83. Could, Should, Will, Maybe
Chapter 5
The trip back did not seem any shorter, even with Chief driving at a faster rate of speed. They turned onto the main road which, with the daylight, had heavier traffic on it. Military vehicles and trucks were traveling in both directions. The lanes were clogged with raggedly dressed people walking or pulling two-wheeled carts with what seemed to be the only belongings they had left. It slowed Chief's progress.
The men were quiet. Chief concentrated on his driving and Goniff watched the people along the road, cradling his injured arm in the sling. In the back seat, Casino kept an eye on the man beside him. Actor was silent, not that the man was overly talkative, and it concerned the safecracker.
He reached around and pulled the tunic open, also concerned when the Italian made no objection to him just doing it. There was some bright red blood leaking through the white shirt. Casino opened the second aid kit and pulled out more gauze pads. Twisting on the seat, he kept a cautious eye on Actor's closed face as he reached inside the shirt and added more gauze.
"There is more on the back," said Actor quietly. "It is probably coming through the tunic."
"Can you lean forward?" asked Casino. "Let me stuff some more of these in there."
Actor shook his head. "It has pressure on it against the seat. Just keep the front from leaking through until we get to Switzerland."
Casino had a feeling it wasn't going to last until Switzerland, but he sat back. "I still got a morphine styrette, Babe."
Actor shook his head and leaned back.
"Hey, Chief," said Casino in a louder voice. "Like Terry's said a couple times, "Don't spare the horses."
The Indian glanced back in the rearview mirror. "Gotta problem back there?"
"No," said Actor strongly.
"Casino shook his head. "But we're gonna have one before Zurich." He glanced at Actor. "Don't you know of a doc in Basel?"
"I only know a mortician in Basel. And I am not ready for that yet."
The car picked up speed. From then on it was fast, slow, fast, slow driving. Even so, it was still another hour before they reached the road going into France and the checkpoint. Casino took the last of the gauze and slid it carefully over the front wound under Actor's shirt.
Chief pulled up to the barrier and stopped, hand on the shift stick and foot poised to tromp on the gas if they had to run it. Casino rolled down the window on his side. The guard bent over and looked in at an officer who did not have his eyes open.
"Was is mit ihm los?" asked the soldier.
"Er schläft," said Casino, shortly.
"Papiere, bitte," ordered the guard.
Casino reached over and pulled the jacket away enough to reach the papers in the inner pocket of Actor's tunic. They came out with blood on them. He gingerly held them out the window to the guard who just as gingerly took them by the corner, between thumb and forefinger.
"Ist er verwundet?" the soldier asked.
Casino let a little bit of his irritation show through. "Ja. Bombe." Bomb was the only word he knew.
The guard handed the papers back inside the car and Casino snatched them. The man stepped back and motioned for the barricade to go up. Chief kept the speed to a decent level going through but tromped on the gas pedal when they were out of sight.
"That was very good," acknowledged Actor, turning his head to open one eye at the safecracker.
"I listen to you and Garrison, sometimes," admitted Casino.
He held the soiled papers out and Actor took them, slipping them back into the pocket.
"Chief, take the river road," instructed the con man.
The Indian bit back a remark that he knew what he was doing. Actor didn't look all that great in the rearview mirror. Instead, he said, "Yeah, Dad."
"I am not your father," grumbled the Italian.
"Ruddy good thing, if you ask me," said Goniff from the front seat.
"Ain't nobody askin' you, Goniff," said Chief, slowing to make the turn.
It was another hour on the smaller, windy road until they reached Saint-Louis. Chief drove slowly up and down side streets. Everything he came to that reached the border with Switzerland was barricaded or had a checkpoint.
"This ain't workin', Actor," said Chief in frustration. "No way across that isn't blocked. What do you want me to do?"
Actor thought a minute. "You remember that bombed out area we went through?"
"Yeah."
"Go back to it and find a place to hide," said Actor. We still have civilian clothes in the trunk from the other car. We will have to change out of uniform and into regular clothing. Then we try to get through the crossing."
Chief turned the car around and zig-zagged back to an area that was pretty much rubble. He found an alley between the walls of two buildings and pulled up into it. Chief got out and ran around the fallen bricks to the trunk and opened it. There was one bag inside with clothes. He pulled it out and went back to the driver's side. Goniff got slowly out of his side and his clothes landed on his seat.
"This will take me a minute," warned Actor. He hated to show any weakness, but in truth, he was weak.
As he started to lean forward, with clenched teeth, Casino shot a hand in front of him.
"Wait a minute," said Casino sharply. The safecracker pulled the tunic back to look at the wound. "That doesn't have a lot of fresh blood on it. If you go movin' around, besides hurtin' like hell, you'll start that bleedin' again and then you'll have to explain it to the border guard."
"I can't very well cross the border in an SS uniform," objected the con man.
"Hey, Chief, come around on the other side. See if you can get his good arm outta the sleeve of that tunic."
