Hogan looked at Schultz. "You were right. Siegfried is great."

Schultz smiled. "I have known him for many years."

Newkirk suddenly shifted slightly.

"Hey, how do you feel?" Hogan asked, hand still on the Englishman's shoulder.

"A…little…better," Newkirk said. "Me 'ead…that is…" He paused, catching his breath and gathering enough strength to speak after enduring such terrible pain for so long. "What was…that shot?"

Hogan sighed. "It was a spinal tap, Newkirk. I told you it was a shot so you wouldn't get nervous."

Newkirk said nothing, wincing as he shifted his legs and pain shot across his lower back. "Ow."

"Sorry."

"Not…ya fault…guv," Newkirk said, eyes still closed. "I never did…like…needles."

"Oooh, then don't look at your left arm, Newkirk," said Schultz, without thinking.

At that, Newkirk managed to open his eyes and spotted the IV needle.

The door suddenly opened as Siegfried came back into the room. He smiled. "How ees our patient?"

"He said he feels a little better," Hogan said, happily.

The doctor nodded. "Zat is zee drug. Hopefully, it vill just be migraine und ve can give him more. Let us settle him in a room, und ve vill find out soon vhat zee lab says."

Hogan and Schultz followed the doctor as he again wheeled the gurney out of the room.

Newkirk opened his eyes, trying to look around the hospital. The sight of everything moving past him was too much for his throbbing head, so he quickly closed them again.

Siegfried pushed the gurney into a room and over to a bed, before taking Newkirk under the arms and motioning for Schultz to take his legs. They gently transferred him to the surprisingly comfortable mattress, before pushing the gurney out of the way.

Hogan looked around the room, shocked and glad to find that it was a private one. He grabbed the blanket at the end of the bed and pulled it up over the corporal, frowning at the wince that deepened on the Englishman's face.

Newkirk tried to hold in a gasp at what the movement from the gurney to the bed had done to his horrid headache, nevermind the sharp pain in his back. He carefully curled up on his side again, hoping that the lab results would come back fast so something could be done about his pain before he went mad.

Siegfried hung the bag of saline on a pole beside the bed, before again checking Newkirk's pulse. "Are you comfortable, Peter?" he asked. "Or at least, as comfortable as you can be?"

"Yeah," Newkirk managed to say. His voice sounded strained.

The doctor patted his shoulder.

"How long will the lab take?" Hogan asked, impatient.

Siegfried looked at his watch. "Not too long, I made zem give it top priority. I vill go see if zey are almost finished." With that, he left again.

Hogan and Schultz silently watched Newkirk, purposely not talking so he could have some peace and quiet.

It wasn't long before the doctor came back into the room, and Hogan and Schultz urgently looked up…to find the doctor smiling.

"Good news!" Siegfried said. "He does not have meningitis. I vill give him some more morphine, und he vill feel much better."

Despite the pain, Newkirk's eyes popped open. "Morphine?" he said, having been too out-of-it to hear what the doctor had given him earlier.

"Yes, young man," the doctor said, preparing a needle. "Zis vill do vonders for zee pain."

Newkirk looked at Hogan, as the doctor walked over and shot the needle's contents into the IV. Closing his eyes again, he remembered his last encounter with morphine…taking a bullet for Hogan not too long after meeting him*, and being drugged senseless for days. When he'd finally woken, he'd found the drug to cause bizarre effects that he hadn't liked in the least, and hoped he'd never need morphine again.

Hogan knew what Newkirk was thinking about, and patted his arm encouragingly. "Don't worry, you'll be back to your old self faster than Carter can make a new bomb."

Schultz blinked, not sure at what he'd just heard. "Faster than what?!"

"Nothing, Schultz."

The German guard closed his eyes. "That's right, nothing! I hear nothing…I hear nothhhh-iiiiing!"

Newkirk closed his eyes, waiting for the drug to work. Within minutes, the pain began to ease, lessening the tension in his muscles.

Hogan saw the Englishman's body relax, and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, doc," he said, nodding up at Siegfried.

The doctor nodded back with a smile. "I vill vatch him carefully, to ensure zat zee morphine doesn't cause any troublesome effects."

Hogan was relieved to hear that, knowing the risks involved with the sometimes-dangerous drug. He suddenly realized something. "You said he doesn't have meningitis…but that doesn't really mean that it's definitely a migraine, either…"

Siegfried nodded. "Zat is true. I vill vatch to see if any other symptoms develop."

Hogan nodded, just as Newkirk shifted slightly and reopened his eyes. "Hey, how you feeling?" he asked.

Newkirk smiled—actually smiled. "Better, Colonel…that stuff works fast." He closed his eyes again and gave a huge yawn. "I'm a mite…tired, though…"

Dr. Siegfried frowned. "Did zis come on suddenly?"

Hogan answered for Newkirk. "He didn't get any rest all night, doc."

"Ah," said Siegfried, as they watched the Englishman's head loll slightly to the left. "He needs to sleep."

Schultz suddenly sighed. "And unfortunately, we need to get back to the Stalag."

