Elephant Man - Christine Sparks [32]
At last he found what he was looking for and a quick sigh of relief escaped him. A young and very beautiful woman, engulfed in a fearsome-looking piece of traction apparatus, had never taken her eyes off him from the moment he appeared. Fear lay on her face like a suffocating blanket, fear that deepened as he caught sight of her and approached.
She looked wildly from side to side, but her nearest companions were elderly women, both snoring heavily. When Renshaw was standing at the end of her bed she began to struggle, but her arms were tied firmly into the traction machine. It rattled but did not give way. She was as trapped as an animal in a snare. A few feet away Nurse Waters snored.
Renshaw moved toward the bed and laid a hand on the rattling traction machine, stilling its noise. One finger was over his lips as he spoke softly, smiling at her.
“Hush, love, I told you before—one word from me, they’ll toss you back on the street, and then those pretty little arms of yours will never grow straight.” He ran his hand down from the machine, stroking her arm all the way down to the shoulders, his eyes gleaming as he felt the shudder she was unable to repress. His hand delved lower, slithering beneath her hospital bedgown, groping about to find the small perfect breasts. Her eyes grew wild, but she made no further noise.
“Now close your eyes,” he whispered. “Close your eyes …”
She did so, turning her head away as if she would shut him out from her consciousness, but instantly he wrenched her back.
“I only said to close your eyes,” he reproved her. “I haven’t finished with you yet.”
He rammed his mouth savagely on hers, hearing and enjoying her gasp of fear and pain as the machine yanked at her. This was how he enjoyed it best. It occurred to him that something had been missing during the months with Mattie. She had been too willing. He thrust one hand down into the bed and began to draw up her bedgown, using the other hand to pull down the bed clothes. The girl began to writhe frantically, making the machine above jangle. He knew it was no longer safe but he was beyond turning back now. He pulled away and glared at her.
“Shut up!” he said in a savage whisper. “If anyone hears I’ll break every bone in your body.”
With almost one movement he ripped open his trousers and dropped onto her. She lay like a stone, motionless beneath him, and when he drew back he saw why. She had fainted in terror. He gave a grunt of satisfaction and did himself up. It took just a moment to pull up the bedclothes and make everything look ordinary again. Nurse Waters was still snoring as he slipped out of the door.
He made his way up to the top of the building without further delay. He’d used up a lot of time. On the last little landing before the Isolation Ward he hauled out the gin bottle and took a mighty swig. If the object up there really was fearsome enough to make even Mothershead scream, then a man needed a little fortification.
He stopped again outside the door to the Isolation Ward and knocked back another gulp. From inside he could hear a strange, rasping breathing. He took a deep breath and flung himself into the room.
At first he could make out nothing beyond the bed in the far corner and the shapeless thing sitting on the edge of it. He peered closer but the thing didn’t move.
“Here he is,” Renshaw announced tipsily. “The old fiend of the night, the terror of the London. Let’s ’ave a look at you. Let’s see what makes ’em scream …”
As he spoke he swiveled round to the gas lamp and turned it up. The light fell directly onto the Elephant Man’s head, illuminating every monstrous lump, deepening every hollow. Renshaw took an involuntary step backward.
“Cor Blimey!” he uttered in deep awe.
For a moment he was shaken by a genuine horror at a sight that should have been human yet was so far removed from anything human. Then he noticed that the thing on the bed was trembling and he had the sensation that something had clicked in his