Soul to the Rhine

Chapter 95 Follow-up
The end of August 1942 was the heaviest experience in her life. Even though she came into this world, she had never been so sad.

After all, the death of friends and colleagues cannot compare with blood relations. This is the power of blood relations, even if it is only that little.

Rosia didn't know how long she had been lying here. There seemed to be fragments in her memory, as if she had just laid down not long ago.But her body told her that this was wrong and she wanted to drink water.

She can't get up.

Time passed little by little, and her thoughts drifted in the empty space. I don't know how long it took, but there was a rapid knock on the door outside. The person who came seemed a little irritable. After knocking for a while, he ran out of patience and kicked it open.

"You crazy Rosia, do you want to die with me?" A roar came from Heinrich. He came in with his back to the light. There was a pinging sound on the table, and then a glass of water was poured over.

Rosia closed her eyes, and the cold water flowed over her mouth, slowly dripped from her face, and flowed into her clothes. The cold touch finally made her wake up completely.

Heinrich stepped over, pulled her up roughly, held her shoulders, and stared at her with his ice-blue eyes: "Werner is dead, do you want to die too, you idiot! "

Rosia listened to him in silence.

Heinrich became even more angry: "You want to die, I don't mind wasting a gun, you..."

Rosia suddenly stretched out her hands to wrap around his waist, clasped her fingers tightly, and rested her head lightly on it.Heinrich's body stiffened instantly, his voice stopped abruptly, and he was at a loss.He still held the pistol in his hand, but stopped in mid-air.

"Leave me alone for a while, it will be fine in a while."

Rosia leaned against him and rubbed her head slowly.As soon as she sat up, those things that had finally been settled floated up again and wandered around in her chest.

Heinrich froze beside the bed. He couldn't feel anything, but he knew that she was crying silently.

After a while.

"I didn't want to die, I'm just a little sad... I still can't believe it..." Her voice was hoarse, and she stared at the pattern on the belt outside his uniform, slowly uncovering the scars: "Werner shouldn't have left. ...If I didn't make a mistake...if there was another method, if pericardiocentesis was not used, he would have survived, he would have survived."

Rosia slowly closed her eyes, tears flowing down uncontrollably.

The head on her waist and abdomen shook slightly, and Heinrich stiffly dropped the gun in his hand. His bandaged hand hesitated in the air for a moment, then placed it on her back, patting her mechanically and gently.

His hands were cold, even biting, but it made Rosia feel like she was under the care of her parents. A sense of grievance and sadness immediately filled her heart.

"I'm a pure Chinese. It's already painful for me to get mixed up with you. I don't want to have anything to do with you. You destroyed my home, captured my friends, and even had them killed. Henry, Dill, and so many of my colleagues. You moved me around and I never had a few days of peace of mind. I should hate you, but I do."

Heinrich's body became even stiffer.

"But, you have helped me countless times. You just obeyed orders, so how can I hate you. What I should hate is the person you have always trusted and regarded as God, the person in power." Rosia knew The person next to her will go to the battlefield sooner or later, but unlike Werner, she has no position to advise.

Heinrich's hand stopped, his voice was a little strange, and his chest vibrated slightly: "I understand what you mean, I don't blame you for what happened to Werner."

Then his tone became cold again, as if he was swearing, as if giving himself a firm belief, and whispered: "I will make those damn Ivans pay with their blood!"

……

In early September, Aunt Mesa fell ill.

Although she was still awake and no serious illness could be found in the hospital, she was indeed very ill, weak and mentally lethargic.This is considered a mental illness, and the treatment is not as fast as her getting out of the shadows.

It took Rosia three days to accept the reality. Because of the abnormal reaction during the operation, she was "sent" home by Dr. Jim, who asked her to reflect for two weeks before going back to work.This was an excuse to give her a holiday, and Rosia, who was not in a good mental state herself, readily accepted his offer.

