Volume II - Episode 16 Where: Cologne, Germany When: 1 month and 5 days after E-Day, 4:56 am It was so hard to wake up. But somebody was shaking her and speaking in German. "Catherine! Wach auf! Wach auf, Catherine!" Slowly, reluctantly, Cathy opened her eyes. She was terribly confused. She had no idea where she was or what was going on. She had memories of being in a hospital room, and of being hit in the face by a soldier, but now she was in a different room, a much larger room, surrounded by hissing machines, chemical drips and beeping medical equipment. A woman in a nurse's uniform was shaking her awake, not unkindly. Cathy looked down and saw that she was still in bed, though this one was much cleaner than the last one had been. The last bed was covered in blood. Her blood. But this one was clean and fresh. She was still naked, but a blanket had been draped over her this time. She raised her damaged left hand and found it wrapped in bandages. Strangely, the wrappings stayed motionless when she wiggled her fingers. Her body was numb. She felt no pain. "Wie fühlst du dich?" the nurse asked. Cathy stared at her blankly. "Sprichst Du Deutsch?" Cathy said nothing. "English?" the woman asked. "American," Cathy answered huskily. "Okay," the nurse said, smiling. "They said you were American, but I thought you might speak German. Your name is Catherine?" "Cathy, yes. Please...where am I? What happened?" "You're in St. Angeline Hospital, in Cologne. We've taken it over as part of our base here." "We?" "The German military." "So you're one of them?" The nurse tapped her name tag and nodded. "Lieutenant Monika Beike, 132nd Support Battalion, 29th Mechanised Brigade, Hexenjägern Division." She looked around to make sure nobody else was in earshot: "But don't worry - I'm one of the good guys. I'm not going to hurt you." "What happened?" Cathy asked, looking down at her bandaged hand. "What did you...what did you do to me?" "You were in a car accident. Do you remember?" "Yes, but...my hand." "They brought you in," the nurse said, tilting her head towards the glass door leading out of the recovery room. A Hexenjägern soldier stood outside, watching them closely. "They weren't gentle with you. I think they stepped on your hand when they arrested you. I'm very sorry, but there was nothing the doctors could do. You've lost your thumb and two of your fingers." Cathy barely heard her. She was staring at the soldier standing outside the door. He stared back at her, his face hidden under his gas mask. "He...he broke my nose," she whispered. "Not him," the nurse said. "Another one. But don't worry, I won't let him in." "Where's Rob?" Cathy asked, suddenly afraid. "My husband?" The nurse looked perplexed. "A man? No. They only brought you and another woman." "Please," Cathy begged. "I'm not lying to you. There were just two women - you and a naked woman with lots of tattoos. We don't know her name; she didn't have any identification. There wasn't a man. Are you sure he was with you?" "Yes," Cathy said, beginning to weep. Suddenly there was a moan from elsewhere in the room. Cathy looked over to see a row of beds next to hers. All of them were occupied. Most of the patients were motionless, but she saw two of them were moving, rocking back and forth and shivering in pain. All of them were wrapped in bandages and heavy gauze. One of the figures moaned loudly. "Rob?" Cathy called. She tried to sit up, but she was still too weak from the anaesthetic. [CONTINUED IN FIRST COMMENT BELOW]