Chapter 2

Hogan opened his eyes and found himself staring at a white ceiling. Where am I? He looked around at the hospital room. How did I get … oh … the bridge … explosion … His head throbbed with pain. Klink! When the bridge blew up, his car went veering off the road. He looked around the small room. He was the only occupant. If I am here in the hospital, is Klink in another room?

He shifted and pulled himself to a sitting position on the bed. Every little strain made his head throb harder. Ugh. I feel like I've been run over by a steamroller!

The door opened and a short, stout woman walked into the room. "Oh, Colonel, you are awake," she said cheerfully. "You have been out for quite a while. I am Gretchen, your nurse."

"Where am I?" he asked slowly, still trying to adjust to the constant dull ache in his head.

"You are in the hospital," she said. "You had a nasty accident when the bridge blew up."

"There were two other people in a car," he said, rubbing his temples. "Are they all right?"

Gretchen looked confused. "Your Sergeant is fine," she replied. "Was there someone else in the car with you?"

Hogan looked up at her sharply and immediately regretted the quick movement. "Sergeant Schultz and Colonel Klink were in the car," he said, squeezing his eyes shut to try to block out the pain.

"Ja, that is what I said," she replied slowly. "You and Sergeant Schultz were in the car. Sergeant Schultz is fine and you are here in the hospital, Colonel Klink."

Hogan's eyes popped open immediately. "What?" he yelled. "I'm not Colonel Klink. I'm Colonel Hogan!"

"Oh dear," Gretchen gasped. "You must have hit your head very hard."

"Of course I did," Hogan replied. "But I am not Colonel Klink. He's a tall man with a bald head and wears a monocle. Do you see someone like that in this bed?"

Gretchen stared at him. "Ja, of course I do, Colonel," she said. "You just lie back down while I run and get the doctor."

"I don't want a doctor!" he shouted. "I want to get out of here!"

Gretchen hurried from the room, mumbling to herself and shaking her head in pity.

"What is wrong around here?" he asked himself. "I vaguely remember Schultz calling me Klink after the explosion and now this nurse. Are these people nuts?"

He threw back the blanket covering him and slowly edged his feet to the floor. Pushing himself up off the bed, he stood gingerly on wobbly legs. After a moment's adjustment, he took a small step. I'm getting out of here. He took one step after another towards the corner where he saw his clothes hanging. In what seemed to him like an hour, he reached the corner and leaned a hand against the wall to steady himself.

He reached for the coat hanging from a hook on the wall and stopped suddenly. That's not my coat. That's a German military uniform! He reached a tentative hand out and pulled a sleeve up to examine the coat. That's Klink's uniform! He let the coat arm drop in alarm.

"What the hell is going on here?" he said in frustration, shaking his head. As his head went back and forth he caught a glimpse of a reflection in the mirror on the wall and froze. No! He moved slowly and stood in front of the mirror, staring at the reflection. Instead of seeing himself, he saw the image of Colonel Wilhelm Klink staring back at him.

He quickly reached up and touched his face. Klink's image also reached up. Hogan reached towards the reflection in the mirror. Klink's image reached out towards him. As Hogan's fingers touched the glass, Klink's fingers met at the same point. His arm dropped like a rock. I don't believe this! Hogan slowly reached up to the top of his head. He felt hair – his normal hair. He began running it through his fingers, lifting it up from his head and letting it drop down. Klink's reflection made the same motions … only there was no hair running between its fingers. Oh my God! "NO!" he screamed and stumbled backwards in shock. He lost his balance and tumbled to the floor.

The door opened and the doctor rushed into the room, followed closely by Gretchen. "Mein Gott!" the doctor exclaimed. "Nurse, help me get him back into bed."

As the pair helped Hogan up off the floor and into bed, the doctor said, "Colonel Klink, what were you doing out of bed? You need to rest."

"I'm not Klink!" Hogan insisted.

"Of course you are," the doctor replied reassuringly. "You are Colonel Wilhelm Klink, Kommandant of Luft Stalag 13."

"I'm not!" Hogan argued.

"Colonel, look in the mirror," Gretchen said. "You will see that we are correct."

"I did look in the mirror," Hogan said. "I saw someone else! I saw Klink!"

"But you are Klink," the doctor insisted.

The door opened again and General Burkhalter hurried into the room. "Doctor, is he all right?" he said.

"General Burkhalter!" Hogan exclaimed. "Tell these people who I am!"

"Klink, what are you talking about?" Burkhalter asked.

Hogan groaned. "Not you too!" he said in exasperation.

"Doctor, what is he babbling about?" Burkhalter asked.

"He keeps insisting that he is not Wilhelm Klink," the doctor replied.

"I'm not!" Hogan said.

"Of course he's Wilhelm Klink," Burkhalter said. "Look at him – tall with a bald head and a blank look on his face. That's Klink."

"But I don't want to be Klink!" Hogan cried.

"That's too bad for you, Colonel," Burkhalter said firmly. "Because nobody else does either!"

"General," the doctor said. "Please do not upset him further. He hit his head pretty hard in the accident."

"Surprising that hitting something that empty could cause a problem," Burkhalter commented with a small smile.

Hogan glared at the General. "I am not Klink. I'm Colonel Robert Hogan, United States Army Air Corps!"

Burkhalter's eyes went wide and he began laughing. "So he's finally got to you, has he Klink?" he asked.

"I'm Hogan," Hogan said softly.

"Hogan was at Stalag 13 this morning for roll call," Burkhalter said. "I saw him personally."

"But I'm here – how could I be back in camp?" Hogan asked.

"You were not back in camp," Burkhalter replied. "Hogan was back in camp. You were here, Klink."

Hogan groaned.

"Doctor, how long will he be in the hospital?" Burkhalter asked.

The doctor shook his head. "There's no way to tell for sure," he replied. "I will give him a sedative now because he needs some rest. He should be well enough to leave tomorrow, but if he keeps insisting he is someone else …"

"If he keeps insisting he is someone else," Burkhalter said menacingly. "I will make sure that he thinks he's on the Russian Front!" Burkhalter turned and stomped from the room.

"There, there, Colonel," the doctor said soothingly. He took the hypodermic that the nurse handed him and flicked it a few times to shake the air from the tube. "Let me give you something that will help you rest."

"I don't want to rest, I want to get back to my barracks!" Hogan said as the doctor jabbed the needle into him.

"You just relax, Colonel Klink," the doctor said.

"I'm not Klink!" Hogan said as his consciousness slipped away.