Actor looked questioningly at Casino as Chief ran around to the passenger door beside him.
Casino explained, "If we can get that tunic off real easy and leave the shirt on, when we get to the border crossing I'll lay my jacket open over you. It might be able to hide it."
Both men knew it was very painful for the confidence man, but Chief was able to get the right arm from the sleeve of the tunic. Actor was still leaning a little forward, so the two men worked the tunic out from behind him. Casino eased it off the injured shoulder and arm. As he took the tunic, his hands touched wet and came away with blood. The safecracker swore and looked at the once white shirt which was now fully red on the left side.
"Jeez, Actor. And I'm outta bandages."
Actor leaned back against the seat that was also damp. "It will be okay until we cross the border," he said with a positivity he did not feel.
"Yeah, sure," grumbled Casino, not believing it for a minute. He wiped his hands on a dry part of the tunic and handed it across Actor to the Indian. "Here. Get rid'a this. And be careful." When Chief gingerly took the garment and went to toss it in a crater, Casino gave up and looked at Actor worriedly. "Why's it bleeding so much? Neither side is squirtin' so it ain't artery."
Actor swallowed against a dry mouth before answering. "The bullet probably hit a larger vein. It should close off eventually."
Casino shook his head. He turned his attention to the blond man in the front seat of the car. "How you doin', Goniff."
"Better'n Actor from the sounds of it," replied the Englishman. "It quit bleedin'. You doin' okay, Actor?"
Dio! He wished they would just leave him alone. "I'm . . ."
"You say what the Warden always says," interrupted Casino, "and I swear I'll shoot you in the other shoulder."
The narrowed hazel eyes turned to glare at him.
Chief jumped back into the driver's seat and started the engine. "Let's do this before he bleeds out and we hafta explain a corpse."
Actor's lower jaw jutted out and he wanted to yell at them. But they were trying to help him. "I am not bleeding to death," was all he said.
"Come on, Geronimo! Let's move this buggy," said Casino.
"I'm movin' it, Pappy," shot back the scout.
Casino tried to make a little lightness out of the bad situation. "If ole Actor here ain't your father, then I sure ain't."
"Just drive," muttered the older man.
In five minutes, Chief had them in the line to the border check. Casino spread his jacket over the Italian and made sure the blood on the back of the white shirt and the seat did not show.
"Let me handle this," said Actor.
When they pulled up to the barricade, Casino rolled down his window.
"Where are you going?" asked the guard in a language and dialect none except Actor could understand.
"Zurich," said Actor. "I am ill, and our home and my physician are in Zurich," he added in the same language.
"Do you have papers?" asked the guard.
"No," replied the con man. "I make this trip frequently but a different route usually. I have business I take care of in Mulhouse."
"What kind of business?" questioned the guard.
"I run a casino in Zurich. Perhaps you have heard of it. Bernardo's. I get some of my supplies cheaper in Mulhouse. They will deliver it tomorrow."
The guard was about to ask more questions, but Actor forced a cough that sent stabbing pain through his shoulder and took his breath away. The guard changed his mind and waved them through.
When they were safely in Basel and going to the road that led to Zurich, Casino looked at the con man. "What was that about? I didn't understand any of it except 'Bernardo's and Mulhouse." He wasn't sure he was going to get an answer.
"It was French Swiss. I speak all of the dialects. I said we had gone to Mulhouse to order supplies for the casino I manage in Zurich."
"You're bloody good there, Actor," said Goniff from the front seat.
"I know," replied the confidence man with a tiny bit of his arrogance.
Chief poured the gas on. They would have to get another car in Zurich. This one might make it but not much farther before running out of gas. As it was, he got them to Zurich in an hour and a half.
Between the long hours of their day, and the high Alps surrounding Zurich, it was dark by the time they reached Zurich. Actor had turned down the offer to stop and get Duchess to help him. The con man was adamant he wanted the doctor so he could get to the radio man in time to call England and get a plane for the next leg of their journey. Actor wanted the relative safety of England, to be able to give charge back to Garrison, and to be able to recover in relative peace.
Chief pulled slowly into the alley and stopped behind Dr. Műller's office and home.
"How we gonna get in?" asked Casino. "We don't have a password or anything." He did not trust that Actor getting out of the car and to the back door would keep the man on his feet.
"He knows me and Actor," said Chief. "I'll see if he remembers me and lets us in."
The Indian got out and walked up to the door. He knocked lightly. After half minute with no answer, he knocked a little louder. A few seconds later, the door opened a crack and an eye above a gun looked out.
"Doctor Műller," said Chief. "Don't know if you remember us or not. You took care of our leader a few months ago."
"Garrison?" asked the doctor, still not trusting, which is what kept him alive.
"Yeah. I'm Chief. Actor helped you with Garrison's surgery."
"Where is Garrison?" asked Műller suspiciously.
"He ain't with us," replied Chief. "I got two injured. One's not bad. The other is Actor. He's bleeding a lot."
