The bullet clearly labelled "Captain John H Watson RAMC" had knocked him flying. He had felt his bones splinter into a billion needles as he hit the ground. For a moment he felt as though he was underwater, the sounds coming in echoing bubbles. Then his head broke the surface and he heard screams, shouts, gunfire. Someone was undoing his body armour, releasing the tight Velcro straps. He felt a rush of cool air over his sweaty body as the armour was thrown aside.
"Captain? Can you hear me? John? John stay with me." He looked into an unfamiliar pair of eyes that looked silvery grey in the smoke. The world started to sink underwater again and in the final moments as he watched the blackness creeping up from his feet until his field of vision contained nothing but the stranger's eyes, he thought desperately:
"Please God, let me live."