Martha nodded, and she shifted herself out of the way, and as well as out of the light source. She didn't say anything when the warning about being ill happened; once she might have worried about it, but field surgeries without the benefit of more modern medical supplies had changed her mind about that.

Instead, she just watched in an interested manner as the skin was pulled away from muscle, and then as muscle was pulled from bone. It was amazing how little blood there was, and Martha expected that it was due to the fact that the blood wasn't pumping at whatever the average rate for a horse was, so it made sense. After all, blood was such an important thing to living tissue.

Speaking softly so as not to be an interruption, Martha asked, "what secures the muscle to the piston?"