Pino received initial treatment and his condition has stabilized. He did not want to stay in the hospital alone, so he went home and will go to the hospital for regular check-ups in the future.

However, even though he was young, he could still detect the change in the atmosphere from the reactions of the two adults.There are still three people in the family, but it seems like something is missing.

Rosia fumbled in the kitchen to make something to eat. Her skills were not good, and Aunt Meisha was not used to Chinese food, so she had to make do with it.Carrying it upstairs, she pushed open the door with one hand. The room was quiet, and Aunt Mesa was sitting on the bed with half the quilt, no expression on her face, just looking out the window quietly.There is a large field of cornflowers, which are colorful and blooming beautifully.

Rosia knew that this beautiful flower was the national flower of Germany and could be found everywhere on hillsides, fields, watersides, roadsides, and in front of and behind houses in Germany.It symbolizes the humility, prudence and modesty of the German people.Rosia also likes this kind of flower, but this is France. In Paris, iris is planted everywhere, and cornflowers are rarely seen.

She walked over and opened the curtains wider. The dazzling summer sun shone in, making the whole room bright.

"Auntie, can you have something to eat?"

Rosia sat down on the chair next to the bed and put the things on the bedside table.Aunt Mesa's expression moved slightly, she looked away, looked at the things above and nodded.

Rosia quickly picked up a bowl of porridge and fed her to drink. The weather temperature and the temperature of the food were just right, and it was time for people to get better.

After taking a few bites, Aunt Mesa suddenly raised her head and asked, "Where is Heinrich?"

Rosia was stunned, then scooped another spoonful of porridge and fed it to her, shaking her head: "I don't know, I haven't seen him for several days."

Aunt Mesa's expression was very sad. In fact, she had always been like this these days. She pushed the porridge bowl, and she didn't want to eat anymore.

Rosia didn't force her. People who were already hungry shouldn't eat too much at once, so half a bowl was enough for the time being.She thought for a while, and took out an unopened letter from her pocket: "Auntie, do you want to read the letter? The letter I just received today seems... to be from Werner."

There was nothing strange about it, except that front-line communication was slow, and Werner’s letter home came later than his people.

When she received the letter, she wanted to open it and read it. However, she had already come out of her devastating emotions. These should be left to the people who should see them first.

Aunt Mesa's body moved slightly, and her calm features were slightly moved.He took it carefully and spent a long time just looking at the name on the envelope.As she watched, she suddenly took a deep breath, and Rosia saw tears flashing in her eyes.

After opening the letter, several pieces of letter paper were taken out.In the almost four years since 1939, Werner has not sent a letter with so many words. For a moment, Aunt Mesa was also stunned.

She slowly flattened the first sheet, starting with the first word.

Rosia stood up and cleared the plates. This was a silent communication between mother and son that no one should interrupt.

The weather in early September can be said to be the most pleasant of the year, neither cold nor hot, and the sun is bright but not dazzling.Pino was sitting by the large floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, drawing, with two carving knives beside him.

She put the dishes back into the kitchen and after washing them, she walked over to Pino and poked her head in to see what he was drawing.

"Hey!" Pino turned his head suddenly, as if premeditated, and yelled, Rosia was so frightened that he staggered and almost fell to the ground.

"Hahaha!" He made a face at Rosia, and when he saw her dark face about to pounce, he immediately raised the painting on the table and blocked it between the two of them.

"Take a look, am I good at painting?"

Rosia pulled down his little hand angrily and pointed at his nose: "Kid, do you expect this trick to make me forgive you?"

Pino blinked his eyes, innocent and cute: "Sister, aren't you willing to forgive me?"

"..."

The kid who can act cute is the scariest thing!

Rosia took the drawing paper angrily and glanced at it. It turned out to be a pattern of the Grand Knight's Iron Cross.

This is the highest honor awarded to German soldiers by the Third Reich. Although it is useless in her opinion, it is indeed a supreme honor. At least all Germans will respect you when they see it.But she had only seen this medal in books, how could Pino know about it.

