November 29, 1939
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
"Well, finally awake are we?"
"Max?"
"That's right, who else would bother to come and visit a sorry specimen such as you?"
As Max hauled a chair over to his bedside, Helmut Wolf took stock of his surroundings. With a feeling of been there and done that, he realized he was lying in a hospital bed with several bandages on his body. He remembered being wounded and waking up on what he thought was a train, but after that everything was hazy. Only dream-like fragments of people moving around him remained. Looking at Max, he noticed that one of his friend's arms was in a sling though Max seemed in very good spirits despite the wound. Pointing to it he asked, "Are you alright?"
Max's smile widened as he responded, "This? No trouble at all, just a minor wound. Actually, it's been a godsend."
"How so?"
"Come on, Helmut. A dashing young soldier gloriously wounded in service to his country is always in demand with the ladies.", Max whispered in response.
Helmut rolled his eyes and muttered, "Well, nice to see that you've been having such a good time."
"Hey, I'm not just thinking of myself you know. These poor young nurses come all the way out here from Germany and work a high stress job. It's up to walking wounded like me to make sure they get a chance to let off some steam every once in awhile.", replied Max with a smile.
After sharing a chuckle with his friend, Helmut asked, "You want to tell me what happened to my men and how I wound up here?"
Max's smiled faded as he answered, "The company sustained heavy losses, our platoon in particular. You would have been proud of them though, no one wavered or ran when the enemy breached the wall."
Helmut called up his memory of that moment. He had been sitting propped up next to the corpse of Unterscharfuhrer Keller when he had seen the enemy come pouring over the wall. He also remembered seeing corpses piled around the anti-tank rifle position and resigning himself to the fact that Max had been killed and that his own death would follow shortly afterward. Helmut pushed these thoughts away and focused back in on Max who was describing what had happened next, "The men stood their ground and fought them sometimes hand to hand before reinforcements arrived and pushed the enemy back. The city fell not long afterward."
"And the casualties were bad?", asked Helmut.
Max frowned deeply and nodded, "Yes, very bad in fact. Most of the NCO's were killed or wounded. I think only the Scharfuhrer came out without any wounds. You should have seen him, Helmut. I swear I saw him kill a few Frenchmen with his bare hands."
"How about you? How did you escape with only that minor wound after the enemy overran your position?"
Max shrugged, "I saw what was about to happen and got the hell out of there before they breached the wall. While I was moving away I saw you and Keller and pulled you to safety. When I went back to check on Keller, I caught this little souvenir and decided to watch out for you and stay out of the way."
Helmut now frowned and asked, "You didn't participate in the fight after that? You just watched?"
"First of all, you're welcome. Second, I didn't have anything to fight with except your empty MP38 and your half empty pistol. Given that, I figured that the best course was to bandage our wounds the best that I could and keep my head down.", replied Max with some anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry Max, I didn't mean to sound disapproving."
"Sure you did, but then that's you I guess.", said Max with a smile. "Anyway, after the enemy was forced to retreat we got you to a field hospital and then to larger facility in Brussels. Things were very touch and go for some time."
"How so?"
"Well, for starters, you lost quite a bit of blood and they couldn't give you a transfusion right away as you don't have your blood group tattoo for some reason. They had to put in calls for your records before pumping any blood into you. After that, they decided that you were stable enough to be sent by train here to Amsterdam. On the way, you developed an infection and severe fever and have been pretty much out of it until now."
Helmut took the information in and was surprised that he felt nothing about his brush with death other than a vague sense of... was it disappointment? Looking over to Max he asked, "What are you doing here if your not injured too badly? Shouldn't you have been sent back to Germany to finish your recuperation?"
Max looked away for a moment before answering, "Well, I could have of course, but I wanted to hang around until you were alright. I told the doctors to inform me the moment you started to come to."
Helmut felt a sudden burst of affection for his friend as Max continued, "Besides, I couldn't leave until I showed you my new decorations."
