Yes, I had seen for myself.
I went along the corridor with Bland, my mind busy. Somehow I had to get the key of that door and the key of the handcuff. Either that or stay here until they got tired of keeping me or until I rotted.
A sudden commotion brought us to a halt: a startled cry, a heavy thud as if someone or something heavy had fallen.
Bland caught hold of my arm.
A nearby door suddenly jerked open and a girl shot into the corridor. The first and obvious thing about her was her complete nakedness. She seemed to have jumped right out of a bath, for water glistened on her white skin and a fine film of soap made patterns on her slender arms. She was fair, and her hair grew in a curly halo around her head. She wasn’t pretty, nor was she plain. She was interesting; definitely and emphatically interesting, and I had a suspicion she wouldn’t be quite so interesting with her clothes on as she was without them. At a guess she was about twenty-five. She had a beautiful body, long legged, high breasted, and her skin was the colour of whipped cream.
I heard Bland suck in his breath sharply.
“Hot damn!” he said under his breath, jumped forward, his thick fingers reaching out for the girl, his eyes alight with brutish excitement. He grabbed hold of the girl’s arm. Her scream hit the ceiling and bounced along the walls. His hand slid off her soapy arm and she spun round and raced down the corridor. She ran with unexpected grace, and as swiftly as the wind.
Bland took a step forward, and then changed his mind. She couldn’t get away. Already she had reached the massive door and was beating on it with clenched fists.
All this happened in so many seconds, then a nurse appeared from the bathroom: a tall, powerfully-built woman whose hatchet face was white with alarm and fury. She looked down the corridor at the girl’s naked back. She looked at Bland.
“Get your patient away,” she said. “And get out yourself, you—you ape!”