Divided We Fall

United We Stand

by raihaikyo

Thank you so very much for continuing to read this story and letting me know what you think! ^^

PART XIV – Edge of Consciousness

October 30, 1961

The house with the number 38 looked like any other building in the Scharnhorststrasse. Tall, 6 storey high located between the Ministry of Health and the Justice department. As it was part of the government district, nobody paid particular attention to the fancy black cars or the people who entered the building in formal clothing with their sleek black suitcases.

What the citizens of the GDR did not need to know was that this particular building with the number 38 was not part of any ministry. It was a hospital established 1949 and reserved, only for the GDR politicians, their families and special associates of countries that were part of the USSR.

It was this very place the embodiment of the USSR had been brought to for emergency treatment after Stefan Walzig had notified the hospital. As the spirit of the GDR had found out later exactly this middle aged man was the head physician of East Germany in charge of nation's spirits. Gilbert had been aware of this special hospital and had been a couple of times himself after the war, but had not expected the man as the head of a department to personally appear to assist them.

Letting out a heavy sigh while closing his eyes Gilbert leaned his head back to rest partly on the couch and the wall behind him. This place really had not changed. If anything it looked more like a luxurious spa than your standard hospital.

The large windows as well as the chandeliers illuminated the whole building in a pleasant light giving it an inviting feel and a large open space. All the floors were carpeted with the intention of not disturbing or drawing attention of the patients. Living plants were smartly placed in the hallways to give the impression of a living and breathing space without standing in the way. The most important thing was the lack of the usual smell associated with a hospital. The waiting room where the nation's spirit of the GDR was currently sitting in had the appearance of a sophisticated living room. Couches, chairs, a coffee table with newspapers and magazines and lastly the wallpaper all facilitated to that impression. Only a double sided door on the other side of the room with a red light indicated it was used for something different.

This hospital was probably the perfect symbol of the double standards the German Democratic Republic politicians had. While putting emphasis on an ideology of being the true Germany and praising socialism against the evils of capitalism in official statements, the politicians themselves had magazines from the West lying around in this hospital. Both medicine and food that was used here came from across the Wall as well. Double standards were difficult to uphold, Gilbert sighed looking up at the ceiling. It made him feel conflicted with himself almost all the time. On the one hand he was the collection of feelings, hopes and beliefs of the population, who was kept in the dark of so many things. On the other, he was a politician and military man who got to see what was really happening behind the scenes. On top of that, he had also his own mind and personality to deal with. All of this wore him out now and then.

Although the carpet dampened most of the noise, he could still hear the faint thuds of shoes going in his direction. It was a soft and small step. A woman, he concluded and remained as he was.

"Excuse me sir, would you like some refreshments? You've been waiting here for some time." The woman said to him letting her eyes scan him over.

Almost three hours to be exact, Gilbert thought opening his eyes and turned his head to her. "Sure, why not. Strong coffee would be great." Just sitting and waiting without being able to do anything was hard. He was on the verge of falling asleep most of the time. A good cup of strong coffee would help him stay awake to wait for any news on Ivan's condition.

"Of course." She nodded and quickly left to prepare his order.

Gilbert sat back up properly for when the coffee would arrive. His eyes automatically glanced towards the double sided doors. He was not wondering what the medics were doing. Having seen the wounds himself, he understood it was serious. The only thing he was concerned with was that it had been almost three hours. Longer times often meant complications. Ivan was a nation's spirit and would not die, but being in a severe condition would require him a longer time to heal and that was going to have consequences on the government whenever the politicians liked it or not. He leaned forward resting both elbows on his legs and clasped his hands together similar to a thinkers pose. Spirit's and the nation influenced one another. A weak or hurt spirit meant a weaker country.

"Your coffee, sir."

Gilbert had smelled the coffee even before the woman announced herself, but did not move until she started talking. "Thanks..." He reached out with both hands taking the cup. "You probably don't know, how long it will take them, do you?" Gilbert asked glancing at the closed door with the red lamp.

"Sorry, no. I only take care of the guests and patients." She informed him. "But the doctors are the best we have. I'm sure they are helping."

