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Back The Art of Dying Save as PDF
Chapters (90)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. 1849
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. EDINBURGH
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EPILOGUE
  86. HISTORICAL NOTE
  87. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  88. Extract from A Corruption of Blood
  89. 1850
  90. ONE

Dr Simpson stood poised, knife in hand, and Raven feared for a moment that he was about to start the procedure without the anaesthetic. Instead he bent to the floor and cut out a square of the chloroform-impregnated carpet. He handed Raven the knife and then held the remnant above the patient’s nose and mouth.

‘Take a couple of deep breaths if you please, Mrs Glassford.’

Mrs Glassford, to her credit, did as she was told, unperturbed by this improvised method of administration. Raven stood motionless, trying to comprehend what the doctor had just done. He was unsure whether this was impressive or not. He could not readily imagine any other practitioner of his acquaintance doing such a thing and wondered distantly what Mrs Simpson would say when she saw the hole in her Brussels carpet.

After a few minutes, Dr Simpson was satisfied that the patient was suitably anaesthetised and indicated that Raven should start. Raven wiped the knife on the sleeve of his jacket to remove any adherent carpet fibres and then made a small incision in the taut skin of Mrs Glassford’s abdomen, between the umbilicus and the pubic bone. Then he picked up a metal trocar and, unwilling to seem in any way hesitant, thrust the instrument into the patient’s abdomen.

A large bowl had been placed across the patient’s knees ready to collect whatever effusion was about to pour forth. Raven removed the spiked trocar from the metal cannula, bracing himself for the ensuing deluge, but nothing came. Not a drop. He felt a growing anxiety. It was the first task he had been allotted by the professor since his return and he was signally failing in it.

Determined that this should not prove to be the case, he rotated the cannula a little and lowered his head to examine its end. He chose to do this just as Dr Simpson sought to encourage the flow of fluid by applying gentle pressure to the sides of the swollen abdomen. The result was a voluminous gush which hit Raven full in the face, splashing over his clothes, his hair and the patterned wallpaper. It even reached up as far as the framed diploma which hung on the wall above the examination couch.

He stood, dripping, while Dr Simpson regained control of the situation by occluding the end of the spouting cannula with his thumb. Raven removed himself from the line of fire and with sopping hands positioned the bowl more suitably to catch the torrent.