They were still scarred, of course, and more clawed than they should have been. That was something he would have to live with. But they were serviceable. They would hold a knife and fork or a cup. They would even do up the buttons on his tunic and that was a real achievement. He was practising his new trick at that moment, sitting in a chair alongside his bed and feeling rather pleased with himself. ‘Look at you!’ Nurse Jones said, as she walked up the ward. Not for the first time, Johnnie thought what a very nice voice she had. It was so warm and encouraging and it had that nice lilt to it. ‘Good or what?’ he said beaming at her. ‘First rate,’ she said. ‘I’ve come to change your dressings but don’t stop. Finish what you’re doing.’ ‘Will I get marks out of ten?’ he asked. She smiled at that because it was a long-standing joke between them that she gave him marks for what he endured.
