My Life in the Red Army by Fred Virski

Author:Fred Virski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Burtyrki Books
Published: 2020-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

“Young man,” he began, “you must not blame me. Four months I have been working in frontline hospitals. Every day, sixteen hours a day. Always in a frantic hurry, because wounded men need help in a hurry. Five times the number of doctors we have would not be enough. We have no time to think. When a wounded man’s life is in danger, we operate. To attempt a cure, we have neither the time, the space, nor the staff. So try not to be surprised at what happened to you. Judging that the gangrene was moving up the body, I decided to amputate. I had not the time to take the tests necessary to discover whether the discoloring of the legs was caused by gangrene or by frostbitten blood vessels.”

While listening to this explanation, I felt my indignation slowly receding. This man was telling the truth. He had kind, frank eyes which flickered with fatigue. I raised myself on the pillows.

“Tovarisch doctor,” I said, “please forgive my reproaches. I had no idea that the problem of medical personnel in hospitals is so sad. I thought such sudden decisions to operate were prompted by a lack of interest, that the human body was approached as a butcher approaches a hunk of meat. After what you say, I understand and realize it is almost impossible to avoid mistakes.”

He smiled at me again,

“Good,” he said. “Now that you understand, let us forget what could have happened. Let us be happy that it didn’t and that you’ll soon be able to walk again!”

The nurse had been listening to our conversation in silence. Now she came closer.

“If you could only see, Volodia, what an appetite he has!” she said to the doctor. “I’m sure his legs will heal sooner than you think.”

I was surprised by the informal tone in which she spoke to the doctor. The latter caught my puzzled expression and explained: “This is my sister, sergeant. Her name is Masha.”

Now I remembered that the girl had mentioned her brother who had taken such good care of me.

“I want to thank you, tovarisch doctor,” said I, “for having looked after me so well during those first critical hours. Your sister told me that my recovery is due chiefly to you.”

He smiled. “That makes me feel better,” he said. “First I wanted to amputate your leg, then I tried to make up for it by watching over your life. You might as well know that for two days it was touch and go.”

When I woke there was a kerosene lamp on my night table, and beside it a pine tree branch, a piece of sausage, and two hard-boiled eggs. I was staring at these objects when Volodia came in with his sister. They sat down by my bed. Volodia seemed embarrassed. I realized he wanted to say something, but did not know how to begin. Finally Masha broke the ice:

“Listen, not long ago we had a Pole from some labor battalion here and he told us that your Christmas begins on December twenty-fourth.

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