Uncommon Sacrifice: War Girl Series by Marion Kummerow

Author:Marion Kummerow [Kummerow, Marion]
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 21: Stan

Lying in his bed, Stan cursed himself and the world. He’d been at the Charité for weeks, but his progress was much slower than anticipated. Anna visited him every day to keep him company for a few minutes, but he still felt lonely and had too much time to think.

Every time he thought about Piotr and their last minutes, a deep sadness consumed him and he struggled with guilt. It was his fault Piotr remained behind at the camp. His brother had sacrificed his own freedom to give him a chance to heal. And what did he do to repay his generosity? Not heal! At least not fast enough.

That damn leg was still rife with infection. He wasn’t dumb. Despite the fact that nobody told him the truth about his condition, he could see the concern etched into the faces of the doctors and nurse. Anna rarely looked him in the eyes and when she told him he’d made great progress and would soon be alright, he knew she lied.

Stan scoffed into the room. Piotr’s sacrifice would be in vain if he died. I’m not going to die! That’s what he told himself day after day, hour after hour, but how on earth could he command his stubborn leg to heal?

As Christmas approached, Stan fell into a deep depression, thoughts of being useless consuming him. Piotr should have been saved, not him. He was one of the worthless non-walking wounded. Piotr should be enjoying his freedom and his wife. Piotr should have left him to die in Fallingbostel. If anything happened to Piotr, how could he live with his guilt?

And today, with everyone flitting around and flaunting their Christmas spirit, his day turned several shades darker.

“Christmas! I dare you, God. Why don’t you work a miracle? Prove it, because I’m starting to believe you can’t!” Stan’s anger snaked up his spine as he yelled the words into the room. The other patients were either too weak to acknowledge his outburst or just raised an eye at the alien language.

The next moment, guilt about his blasphemy attacked him, knocking the air from his lungs. He half expected an angry God to appear and send him straight into purgatory.

But instead the door opened to a lanky boy.

Who the hell…?

The boy stormed into the room, stopping for a moment to scan the patients. Then he rushed towards Stan and wrapped his scrawny arms around Stan’s shoulders.

“Uncle Stan. I’m so happy.” Stan’s brain was still working slowly and he didn’t understand most of the monologue the boy whispered into his ear. But when wetness soaked the skin of his neck, Stan finally grasped the truth. The boy was Janusz. Piotr’s son.

He remembered Anna telling him, but he hadn’t really paid attention to her actual words.

“It’s really you? How? Why?”

Jan crawled up on the bed with Stan and hugged him close. “Anna brought me here. She thought you might like company. Today is Christmas, you know?”

“I know. It’s my leg that’s injured, not my brains,” Stan chuckled, the boy’s presence returning some of his will to live.

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