Part 13 (1/2)
”Special how?”
”He is a friend of Ernst's.”
Hannah's heart skipped a beat. ”Is Onkel Ernst here, too?” She had not seen him in a year. Was he really back?
”Yes. Well, no. He had to . . . to step outside.”
Hannah opened her mouth to inquire further when another noise from the bedroom stopped her. She hesitated, then placed it: it sounded like wood being sawed.
CHAPTER 20.
The surgery lasted less than twenty minutes. Although Charlie had remained semi-conscious the whole time, his moans eventually subsided. After Wen-Cheng tied the final suture, he wrapped thick cotton bandages over the freshly created stump.
Charlie swivelled his head drunkenly from side to side while Sunny discreetly tucked the sack holding his amputated limb under the bed.
As Franz was slipping his gloves off, Wen-Cheng said, ”Surely you cannot keep the general here.”
Franz jerked his head up, one glove still hanging from his hand. ”How long have you known?”
”Since the moment I laid eyes on him,” Wen-Cheng said as he bent over to finish wrapping the wound.
”Another one,” Franz muttered, struck again by how fortunate they were to have not already been arrested. He doubted that their good fortune could hold up for much longer. ”I never dreamed Charlie would end up here in our own home.”
”He cannot stay.” Wen-Cheng pointed to the door. ”Not with children out there.”
”Absolutely not,” Sunny agreed.
Wen-Cheng frowned, deep in thought. ”Perhaps we could keep him at my apartment.”
Sunny shook her head. ”No, Wen-Cheng. That would be too great a risk for you.”
Wen-Cheng stared at her for a moment before he turned his attention back to the bandages around Charlie's stump. ”Bao Chun has sacrificed far more than I ever have.” He paused. ”Or ever will.”
”Frenchtown is full of spies and informants, Wen-Cheng,” Sunny murmured. ”What if the j.a.panese found him in your home?”
Franz tried not to read too much into the intimacy of his wife's tone. ”Besides, how would we get Charlie to Frenchtown?” he asked. ”He's in no shape to travel.”
”This is true,” Wen-Cheng said.
Franz ma.s.saged his temples. ”It would be best to take Charlie somewhere nearby.”
Sunny nodded. ”In the ghetto. Somewhere any of us could tend to him.”
”What more can any of us do for him now?” Wen-Cheng asked.
Franz saw the doctor's point, but his pessimistic tone still irked him. ”The kind of care-dressing changes, painkillers and so on-that we would offer any post-operative patient,” he said pointedly.
”Franz? Sunny?” Ernst's frantic voice penetrated the bedroom door. ”Is it over?”
Wen-Cheng motioned toward the door. ”Go talk to him. I will stay and watch Charlie.”
Franz followed Sunny into the apartment's main room, closing the bedroom door firmly behind him.
Esther sat holding Jakob to her chest under a blanket. Ernst stood near the door with an arm draped protectively over Hannah's shoulder. He had found another cigarette and he waved it at them with his free hand. ”Well?”
”Hannah-chen!” Franz cried. ”What are you doing home?”
”They cancelled school today, Papa.”
”Yes, lucky for me they did.” Ernst pulled Hannah tighter against him. ”Now, please. How is Charlie?”
Sunny gave Hannah a little grin before turning to Ernst. ”There were no surprises,” she said, electing not to mention the ineffective anaesthetic.
”Can I see him?” Ernst asked.
”Give him a few minutes,” Sunny said. ”He has not fully woken up.”
”Papa, Mr. Ghoya came to our school,” Hannah said. ”He brought n.a.z.is with him. They went through the cla.s.srooms. They even spoke to the princ.i.p.al and some of the teachers.”
Ernst made a face. ”What could those cretins possibly want with your school?”
Franz didn't want to alarm Hannah any further with the news that the same men had trooped through the hospital as though they owned it. ”You know the n.a.z.is, Liebchen. They have to know what we are up to at all times.”
Hannah's face quivered. ”Why can't they just leave us be?”
As she clung to Ernst's side, Franz saw Hannah's teenage defiance melt away. She was still just his child. ”Doesn't matter what they are up to, Hannah.” Franz forced a smile for her. ”Colonel Kubota is now ultimately responsible for the refugees. And he will not let them harm us.”
”Do you really think so, Papa?”
”Absolutely.” He hoped he sounded more certain than he felt.
”So what happens now?” Esther asked from her chair.
Sunny looked blankly to Franz. Before he could answer, they heard a sharp knock at the apartment door.
Silence swallowed the room. No one moved. The knocks only grew louder.
Sunny started for the door, but Franz shot out a hand to hold her back. He considered trying to hide the women and children but realized that it would be pointless. There was nowhere to conceal them.
Go away! Leave us be! Franz thought as he moved toward the door, his heart in his throat. His hand trembled as he slowly pulled the door open. Recognizing Joey and Yang at the threshold, Franz almost laughed in relief.
Joey burst into the room, anxious for details. Yang entered warily, reminding Franz of a stray cat that sensed danger but was too hungry to pa.s.s up the prospect of milk. The tiny woman looked even more frail than the last time Franz had seen her. Most of the locals were justifiably frightened of the j.a.panese, but Yang's terror ran deeper. Soldiers had gunned down her little brother and sister-in-law in the first days of the invasion. Her brother, whom Yang had practically raised, had still been alive when she found him on the sidewalk, clutching at his wife's cold wrist and whimpering for help that was never to come.
Sunny rushed over to Yang and enfolded her in a hug. They chatted in Chinese for a moment, then Yang glanced over Sunny's shoulder at Franz and muttered in Shanghainese.