The door opened a bit wider, though the gun stayed pointed at the Indian. The doctor looked at the car and saw another of the men he recognized with his head out the passenger window, watching. Műller nodded and opened the door wider.
"Can your injured walk or do you need a stretcher?"
Chief turned to Casino. "Ask Actor if he needs a stretcher."
The safecracker's head went back inside to return a couple seconds later. "Says he can make it."
"Bring them in," the doctor.
Chief walked around the back of the car, stopping to retrieve the bag of their clothing from the trunk. Casino got out and walked around the front. He helped Goniff out. Chief came around to meet them and held the bag out to the Englishman.
"Can you manage this?" asked Chief.
"Sure, Mate," said Goniff taking the bag in his good hand.
Casino and Chief helped Actor out of the car and with Casino's head under his arm and Chief holding him by the belt, they were able to go into the office. Chief went back to lose the car. They could get another one. One without blood on the back seat.
The doctor took in the blood down the left side of Actor and the arm in a sling on the other man.
"What do we have here?" asked the doctor, leading the way into the small surgery room across the hall from where Garrison had been.
"Bullet went through," said Actor. "It hit the clavicle. There must be a bleeder in there. Not arterial."
Goniff sat down in a chair. And Actor was helped to sit up on the table.
Casino took up the story. "Goniff got a deep crease in his arm. I stitched it. It seems to be doin' okay. Can't stop the bleeding on Actor."
"Perhaps . . . 'Goniff' . . . would be more comfortable in the waiting room, suggested Műller.
Casino helped the Englishman to his feet and led him the short distance down the hall to the little waiting room. The cracksman went back to the surgery room and helped the doctor remove the bloody shirt on Actor.
The bandage was cut off and the doctor sighed. "Do any of you know how to administer anesthesia?"
"Just myself," answered Actor. "And we are not putting me out."
"Come on, Actor," barked Casino. "You ain't gonna be good to any of us without getting that mess fixed."
Actor's head jerked around to glare at the safecracker. "And I will not be any good to anyone if I am unconscious. It is nine o'clock and I need to be with the radioman by eleven when the window opens. I need to get a plane here so we can get back to England as soon as possible."
"I'll go talk to the radio man," argued Casino.
"You do not know who to contact or the codes," shot back Actor sharply. "I do."
"So we wait until tomorrow night and make the call," shrugged the safecracker.
"No!" objected the con man. "When our target does not reach Berlin, they will come looking for us as we looked for him. We need to be out of here or we put everyone here in danger."
There was dead silence. Actor's flashing almost black eyes darted between the two men. His expression was the SS one he used saying, 'do not mess with me.'
Dr. Műller had the distinct feeling if he did not attempt to find the bleeding vessel without anesthetic, the Italian would get up and walk out. He sighed in defeat.
"I know you have a medical background of some sort. You know if I put procaine in that wound now, it will make the bleeding worse and I won't be able to see through the blood."
Actor nodded. "I am aware of that. Believe me, I know what pain is."
The doctor looked at Casino. "Are you squeamish?" he asked.
"Blood don't bother me," replied the safecracker.
"Good, you are elected as my assistant," said Műller. "Wash your hands in that sink over there."
While Casino did as he had been told without an argument, the doctor began gathering equipment.
GGG
Almost an hour later, there was a knock at the back door. It was one, followed by a rapid three that was the alert for wounded at the Mansion. Goniff got up and went to the door. Cautiously he opened it. Seeing Chief, he opened it wider and let the scout in. They walked back to the waiting area.
"Breathe! Breathe or you will pass out!"
"Naw, let him hold his breath until he does. Make it easier for you."
The sound of a loud long gulp of air could be heard clear to the waiting room. It was followed by a string of harsh words in Italian. They must have been aimed at the safecracker because Casino's voice came next yelling some of the same words back at the con man.
"What's goin' on?" asked Chief.
"Ole Actor's been fightin' the both of 'em the whole time. I think the doctor is workin' on his shoulder," answered Goniff.
"He didn't knock him out?" asked the scout in surprise.
Goniff shook his head. "Actor wouldn't let 'im."
Chief's eyebrows rose at that. He took a seat beside the pickpocket. It was probably a whole lot safer out here.
Another ten minutes passed before the doctor triumphantly said, "It's done."
It was another ten minutes before Actor and Casino emerged from the surgery room. Actor was pale and looked like he was holding himself together on sheer nerves. Casino looked as grumpy as he usually did.
Actor turned his eyes to the scout. "Chief, can you get me to the radio man? The window will be closed soon. Do you remember where he is?"
"'Course I remember where he is," shot back the Indian. "Come on, if you can make it."
Of course I can make it," snapped back Actor.
"Where we goin'"," asked Goniff.
"You and Casino are not going," said the con man firmly. "We will be back for you."
"Hey, now . . ." Casino objected.
"Come on, Chief," urged Actor, not only because the time was short but because he needed to get to the car before he couldn't get to the car.
They left Casino and Goniff standing in the hall.