You’re burning up. Let me give you something for that and then you get some sleep. The marshal said he’ll be here late morning.”
    â€œSo you know what happened last night?”
    â€œA little bit about it. Not much. The marshal said not to talk to you about anything.”
    â€œYou afraid of him?”
    The smile. She had the kind of slightly crooked teeth that are attractive. “Not afraid of him. But I like him and so I’ll do what he asks.”
    The pain was starting to black me out every couple moments.
    And then I realized how bad off I was. I’d been awake here for maybe ten minutes and I remembered that Tib and James were dead, but I’d forgotten all about the person who mattered most.
    â€œMy brother David…” I started to say.
    This time her smile was completely mechanical. She pulled my covers up to my chest and said, “The marshal will tell you everything when he gets here.”
    â€œHe’s dead, isn’t he?”
    â€œPlease don’t put me in the middle of this, Mr. Ford.”
    â€œJust tell me the truth. Then I won’t ask you any more questions. My brother—he’s dead, isn’t he?”
    She sighed. “Yes, Mr. Ford. I’m afraid he is.”
    She turned and walked out of the room.
    I lay awake for what seemed a long time. I was so exhausted from the wound that I didn’t feel the news as sharply as I might have otherwise. It was a fact more than a feeling. My brother David was dead. So many memories, good and bad, and yet these, too, were pictures that didn’t bring with them any particular emotion. Maybe I was willing myself not to feel anything. Maybe my body knew, even if my mind didn’t, that to deal with