“The we mustn’t disturb him. What’s your name nurse?” Hale asked.
“Astrid. What’s yours?”
“Hale.”
Astrid gestured down the hallway, “This way Hale. All I spare for you is a chair while you wait for the Doctor to wake.”
Hale met Astrid’s gaze, he was captivated by her Hazel eyes. So different from Nea’s. Forcing himself back into reality he said, “A chair will do quite nicely after a week freezing in the forest.”
Astrid led Hale to a wooden door. As she opened the door, she turned back to Hale and placed an index finger over her lips to indicate for him to remain quiet. Once the door was open, Astrid stepped to the side so Hale could enter the room, he saw a middle-aged man in a white lab coat laying on the floor.
The bearded and clearly overweight man was laying on his back. As Hale took his first step into the room, he was startled by a loud blast that emitted from the Doctor. Hale narrowly prevented himself from crying out in surprise. I’ve never heard someone snore so loudly.
Astrid pointed to a chair set behind a large desk made of oak. Hale nodded to indicate he understood and tiptoed over to the chair. As quietly as he could, he removed the two weapons on his shoulders and set them on the floor. He winced as his right shoulder throbbed in protest from the movement.
Taking a deep breath, he bit down on his lower lip to avoid crying out. Successful in remaining quiet he then removed his coat, and his white snow pants, along with several layers of sweaters. Next, he picked the wooden office chair up and set it back a few feet from the desk. He ran his fingers over the wooden surface of the desk for a moment admiring its polished surface. He enjoyed the feel of the wood underneath his fingertips. As he moved them across the top of the desk, the sensitive nerve endings on his fingertips registered the feel of the grain and slight imperfections along the surface.
Finished admiring the desk, he lowered himself quietly into the chair. As Astrid gently shut the door, he put his feet up on the desk. Despite the racket the sleeping Doctor caused, Hale was asleep within minutes. As he slept, his mind was filled with dreams of conflict, killing, and hardship.
He awoke with a start. The bearded doctor was now standing over him, and sunshine streamed in through the room’s window, “Good Morning.” The man said.
Hale stifled a yawn and replied, “Good morning.”
“I’m Doctor Nooa. Mind if I get a look at your wound?”
Hale, still a bit disoriented from his slumber nodded his head slowly, but failed to take action. “Can you take that shirt off?” Dr. Nooa asked.
“Sure.” Hale responded sheepishly.
He pulled his undershirt up carefully trying to avoid the shooting pain any kind of movement caused in his shoulder. Failing he winced out loud. Dr. Nooa, ignoring Hale’s discomfort pushed the glasses up on his nose as he leaned over and examined the wound, “Whoever stitched you up did a good job. Do you remember his name?”
“Gar.” Hale replied. Dr. Nooa frowned at his response so he hastily added, “He never told me his last name.”
“No matter, whoever this Gar was did good work. He sewed you up nicely. I’m going to put some sulfa on it, to keep the infection away, then we need to see about finding you someplace to stay.” Dr. Nooa said.
Hale opened his mouth to speak when Dr. Nooa, snapped his fingers and said, “I almost forgot. Astrid said that your family is on a farm nearby. How far are they from here?”
“About five kilometers.” Hale replied.
“That’s too far for you to walk everyday so I can check up on you. Do they have a car, or a wagon?” Dr. Nooa asked.
“With this much snow on the ground a wagon is impractical. We have a sleigh.” Hale replied.
“Anything will do, as long as you don’t have to make the walk. What’s your family’s name? I can send someone out in our car to tell them to come get you.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler just to send me in the car?” Hale asked.
“No, I want them to come here so I can explain to them directly the care you will require.”
“I see Doctor, Korhonen is my surname.” Hale said.
“I just had another thought. Would anyone in the village know of you?” Dr Nooa asked.
Hale nodded, “We used to come into town a few times a month to shop at the store.”
“Then I could get shopkeeper Olley to send one of his boys with a message.” Dr. Nooa replied.
“I thought you were going to send a car directly?” Hale asked.
“I changed my mind. If we can pay someone to do it, that will save me from having to send a nurse in the car. With the hospital beyond capacity, everyone is needed here.” Dr. Nooa took a breath and pointed at the desk in front of Hale, “There’s some pen and paper right there. Care to right a note to your family?”
Hale blurted out enthusiastically, “Sure!”
I’m going home! Hale wrote the note to his family and handed it to Dr. Nooa. The older man took the note from Hale and turned to leave. Simultaneously, Astrid entered the room with a tray of food. She stepped around the Doctor’s impressive girth and placed the try on the desk in front of Hale. Hale’s mouth watered at the smell of sausage wafted up from a bowl of steaming hot soup.
“Care for some sausage soup?” Astrid asked, “You need to eat so you can heal.”
“Absolutely!” Hale replied excitedly as his stomach rumbled, reminding him, that he hadn’t eaten in a day.
He quickly lost track of the world around him as he enjoyed the soup, and the rye bread. Simply not having to pay attention was a luxury after several days of being hyper vigilant. As he ate, the Doctor handed Hale’s note to Astrid and said, “Can you take this to Olley and see if he can send one of his boys to the Korhonen farm?”
“Of course, Doctor.” Astrid replied.
After Hale finished his meal, his eyes grew heavy. He pushed the tray to the side, propped his feet on the desk, and fell back asleep. He awoke several hours later. As he opened his eyes, he noticed a middle-aged man standing in the doorway with graying hair. Hale wasn’t sure how long the man had stood there watching him. His eyes widened as he recognized the man and blurted out in surprise, “Dad!”
A middle-aged version of Hale stepped into the room. Behind him, his mother and Aina pushed his father to the side to get a look at him. The moment Aina caught sight of him, she squealed in delight and ran to him. As Hale stood up Aina wrapped her arms around his leg and his mother flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly, “Ouch!” Hale exclaimed.
Hale’s mom took a step back, a look of horror spreading across her face, “I’m sorry! Where are you hurt?”
“In the shoulder. One of the bas-.” Hale cut himself off as he looked down at Aina, “One of the Soviet’s stabbed me.”
“Did you get him?” His father asked.
“Yes father, he will not trouble Finland further.” Hale said.
“I’d like to hear more about your experiences, but not in front of the women.” Hale’s father replied.
“Later then.” Hale said. He kissed his mom on the cheek and then squatted down to look Aina in the eyes, “How have you been little pup?”
“Great! Mother has been teaching me how to bake cookies!” Aina exclaimed.
“Has she now?” Hale replied.
“Yes, and my kitchen has been a disaster.” His mom added.
Hale’s father interrupted, “You can both tell him all about it during the journey home. We must get going, the trip is a long one and it’s nearly dark. Aina shouldn’t be out after the sun goes down. It will be too cold for her.”
“She’ll be just fine underneath the blanket.” Mom snapped.