Looking closer at him, Helmut now noticed that Max wore an Iron Cross Second Class and the Wound Badge in silver. Smiling he said, " Well, either they made a bunch of extra ones by mistake or they'll give an Iron Cross to anyone these days."
Max laughed and responded, "Hey, I'll have you know that I was awarded this for coming to the aid of fallen comrades and for bravery in the face of the enemy."
Helmut raised his good arm and put his hand up in a defensive position and said, "Alright, alright. Thank you and well done. Happy now?"
"Quite, for now. Once you're on your feet I'll be expecting numerous toasts in my honor, all paid for by you I might add.", replied a beaming Max.
"Deal."
Max's face took on a more somber look as he said, "I took the liberty of phoning your family and letting them know about your situation. Elsa also put me in touch with Sophie and she's on her way here."
"Thanks, Max. I appreciate it."
Conflicting emotions played across Max's face as if he was debating something before he spoke again, "Listen Helmut, from what you've told me about her and from the conversation I had with her, she seems like a real special girl. You're a very lucky man who's got a lot to look forward to."
"I know that."
"I don't think that you do.", replied Max in a very serious tone.
Helmut looked away from him as he responded, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know damn well what I'm talking about Helmut! Don't you ever try to do anything like that again."
"You don't understand, I couldn't let myself-"
"Save it, Helmut. Save it and try to think of your family and Sophie the next time some crazy fanatical idea comes into your head."
When Helmut failed to respond, Max stood and said, "Rest and get better. I'll be in to see you from time to time, alright?"
Helmut nodded woodenly as Max walked away, his mind already drifting elsewhere. Truth be told, part of him felt a deep resentment toward Max. Why though? Helmut turned that question over in his mind for some time, but came up with no answers.
**********************************************************
I know that I had said that the installment would be Part 2 of The Battle of Namur, but this was rolling around in my head all week and it sort of took over. Rest assured that we will be getting back to Otto shortly.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
"Well, finally awake are we?"
"Max?"
"That's right, who else would bother to come and visit a sorry specimen such as you?"
As Max hauled a chair over to his bedside, Helmut Wolf took stock of his surroundings. With a feeling of been there and done that, he realized he was lying in a hospital bed with several bandages on his body. He remembered being wounded and waking up on what he thought was a train, but after that everything was hazy. Only dream-like fragments of people moving around him remained. Looking at Max, he noticed that one of his friend's arms was in a sling though Max seemed in very good spirits despite the wound. Pointing to it he asked, "Are you alright?"
Max's smile widened as he responded, "This? No trouble at all, just a minor wound. Actually, it's been a godsend."
"How so?"
"Come on, Helmut. A dashing young soldier gloriously wounded in service to his country is always in demand with the ladies.", Max whispered in response.
Helmut rolled his eyes and muttered, "Well, nice to see that you've been having such a good time."
"Hey, I'm not just thinking of myself you know. These poor young nurses come all the way out here from Germany and work a high stress job. It's up to walking wounded like me to make sure they get a chance to let off some steam every once in awhile.", replied Max with a smile.
After sharing a chuckle with his friend, Helmut asked, "You want to tell me what happened to my men and how I wound up here?"
Max's smiled faded as he answered, "The company sustained heavy losses, our platoon in particular. You would have been proud of them though, no one wavered or ran when the enemy breached the wall."
Helmut called up his memory of that moment. He had been sitting propped up next to the corpse of Unterscharfuhrer Keller when he had seen the enemy come pouring over the wall. He also remembered seeing corpses piled around the anti-tank rifle position and resigning himself to the fact that Max had been killed and that his own death would follow shortly afterward. Helmut pushed these thoughts away and focused back in on Max who was describing what had happened next, "The men stood their ground and fought them sometimes hand to hand before reinforcements arrived and pushed the enemy back. The city fell not long afterward."
"And the casualties were bad?", asked Helmut.