Gilbert had heard the standard wording a million times over and had it used as well. So, he just listened to her, but dismissed them immediately in his head. She thought he was a normal human and meant well by probably thinking he needed to hear a hopeful message. He was not and preferred reality. "Thanks for the coffee."

She nodded and left to go about her other tasks.

Taking a swing of the coffee he started to devote his attention to the window watching the people outside. Nothing good would come from starring at the door.

Gilbert had dosed off at some point and woke up when someone was shaking his shoulder insistently. "Jaaa..." He called indicating he was awake.

"We're finally done." Walzig said with a sigh rubbing his forehead.

Gilbert noted he was pale and looked worn out. The clock on the wall told him 5 hours had passed in total. The man had a perfectly good reason to look exhausted. "Can I see him?" There was no point in asking how he was. The good thing was Ivan could survive this physically. How he was mentally was a totally different matter.

"I was hoping you would see him." The man replied leading the way to the room. "He... shouldn't be alone right now."

He followed after they man, watching his back curiously. Walzig genuinely seemed to care. "Is he...awake?" It was highly unlikely, but knowing Ivan, he would do a lot to stay awake.

"Oh thank god no, we gave him enough to sedate a whole hoard of elephants. He wouldn't have been able to stand the pain otherwise." The man did not hide the relieved tone as they rounded the corner and came out into another large hallway. "He was...bleeding out at some point."

His hand involuntarily tightened into a fist at that. Gilbert could not help but wonder if the scientists as well as the leaders even realised completely what they had been doing.

"Here we are," Walzig commented opening the door slowly. "Normally, this room is reserved for our GDR leadership only with all the privileges it entails...Like secrecy."

"Good." The last thing they needed was information getting out that the embodiment of the USSR was lying half dead in a hospital bed. Had the roles been reversed Ivan would have kept it between them as well. Unless it had involved America, he found himself thinking with a slight smirk. It was rather peculiar to notice how he really started to dislike Jones after he had happily signed the complete dismantling of his country. Right now, he would gladly sign his death sentence as well. Gilbert dismissed his thoughts with a faint shake of his head and followed the doctor inside. Thinking about it right now was pointless. There was a much more pressing matter waiting for him in this room.

He did not have any illusions how Ivan would look. Having been confronted with death and misery too many times he knew it would not be a pretty sight. The only thing he did not expect were the heavy amount of bandages. From what he could see the Russian was bandaged up from his neck on down to his chest and right arm. His left arm was connected to an IV drip with blood, while on the other side it was with some translucent bag. The whole scene was completed with a machine that kept track of his heart. To his relief Ivan did not seem to need any breathing aid.

"He was bleeding out." The doctor explained again seeing him look at the bag and all the wrappings.

"I…see," he tried to make his voice sound calm and collected, but it was trembling slightly. Nation's spirits could sustain a lot, but Ivan often seemed to go beyond what seemed possible even for them. It was disturbing. "Any idea, when he might wake up?" Coming closer to the bed he let his fingers ghost lightly over Ivan's hand. Even if he did not touch the hand completely, Gilbert could feel the hot temperature radiating off of it. "His hand is burning…"

"He got third degree burns all over his body while we were working on him and his body temperature stays over 40°C. We can't lower it no matter what we do. I've never seen anything like this before." Walzig explained while checking on the bag with the saline fluid. "Moscow will need to be informed about this."

"Leave it to me." He replied immediately while still watching over the patient. Both the GDR and the American side were spying on each other and intercepting messages. The facility at Teufelsberg was the spy installation of the Americans and very close to the GDR border. Gilbert did not trust the GDR installations to be secure enough to send a message to Moscow. There had to be another way and Ivan had to know of it. Gilbert had decided to wait for Ivan to wake up and tell him how. This was a matter concerning nation's spirits not human politics. On top of that, he was an attaché to Moscow, which left him with more power and jurisdiction to act.

"I agree. You can stay as long as you like." The man waved dismissively and headed for the door. "I need a break."

"Thank you." Gilbert called after him.

