Chapter 11
She thought at that moment that her life was to end. They were going to kill her.....
Liesabet thought about protesting but simply did not have the strength left in her to do so. She was jostled about roughly during the walk back to the small infirmary, every infinitesimil movement felt to its most excrutiating degree. It took every ounce of muster inside of her not to cry out for she feared that doing so would make her appear weaker than she was. Her heart raced wildly and she grasped the rough canvas fabric of the stretcher beneath her with her good hand in a vise-like grip.Thoughts of Rory flashed through her mind's eye and she silently prayed that she would be able to see him again.
From her position on her back she was able to see the face of the guard nearest the front of her body. The entire walk, never once did he glance down at her until the very end when they had reached their destination. She saw his eyes flicker for a moment and meet her own. She immediately saw shame and guilt and perhaps a small sliver of pity? The brief exchange lasted no longer than a few seconds before his eyes became blank and unreadable once more, looking straight ahead. His lips parted to speak to the guard bearing the other side of the stretcher and Liesabet turned her attention to the brick building that they were entering.
Feelings of panic came over her as she was carried through the doors, after all the gossip and stories she had heard about the place she didn't know what to expect.
On the inside it appeared nothing more than a large warehouse with cots lined up in rows. The temperature was no warmer than outside and in fact it may have been a little colder due to the brick. Liesabet could see the breath rising from the lips of the patients lying on their beds, some covered with nothing more than a thin sheet as they lay shivering. Coughing and retching could be heard repeatedly and the pungeant stench of urine and feces assaulted her nose.
A woman guard came to meet them at the door and directed the guards to put her down on a vacated cot near one of the many tall windows along the wall. The thin mattress was stained and filthy, reeking of vomit. Liesabet felt sick to her own stomach.
"What's the matter with her?", the woman asked curtly in a brusque tone.
The guards shrugged before turning to leave back the way they had come, looking eager to leave the foul place behind.
Sighing loudly and rolling her eyes the woman, a hefty blonde with broad shoulders who looked barely able to squeeze herself into her uniform, turned to Liesabet.
Her face was pinched with disgust as she tore aside Liesabet's ragged clothing despite her feeble protests, revealing the opening in her side and the protruding bone. Her sharp gaze also took note of Liesabet's arm, bent at a strange angle and tucked at her side for protection along with the rest of her battered body.
Liesabet's face burned with shame as she lay naked and helpless, shaking with the cold and the pain under the woman's scrutinizing gaze.
After a moment the woman turned and called someone's name.
From across the room Liesabet could see the form of a younger man in his mid to late twenties bent over a cot tending to a patient straighten at the sound of his name. He was on the taller side with a slender frame clad in a heavy grey turtleneck sweater, baggy green military trousers, and tall black leather boots. Nothing about his appearance suggested that he was a doctor.
As he drew closer Liesabet frantically tried to cover herself with her good hand but the woman prevented her, raising a hand of her own as a threat.
She was left with no choice but to remain still as the young man arrived at her side. His face read nothing as he ran his hand down her side, tracing the severity of her opened side with his fingers and examining the extent of the breakage in her arm. Liesabet found herself holding her breath, her body rigid and tense as he proceeded with his examination.
When he had finished he ordered the woman guard to go and fetch bandages and water. In the meantime he withdrew and needle and thread from his pocket. Seeing Liesabet's eyes widen he opened his mouth to speak.
"Can you understand me?", he asked gently. Up close she was able to get a good look at his face. He was the epitome of what every good little German boy was told he should look like when he grew up. The curly blonde hair, neatly trimmed and parted off to the side, fair skin, a strong firm jawline, and the clear blue eyes that appeared grey when not in the light.
A moment later Liesabet heard him repeat the question and she realized that she had been staring at him. She nodded shakily in reply.
"I'm going to have to sew your side closed so the bones can heal. Also to prevent infection. Ja?, he continued as he licked the tip of the thread and threaded the needle. I'm also going to have to set the bones in your arm."
Tears sprang to her eyes as she nodded again.
Behind him she heard the sounds of the woman returning with the requested items and a fear that rivaled any she had ever felt before clenched her chest.
Spreading the necessary items out on the small tray the woman had brought the man nodded to the woman who proceeded to stand at Liesabet's side.
Turning his attention back to Liesabet the man spoke to her again.
"I'm going to start with your arm."
Her breathing quickened and her ribs screamed with the extra effort as he gently took her arm in his hands, feeling for where it was broken.
