Chapter 4

Benthe poured iodine over the puncture wounds on my leg and examined the piece of bone. She gently gripped it and moved it side to side. She instructed Boris to hold my leg as she pulled the bone splinter by the longer end.

Lana brought over a bowl of warm water and began to clean off my face and the wound on my head. I was aware of my body being touched, but not to the point of regaining consciousness. Boris went to the cupboard and brought over a large flask.

“Als hij wakker wordt, moet ik hem dronken voeren, zodat het de pijn verlicht.”

“If he wakes up, I’ll have to get him drunk so it eases the pain.” He took out the cork and took a good swig.

“Vier hem later.”

“Celebrate him later.”

Lana tenderly cleaned the dirt and blood from my face and matted hair. “Richard heeft een snee in zijn hoofd. Er lijkt niets gebroken te zijn.”

“Richard has a cut on his head. Nothing seems to be broken.”

“Noem hem, Richard, ben je dat al?”

“Calling him, Richard, already, are you?” Boris teased his daughter.

“Ik wil hem niet de hele tijd meneer Van Den Haven noemen.”

“I don’t want to call him Mister Van Den Haven all the time.”

“Ik verklaar jullie nu man en vrouw.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

“Papa, stop met me te plagen!”

“Papa, quit teasing me!” She smiled shyly, looking at me.

Benthe cleaned my wound, then threading the needle, began to sew up my leg and head wound. She dabbed iodine on the stitches then bandaged my leg. While her parents wrapped the bloody sheet, to later burn, Lana lifted the blanket to look again at my bare cock. Boris owns only three pairs of pants and thinking we were close to the same seize, helped Benthe to put a pair on me. She went to my head and dabbed iodine on my wound, wrapping a bandage around it.

“Hij warmt op.”

“He’s warming up,” Lana smiled, gently taking my hand in her palm.

“Ben je van plan om hem in de gaten te houden tot hij wakker wordt? Hij zal in de war zijn en zich afvragen waar hij is.”

“Do you plan on watching him until he wakes up? He’ll be confused and wonder where he is.”

“Ik neem een kaars en een deken mee. Ik wil de eerste zijn die hij ziet als hij wakker wordt.”

“I’ll take a candle and blanket with me. I want to be the first one he sees when he wakes up.”

“Met jouw engelachtige schoonheid zal hij denken dat hij is gestorven en naar de hemel is gegaan.”

“With your angelic beauty, he’ll think he’s died and gone to heaven.”

Boris and Benthe put one of his shirts on me and a pair of thick woollen socks. They agreed it was too dangerous for me to stay in the main house, so they managed to carry me up the stairs in the windmill to the top floor room.

Benthe made sure the curtain was closed to stop any light leaking out as Lana lit the small stove for heat. Boris left and returned with a pair of crutches for me to use and my rifle and webbing.

‘Hij is een soldaat. Als hij wakker wordt, gaat hij op zoek naar zijn geweer en munitie. Ik neem zijn munitie mee zodat hij niet per ongeluk een van ons neerschiet.’

“He’s a soldier. When he wakes up, he’ll be looking for his rifle and ammunition. I’ll take his ammunition so he doesn’t accidentally shoot one of us,” Boris explained.

Lana hugged and kissed her parents goodnight and curled up on the chair beside me, covering herself with the blanket. She stared at me, taking in my features and would adjust the blanket covering me if I stirred.

Lana had a watchful, occasionally sleeping night, as I slept like I hadn’t in months.