Max frowned deeply and nodded, "Yes, very bad in fact. Most of the NCO's were killed or wounded. I think only the Scharfuhrer came out without any wounds. You should have seen him, Helmut. I swear I saw him kill a few Frenchmen with his bare hands."
"How about you? How did you escape with only that minor wound after the enemy overran your position?"
Max shrugged, "I saw what was about to happen and got the hell out of there before they breached the wall. While I was moving away I saw you and Keller and pulled you to safety. When I went back to check on Keller, I caught this little souvenir and decided to watch out for you and stay out of the way."
Helmut now frowned and asked, "You didn't participate in the fight after that? You just watched?"
"First of all, you're welcome. Second, I didn't have anything to fight with except your empty MP38 and your half empty pistol. Given that, I figured that the best course was to bandage our wounds the best that I could and keep my head down.", replied Max with some anger in his voice.
"I'm sorry Max, I didn't mean to sound disapproving."
"Sure you did, but then that's you I guess.", said Max with a smile. "Anyway, after the enemy was forced to retreat we got you to a field hospital and then to larger facility in Brussels. Things were very touch and go for some time."
"How so?"
"Well, for starters, you lost quite a bit of blood and they couldn't give you a transfusion right away as you don't have your blood group tattoo for some reason. They had to put in calls for your records before pumping any blood into you. After that, they decided that you were stable enough to be sent by train here to Amsterdam. On the way, you developed an infection and severe fever and have been pretty much out of it until now."
Helmut took the information in and was surprised that he felt nothing about his brush with death other than a vague sense of... was it disappointment? Looking over to Max he asked, "What are you doing here if your not injured too badly? Shouldn't you have been sent back to Germany to finish your recuperation?"
Max looked away for a moment before answering, "Well, I could have of course, but I wanted to hang around until you were alright. I told the doctors to inform me the moment you started to come to."
Helmut felt a sudden burst of affection for his friend as Max continued, "Besides, I couldn't leave until I showed you my new decorations."
Looking closer at him, Helmut now noticed that Max wore an Iron Cross Second Class and the Wound Badge in silver. Smiling he said, " Well, either they made a bunch of extra ones by mistake or they'll give an Iron Cross to anyone these days."
Max laughed and responded, "Hey, I'll have you know that I was awarded this for coming to the aid of fallen comrades and for bravery in the face of the enemy."
Helmut raised his good arm and put his hand up in a defensive position and said, "Alright, alright. Thank you and well done. Happy now?"
"Quite, for now. Once you're on your feet I'll be expecting numerous toasts in my honor, all paid for by you I might add.", replied a beaming Max.
"Deal."
Max's face took on a more somber look as he said, "I took the liberty of phoning your family and letting them know about your situation. Elsa also put me in touch with Sophie and she's on her way here."
"Thanks, Max. I appreciate it."
Conflicting emotions played across Max's face as if he was debating something before he spoke again, "Listen Helmut, from what you've told me about her and from the conversation I had with her, she seems like a real special girl. You're a very lucky man who's got a lot to look forward to."
"I know that."
"I don't think that you do.", replied Max in a very serious tone.
Helmut looked away from him as he responded, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know damn well what I'm talking about Helmut! Don't you ever try to do anything like that again."
"You don't understand, I couldn't let myself-"
"Save it, Helmut. Save it and try to think of your family and Sophie the next time some crazy fanatical idea comes into your head."
When Helmut failed to respond, Max stood and said, "Rest and get better. I'll be in to see you from time to time, alright?"
Helmut nodded woodenly as Max walked away, his mind already drifting elsewhere. Truth be told, part of him felt a deep resentment toward Max. Why though? Helmut turned that question over in his mind for some time, but came up with no answers.
**********************************************************
I know that I had said that the installment would be Part 2 of The Battle of Namur, but this was rolling around in my head all week and it sort of took over. Rest assured that we will be getting back to Otto shortly.
