"I do not know why you don't like it, it's not so bad," Schultz said gently. "It's so nice here. You have a clean bed, and a real mattress, and it smells nice."
"Schultz, I'm a grown man." Cohen said hoarsely. He'd gone along to the hospital, willingly, not cheerfully.
Hogan, sitting beside Schultz, pointed out, "Cohen, you're nineteen."
"Almost twenty." Cohen said.
Schultz frowned at that. "Twenty! What are you doing in Germany?"
"You tell me," He scoffed, and then started coughing.
Hogan received a look just short of insubordination as he made a great show of the coughing fit.
When he could breathe again, a nurse walked over.
"Are you approved to be here?" She eyed Hogan and Cohen warily. "Where are you from?"
"Ja. We have orders from Kommandant Klink. Of Stalag 13?"
"I know the place." She looked at the pass Schultz held out. "And of course you're checked in."
Schultz laughed. "What else would we do, sneak in?"
"Wouldn't put it past them." She frowned at the two Americans. "Alright. Don't disturb the other patients."
Hogan watched her walk away. "Real amiable types you Germans are, Schultz."
"Oh, shush." He frowned.
"If that's how you like it, then." Hogan stood up. "I'm going to seek out the facilities."
Schultz' eyes widened, "Colonel Hogan, I cannot let you alone in a hospital!"
"Well, Schultz, I don't think I can hold it 'til we get back to camp, and you gotta wait here with Cohen. Promise I won't get into any trouble."
Schultz moaned.
"Alright, thanks. See ya." Hogan waved a cheery good-bye and quickly left the room.
He'd long discovered that, in almost any circumstance, if you acted confident, you could get through. Maybe not always get your way, but you wouldn't get in trouble, at the very least.
So he kept his shoulders straight and walked quickly, not lingering near anybody in the halls.
He soon found an elevator and took it to the second floor.
Here it was much more quiet. The hall was deserted except for a nurse pushing a cart down the hall.
Hogan stepped a few feet towards the cart as the nurse went into one of the rooms, quickly scanning the top sheet of the clipboard. If he could be so lucky -
No. No familiar names.
He stepped back before the nurse reappeared.
"May I help you?" She looked him up and down.
"Umm - yes." Storystorystorystory. "I heard that a colleague of mine, Nöel Baumgartner, of the Gestapo, had been brought here." He spoke in crisp, flawless German.
"A colleague?" She asked nervously.
Hogan gave her a look. "Nobody is to know, fraulein. Top secret."
"Oh. Of course." She looked at her clipboard, flipped through the pages. "Herr Baumgartner is in room 214. Just down the hall. Sir."
"Danke." Hogan nodded firmly, and strode down the hall. It only took a minute to find the room, and then he took a deep, steadying breath before pushing the door open.
He stepped into the room. The man in the first bed was not Barnes, thank goodness, whoever he was he was in bad shape.
He pulled back the curtain and smiled with relief.
He looked a bit more dead than alive, but he was alive, as told by the shallow rise and fall of his chest. And the weak smile on his face, however gray it was.
"Colonel - Col - h-," He frowned. "I'mmm - not dreaming, am I?"
"No, it's really good old me," Hogan stepped forward as he tried to push himself up, and just caught him when he fell back with a pained grunt. "Hey, just lie still."
He bit his lip and nodded tightly. After a moment he breathed, "Thanks."
"Easy," Hogan said, and then folded his arms. "So, what's the synopsis?" He looked around, and spied a clipboard.
Unfortunately, he realized when he'd picked it up, he didn't know most of the medical terms in German.
"There's a lot," Barnes said hoarsely. "I was stuck under the building for -" He broke off, then shrugged one shoulder.
"At any rate, you're not going anywhere." Hogan looked around, picked up a pen, and started scribbling the unfamiliar words on his arm. There was bound to be somebody back at camp who could translate.
"No, sir."
He nodded. "So what happened?"
"Umm - it was a mess, the town, nobody expected it to be…" He frowned. "Was it bombed? Why?"
"Yeah, the Allies bombed it. Nobody knows why yet. London either doesn't know or isn't telling." Hogan shook his head.
"Huh," He drew another breath and continued. "But anyways - it must've been a makeshift hospital - something. I was in. I don't really know - I kept passing out."
"But you told somebody you were from Hammelburg," Hogan added. "That's how you ended up here."
"Yeah," His voice was tiring. "People were taking names, trying to figure out what to do. I told 'em - that I was SS-Hauptsturmführer Nöel Baumgartner -" Another breath. "An' I lived in Hammelburg." He finally sighed tiredly, eyes threatening to drift shut.
"Okay." Hogan nodded. "I'd better get back before Schultz misses me and you'd better get some rest. Remember you're German, okay?" He patted his arm, just above where the IV tube went under his skin.
A small smile. "Yeah. Thanks, Colonel. Tell the guys I said hi."
"They'll be glad to hear it, sergeant. Now take care."
"Uh-huh."
Hogan left with a quiet smile on his face.
On his way back to the elevator, he passed the nurse. She watched him with wide eyes and he nodded to her, "Thank you, ma'am, you've been very helpful."
"Jawohl," She murmured, ducking her head.
Hogan felt bad for intimidating the poor woman. But that was what he and everyone else was fighting for, was so people didn't have to be scared like that.
He quickly found his way back to the room that Cohen was in.
"Heya, Schultz. Sorry I took so long. You know how that prison food gets ya."
Schultz groaned. "Colonel Hogan, I have told you many times I want to know nothing."
"Yeah, sure. How's the kid?"
"Asleep," Schultz said, "He couldn't help it. Why are you smiling?"
"Oh?" Hogan asked innocently. "Am I?" He thought he'd gotten good enough at controlling his expressions.
"Ja. Why are you so happy?" Schultz frowned. "Was there any monkey business - no! I do not want to know!"
Hogan scoffed. "Well, that's good. There's not much you'd want to know about a man's trip to the can."