Aftermath
by Philippe de la Matraque

Chapter Four: Back in Bad Orb

When Pierson and Stiles reached the gates of Bad Orb, they were stopped by the guard there who told them that Colonel Davis was waiting for them. He helpfully pointed the way to the tent the Colonel was occupying. Pierson dropped Stiles off so he could go to the infirmary and check in on Zussman and the others, while he resigned himself to the inevitable. Well, it wouldn't be the first time he was dressed down. Or demoted, for that matter.

He parked the jeep then walked to the tent. He brushed open the flaps and stepped inside. Davis was talking with someone else, his back to Pierson. Pierson approached halfway then stopped and stood at attention to wait. While he did so, he wondered how Zussman was doing. Maybe he'd be more awake today, a little stronger than before he and Stiles had left.

Finally, the other soldier brushed passed Pierson and left. Davis turned to face him. His expression wasn't helpful. He didn't look angry but he didn't look not angry either. Pierson wasn't sure what Davis was going to say but he certainly didn't expect what he did say. "What's your blood-type, Sergeant?"

"Sir?" Pierson wasn't sure why he'd be asking that.

"Blood-type?"

But then he was a colonel, and Pierson was just a sergeant who had disobeyed orders. Again. "A positive, sir."

"That's too bad. Still, I think we've found more than enough for now."

"I'm at a loss, sir," Pierson admitted, still at attention.

"We've been looking for donors. O negative. For your man, Zussman."

Something sunk in Pierson's chest. Blood donors? What had happened? He needed to go.

It must have shown on his face. "I can't just let you off the hook for disobeying orders, Sergeant," Davis told him. "The war's not quite over yet."

"Understood, sir."

"But Zussman would have died if you hadn't," Davis went on. "Did you find any of the other POWs back at Berga?"

"No, sir," he admitted. "Well, not survivors. Found a few more of our men dead, many civilian casualties. They were marched out of the camp, apparently the day we got there. Tracked them until we ran into other tracks. No way to know which one to follow further."

"God-willing, we'll find them soon," Davis said. "As for Zussman, he had a setback. Last I heard, he was in surgery and had lost a lot of blood. Thus the need for donors. Go, Sergeant, be with your men."

Pierson saluted and turned to go. But Davis wasn't quite done. So he stopped and turned back. "But consider yourself heavily reprimanded and stop disobeying my orders."

Pierson smiled. "Thoroughly reprimanded and deservedly so."

"Keep me posted, Sergeant."

"Will do, sir." Pierson turned again and left. As soon as he was outside, he sprinted to the infirmary. He found Aiello in the bed where Zussman had been and Stiles beside him in the chair. Daniels wasn't there. Aiello had a small bandange around his elbow.

"They're looking for O negative donors," Stiles said.

"I heard," Pierson replied.

"I was the first volunteer," Aiello remarked, holding up his bandaged arm. "They told me to rest for a couple hours. No word yet, but they took Daniels back to see the doctor."

Pierson lightly slapped Aiello on the leg. Aiello moved his legs over so the sergeant could sit. "What happened?"

"Not sure," Aiello replied. "He was asleep. We thought. Nurse comes over to feed him breakfast but he wouldn't wake up. She pulled back his blanket and Zuss's whole left side was dark. They grabbed him quick and took him to surgery. Nurse came back a bit later saying he needed blood."

"How long's it been?" Pierson asked.

"A couple hours, I think," Aiello told him. "We found a chaplain. CO prayed with us, too."

"Daniels just went back there," Stiles added. "Just before I got here."

"Surgery's probably done, then," Pierson concluded. "Doctor would have come if he didn't make it."

Daniels felt a little uncomfortable with the booties and mask over the lower half of his face, but he understood it was to protect Zuss. Doctor Harris led him past the operating room. "I want you to know," Harris said, "that I'm the only American doctor here. A German doctor assisted me during the surgery. I let him know in no uncertain terms that I'd have him shot if he didn't do his very best to care for the patient. I see no reason to have him executed now that it's over."

They entered a smaller space with close beds. It felt more sterile here. Everyone who wasn't a patient was wearing a mask and booties over their shoes. They stopped at the foot of Zussman's bed. Well, at least five feet away from it. Zuss looked very small even in that small bed. His stomach was covered in bandages, and his ribs were visible in his chest. There was a tube in his nose. An IV with blood was hanging beside the bed and connected via a tube to his right arm. Zuss was unconscious.

"From the look of his bruises," Dr. Harris said, "it seems he was getting a rifle butt to the abdomen fairly often. Did you happen to see or learn anything else? Something particularly on his left side?"

Daniels played in his memory the scene as he was coming out of the woods. Shots beyond the trees. A prisoner running, shot in the back. Another shoved down by a German with a pistol. The prisoner landed hard and cried out. It was Zussman and he'd landed on his left side. "German guard was shooting prisoners. I came through the trees and saw one shot as he was running. Then the German threw Zussman to the ground, hard."

