Brave by Carolyn Glass

The trick was never to show fear. As a youth he had always been the first to try something new, he was never afraid to wade into a scrap to sort it out. In sport he was always in the thick of it, taking on guys twice his size in tackles. He was a decorated soldier; he had rescued an injured comrade when their vehicle has struck by a missile. He had later been captured and interrogated, they got nothing from him.

None of this had prepared him for today. He was shown into a small consultation room, where a man was reading notes, he looked up and told Max to take a seat. Max thought he could hear his own heart; it was beating so loudly, surely it must be audible to everyone. He was almost paralysed with terror, when he heard the instruction, “just open wide, it won’t hurt a bit.”