The instant he found the spot Liesabet nearly shot off the table with the pain. A scream escaped her lips, startling the patients nearby. The man probed the area with his thumb and slowly rotated her arm before glancing up at the woman guard's face, giving her a swift nod.
The heavy-set woman quickly lay her weight on Liesabet's shoulders and in a series of quick and experienced jerks and cracks the man had her arm back in place. Unavoidable screams of agony wrenched themselves from her lips despite the struggle to breath the instant after the first sounds of cracking reached Liesabet's ears.
She fought the woman holding her but she was far too strong and the weight pressing down on her was more than she would ever be able to budge in her present state.
When the young man was finished he nodded once more to the woman who released Liesabet and moved to unravel a length of bandages. Beads of sweat could be seen on his forehead and he rolled up his sleeves in preparation for the next procedure. Her energy spent Liesabet collapsed back onto the cot, panting for breath as tears streamed down her face, her body trembling with shock. Her arm lay tender and swollen at her side with the spot where it was broken beginning to turn ugly streaks of black and blue.
The woman guard, satisfied with the length of cloth then proceeded to reach for Liesabet's arm, wrapping it tightly in the white fabric to prevent it from moving. That finished she then fashioned a makeshift sling as well and with the young soldier's help, propped her up enough to tie it around her neck and lay her arm across her bare chest.
After she had been laid back once again the young man reached for a cloth and soaking it in the basin of water, began to dab at the blood and dirt around the wound on her side in an attempt to clean the area. The cool cloth felt wonderful on the site despite the pain as bits of dried blood and mud mixed with hay from her bunk came away.
Once the area was clean enough to satisfy the soldier he reached for the needle and thread. Terror returned and with a shaking hand Liesabet stopped him as he drew closer.
He paused and looked at her tear-stained face that beseeched him with her eyes.
Casting a quick look at the woman he said almost sympathetically,
"Let me finish. After this I will be done, I promise."
The woman moved in once more to hold her down but Liesabet shook her head and gritted her teeth, nodding to the soldier.
The first plunge of the needle relieved much of her fears, though it was still painful it was not as bad as she had thought. Fifteen to twenty minutes later he finished and cut the thread. After winding her side with more strips of bandages he placed everything back onto the tray and handed it to the woman who took it huffily and walked away, her heavy footsteps clomping noisily on the wooden floorboards.
He looked into her eyes and read the gratitude that existed there, giving her a small nod. He stood straight and after checking her bandages one final time and covering her with a thin blanket, turned to walk away leaving her alone.
She spent the remainder of the day resting, relishing in the fact that she did not have to move a muscle and watched the patients around her. From what she could see there were only three people caring for roughly twenty-five to thirty people; the young soldier, the hefty blonde guard and a willowy brunette, the only one in a nurse's uniform, with a bored expression on her face.
The young soldier appeared to be the one in charge but niether of the women seemed to care what was asked of them and Liesabet soon discovered the cause of the retched stench. Those too ill and weak to get up and use the bucket beside their bed were left with no other option but to defecate on themselves as the women refused to help them.
Filled with disgust Liesabet turned her gaze away and instead focused on the frosted windows across the room from her. The frozen glass reminded her of Christmases past in her own home when she was a little girl. She remembered drawing pictures with her finger of her family, of flowers, the sun. Happy things. She didn't know sadness then, sad to her was getting a skinned knee or a splotch of mud on her dress.
Sighing she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come. Hours later in the middle of the night, she found her dreams of Rory scattered as she awoke to a persistant tapping sound. Glancing about her everyone seemed to be asleep, the two women and the soldier had long since gone to their own quarters. Confused she listened again. The sound seemed to be coming from behind her. Slowly she used her good arm for leverage, pulling herself to a sitting position and tugging the threadbare blanket tightly about her shivering shoulders. Her head turned to look up at the window behind her cot.
To her surprise she found Corrie's face peering in through the glass at her. A broad smile washed across her face when she saw Liesabet. She gave a small wave and then gave the thumbs up sign, a questioning look on her face.
Liesabet smiled and slowly raised her arm wrapped in the sling, giving Corrie the thumbs up in reply.
A relieved expression came over Corrie's face and then she mouthed something Liesabet couldn't make out. Blowing her a kiss in the cold air, she waved one more time and was gone.
Groaning with the effort and the pain it had caused Liesabet lay back down, a small grin on her face. For the first time in a long while she was able to sleep soundly despite her circumstances.
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