My German lover : Part 1

Then the young officer leaned to his Superior and explained all he had learned from the nurse. Hearing the old lady was dying, the older officer said to the younger one:

"(I'm sorry to hear that... Does he know?)"

"(No, not yet...)"

"(... Well... since his story is true... Do as you said Wilhelm... Take a jeep and drive him to his mome... check his papers and if everything is in good order, let him go... But until you have checked his papers, don't loose sight of him, you understand? Give me a call when you can, to let me know...)"

"(Yes, Sir... I understand he's under my responsibility... Can I take my bag now, Sir?)"

"(... Your bag?)"

"(Yes, Sir... Since I knew I was going on leave at the end of the day, I've packed some civilian clothes into my bag this morning... you know... to be ready to go...)"

"(Oh, sure... take it and go now Wilhelm, before I change my mind...)"

The young officer explained everything to Paul, whom was simply dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. He just couldn't beleive it... The young officer was brightly smiling at him now...

"Shall we go now?" the young officer asked Paul.

"Oh, yes, yes" Paul answered as he rose from his chair. He turned to the older officer and warmly said to him:

"Merci beaucoup Monsieur. Merci. Vous etes un type bien..." (Thanks a lot, Sir. Thanks. You're a good man...)

Guessing what Paul had just said to him, the German officer started smiling and said:

"Wir sind keine barbaren..."

Paul looked at the young officer for the translation...

"...He said "We are not barbarians"...

"...Oh..." Paul said "I guess not... I mean..."

"See what you mean..." the young officer said, smiling again...

Looking at the young officer smiling at him, Paul couldn't refrain from thinking that that guy was indeed very good-looking... and now that the young officer was standing behind the table... he could see the German guy was taller than he had thought at first... probably about 6'3... Paul extended his hand to the older officer and said:

"Encore une fois Monsieur: Merci" (Once again, Sir: Thanks)

"Ya, Ya..." the older officer said... and they briefly shook hands.

The young officer put his service dress tunic back on him... took his officer's cap... then his bag... and, looking at his Superior, he said to him:

"(Don't worry, Sir, everything will be alwirht. I'll keep you informed...)"

"(Yes... and Wilhelm... if his papers are in good order, why don't you give this poor lad a ride to the hospital...)"

"(That's exactly what I was going to do, Sir...)"

"(Fine. Have fun during your leave... And never forget Wilhelm... You're not in Berlin here... Be very careful...)"

"(Yes, Sir. I will...)"

With that, both Paul and the young German officer left the room. They went to an underground parking where the young officer had to fill a form; they both got into a jeep, then drove out of the underground parking. For the first time, Paul realized where they had been: At Hotel Meurice, on rue de Rivoli. Right in front of them were the Tuileries garden and the Louvre Museum.

"Now you're gonna have to tell me where to go, if we want to find that hospital..." the young officer said to paul.

"Um..." Paul answered "Aren't we suppose to go to my house to get my papers?"

"No time for that now... We'll see to that later. Lets go to the hospital first..."

And thet the young officer explained everything to Paul, concerning his Grandmother...

"I'm sorry Paul..." and while saying that, the young officer placed a hand supportively on Paul's arm... At that, Paul managed a small smile of gratitude. But tears stood in his eyes.

"Thanks Sir" Paul said...

"Oh, please, call me Wilhelm..."

"Can I call you "Will" instead... would be easier for me you know... German names are a bit difficult for me to pronounce" said Paul, sensing the young officer was an easy-going guy.

"Sure... so "Will" it shall be..."

"Thanks".

"Now, tell me where to go, please..."

"Oh, sure... The hospital is not very far from here..."

A few minutes later, they were parked in front of the Hotel-Dieu Hospital. Will knew no one would object to a German army jeep being parked right in front of the Hospital. Oh, no... They got out of the jeep and ran into the Hospital. Looking at the door-keeper, Paul said to him:

"Bonjour, I'm here to see my Grandmother, Madame De Brion..."

The door-keeper just kept fearfully looking at the young German officer facing him... Seeing the guy was scared as hell, Paul said:

"Don't worry, I know where my Grandmother is admitted..."

"Oh... then go ahead..." the door-keeper said, too scared to say anything else...

At that, Will grinned at Paul, removed his officer's cap ad followed Paul into the hospital corridors. They rapidly got to where Paul's Grandmother was admitted, and seeing nurse Giroux, Paul said to her:

"Bonjour, garde, I hope we're not too late..."

Nurse Giroux kindly smiled at Paul, then looked at the young German officer, not at all impressed by the fact she had an enemy officer right in front of her. She raised an ayebrow though, looking straight into Will's blue eyes...

Slightly bowing to her, Will very politely said:

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle... I'm Unterfeldwebel Wilhelm Von Rundstedt... We spoke over the phone earlier today...".

"Yes... I do remember" the nurse politely answered...

She then eyed the young German officer from head to foot and in the end, she had to admit to herself this young officer was very handsome, very polite and not at all threatening, as she would have expected a German officer to be. He had a very pleasant voice and was speaking French very well. Nurse Giroux was surprised and puzzled by that fact. She smiled at the officer, and told him:

"You certainly understand we are not used having a German officer in this hospital...

Will gave her his most charming smile and replied:

"Oh, yes, Mademoiselle, I do understand... I assure you I would have prefered meeting you under more... pleasant...circumstances. But things being what they are..."

