Thank you so much to all who have reviewed and keep reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it. I am trying to wind it down, so we'll see. So again, thank you to everyone and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
A few minutes later, Michael came out of the room, pulling his gloves off. He hadn't taken five steps before the four men crowded around him.
"How is he?" Kinch asked, noticing the worried look in the doctor's eyes.
"We are going to have to operate. It is the only way we will be able to save his life. Wilson is getting ready to move him so we can start."
You could hear a pin drop in the tunnels for a few moments before Carter asked quietly, "Will he be okay?"
Michael looked at the four men who looked up to the man whose life was in the balance before saying, "I think he will. We just need to get started right away."
"Will you let us know as soon as you are done?" Newkirk asked. They were all worried and it was beginning to take its toll on all four of the men.
"Of course. I understand you are worried about him. Wilson and I are going to do our best help him."
"We know you will. We'll be upstairs if you need us," Kinch replied as he herded the others for the ladder that lead to the barracks.
The four quietly climbed up and into the commons room, silently making their way to Hogan's office. As soon as LeBeau shut the door, the others began to speak.
"Why did you have us come up here? We should be down there with the Colonel," Newkirk demanded, facing Kinch as soon as he turned the light on.
"Exactement! Pourquoi nous avez-vous élevés ici?"
"English, Louis! English!" Newkirk commanded, getting testier by the minute.
"I said exactly, why are we up here."
"I agree. The Colonel needs us," Carter chimed in. The three turned to face the second-in-command.
Kinch sat down at the Colonel's desk, took a deep breath and faced his friends. "We have a bigger problem right now."
"What do you mean "bigger problem"?" Newkirk challenged. "Our gov'nor is laying down there, about to be operated on and your telling us there is a "bigger problem"?" Newkirk exclaimed, his voice raising.
Kinch didn't blame him; he was worried sick about Hogan too. "Newkirk, I'm worried about him just as much as you are. But, yes, we have a bigger problem Roll call is in less than 3 hours. We need to make it so that Klink will not check on him. I'm open for any suggestions," Kinch replied, placing his head into his heads.
Newkirk looked stricken, realizing how bad Kinch felt. He crossed the room and put a hand on Kinch's shoulder. "I am so sorry mate. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
Kinch looked up. "It's okay. We are all under a lot of stress right now, but we just need to figure a way out of this so Klink won't get suspicious."
"We'll think of something," Carter remarked, "We always do."
The room grew quiet as their thoughts turned to what was going on downstairs.
HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH-HH
The next morning dawned clear and bright. Schultz flung open the door to Barracks 2.
"Everyone, raus, raus!" he exclaimed, banging on some of the bed frames. He noticed how groggy and slow all of the men seemed to be.
"Come on, raus!"
Kinch dropped wearily from his bed and faced the rotund guard. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I'm sorry Schultz. Its been a bad night."
The others murmured in agreement as Schultz looked around. "What happened? Wait, no, I want to know nothing!" He said, holding his hands up defensively.
"Schultz, its okay. Most of us were really sick last night. We're not sure what it is. But Colonel Hogan is the worst."
The guard began backing away from the men. "Do you know what it is?"
"No, but we were all throwing up and running fevers by the end of the night. We all got it one right after another," Newkirk said, leaning down from his bunk. He had to smother a smile as Schultz ran, well shuffled, to the door.
"I'll be back," he said, slamming the door behind him.
As soon as he did this, Carter took up watching from the door as Kinch, Carter, Newkirk and LeBeau ran for the tunnel entrance. They had heard the knocking from below just as Schultz came in for roll call.
The bunk opened, revealing Michael Prust. He was exhausted. He, with the help of Wilson, had just spent over two and a half hours on the injured colonel. The others crowded around the weary doctor. He sat down at the table, accepting the cup of coffee LeBeau offered him.
Before anyone said anything, he spoke up. "He's going to be okay. We stopped the bleeding and re-inflated his lung."
"Will there be any permanent damage?"
"No, I don't foresee any. We are going to need to move him up here before long though. I don't want Robert coming down with pneumonia on top of his injuries. Also, he is going to be a little immobile for a while. We set his leg, but I cannot cast it until the wound heals. He will have to wear a splint instead. This will make getting around difficult for him."
"How long will he need to stay completely off his leg?" Carter asked from the door.
"For at least two weeks. After that, just small intervals," Michael replied, taking a sip of coffee.
"Well, that works well into the plan we have devised. We are making it look like we are having an influenza attack, so that we would need to be quarantined for at least two weeks," Kinch replied grinning. "In fact, we have already set it into motion. We scared Schultz into running out the door as fast as he could go a few minutes ago."
The others snickered loudly before Michael said," I see. Well, as long as he rests, that is all that matters."
"Klink and Schultz coming this way!" Olsen yelled, running for his bunk, the other's following suit. Kinch helped Dr. Prust down the ladder before hitting the mechanism that closed the trap door shut. He then went and laid down on his bunk, pulling the covers up to his chin.
At precisely that moment, the door to the Barracks opened, revealing Schultz, being prodded by Klink to go first.
"What is going on in here?" Klink asked, looking around at the groaning men.
"Like I said, Herr Kommandant, they are all sick."
"Where is Colonel Hogan?"
Newkirk pointed weakly to the closed door on the other end of the room. "He's in there, but he has been hurling all night. In fact, he was sick first."
Klink strode purposefully to the door and opened it. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He looked to the bottom bunk to see Hogan lying with his face to the wall. He could tell the man was running a fever; he was covered in sweat.
Instead of disturbing him, Klink did the humane thing and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. He walked back over to Schultz, glancing around the room again. "I will send Wilson in to check all of you out. He will report back to me when he is done. Dismissed."
The two Germans left the barracks, the door banging behind them. A moment later, Carter was back at the door watching for any trouble. The door to Colonel Hogan's office opened, revealing Olsen.
"That was great Olsen! You had Klink believing you were Hogan and that you were deathly sick. This plan is totally working," Kinch laughed as LeBeau filled everyone's cup with coffee.
"Thank you Kinch. It's a good plan. By the way, when are we going after the car?"
"I thought about that. We need to go tonight, after we bring the colonel up to his own bunk," Kinch replied, standing up from the table. As soon as he finished drinking the last drop of coffee, he put the cup back on the table before walking to the bunks.
"I'll be back. I'm going to check on the Colonel." He hit the button, and climbed down the ladder to the tunnel. He made his way to the first aid room, seeing Prust standing next to his friend.
Michael looked up when he heard a noise behind him. He saw Kinch standing at the door and smiled. "He's starting to wake up. You can sit with him if you like. I need to do a few things any way."
"Thanks, doc, for everything," Kinch said, moving next to Hogan's side.
"No problem. I was glad to do it."
As soon as Michael was out of the room, Kinch looked down at his commanding officer. The bruising wasn't as dark as it had been at the wreck, and the lacerations weren't as bad either. Kinch sat down and began to talk to his friend.
"We were really worried about you Colonel. Newkirk and I, well, we didn't want LeBeau and Carter to see you in the condition you were in at the accident. I admit I was scared. But I am so glad you are going to be okay."
Kinch said a silent prayer of thanks to God for allowing their colonel to live through the night as he continued to sit with the injured man.