The Wounded & Brave (Liesl)

[∬: Gero A. Fritz]

Limping upon his left leg, Unteroffizier Fritz held a blooded field bandage against the top of his injured right thigh, where blood seeped out of a large flesh wound protruding through the darkened torn fabric of his uniform trousers. The wound looked as if it were a large flesh wound, perhaps caused by a gunshot or piece of flying shrapnel, but no matter how it was caused, it looked horrendous none the less and required medical attention to help stem the bleeding and have it bandaged properly. The Unteroffizier was no doctor or magician in the art of medicine, he only knew how to cause such wounds and pain upon his foes, not fix them. He was a soldier, that was all he was.

Alongside Unteroffizier Fritz were four more wounded men, all of them cradling their own battle scars to be mended. One man was missing his right hand entirely, shivering feverishly with a pale complexion from the blood loss he’d suffered, his comrades helping him to walk as he weakly shambled forward with his tired and weary legs. The men’s morale had fallen to a low, but they continued to walk with pride and strength, despite feeling as though they were retreating - running away from their comrades. They were of no use to anyone wounded however, they needed medical attention to live to fight another day.

Stopping, Unteroffizier Frtiz noticed a small town in the distance and looked to the wounded men following his lead. “Come, not far left to travel” he said to the men at his side, hoping to raise their spirits and morale for the last leg of their journey. Gero himself sucked in a hard breath of air as he pushed onwards upon his wounded leg, beginning to drag it a little behind himself as he attempted to grin and bear the pain of the wound upon his thigh. With every step it seemed as if more blood oozed from between his fingers, clutching the bloodied bandages against the wound, leaving a bloodied spattered trail behind himself with every step he strode.

The small band of wounded men shuffled their way along the dirt-road slowly, helping one another with every step they made, knowing they hadn’t much further to travel. One of the soldiers fell to his knees breathlessly as they neared the town, having to be dragged back to his feet by his comrades and pushed to walk the last stretch of distance. Gero prayed they found some help from within the village, none of them had the strength or courage left to travel much further if they didn’t find any help from within the village. The men had already used up the last of their strength and with each of them suffering their own wounds, they were weaker than they’d ever been and had no fight left to give.

[Liesl Von Stauffenberg]

Liesl blew a stand of her dark chocolate brown hair out of her face as she patched up a wounded soldier. She let out a sigh, checking the plasma that was hooked on to him if it was attached correctly by the medic. She smiled gently at the pained soldier, continuously whispered encouraging words to him, knowing it won’t do any good as long as his wounds prove to be fatal.
“Move him to the recovery side of the building!” she said in German, ushering two nurses over to her.
Both nurses nodded and quickly moved the man into the recovery part of the abandoned building. The once beautiful tiled floors of the building was now stained with blood, the sweet smell of old wood was replaced with the sharp smell of medication, and sourness of sweat and blood. Its dark grey walls echoed constantly with moans of ailing soldiers, enough to make one go crazy. What could she do…she was only one person…no matter how hard she tried, she’d always end up losing a life, perhaps one of a son or a father, uncle or brother? Who knows….Liesl never really paid attention to their names or even get close to her patients. She focused on her work in order to not have an emotional attachment, knowing her job will prove to be difficult if she let herself become emotionally attached to them.
Liesl shook her head trying to drown out the moans. She exhaled a deep breath and began to work on another soldier. As soon as she finished a nurse ran into the emergency part of the bulding.
“Fraulein Sanitätsobergefreiter!!!” she cried in a worried tone.
Liesl quirked her eyebrow, wondering what the nurse was worried about; wiping her hands she briskly walked over to her. Before she could say anything the nurse pointed in the direction of the soldiers.
“Oh…gott” murmured Liesl as she turned her attention back to the other nurse, “I need you to get clean gauzes, water, plasma and morphine ready. “ she paused for a moment trying to think of a place to put the men. “Prepare a place in the emergency part of the building so we can work on them as soon as we can. And if you can, get some people to help and make room.”
The nursed nodded and left her side to do what she asked.
Without hesitation Liesl ran over to help the men into their makeshift hospital. Immediately se ran up to a man she assumed was in charge of the group, “How many are hurt?” she asked looking at the man.
Gears were turning in her head trying to determine how much room the men would accommodate the room…if needed, some of the people in the recovery part of the abandoned building would need to be moved.

