Chapter One

Some people have told me that you never truly appreciate something until it's gone. You try to make the best of each day...experiencing the small, happy moments and struggling with the difficult battles. I really do believe in the saying, Take things as they come. You can never know with certainty what will happen, no matter how much you would like to have control over every outcome in life.

I still remember what happened when I went into the tunnels last summer. I was about to wire some explosives together for an upcoming mission from the Underground. But then I found him, lying next to the ladder that led up to the tree stump.

At first I was taken aback. How did he get down here? Was he still...alive? I took a step closer, peering at him with concern.

He wasn't moving. One of his legs was bent at an awkward angle, from what I could tell, as if it was broken. Panic set in then — as carefully as I could, I took him up in my arms and moved to carry him to the medic's barracks. I tried to ignore my friend Peter Newkirk as I climbed into the living quarters of Barracks 2.

"Oi, there you are Andrew!" he said to me with a huge smile. "We thought you'd gotten lost down there..."

The glow in Newkirk's eyes dimmed, and his attention quickly shifted to the sorry fella in my arms.

"Carter, what in the blazes—?" he began.

But I didn't give him the chance to finish before I hurried out of the barracks. Thankfully I didn't have far to go — the camp medic, Sergeant Joe Wilson, resided in Barracks 4.

"Hang in there, buddy," I whispered. "I'm gonna help you the best way I can."

...

When I found Sergeant Wilson to explain the situation, he looked at me like I had sprouted another head. No — make that two heads.

"Okay," said Wilson after a lengthy pause, "let's see what I can do for our...friend."

I sighed in relief. I couldn't blame Wilson for reacting the way he did. After all, I had been just as surprised to find the poor guy down there in the tunnels to begin with. I followed Wilson to the designated medical building on the Stalag 13 compound.

Once we got there, hours seemed to pass in a blur. I didn't know how long we were actually there, but everything had suddenly come to a standstill in my state of concern. Eventually, Wilson finished his examinations and was able to set the fracture back in place.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye on him as he recovers," Wilson assured, with a small twitch of his mouth. "I have to say, though, this is definitely a first for me."

He glanced over at his patient, and the twitching persisted.

"To think I became a combat medic for this," Wilson said under his breath.

...

Over the next few days, I made a point to visit the infirmary at least once or twice. Colonel Hogan initially wasn't pleased when I informed him about the situation. But eventually he agreed to let Wilson continue caring for our unexpected patient. On that first day the colonel took a moment to address the issue with everyone — Newkirk, Kinch, and LeBeau in particular, as well as the rest of Barracks 2's prisoners.

"None of you let the kommandant catch wind of this," said Hogan. "I don't know how he'd react, but after the unpleasant surprise he had a couple days ago..."

He stopped mid-sentence in order to throw a particularly firm look toward me.

"Is that understood?" he asked, still holding my gaze. "The kommandant mustn't know anything."

I nodded, and the other guys copied the gesture. I heard Newkirk laugh dryly as the colonel dismissed us. He wasn't quite out of earshot yet when he said, "This camp's turning into a bloody zoo, I tell you!"

...

Notes

Hello there! Thank you for taking the time to read my first contribution to the Hogan's Heroes world. I'm experimenting a bit with my style and trying a "less is more" approach (don't blame me, blame Ernest Hemingway!) So my apologies if this creates any confusion.