They finished bandaging and applied the splint. K. placed a board between the boy’s legs and two on either side.

“Now bandage again over the top, the ankles, knees, hips,” he told Grumpy.

He turned his head to the side and saw the boy looking back at him. The tears made dark tracks along his dusty face. The ambulance swerved left and straight again. A crater, maybe from an aerial bomb, or a mine.

“Boy, can you hear me? What’s your name?”

The boy looked at him mutely. He was in shock.

Grumpy finished the dressing.

“All done.”

“Well done, we’ll make a doctor of you yet. Hand over the ice.”

“I take one look at you and think: sod that. Better to go into firefighting once the war is done.”

“This war won’t be over for another ten years. Medicine is a better bet. Your odds for survival would be better.”

K. picked up the improvised ice pack and looked inside. It was full of boxes of ice cream.

“Did you get any fruit flavoured ones?”

“I grabbed everything they had in the freezer. The woman almost attacked me with her mop. ‘Help yourself to the cheap ice-cream,’ she says, ‘but I can’t let you have the Magnums.’”

K. put a frozen chicken to one side, took out the chocolate Magnum—she had let them go in the end—and returned the rest of the pack to Grumpy.

“Place it on each leg for a few minutes.”

He unwrapped the wrapping and took a bite.

“Well, little man, want some?” he said, thrusting the ice cream under the boy’s nose. “It’s a treat.”

The boy didn’t react at first, but then suddenly stuck out his tongue and licked the ice-cream.

“Well done. Shall we sing a song? This is the way the ladies ride, jimp and sma’, jimp and sma’. This is the way the gentlemen ride, trotting a’, trotting a’”

The boy took another lick. Tears rolled down his face.

“Good!” K. affectionately stroked the boy’s head. He turned and shouted to the driver. “Listen! You’re going to gently slow down, stop and park for a couple of minutes. After that, start moving again slowly and then hit the gas. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Grumpy.”

“Yes.”

“Here, take the novocaine. Draw ten milligrams into a syringe and hand it to me. And while I’m injecting, get another dose ready.”

They came to a gentle stop. K. took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

Anterior fascia. Prep the operating field in the upper third on the anterior surface of the thigh. Inject novocaine subcutaneously until a lump appears. Change to long needle to advance into tissue when injecting novocaine. Maintain continuous movement. Check for bleeding by removing the syringe from the needle. Inject one hundred millilitres into the bone. Repeat on the other side. The ambulance stopped.

K. exhaled, opened his eyes, and took the syringe from Grumpy.