25 seconds & more of agony

Luck is to pass out. Yet, their anguished screams push me on - faster! - almost frantic amidst splashing blood. Panting and sweating to climax: meat dropping at my feet.

He - held firmly. I, poised with the blade. As if on signal, I sprang to work, metal biting flesh. Deeper, seeking bone. His suffering was total.

A dresser joined the agonised chorus, his fingers sliced clean in my haste. He'd not live.

One heart stopped for the horror of it all.

I'm renowned. None other claim a limb with more speed, nor an operation with a 300% mortality rate.

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Note from me: Thank you for reading! Please comment so I can reciprocate.

If you are interested in the story behind the story: This one is a trule tale - Robert Liston, a barber surgeon in the 1800s, could cut off a leg in 25 seconds. Speed was essential to minimise the suffering of the patient. Faster operations were generally more successful, possibly because there was less margin for infection. The downside being that mistakes happen at that speed. A "dresser" (an assistant holding down the victim) lost some fingers in one such accident and later died from infection. The patient in that case also died, and so did a witness who died from shock.

If you have been reading my dystopian series (beginning with Glass Dolls and continuing with Straw Dolls), you might be able to guess at the research I was doing, and what might happen next to the protagonist.

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