"Actually, I have to thank you." The medic replied. "I understand you two know each other, but…in such a way that he trusts you with his life. That is incredibly rare. Whatever it is that binds you two together, I really hope it stays that way. He really needs a Person to trust..."

Gilbert merely raised an eyebrow curiously at him. The man was far too perceptive and said things which hit right home. "Yes, we do have history like all nation's spirits." He was unwilling to elaborate any more than that.

"No, what you have is different. He would never let any other country get that close, except for his sisters." He commented with a smirk before closing the door and left Gilbert alone with the injured.

"Different…" he mumbled sitting down on a soft chair right next to the bed and wrapped his military coat tighter around himself. In a hurry to get to this hospital, he managed to grab another white shirt from Ivan's suitcase and threw his military coat on. The blood on the inside had dried by now and provided him with a bit more warmth. The older man was right, they did have an unconventional relationship. It was one he did not quite understand himself sometimes. A couple of hours ago, Ivan let him mentally drive against the wall. Gilbert had forced him to tell and admit certain things that were hard to say for the Russian. The truth was Ivan told him, but only because there was a certain level of trust present. Otherwise, he would have never said anything. No matter what. How was this relationship even defined? He wondered looking back at the unconscious person.

While he contemplated all this Gilbert did not notice himself how he had dozed off in the comfortable chair. Their medic had come by an hour later for a check up on the Russian and found Gilbert resting his head on the arm of the chair. Walzig took a spare blanket out of the closet and covered the nation's spirit of the GDR with it before leaving again.

The doctors had given the Russian one of the largest doses of sedatives to make him comfortable and let his body rest as much as possible. He was resting physically, but his mind was not. Ivan was dreaming. The bomb test brought back memories of war. The biggest war Russia had been fighting in recent history of devastating loses and immense sacrifices on his side and that of others. Just as Gilbert Beilschmidt felt immense guilt over what had happened in 1944 in Stalingrad, Ivan felt similar over Eastern Prussia. Königsberg.

It was bombed to extinction by the British RAF and later made into part of the USSR. Millions of East Prussian inhabitants were forced to flee from their homeland. The USSR had played a part in destroying a whole country and Prussia was being forgotten by the world now.

"...prosti...men..ya...Prussi...ya...*" A raspy voice whispered breaking the silence in the room. Ivan's eyes were closed, but he did turn his head slowly to the side. Königsberg had been a very special place to Prussia's nation's spirit and seeing it destroyed had made him break down. Ludwig Beilschmidt had lost all hope over Berlin, but his older brother had cried in the ruins of the 'king's mountain' or Königsberg. Ivan had watched it all being ripped to pieces. Although, it had not been his country at the time, it hurt his heart all the same. The images of destruction flashed before his eyes and he moaned painfully not wanting to remember any more of this, but could not help himself.

"Ivan."

He felt something soft touch his cheek and then rest on his forehead. It was cool and helped him become more aware of other sensations. He felt no discomfort whatsoever. If anything his mind seemed incredibly light as if he was floating gently in water. It felt really nice than the recollections of war and he let his mind be swept away by this particular current.

"Ivan."

The current also carried this one word. He heard it being whispered over and over again in a gentle manner. Never getting louder. It was just there, an unwavering constant presence that could not be ignored. "Ivan."

"Ivan..." He repeated after it in a questioning tone. That word sounded familiar. He should know. It was important to him, but he could not place exactly why.

Gilbert had been sleeping quietly for several hours, but then woke up by sounds of painful gasping and moans next to him. Ivan seemed to have some really bad nightmares. Abandoning the chair quickly he sat on the bed next to the injured and leaned over placing one on his forehead to check for fever. The Russian's skin was warm, but at least not as hot as before. Yet, it still was not entirely normal either. He frowned once he heard him whisper words in Russian, which meant 'Forgive me, Prussia'.

"Just what are you dreaming about?" He wondered out loud keeping his cool hand on the forehead. Ivan instinctively leaned his head into the touch seemingly liking the low temperature. Gilbert smiled lightly at that placing his other hand on his cheek. "Ivan." he called again, wanting him to wake up from his nightmares. "Ivan..."