"Aw Schultz," Hogan protested. "Can't we stay longer? Klink doesn't know what's going on."

"No, he doesn't, but he will ask me and I will have to account for all this time!"

"So you tell him that we waited long for the spinal tap results, that's all," said Hogan. "Come on…aren't you glad to spend some time away from the camp? Aren't you?"

Schultz couldn't help but nod.

"And what about poor Newkirk, here," Hogan continued, gesturing to the dozing Englishman. "Do you really think he wants us to leave him here all alone? What if he needs someone to hold his hand again?" he said, appealing to Schultz's paternal side.

Schultz gave Newkirk a sympathetic look, before reaching over and patting the corporal's arm. "Don't worry, Newkirk, we will stay as long as we can!"

The half-asleep Englishman smiled slightly.

For a while, Hogan and Schultz watched Newkirk sleep while the doctor took the opportunity to make his rounds. An hour later, Schultz's name was called over the loudspeaker, and asked to report to the front desk.

Hogan knew what that meant; Klink had called the hospital…probably desperately wondering if Newkirk really was contagious or not.

Schultz left to take the call, and when he came back, Hogan could tell from the look on his face that he was right.

"That was the Kommandant," the guard said. "We need to go back at once…I told him what happened, and that we just found out that Newkirk does not appear to have anything catching."

Hogan inwardly chuckled. He'd been right. Reaching forward, he put his hand on Newkirk's arm and squeezed it gently. "Newkirk?" he whispered. "Are you awake?"

He received no reply.

Hogan sighed and stood, just as the doctor came back into the room.

"How ees he?" Siegfried asked, walking over to the bed.

"Asleep," said Hogan. "He seems okay."

Siegfried listened to Newkirk's heart and checked his pulse. "A little slow, but morphine does zat. You are leaving?"

Hogan nodded and stuck out his hand. "We have no choice. Take good care of Newkirk for us, huh?"

Siegfried shook it. "I vill, do not vorry."

Hogan nodded and took another look at Newkirk before leaving the room, with Schultz behind him. They said nothing as they left the hospital, and were quiet for the first few moments of the ride back.

"Are you pleased with Dr. Siegfried?" Schultz eventually asked.

Hogan nodded, shooting him a smile. "Yeah, Schultz, definitely. You have no idea how relieved I am. It's not easy to leave one of my men in the hands of—if you'll excuse the phrase—the enemy."

The guard nodded. "I know, Colonel. I am so glad that I was able to help. I am sure that Newkirk will be just fine, and will soon be back home at the Stalag with us, where he belongs!"

Hogan couldn't help but smile at Schultz's attempt to comfort him.

Soon, they were driving back through the camp gates, and Schultz let him off at the door of Barracks Two, which opened the minute the truck rolled in. The men started asking questions before he even got inside.

"Hold it!" Hogan exclaimed.

Everyone instantly shut up.

"Newkirk should be fine," Hogan told them. "It looks like he just has a migraine twice the size of Europe. They gave him morphine and he should be back in a day or so, if nothing else develops."

Everyone erupted into relieved chatter, and Hogan took the chance to sit down.

"Really, Colonel?" Carter said. "Newkirk will be okay? What did the doctor do?"

"How was he when you left?" LeBeau asked.

"Sleeping," Hogan said. "And yes, Carter, so far, it seems that he'll be fine. They did a spinal tap to make sure he didn't have meningitis or something, and when it came back negative, they gave him the morphine. It worked pretty fast, and then he fell asleep."

"A spinal tap," Kinch said, cringing.

Hogan nodded, with a sigh. "That part wasn't fun…for me either." He suddenly looked at LeBeau. "I want you to make the best strudel this country has to offer."

LeBeau perked up. "Did Newkirk ask for some?"

Hogan shook his head, and told them what Schultz did…from requesting his own family's personal doctor, to even holding Newkirk's hand during the spinal tap. "You should've seen it. Schultz cares about us more than we even know."

Everyone smiled.

"We should think up a special way to show our appreciation!" said Carter.

Hogan nodded. "If you have any ideas, let me know."

Everyone was silent for a minute, before Carter asked, "Can we sneak over to the hospital tonight and visit Newkirk?"

Hogan nodded. He knew that the others would worry if they couldn't see him. "I'm meeting an Underground agent tonight a couple miles from the Hammelberg Hospital. After I'm through with that, we can go see him."

Carter's face split into a wide grin. "Thanks, Colonel! Oh boy! Should we bring him anything? What about—"

"Carter," Hogan interrupted, knowing that the sergeant would talk incessantly now if he didn't stop him immediately. "Why don't you go spread the word that Newkirk should be fine? I'm sure that others are worried too."

"Okay!" Carter replied, before bounding out of the barracks.

The others rolled their eyes at his energy, but everyone was smiling.

TBC

Don't worry, everyone, the story isn't winding down, not by any means! LOL

* See 'History Repeats Itself', chapter 8 of my 'A Day in the Life at Stalag 13' snippet collection!