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“Just smile, I really need to see you smile right now.”
The room was dusky, when he slowly blinked his eyes open, the only light being the dim yellow glow radiating from the bedside lamp. It didn‘t seem familiar. The bed he lay in wasn‘t his bunk, nor did the room look like anything in Stalag 13. The bed was soft, and the perfectly white sheets felt wonderfully fresh and cool. Where was he and how did he get here? He felt tired and his body was so heavy… but wasn’t there someone sitting next to his bed? He could see a dark silhouette in the corner of his eye and tried to turn his head to the left for a better look… but immediately regretted it! Hogan groaned as a sharp pain shot from the side of his head to his neck and then subsided into a dull throbbing pressure that made him want to vomit.
“Robert!”, a familiar voice called, full of concern.
“...Kommandant?”, Hogan pressed through clenched teeth, biting back the nausea, his eyes squeezed shut. So it was Stalag 13 after all...
“Yes, it’s me, Klink! Does it hurt? Should I call the nurse?”
He could hear a hint of panic in the German’s voice as he felt a cold hand wrap around his own and another one on the dressing around his head. “Be careful with my head, will you?”, he said, when the pain slowly waned away and he opened his eyes again to look into the Kommandant’s fearful face. “What happened?”, he asked. And after a short pause added: “Where am I?”
“You threw yourself in front of my staff car! Don’t you remember?!”
This time the Kommandant’s voice was really high with panic, which caused Hogan to try and put his free hand on top of Klink’s in a reassuring gesture. Big mistake. Another wave of dull nauseating pain washed over him, this time from the shoulder upwards. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath waiting for the urge to vomit to go away. Think! Remember! Something with Klink’s staff car… “Yeah, I remember...” He finally said. “The breaks didn’t work… and Langenscheidt was driving right at you...” He looked at Klink again, who was still bent over him.
“Yes yes!” Klink said, his face lighting up. He was apparently very relieved that Hogan didn’t suffer from amnesia. But the smile faded again quickly and he took on a pained expression. “I was busy scolding Schultz and didn’t notice… you saved my life, Hogan.” The last sentence was only a whisper.
Hogan felt a pang of shame, when he saw the mixture of guilt and worry on the Kommandant’s face. Saving someone by pushing them out of the way of an oncoming car didn’t feel quite so heroic when you were the one responsible for the breakfailure. He pressed Klink’s hand comfortingly.
“You’re in the Hammelburg Hospital now. I had you dressed in a guard’s uniform so I could bring you here for better treatment...” It looked like the Kommandant wanted to say something more but couldn’t find the words. He looked away, swallowing.
Hogan just waited for the Kommandant to collect himself, A quiet “Thank you.” was all he could come up with.
Finally Klink turned towards him again, his face still a mask of guilt and worry.
“I’m so sorry, Hogan!”, he blurted. “I really don’t know how I can make this up to you. If there’s anything I can do…!” His voice was pleading, and he pressed Hogan’s hands with both of his own now.
Hogan had to look away, closed his eyes in an attempt to shut out the shame. It had been him who ordered his men to manipulate the staff car. And now there was Klink, desperate with guilt because he thought, he were to blame that Hogan got injured, when it actually was his very own fault. ...but if it were Klink lying in his stead now… and he were responsible for it… he could never have forgiven himself!
He opened his eyes and with a warm smile and a reassuring pressure to the other man’s hands he looked at his Kommandant and said: “Just smile, I really need to see you smile right now.”