Chapter 28 - Progress

An hour after the men from Stalag 13 left, Astrid guided her mother into Newkirk's room to find Manfred sitting at the bedside, his head bowed. He gently held the Englander's hand in his own.

"Uncle?"

"Ah! Astrid, Katrin! Welcome." He placed Newkirk's hand back on the bed and gently patted it as he leaned down to speak to his patient. "Peter? Katrin is here to see you." He then rose and embraced both of them in turn.

Astrid glanced at the bed. "How is he Uncle?"

"He is still in pain but otherwise, he is doing fine. His comrades spent the day with him, which helped him immensely. I expect him to wake up at any time now."

Astrid nodded. Katrin wasted no time in seating herself in the chair Manfred had vacated; she already had Newkirk's hand in hers. She reached over with her other hand to gently caress his hair. "Good evening my son. Your uncle tells me that you will be waking up soon."

As if in answer, Newkirk turned his head towards her with a soft grunt. Manfred moved back to the bedside and knelt beside Katrin. "Keep encouraging him dear. I believe he is determined to awaken this time." He spoke to his patient, "Peter? Try to wake up son. It is time for you to wake and talk to us."

Astrid moved to the other side of the bed and took Newkirk's other hand in hers. "Please wake up Peter."

They could see the struggle within as the Englishman forced himself to come to consciousness. Katrin leaned in to gently take his face in both her hands; she spoke softly to him to give him something to focus on. It worked. He inhaled sharply and gasped out, "Mama...?"

"Yes my son, yes. I am here." Katrin answered, her voice breaking with emotion. She kissed his cheek and looked over at Astrid. "Your sister is here as well, and your Uncle Manfred has been by your side."

Manfred leaned down, "How do you feel Peter? What level of pain are you feeling?"

"Still...quite..." he stopped and took a deep breath. "...a bit...right now."

"I will get you some aspirin. Try to stay awake as long as possible."

Newkirk nodded tightly as Manfred left. He lifted his hand to Katrin, who took it and kissed it. "Mama, how...are...you...feeling?

Katrin wiped her eyes and shook her head. "Do not worry about me Petzi. I am fine, especially now that you are awake."

He gently squeezed Astrid's hand. "Astrid?"

She leaned down, "Yes Peter?"

"Thank you. For...everything..."

"You are very welcome." She leaned down and whispered, "You must know by now that you are part of the family Peter."

He smiled faintly. "I...suppose you...could say...that..."

Manfred came back with the aspirin. He handed it to Katrin.

"Here is some aspirin for you Petzi. Open your mouth son." He obeyed and she popped the tablets in, following it up with a cup of cool water. "Drink it all son."

He did. "Danke Mama. Could I have a little more water...please?" Katrin looked to Manfred, who nodded. She poured another cup for him and held it up to his lips.

"Better son?"

"Yes ma'am. Much...better."

Manfred gestured to Astrid and she followed him to the other side of the room. "Astrid, I promised Papa Bear and his men that I would inform them as soon as Peter woke up. However, I do not feel it would be wise to leave him right now.."

Astrid interrupted, "I understand Uncle. I will go home and let them know if that is what you wish."

"Thank you dear. That is exactly what I was going to ask."

"I will be back shortly. Please tell mama I have gone to run an errand on your behalf." Manfred nodded and she left.

After evening roll call, Hogan and his men spent the time before lights out down in the tunnel. Kinch was running another equipment check when Astrid's transmission came in. "Colonel!" he called. Hogan came from the adjacent room, followed by LeBeau and Carter. Kinch handed the mike over, "Transmission from Nightingale."

Hogan took the mike. "Papa Bear here, go ahead Nightingale."

"Papa Bear, I am happy to tell you that Peter has awakened."

Hogan grinned and Carter let out a relieved sigh. LeBeau gave Kinch an enthusiastic hug.

"Thank you Nightingale. That's the best news we've heard in a while. How is he doing?"

"He is still in quite a bit of pain but he is fully conscious and talking. Uncle wanted me to tell you as soon as possible. He said he promised."

"That he did and your uncle is a man of his word. Please pass our heartfelt thanks along to him and your mother. I know she must be very happy."

"She is. For now." A note of sadness crept into Astrid's voice.

Hogan and his men knew exactly what she meant. "Understood Nightingale. Again, thank you for all you have done for us. Papa Bear out."

Hogan blew out his breath and tilted his cap back. "Thank God he's awake and talking."

Carter nodded happily. "I guess he wanted to wake up for Katrin instead of us. But that's okay! He's awake! We can go see him, can't we Colonel?"

"Yes Carter my boy. But not tonight. We had the entire day with Peter. Let's be satisfied with that for now."

"Oui André!" put in LeBeau. "I am sure that Nightingale's mère will stay with him tonight if she can."

"Yeah you're probably right Louis."

Kinch got up and walked over to Carter. He draped an arm across his shoulders. "Don't feel bad Andrew. I'm sure that Peter would've woken up for us if he could've. Anyway, how do we know whether he would've woken up so soon if we hadn't spent all day with him?"

Carter nodded slowly. "You're right Kinch. We really helped him today, didn't we?"

"Yes we did." He clapped Carter on the back and returned to sit at the radio. He noticed Hogan standing close by, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Something on your mind Colonel?"

"Hmmm? Oh yes Kinch. I think I'm going to run back over to the hospital after lights out and check with Dr. Hoffman on a few things." He walked over to LeBeau. "Louis, can you get my Luftwaffe Major's uniform ready?"

"Oui Colonel! Certainement!"

"What do you have in mind sir?" Carter asked.

"Well, now that Peter is awake, I think it would be a good idea for us to be there for him as much as possible. I'm going to ask Dr. Hoffman if it would be possible for each one of us to sit with Peter in shifts during the night between lights out and morning roll call. In other words, I'll take the first night, Kinch you'll take the next and so on. That way we won't be too terribly sleep deprived and Peter won't be alone."

"That's a great idea sir!" Carter enthused.

"I thought you'd appreciate it Andrew. We need to keep Peter grounded and encouraged during this time. Now that he's awake, the time will soon come to remove the bandages. I'm sure he's extremely nervous and dare I say, frightened at that prospect. I'm concerned about his state of mind and want us to be there for him. Can do fellas?" He was confident of their answers.

"Definite can do Colonel!"

"You betcha boy! Uh, sir!"

"Oui mon Colonel!"

"Thanks fellas. Let's work out a schedule then."