"Left side?"

Daniels nodded.

The doctor explained, "Could be when it happened. He had no padding beyond any clothing he'd have on. He has no fat at all. His spleen ruptured. That's what caused the bleeding. It probably clotted and it was fine for a day or two. But it didn't hold. Started bleeding again sometime in the night. We're very lucky we caught it when we did."

Daniels couldn't even speak for a bit. He just looked at his friend. Finally he said, "He's gonna be okay, then?"

Dr. Harris took a breath. "This is a delicate time. We had to make a large incision, explore his abdomen until we found the bleeder. We did and we stopped it. But that surgery is a new trauma to his already weak body. We'll have a very tight watch on him for the next few days at least. We're tube feeding him because he definitely still needs to eat. I've asked for another doctor to help out. Otherwise, we'll have to trust the German doctors here, and I don't think that's in his best interest just now. I've got three American nurses. They'll work in shifts. Found some medics among the former prisoners to help watch him, too. You boys will have to stay away for a bit. The risk of infection is just too high. We'll most likely keep him sedated anyway."

Daniels didn't like that but at least Zuss wouldn't wake up alone. He just wouldn't be waking up for a bit. He probably wouldn't like that tube in his nose much if he did. A nurse led Daniels back toward where Aiello was waiting. She took the booties and the mask. Daniels was surprised to see Stiles and Pierson were back, too.

"Davis read you the riot act?" he asked Pierson as he joined them.

Pierson smiled. "I've been deservedly reprimanded. But he updated me on Zussman first. What'd the doctor say?"

"Ruptured spleen," Daniels told them. "He's in another area now, sedated. They're feeding him through a tube in his nose. He'll be there a few days at least while he recovers from the surgery. We can't go back there without risking infection. I had to stand quite a few feet back and wear a mask and booties over my boots. How about you? Did you find them?"

Stiles frowned. "Found a few more dead."

"And told the lieutenant there to look for the graves," Pierson added. "We followed the tracks of the march but ran into so many others we didn't know which to follow."

"Germans are probably evacuating a lot of camps before they can be liberated," Stiles said. "Either to hide evidence-"

"Then why leave all the bodies layin' around?" Aiello interjected.

"-or," Stiles continued, "they are dead set on not letting any prisoners go."

"At least we got some in Ohrdruff," Daniels said.

"And Zuss," said Aiello.

Pierson stood up. "I got a feeling the Allies will find more and more horrors before this is over," he concluded. "The only good news is that it will be over soon."

"Amen to that," Aiello said. "Well since we can't stay with Zuss, how about we find some grub out there?"

Stiles gave Aiello a hand standing up. Daniels gave one more look back the way they'd taken Zuss. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll check back often," Pierson said. Daniels nodded and they left the Infirmary. "Oh, and Davis wanted an update. Since you talked to the doctor..."

Daniels smirked. "Yeah, I got it. Save me some grub."

After Daniels reported the ruptured spleen to Col. Davis, the colonel handed him a document. "Orders, Corporal," he said softly. Daniels detected no harshness in his voice. "Pass them on to Pierson. War's not over yet and you boys are in the Army. And in the Army, we do what we're told."

Daniels glanced at the orders. They were to ship out in the morning. Zuss wouldn't even be woken up for days.

That concern must have shown on his face, because Davis put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to keep tabs on Private Zussman, don't you worry. I will keep you updated on his progress."

Daniels hated it but Davis was right. They'd ignored orders too long already. And maybe if they kept going, they'd find the other Berga POWs. "Yes, sir," he replied. "Thank you, sir."

Daniels left the tent in a foul mood. He found the others and sat down next to Stiles, who handed him his meal. "You look glum," he commented. "Food's not that bad."

"For Army food," Aiello finished for him.

Daniels handed the papers to Pierson.

"Not the food," Stiles deduced.

Pierson took a moment to read them then blew out a breath. "We're heading out in the morning. We gotta meet up with the rest of the Third Army southeast of here."

Aiello put his fork down. "So we have to leave Zussman here? What's he gonna think when they wake him up and we're not there?"

Daniels couldn't answer. He tucked into his meal without really tasting it. He'd given up his leave for Zussman. Every battle, every bullet fired since then was to get closer to finding Zussman. And every minute thereafter was to make sure Zussman was still alive. It was jarring to be pulled out of that focus and dropped back into the mission of stopping Hitler and ending the war. Without Zussman. "Colonel Davis said he'd keep us updated. He'd keep tabs on Zuss."

"Still gonna wake up here wondering where we are," Stiles said. He sounded glum, too.

Pierson sighed. "Yeah. On the bright side, we're going to kill us some more Nazis and maybe liberate some more prisoners."

"Or find 'em on the road," Daniels added, trying hard to see that bright side. "And when we get a moment, we can write him."