Berlin blood

April 1942 Hilda packs her things. She leaves the camp. Jacob arranged for them to be transferred to a hospital in Berlin. Hilda still can’t believe they will be transferred so quickly. She never fully recovered her memory, many things remained in the shadows, and no matter how she tried to remember, it was all in vain. However, it didn’t matter too much; she had learned everything she needed in her job. She also learned about her preferences. Jacob spent a lot of time with her. They hardly saw each other with Louise. Hilda, looking at her, always wondered, how could she be her friend? Maybe it’s good that they don’t communicate with her so closely and she doesn’t remember a lot. She left a couple of days ago. Relations with Jacob were friendly and warm. She missed what he could give her. She wanted love (from him, from someone else?), but every time she brought up the subject, he got up and left. Jacob didn’t want to talk to her about this or what happened between them before she lost her memory. Maybe he’s hiding something? Hilda was drowning in conjecture. She could not find her diary, but now it did not matter. She packed her bags, looked at the camp gates, and they got into the car and drove away from this dark and black place. Hilda didn’t understand at all why doctors were needed here? But this question quickly disappeared when she again saw greenery, fields and people. The camp always seemed like a different world to her, with its own orders and foundations. He seemed unreal to her. Everything was too black and dull. She wanted to find herself in the middle of life. In the middle of the square, where the crowd is boiling, where you can hear people talking, where they do not stop living, despite everything that is happening around. They board a train leaving for Berlin. They should become familiar with their responsibilities and the hospital staff. — Do you think we’ll get good staff? — Jacob, who was reading the newspaper, turned his gaze from her first to the landscape outside the window, and then to Hilda. — I think yes. After all, this is a good hospital, many people were treated there,” the guy again buried himself in reading the newspaper. “How boring you are,” the girl thought every time he didn’t carry on the conversation but was busy with something of his own. The landscape is truly beautiful. Fields that are just beginning to emerge from winter, blazing sunshine and air that smells like spring. Hilda was happy about the changes. She loved them and always looked forward to them when she saw them on the horizon. Change is always good. For people whose days are similar to each other, this is a reason to rejoice. They arrived the next day. The hospital, indeed, as Jacob said, turned out to be large and worth a considerable investment. Excellent specialists worked here. Jacob, shaking hands with the head physician, explained where they were from. The doctor said he was glad they had arrived, explained their duties, and Hilda got to work. *** For Thielike, this day was the same as any other. He got used to his new job, as the colonel had said, at first glance it was not difficult, but it had its own characteristics. Tilika’s first step was to educate all the guests at the receptions and events they were attending. The boss never paid much attention to this, so Thielike always stood nearby and told who was who. Also, just like the man said, Thielike always cleared out the paperwork. And there was a lot of it. At first he could not get used to the absence of fingers on his right hand, but soon he quickly forgot about it. Thielicke attended the cadets' training sessions and saw that the Oberführer always came tired and squeezed like a lemon. He drew a parallel with himself during his studies. Everything seemed to be different. More precisely, the classes were the same, but the teachers put completely different things into their heads and explained more. — Tilike, today the cadets are extremely diligent, don’t you think? — they are standing in the observation tower and have been watching the exercises for about thirty minutes. — Mr. Oberführer, I think that your experience and knowledge, which you want to invest in your students, is not in vain and they are beginning to understand. — Yes, I think that today everything will be much better than yesterday. They were absolutely not prepared and were not ready for classes. “I hope so too,” the cadets, as Thielike thought, were inexperienced, they knew only theory, but none of them was eager to apply it in practice. Everyone hoped that they would fight fools and not have to put in much effort. However, the reality was far from their hopes and dreams. Thielicke and Gotter understood all this and set the cadets up to the fact that when they went into real battle, they would not receive concessions from the enemy, and even more so, the enemy would not wait for them to remember their theory. You must not drop out of the battle, because every second can decide whether you will live or not. Thielike learned this lesson the hard way. The Oberführer had already decided that everything was going well, but that was not the case. One of the tanks shot at another tank while maneuvering. It caught fire and everyone immediately rushed to help. Nobody understood how this happened. — What the heck?! — Gotter immediately grabbed binoculars and began to peer into the distance where the tank was burning. The young tankers were pulled out, and the doctors immediately realized that they needed to be taken to the hospital; they could not now provide the necessary assistance. The soldiers who were in the fired tank were also pulled out and led by the hands to clarify the circumstances. — Could there be some kind of mistake? “Tilike walked behind the boss. — What is the mistake here? They decided to play or began to sort things out on the battlefield, but they chose the wrong place. Thielike did not say another word. Then, to clarify the situation, they moved in silence. As it turned out, the cadets really didn’t divide the girls and one team decided to show their superiority in this way. The Oberführer was outraged and the cadets were reprimanded. By evening the boss had a headache. — Tilike, go to the hospital to see the victims and find out how long it will take for them to be on their feet. They have graduation in a week, they must attend. — Eat. At the same hour, Thielike was driving to the hospital where the cadets were taken, in order to later draw up a report and transmit information. Entering the hospital, he looked back and saw a doctor coming out of the operating room. “Doctor,” the guy called out to him. — Yes? — I want to know about the cadets who arrived to you today. Tell me, are their wounds serious? And how soon will they get back on their feet? “For the most part, all of them have burns and shallow wounds, one has fractures. But I think that in the next two weeks they will get back on their feet. One had a small piece of metal stuck in his leg and had to be removed through surgery. — But before then? — Unfortunately no. I will pass on the report through my assistant, she is about to leave the block. “Okay, thank you,” the next minute a girl in a mask came out to them. After greeting her, Thielike thought that he knew the girl who was standing in front of him. This is Hilda. The same eyes that he recognizes from a thousand. But for some reason she looks at him as distantly as she does at everyone around her. The girl left, and Tilike only had time to follow her with his eyes.