Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. I love online translation tools. Takk.
Silently they all looked at one another. Carrie went over to Oscar, wrapped her arms round his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his bloody one. "Thanks Oscar. You couldn't have done any better for us," said Carrie. She could feel him shaking a little. She guessed he was entitled to some nerves after that near disaster.
Rose helped Oscar as best she could to navigate across the bay to their base. He seemed to be OK provided he sat bolt upright. If he leant over in any direction, one of them would have to catch him as he started to topple over.
Eventually they made it back and Oscar managed to dock the mini-sub on his first attempt. Rose helped him to shut all of the systems down and Illya went up to open the hatch. "Erm, guys, we have company," they heard him say. They heard other voices shouting instructions in Norwegian. Illya answered, but they continued to repeat their instructions. "We have to all get out," he called down. "I will go first. Make sure Oscar isn't last OK ?" Rose and Carrie assured him they'd see Oscar out safely.
Rose followed Illya out and found herself faced with three soldiers pointing machine guns at them. Illya was standing to one side on the dock with his hands in the air. The soldier nearest Rose shouted an instruction at her. "He wants you to put your hands in the air," explained Illya. Rose quickly stuck her hands in the air, then realised she needed them to get off the sub's hull. Hesitantly she lowered them to grab the ladder at the side. Shaking a little she joined Illya and put her hands back up.
Next up was Oscar. He looked terrible, but managed to look even more shocked when he saw the soldiers. One of the soldiers muttered something under his breath when he saw the state of Oscar. The front of his jacket now had streaks of blood covering it. Carrie was behind him, helping him find his foot holds. He slowly climbed out of the hatch. He was shakily reaching for the ladder onto the jetty by the time Carrie jumped out of the hatch. As Oscar reached the wooden boards the first soldier shouted something at him, Oscar didn't understand and looked confused. The man grabbed his shoulder and shoved him against the wall of the boat-house. His head hit against the wood and he staggered and nearly fell.
"Oscar !" shouted Carrie, frightened for him. One of the other soldiers put down his gun and caught Oscar under his arms, holding him up. He snapped at the first soldier who pointed at Oscar's equipment belt. He unclipped the belt and threw it to the side. Carrie had now joined Oscar on the boarding. She moved to take Oscar's arm, but the second soldier motioned her to join the others. He picked up his gun and slung Oscar's arm over his shoulder, then gave an instruction to the others. They motioned with their guns for the agents to go up the hill towards the cabin. Glancing back at Oscar they made their way up the hill.
Once in the cabin, the soldiers motioned Rose, Carrie and Illya to sit on the sofa. Two soldiers took up positions opposite them, their guns resting against their knees. The lead soldier sat Oscar down at a chair by the table. He then left the cabin and they could hear talking outside. Rose asked Illya if he could understand them, but he said he couldn't make out what was being said. One of the soldiers spoke. "He's told us to be quiet," explained Illya. Rose nodded and looked over to Oscar who was swaying a little in his chair.
After a short while, another uniformed man came into the room. He took off a rucksack and pulled up a chair in front of Oscar. Oscar looked at him nervously, but resigned. The man looked puzzled and spoke to the soldier who had taken charge. The soldier shrugged and pointed to Illya. He motioned Illya to come over. There was a brief conversation between them. Then Illya smiled and spoke to Oscar.
"Oscar, don't be scared. It's OK. This guy is the medic. He's come to treat your injuries," explained Illya. Oscar visibly relaxed in his chair. The medic pointed to the chair next to him for Illya, who sat down. "He wants me to translate for you," explained Illya. After a further instruction from the medic, Illya got up and helped Oscar out of his bloody jacket. The medic opened up his backpack and took out some sterile dressings and swabs. He put on a pair of rubber gloves. He told Illya to get a small towel from the kitchen area and wrap it round the front of Oscar's shoulders. Blood was still dripping from his nose.
