"James Tiptree Jr. - Yanqui Doodle" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tiptree James Jr)

"But she saidтАФ"

"You dead," the man repeated.

To his surprise, he did drift off, and dreamt only innocuous fantasies about his old dog.

He woke in the night, feeling a knife grinding him under his ribs. His old ulcer pain. He'd almost
forgotten, he hadn't had that since his first ND-tab. And there was another trouble, an itch under his
leg-cast. A roach or something must have somehow got under it and was struggling about. He banged at
it futilely, and finally called.

Miss Plastic approached with a flashlight.

"Shshsh! What is it, soldier?"

"My ulcer hurts. I need some antacid."

She made a note on the clipboard. "I'll tell the doctor about it. Maybe he'll prescribe you some in the
morning."
 "In the morning? Christ, I need it right now, I feel like my stomach's boring through."

"Sorry, I can't prescribe medication. But I'll have the doctor look at you first thing, I promise."
Cutie-doll smile.

"But antacid isn't a prescription drug, a medication! Christ, you can buy Maalox or Mylanta over the
counter by the gallon. You must have some here. I hurt."

"Anything other than your meals is a medication, soldier." She turned the flash off.

"Wait! Do you mean this shit?"

"Don't swear at me."

"Well, wait one minuteтАФthere's bugs under my bandage. A bug. I can feel it crawling around."

Expertly she slipped back the sheet and explored the top of the cast with the light.

"No bugs. You calm down, the bugs will go away."

"But I can feel them! They itch! Can't you at least cut that stuff so I can scratch? You said it comes
off tomorrow." No use, he could see that. "Isn't there something you could squirt under it? Some bug
killer?" He asked weakly.

"Sorry, soldier. There are no insects, nothing, under that bandage. It's all in your head. Now, are we
going to be good and go to sleepтАФ or are you going to cause trouble? There are men here a lot sicker
than you are, you know."

He looked up at her in the dim light, living proof that a cute girl five feet three inches high could be a
monster.