The rhythm of the heart changed slightly becoming a bit faster, but the man remained locked away in a sleeping state. He did appear somewhat calmer than before though. "Ivan..." The Russian suddenly whispered back in a questioning tone.

Gilbert tilted his head lightly at that. Why was he repeating his own name? Ivan needed to wake up not only because of the nightmares. He needed to tell him who the German had to contact to reach Moscow. The secret back channel. Ivan should be back in his country and with people who could really help him take care of these wounds. The USSR leaders also needed to know all these secret test were hurting their own nation's spirit. "Wake up...come on." He carefully patted Ivan's cheek trying to rouse him. Ivan was almost there. Just needed to open his eyes. Gilbert was sure the other man heard him more or less and he decided to wake him with any means necessary. Leaning down he brushed the blond hair away from his ear. "Ivan, I need your help!" he suddenly said making his voice sound as desperate as possible. "Help me, please!" It was a sly move to perform on an injured person, but the man had to open his eyes. Ivan was incapacitated, so Gilbert needed to act in his stead. He was only able to do so with enough information. At the moment, he lacked almost everything. It needed to change. "Ivan!"

The man in question had continued to wonder about who it exactly was that called 'Ivan'. He found himself really liking the sound of this voice. It was soothing and at the same time made his heart beat faster in excitement. He frowned when all of it changed and the voice called for help. Ivan did not like to hear the desperate tone. "Help me, please!" A memory of a pair of ruby red eyes, silver hair and a pale face flashed before him. He groaned at the sudden images. He knew this face too well! "Gil..be..t..."

The German heard the groan and looked at his face. Ivan's eyes moved quickly behind closed eyelids.

"You're almost there...Come on, you can do it," Gilbert bit his lip watching him struggle with his own body.

It took him a couple more tries and a lot of strength to open his eyes. Violet finally met red and he closed them for a moment. He was too worn out for any more actions.

"Ivan…." Gilbert whispered, feeling his chest tighten at the dull look he had seen in the Russian's eyes. "Can you…hear me?"

He swallowed trying to get his mouth working, but that took also so much energy. "…d…a…" His raspy voice managed to reply. "whe…re…?"

"Hospital. You're safe, Ivan. Nothing will happen." Gilbert reassured him reaching out to put his hand on top of Ivan's.

"Gil…" he croaked, a weak smile on his face appeared. "You…alr…" Forming words was really difficult for some reason. "…f-fine…?" Ivan remembered him asking for help. "...eed h—help?"

The German snorted at the question. So, he had heard that and woke up. "Yes. I need to know who the backchannel contact is for Moscow. You need help, Ivan. Moscow must know you're hurt…really bad."

This was too much information for him to process. His mind was too drugged up. "Wha…"

Gilbert sighed, frustrated with himself. Ivan was in no fit state to understand. "Backchannel for Moscow. Who is it?"

Ivan's fingers hesitantly curled around Gilbert's and he closed his eyes for a moment trying to understand what exactly the question was. It was really hard. His mind just could not process it all very quickly. He was in a hospital. Safe. Moscow…he needed to be in Moscow. The secret channel for Moscow…he tried to recall. "Soviet…Embassy…Andrey…S-Soloviev…dial general…n-number an…and…" Ivan mumbled and broke off. He was so tired. (1)

"Take your time. It's alright." Gilbert squeezed his hand lightly reassuring him there was no rush. In reality there was, but it would not help to pressure the injured. Ivan was already trying so hard.

"Say…s-say…'Michail, Dimitri, Boris, Natalia…45623'…and you…you'll get further…instructions." He whispered with a sigh too exhausted to say anymore. (2)

It sounded like a specific sequence of code words. "Got it," he acknowledged with a nod and patted Ivan's hand gently. "I'll take care of it."

"Gil…" The Russian called and tried to move up, but his body did not let him and he sank back squeezing his eyes shut. His head felt dizzy and his limbs refused to listen.