[∬: Gero A. Fritz]

Eventually making it into the small rural town, the group of wounded soldiers seamlessly ran out of energy and one by one, they either fell to their knees or recoiled in a manner of regaining their strength. Unteroffizier Fritz leaned weakly against a small waist-high stone wall by his side and exhaled heavily, looking to the bloodied wound upon his thigh, as he gently raised his cupped hand over the wound to reveal a gouging torn piece of flesh seeping blood still. It was a miracle he had made it this far by foot, he must have lost a fair amount of blood already and using his last strength to walk upon his injured leg must have meant he’d lost more than he’d care to remember. As every pressing step meant squeezing more of his precious life force from out of his wound.

Turning to his tired band of men whom either fell to their ground or weakly used whatever surrounded them to keep themselves standing, the Unteroffizier was quickly brought back to his senses as a flurried rush of nurses and doctors emerged from nearby. Time seemed to pass slowly as Gero watched them approach in haste, descending like angels from the heavens above; a small smile passed Gero’s lips as a warm feeling overcame his body. He had accomplished what he needed to do, he’d got his men to safety and now his duty was done, he could now rest… He could sleep…

As Gero’s eyes slowly closed, he felt a warm presence before himself, words spoken with a delicate tone to his ears. Openings his eyes once more he faced the young beautiful nurse stood before him and smiled weakly, his body growing weak as he felt himself slide downwards against the wall he was leaning against and dropped onto his bottom onto the ground. He’d lost a lot of blood and his complexion was pale, he could barely muster the strength to form the words to her questioning. “Ja… Just us” he murmured, having to lick his dry lips as he looked up to her. “Nobody else… Survived” he added lastly, his tiresome eyes watching the angel like figure standing before himself.

Gero’s hand slowly fell from the wound on his leg that continued to bleed, almost as if it were too much strength to apply pressure to the area anymore. His bloodied hand laid at his side, his body looking knackered and tired, his features distinguishing a battle worn expression. He was more concerned about his men’s wellbeing than his own, as he watched the various other nurses and doctors attend to the wounded.

[Liesl Von Stauffenberg]

Several nurses and doctors ran out of the abandoned building towards the injured men and immediately began helping them into the emergency part of the building. Liesl stopped in midsentance as the man started to slip down the wall. "Scheiße..." she cursed in German, grabbing a hold of the soldier's arm and gently eased him on to the ground.
She stooped to his level, lightly placing her hand against his neck with her index and middle finger pressed against the hallow between the windpipe and the large muscle of his neck. Her teal blue eyes hardened focusing on the rate of his pulse, doing her best to remember what she had been taught at the nursing school. That's not a good sign...he might not make it make it if we move him. she thought.
Her gaze fell on the features of his face, noticing his eyes droop drowsily and the color of his face start to fade. She bit her light pink lip lightly, mumbling a quiet apology before forcibly shoving her hand against the wound. She winced a little, feeling a bit guilty she's causing more pain than help. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly hoping the pain would keep him awake long enough to be treated properly and hopefully save his life.
"Sir, I know you are exhausted from your journey...but, right now it's best you try not to fall asleep." she muttered calmly.
As she applied pressure, blood began to seep through her fingers making her grip rather slippery as she reached for her syringe of morphine in her pocket. In the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of another nurse, "Fraulein! I may need an I.V and some gauze!" she called out. The nurse nodded and ran back towards the building.
Liesl glanced at his wound,"Looks like you got a nasty wound...would you be so kind to tell me what happened?" she asked in a seemingly gentle tone as she fumbled with the sterilized syringe of morphine,"Do you have any other injuries?" she asked trying to start a conversation to keep the man awake. She flicked some air bubbles from the syringe as she spoke; without giving the soldier a chance to answer, she drove the needle of the syringe into his thigh.