Mumbersons and The Blood Secret, The Read Online Free PDF Page B

open, revealed bottles, and pads, and other medical things Billy didn’t recognise.
     
    A man in a loose-fitting white coat was standing at a basin in one corner, washing his hands. He had his back to Billy. Above the basin a large skylight that was divided into three sections revealed the late afternoon sky. Next to the basin a door with a glass panel in it opened out onto rough stone steps leading to the ground above. There was a key with a green tag in the lock.
     
    Billy shivered, in spite of being so warm. He didn’t like this at all.
     
    The man at the basin turned around, and Billy recognised him as the barber who’d cut his hair yesterday. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, more puzzled than ever. The man said nothing. Ms Nordal snarled at him, ‘Get on with it, Slaggard.’
     
    Slaggard pushed a trolley towards the bed. On it was a metal kidney-shaped bowl containing a syringe with a large needle, a plastic bag and two tubes.
     
    ‘Get the boy up on the bed,’ said the woman. The guard tossed Billy on the bed as though he weighed nothing at all.
     
    ‘What are you doing?’ Billy shouted. ‘Where’s my Dad?’ The guard clamped one hand over his mouth, so that Billy could only make muffled noises, and held him down with the other. Billy kept on trying to shout and wriggle because he didn’t want to give in to whatever it was they were planning.
     
    Slaggard pulled up Billy’s sleeve and tied a tourniquet tightly around his arm. He swabbed Billy’s inner elbow with a cleanser.
     
    ‘Matchstick arms,’ said the woman, with a sneer. She stood with her arms folded until her cellphone suddenly beeped. ‘ What ?’ she snapped into the phone, then listened briefly. ‘No, I’m right in the middle of it.’ The caller said something else before Ms Nordal thrust the phone back in her pocket. ‘I need to meet my sisters upstairs.’ She walked to the door. ‘As always, there’s some crisis they can’t handle without me. Make sure you do the job thoroughly,’ she said to the two men, before slamming the door behind her.
     
    Slaggard told Lavitch to hold Billy’s arm down so that he could get the needle safely into the vein. ‘He’ll move too much otherwise,’ he said. Billy wriggled anyway. ‘Hold him still!’ he added to the guard, who growled that he was holding him still.
     
    Billy felt as though he was being pressed deeper and deeper into the bed. Worse, he was beginning to feel sick at the thought of having blood taken. He didn’t know whether to try and fight them further - which was difficult - or let them get on with it. He hoped he wouldn’t pass out.
     
    Slaggard pressed on Billy’s arm to check for the vein, prior to pushing the needle in. As he was doing it, Billy caught sight of a shadow flitting past the skylight. Neither of the adults noticed. The shadow moved again, then gave an ear-splitting scream.
     
    Billy jumped in spite of all Lavitch’s efforts to hold him. The two men, surprised and distracted by the noise, looked round in confusion.
     
    A brick came crashing through one of the panes of glass. Billy heard Olivia shout, ‘Run, Billy!’
     
    The glass shattered everywhere. The men ducked to avoid it. Slaggard banged into the trolley, and the syringe and tubes went flying as the metal dish bounced onto the floor with a clang. Lavitch let go of Billy as shards of glass fell around him.
     
    Billy leapt off the bed, the tourniquet still tight around his arm. He ran for the door, yanked it open, and raced towards the stairs. He didn’t have time to look behind him, but kept on sprinting along the corridor, up the steps and through the Staff Only exit. He sped towards the revolving doors, hoping he wouldn’t meet Ms Nordal. He could hear Lavitch’s boots stomping along behind him. Very fast.
     
    It’s hard to run into the space in a revolving door, but if anyone can manage it, it’s a desperate boy. He leapt into the opening, gave the door a push, and