Page 13 of In Too Deep

Buck crossed his arms. “Ever served in uniform?”

Reacher nodded. “Army. Thirteen years.”

“So you’ve done basic life support training, as a minimum. Yes?”

Reacher nodded again.

“Cast your mind back to the final assessment. You find your victim. He’s lying on the ground, screaming, writhing around, clutching his knee. You dive right in and start bandaging that knee. What happens?”

“You fail the course.”

“Correct. Because your patient would die from the internal bleeding in his abdomen that you missed when you only focused on the injury he told you about. See where I’m going with this?”

Reacher slipped off his pants and laid them on the bed, next to the doctor’s pack. Then he took off his shirt and placed it on top of the pants.

Holmes stepped in closer and ran his eyes over Reacher’s torso, shoulder to shoulder, neck to navel. He was silent for a moment, then said, “This isn’t your first rodeo, is it? I see bullet wounds. I see knife wounds. And what’s this?” He pointed at a long, curved scar just above the elastic of Reacher’s shorts. “Some other kind of blade?”

Reacher said, “Shrapnel. Part of a man’s jawbone. Happened in Beirut, a long time ago.”

“That’s one I haven’t heard before. Turn around?”

The doctor visually examined Reacher’s back and legs then had him lie on the bed. He poked and prodded areas of soft tissue.Manipulated joints. Tested reflexes. Then finally said, “OK. Everything seems fine, so get dressed and I’ll check on your noggin.”

Reacher slid back into his T-shirt and pants, then sat on the side of the bed.

Holmes said, “You hit your head in the car wreck?”

“Right.”

“Did you lose consciousness?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know.”

“Any memory loss?”

“I can’t remember the accident, and maybe an hour before it happened.”

“That’s probably nothing to worry about. There’s a good chance it will come back, given time. Now, who was the 44th President of the United States?”

“Barack Obama. Served two terms: 2009 to 2017. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 1961. Married to Michelle. Has two—”

“OK. Your memory’s fine. Have you thrown up since the accident?”

“No.”

“Any dizziness? Dropping things? Walking into furniture? Doorframes?”

“No.”

“Ringing in your ears?”

“A little.”

“Eye pain? Double vision?”

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