"Stay still. It's alright. I'll take care of it." Ivan was getting restless and Gilbert tried to calm him down. He brushed threw the blond hair a couple of times while whispering: "You're safe. Trust me."

Ivan tried to concentrate and failed, but at least his brain registered the soft words of reassurance. "Da…"

"I'll contact the embassy." The German continued to say in the same tone, seeing the positive reaction. "Just…rest." Ivan had been through more than enough. It hurt to see him like this and before Gilbert realised what he was doing he had leaned down placing his lips against Ivan's forehead. Just as the medic had said it was hot to the touch and he sighed. Ivan needed help from professionals who dealt with injuries caused by nuclear explosions.

The Russian blinked up, but then smiled lightly at him. "…m…tired…"

"Then go to sleep, you stubborn fool." He whispered back, feeling his checks burning because of what he just did. What the hell do you think you're doing, Beilschmidt! he thought to himself shaking his head. But somehow it felt right in that moment and Ivan was even smiling just a bit.

Ivan only squeezed Gilbert's hand weakly as a reply and stopped fighting against the exhaustion.

Gilbert waited a couple of minutes until he was sure the Russian was asleep before turning to the small round table on the other side of the bed. These rooms were the only penthouse in the whole building reserved for the GDR leaders. This meant the telephone connection had to be more secure than others and with the cryptic code he received it would hopefully be even more secretive.

He grabbed the phone and placed the call to the embassy of the Soviet Union. The connection on the other end was established immediately. A serious sounding male voice said in Russian that he was speaking to the consulate. Gilbert greeted him in German without introducing himself and said the code sequence Ivan had given him. There was a short pause on the other end before the man told him to hold the line. The German could hear some clicking sounds and a buzzing noise before a different male voice, which was lower than the first introduced himself by his last name. "Soloviev speaking."

"This is Gilbert Beilschmidt, the embodiment of the German Democratic Republic and attaché to Moscow. I require assistance with Ivan Braginski. We're in the Scharnhorststrasse 38."

"The state of the matter?"

Gilbert glanced over to the bed tightening his hold on the horn. "Critical."

"Understood. 10 minutes." The man said and hung up.

Gilbert was about to mention which room he was in, but then shock his head. They probably already knew. 10 Minutes, he thought while going to the window to look out. That was a very short amount of time. The embassy was probably very close by because this district consisted of government buildings only. It made him feel a bit relieved because Ivan would get help faster and he was finally able to do something useful. He hated to be confined to just watch things unfold before him. Approaching the bed, Gilbert sat down next to Ivan's body again. No matter what he did or thought something pulled him right back to the injured nation. He just could not stay away and wanted to make sure the man was alive.

Ivan was breathing and the heart monitor reassured that his heart was beating. The rhythm had not been the healthy or steady one, but it was there. While Gilbert waited for the Soviet colleagues to arrive his hand had curled itself around Ivan's again.

It was even less than 10 minutes when there was an insistent knock and the door was opened afterwards. Several people filled into the door. Three men in suits followed by two nurses and two men in white doctor's coats. Gilbert stood up approaching the suits.

"Andrej Soloviev," The first man introduced himself holding his hand out. His eyes quickly darted from Gilbert to the injured person. The medics immediately went to check on Ivan and ignored everything else. "Did he tell you how to contact us?"

"Yes," Gilbert replied watching him carefully.

"Good. That means he trusts you, so we can do the same." Soloviev let go of his and sighed brushing a hand through his hair. "I think, we both know the reason why General Braginski is in this state?" This was not a question, although the man made it sound like one.

"Yes, we do." Gilbert glared at him. "What were you even thinking? What happens on our lands no matter how small or remote, effects us nations." He had been keeping his temper in check in front of Ivan. The man was injured and suffered exactly because of his people's irresponsible behaviour. He had also tried to be calm to their medic Stefan Walzig since he was doing his best to help. There was no reason to hold back around the representatives of the USSR. "Weakening your own nation's embodiment, makes your country also weak. There will be repercussions because of this."