Using the water from a spray bottle and the sterile swabs the medic gently cleaned up Oscar's face. He had a big cut on his lip which had swollen and his nose was visibly bent in the middle. You could now see a heel shaped bruise on his left cheek. Two enormous black eyes were starting to develop. The medic explained something to Illya who translated for Oscar. "He is going to inject a local anaesthetic into your face so he can stitch up your lip," he explained. Illya screwed up his face as the medic injected Oscar near his mouth. The medic smiled at Oscar and said something. "He says you are much braver than your friend. Hey !" complained Illya. Oscar's lips moved a little, but obviously hurt too much to smile properly.
Satisfied that it was numb, the medic carefully stitched Oscars lip, inside and out. Then he turned his attention to Oscar's nose. He asked him a question. "The medic says you have a broken nose. He wants to know if you would like him to set it for you now, or if you would rather wait to go to hospital to have it done ?" Illya translated.
"Now please," mumbled Oscar. It was hard to speak with a numb, swollen lip. He just wanted to get it over with. Illya looked at him sympathetically and translated for the medic. The medic then asked him to do something. Illya looked horrified, muttered something and looked down at his feet. He was visibly upset. The medic then called over the lead soldier and explained something to him. The man nodded and walked round to the back of Oscar's chair.
Illya took a deep breath to steady his nerves and told Oscar what was going to happen. "You need a few injections to ease the pain," explained Illya. "The other guy is going to hold your head still so the medic can get the injections in accurately. OK ?" Oscar nodded slightly. The medic produced another syringe, the soldier took hold of either side of Oscar's head and tilted it back slightly. The medic stood up and injected the anaesthetic around Oscar's nose. Oscar closed his eyes and Carrie could see him gripping on to the arms of his chair. The medic spoke and Oscar opened his eyes. The pain in his nose was receding a little. He looked at Illya and laughed. Illya had covered his eyes with his hands. He was now peeking through his fingers. The medic looked at Illya and rolled his eyes.
He took out some dressings and tape, and nodded to the soldier behind Oscar. The soldier took hold of Oscar's head and watched the medic's face. The medic started to feel round Oscar's nose. Oscar could see his fingers, but couldn't feel his touch. Maybe this wasn't going to hurt so much after all. Then the medic gripped his nose and Oscar grunted in pain. The soldier tightened his grip around his head. Oscar gripped the arms of his chair again. Suddenly the medic pushed his nose around and into position. Oscar groaned at the shooting pain and he felt tears running from his eyes. Then the medic was speaking and strapping a dressing over his nose. "Over," said the soldier letting go of his head.
Oscar opened his eyes, which were still watering. The medic gently wiped them for him using a clean dressing. He smiled at him and nodded towards Illya. Illya had buried his face in his knees with his arms wrapped around his head. The medic said something and laughed. Illya's muffled voice said, "I heard that." He raised his head and looked straight at Oscar's swollen, battered face. He looked quickly away and tried to wipe a tear from his eye before Oscar noticed. The medic reached out and squeezed Illya's shoulder. He said something in Norwegian to Illya and smiled. He said, "A good friend should care too much."
"Takk," mumbled Oscar to the medic.
"You are welcome !" replied the medic. He packed up his gear and counted out some tablets into a small container. He gave Illya a label and pen and told him what to write. He then stuck the label on to the container and gave it to Oscar.
"They're painkillers," explained Illya. "They will help the swelling go down too."
"Thanks Illya. It was better with you there," said Oscar quietly.
The soldier motioned the two boys to join the others on the sofa. The girls made a space for Oscar to sit. Illya sat in the armchair to the side. He looked nearly as shaky as Oscar by now. Rose reached across, clasped his hand and let go. "You did really well Illya," she said.
"I hope I never meet Oscar's mother again. I don't think I could go through that again," said Illya. Rose and Carrie had to laugh. Even Oscar laughed, although it sounded quite strange since he could hardly move his face. Carrie fetched him a glass of water so he could take some painkillers. The leading soldier came in and told Illya something.
"Who's coming," asked Oscar, understanding some of what was said.
"He said our boss is coming," said Illya. "Any idea which boss ?"
"I hope it's Frank," said Rose.
"Yeah. Please don't let it be Stark," said Carrie.
The door flew open and in walked Chief Agent Stark. All four of them groaned. The soldiers guarding them smirked.