"Yes... but rest assured Sir I have no ill-feeling for you personally... You're not personally responsable for the mess we're in now..." the nurse said.

Will nodded to her, letting her know he was perfectly aware of that.

That's the time Paul chose to make his presence known again...

"Sorry, Monsieur Paul" nurse Giroux said to him "... No, you are not too late... but I'm sorry to tell you your Grandmother is not well at all. The doctor saw her earlier today and... well... I'm very much affraid there is nothing we can do to save her now... you know her condition... and at her age..."

"I understand" Paul answered to her "It was to be expected, I guess... Could I see her now?"

"Of course... She's still conscious... We gave her a strong pain kiler to releive her pain. She's resting now. So you can see her... but please Monsieur Paul, do not alarm her with he... recent news..."

"I wont, rest assured I wont..."

"Gentlemen please, follow me."

Nurse Giroux lead them to the room where Paul's Grandmother was and before entering the room, Will said to Paul:

"... Better for me to stay outside... you know... with my uniform and all..."

"Thanks Will. I appreciate that" Paul replied.

Again nurse Giroux gently smiled at Will. Obviously, she was growing very found of him, and that made her feel a bit uncomfortable... He was German, after all... Nevertheless, she found it was very tactful of him to decide not to enter the room with Paul. With that in mind, she left.

Paul went to his Grandmother's bed, put her hands into his and said to her:

"Grandma... it's me... Paul..."

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Paul...

"Oh, you're here... I was hopeless... I thought you would never come..."

"How could you think such a thing Grandma. You know I would never leave you like that..."

"I know..." she answered... "I'm just an old silly lady... How are you Paul... How is everything..."

"I'm just fine Grandma... everything is okay..."

"Are we still fighting them?"

"I beg you pardon?"

"You know... the Germans... have we been able to stop them and ride them back to where they came from, like we did the last time?"

Knowing perfectly well Will would be able to hear him outside the room, Paul nevertheless answered:

"Oh, yes Grandma, they are no longer threatening Paris... they have been stopped by General Weygand and now, he's driving them out of France. I've even heard... but you know... those are just gossips..."

"What, what... tell me..."

"Well, I heard hat when the news of his total defeat reached Hitler, e just killed himself..."

"Aaaaah... How wonderful... I hope it's true..."

Of course, outside the room, Will had heard everything... and he was now grinning...

"Now Grandma you've got to get some rest... You've got all agitated... That's not good for you, you know..." Paul said to her.

"Yes, you're right Paul... I do need to rest... Paul?

"Yes, Grandma?"

"I love you so much Paul... and I love all the rest of the family... Will you tell them, Paul?"

"Yes, Gradma, I will. But don't worry, soon you will be able to tell them yourself..."

At that, she smiled to Paul and slowly closed her eyes. She was peacefully resting now. Paul brought a chair to her bed and sat down, holding her hand, looking at her... Then, he got lost into his thoughts.

His Grandmother had just told him she loved him. All along, deep in his heart, he knew his Grandmother did love him. It's just that in the past, she never said it.... It runs in the family, Paul thought to himself: All of them always had problems expressing their feelings... How come it's so hard to say "I love you" to the people you love? Do you have to be dying before telling some one you love him? That's stupid, Paul thought. He knew he was not much better at it than his Grandma but, having realized that, from now on, he would be working on that...

Paul looked again at his Grandma. She seemed to be resting very calmly. Thinking about her, Paul went back to his thoughts.

Of course, he had known the old lady since the day he was born. They had never been very close to one another, though. She had always been kind of a "Grand lady", he thought. Very aristocratic. A bit distant. She kept to herself. She had always been a pillar to the family and had to keep the facade crackless... She was playing her role. That was so silly, Paul thought. Would he have loved her less if she had showed her feelings to him? Not at all. Was he like her? If so, he would have to changed that too. Life was too short to spend it playing roles...

Paul realized that for the first time since the last four or five days, he had time to relax, to think. Now, he had time to reflect over all the events he had been through recently.

Up until a day or two, is life had always been very easy. His family had money... and so he had always been spoiled. Not that money was a problem now, or would be in the future. No. He had lots of money. His dad had seen to that. No. It's just that up until recently, everything had been provided to him by others... he never had to assume responsabilities... he had been growing inside a golden cocoon. Nothing bad had ever happened to him in the past. He had always been very well protected...

As his thoughs wandered, Paul began to remember that, just five days ago, he had been sitting with friends at a cafe-terrasse ton the Champs Elysees Avenue, illegally drinking beers. That was fun! It was early summer. They were all laughing. To Paul and this friends, as to most people in Paris, war was a very distant threat. There was no danger at all, it seemed: The Maginot Line was there to protect them and they all knew that Line was so strong, the Germans could never go throught in. Even his father had said so. Yeah. There was no threat at the time. Theatres were crowded... as were the restaurants... Every body was having fun...

Then suddenly, everything had come to a halt. The German army was almost here, dangerously treatning Paris. Paul didn't know at the time the Germans had simply ignored the Maginot Line and had gone through Belgium instead, through deep woods, and that by doing so, they had successfully broken the Allied's front. No, Paul didn't know that at the time, no more than he knew the meaning of the word "Blitzkrieg"...