"I understand that, but my hands are tied as well." The man told him as he approached the bed. "All I can do for now is get him back to Moscow." Turning to the medics he asked if Ivan could be moved. They told him as long as the patient remained lying down it was possible to move him with extra care.

The examination of the doctors woke Ivan again and he tried to look around with a suspicious expression at all the people. "gde...*" He mumbled turning his head into the direction where the angry voice had come from. "…Pruss…iya."

The Russian diplomat raised an eyebrow at the question. The man just woke and the first thing he asked was after a non-existent country?

"I'm here," Gilbert replied going to his fellow spirit and touched his arm lightly. "It's alright. These people are from the embassy."

"…stay…Gil…" Ivan called weakly looking up at the German once his eyes were able to focus. He understood by now the people were here planning to move him and he did not want to be alone with them.

The embodiment of the GDR faced the diplomat again. "I'm going with him."

Soloviev was already aware the GDR was attending Politburo meetings and having him around Ivan Braginski might be a good thing. Their USSR nation's spirit seemed calmer when the albino was there. "Good, then keep him calm. We'll leave for the military airport immediately." Soloviev nodded holding the door open to wheel the injured out of the room.

Gilbert followed the whole group staying close to Ivan. Soloviev led them all to the back entrance of the hospital where an ambulance was already waiting. Before he got into the car Walzig approached him. "You're going with them?"

"Yes, making sure Russia will be alright." He nodded and held his hand out. "Thank you for all your help. Really."

The older man shook it firmly with a grin. "That's why I'm here for, Beilschmidt. Don't do any more stupid things."

Gilbert let out a snort before climbing into the car. "Can't promise anything."

"You're as troublesome as he is." The medic shook his head with a sigh watching everyone leave. "But don't forget. The GDR is part of the Union, but you have your own country to represent. No matter what he is to you."

Gilbert stopped and glanced back at the medic unsure if he understood the connotation of the last sentence. "We are both nations and have each a country to represent. I am aware of that."

"That is not what I'm talking about, but you'll figure it out." Walzig grinned and walked back inside the hospital. "Good luck, Beilschmidt."

The silver haired man frowned at him, not getting the point of the man's rather cryptic message. Gilbert did not have time to think about it as the whole group drove to the military airport and boarded the place to Moscow.

-.-.-.-.-

See You In Part XV!

Thank you for reading!

Additional notes:

(1) The Russian Embassy is still located in the same street and building as it was at the time of the Soviet Union. Andrej Soloviev had been part of the East German Command between 1961 – 1962.

(2) I took inspiration from the many reports about the radio stations that had been around since WWI that send out cryptic messages of beeps and buzzes. For this part I am taking information about a Russian radio station where a robotic like female or male voice is reading out names and then numbers. The most famous one which operates for over 3 decades now is called UVB-76 or 'The Buzzer'.

Translation:

* prosti menya Prussiya: 'forgive me, Prussia'.

*gde: 'where' (gde Prussiya : 'where is Prussia?')

Reviews:

Amber: Oh, I really like to read your long reviews! Thanks a lot! Giving a new perspective or more information about Germany and especially Russia was my intention and I'm happy to see that I deliver. I was so disappointed with all the stereotypes about both Germanys and USSR. So, I started doing research for my story. Many things that I find are also really new information for me as well. It is really fun to find out and share it with others.

The same goes with DDR and BRD. They really had a difficult relationship as I found out while reading books and I really want to show it in this story. Their future meetings just cannot be happy ones, if you consider the real history.

And thank you so so much for the history lessons! I appreciate it honestly so much that you share all this information with me. The part with the Ostpolitik will be a challenging part to write, because I have a lot of information to consider and tie it all together with the BRD, DDR and of course the Soviet Union and also the US.

reese: Thanks for stopping by again! Oh yes, Ivan has to deal with a lot of bad stuff, but that is history. I'm happy to hear you like the scenes where the two are challenging each other. I don't think having Ivan and Gilbert being cutesy actually fits their personalities. Sure, they care for one another and a lot more than they care to admit. This really is a slow burn story, so I'm letting them take a lot more time to get closer because I focus on historical events as well.