After asking, the kid took out one directly: "Someone just sent it, saying it was a medal awarded to Werner's brother. They had already held some kind of commemorative ceremony in Berlin, and also engraved my brother's name on the monument. Sent over."

Rosia took it and took a look. It was quite heavy. The ribbon on it looked very solemn, and there was the word "1939" in the lower corner with a swastika in the middle.

Just such a thing represents the highest level warrior of the empire, which Werner gave his life for.

But what's the use of holding it? This person has passed away. Should he use it as a decoration on the tombstone?
She put the medal in the box on the table, looked at Pino, and suddenly felt that it was time to say something to him.

"Pino, do you know which country you are from?"

"Poland!" He did not hesitate.

"No." Rosia shook his head: "You are not Polish, you are German. You must remember that at least before 1945, you were German. If someone checks you, you must say so."

Pino didn't understand why she warned her like this, but he still nodded honestly.

"Be good!" Rosia rubbed his little head: "I took the things away. Don't draw these things in the future. Look at the flowers, grass, lakes, and sunshine outside. Every one of them has its own beauty."

Pino seemed to understand, so Rosia closed the box on the table, rubbed his head again, got up and went upstairs.

She pushed open Aunt Mesa's room and found that Aunt Mesa had already gotten up.

Rosia quickly ran over: "Aunt, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!"

Aunt Mesa smiled and shook her head. Her eyes were red and the corners of her eyes were moist. She had obviously cried not long ago.But seeing her smile for the first time in so many days, Rosia still felt a sense of relief and joy.

There were several pieces of letter paper on the table, and the words on them were faintly visible. The papers were swaying slightly with the gentle breeze blowing in from the window.Aunt Mesa raised her hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, faced the sun, and said with a smile: "Sia, Werner said, you and Heinrich are engaged!"

"..."

Rosia stood stunned on the spot.

She turned around and reached out to pat Rosia on the shoulder: "That's great. I've been thinking about what kind of guy I should find for you. You know, in my heart, Werner is the best. I hope you If I can be with him, we can live together for the rest of our lives. But it’s not bad now, it’s good.”

Aunt Mesa was really happy, and the sun seemed to be blooming on her face.To her, Werner was her child, and Heinrich, whom she had raised for many years, was not considered a child.

"It's just that we should advise him not to be like Werner. He is now a family man, and his responsibilities should be shared with his wife."

Rosia was petrified for a while, and finally reacted. She swallowed and said with difficulty: "Aunt, actually you misunderstood."

She didn't know how Werner knew about this, but she felt that Heinrich would never tell it on his own, and it was probably the second lieutenant Dick who did it.

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Are you not engaged?"

Rosia felt helpless at Aunt Mesa's strange recovery ability. She shook her head: "No, it's just a strange combination of circumstances... It's like, it's like, a fake marriage for some purpose!"

"...Fake, get married?" Aunt Mesa didn't understand what she meant at all.

"Should, yes!" Rosia didn't know how to define it. At least she hadn't had the chance to talk to Heinrich about it until now, and Heinrich didn't seem to treat her any differently than before. He was still a cruel and crazy ghost, still full of Nazi ideas, and still didn't take her seriously.

I have to say that this way of getting along made her feel at ease, inexplicably at ease.

But Aunt Mesa couldn't understand it at all. In this era, there was no concept of fake marriage, or in other words, marriage was still a sacred thing.Although there are many, many people who will be unfaithful in marriage, there are still the most regular patterns in the era of feudalism and free exchange.

"Whose idea was this?"

"Heinrich!" Rosia did not hesitate.

Aunt Mesa seemed to be looking at her with sympathy: "Sia, haven't you seen the Nuremberg Laws?"

"what?"

"Don't you know that in your marriage, even if one party dies, you must continue to be loyal to your partner, including Heinrich?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)