If I were an ordinary soldier, I might have lived in a temporary hospital bed in the corridor from admission to discharge. But the rank on my epaulette doomed me to not enjoy such ordinary treatment. As soon as the hospital's logistics staff set up a new bed in the corridor, the director of the hospital, who got the news, hurried over with a few people.

When they arrived, Crochkov had already left, leaving only Bezikov sitting on the edge of the bed and chatting with me. He said to me, "Lida, although most of the doctors are called up in the army, they are too busy every day to treat the seriously wounded who are sent back from the front, and where do they have the extra energy to perform such a delicate operation for you." So I think your surgery is more suitable for this kind of ordinary hospital. ”

The dean came to me with a few medical staff, nodded and greeted me: "Hello! Is it General Oshanina, please? ”

"Yes, I'm Oshanina." I looked at the old man in the white coat in front of me, and since I couldn't figure out his identity, I asked tentatively, "May I ask who you are?" ”

"I'm Osimenen, the director of this hospital, and I was attending a meeting of the city health department, and when I heard that you were admitted to our hospital, I rushed back immediately." After saying these words, he straightened up, turned his head to the doctor on duty standing behind him, and said in a stern tone, "Comrade doctor, how can you let a general, a hero of the Motherland, live in this cold corridor?" ”

"Comrade Dean, listen to my explanation." The doctor on duty replied in a panic: "The wards in the inpatient department are all full, and even the corridors are full of people. Plus Comrade General himself offered to live in the corridor. I just let the comrades of logistics. Got a bed for her here......"

"Comrade Dean," seeing that Osiminen was about to get angry at the doctor on duty, I hurriedly came out to play a round: "I can't blame the doctor for this, it is true that there is no bed in the inpatient department, and my eye needs to be operated on as soon as possible, so I strongly asked the doctor to arrange a bed for me in the corridor." ”

"General Oshanina, look at what you said." Osiminen turned his head to me and said flatteringly, "How can I let you live in the corridor?" You know, there is no heating in the building, and the hallway is even colder, which is very bad for your recovery. Therefore, even if the beds in the inpatient department are tight, we will find a way to arrange a room for you, preferably a single room. With that, he turned again and said to those who were following him, "Go and clean up the locker, and move General Oshanina's hospital bed over." ”

See Osimmenin so zealous. I didn't want to discourage him, so when he turned his head and asked for my opinion. I shrugged my shoulders and said indifferently: "Comrade Osimmenen, since you are the dean, then I obey your arrangement. ”

Hearing that I agreed to his arrangement, Osiminaen's face smiled, and then he said to me in a consultative tone: "Comrade General, it may take some time to set up your room. During this time, did you first sit somewhere else, like my dean's office? ”

Bezikov, who had been sitting on the hospital bed without saying a word, stood up and said to me: "Lida, didn't you just say that you were going to see your injured subordinates? Anyway, there is still time, so I'll accompany you to visit the wounded! ”

Osimmenin glanced at the epaulettes of Bezkov and asked cautiously: "Comrade Colonel, I wonder which wounded you are going to visit?" ”

"Vasily, Vasily. Zaitsev. After I said Vasily's name, I was afraid that because there were too many patients and wounded in the hospital, Osiminen did not know this person, and made a point of explaining: "He is a good sniper, because he was injured in the eye, and he is being treated in this hospital." ”

"Yes, yes, of course I know!" Osiminans replied in a loud voice: "How could I not know such a hero." It's a coincidence, his hospital room is not far ahead, I'll take you there. ”

Bezikov and I followed Osiminans, past a dozen beds in the corridors with the sick or wounded, and into a ward densely packed with a dozen beds.

As soon as we entered, Osiminin stopped, and when we entered, he pointed to the corner of the wall and said, "Comrade commander, Vasily's hospital bed is by the wall." ”

I looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a man in a hospital gown with his eyes tightly wrapped in white bandages lying on a bed against the wall.

I walked quickly to the bed, leaned down and asked tentatively, "Is it Vasily?" ”

When the person lying on the hospital bed heard my voice, he was stunned for a moment, then stretched out his hands into the air and asked excitedly, "Commander, commander, is it you?" ”

I grabbed Vasily's outstretched two hands, and although I knew that he couldn't see, I smiled and said: "Yes, Comrade Vasily, I came to see you on behalf of my comrades. ”

Hearing me say this, the corners of Vasily's mouth twitched violently a few times, and he said in frustration: "Comrade commander, I heard from the doctor that the injury to my eye is very serious, and even if it is cured, I can no longer be a sniper in the future." ”

I looked sideways at Osiminen, who was standing next to me, and he nodded knowingly, indicating that what Vasily said was accurate.

To be honest, Vasily can no longer be a sniper, which is also a pity for me. Seeing his dejected appearance, I hurriedly comforted him and said: "Comrade Vasily, although you can no longer continue to be a sniper, after you have recovered from your injuries, you can go to the sniper school as a teacher and pass on the sniper knowledge you have mastered to more snipers." Although you have killed more than 300 fascist invaders, you will be able to destroy more enemies in the future. ”

Under my persuasion, Vasily's mood calmed down a little, but he still asked half-convinced: "Comrade commander, are all what you said true?" When I return to the army after I am healed, can I really go to the sniper school as an instructor? ”

"Yes, yes, Comrade Vasily." Seeing that the knot in his heart was not completely untied, I continued: "Of course what I said is true. But. I see that your mood is not very stable today. It's not appropriate to say too much. You can rest first. I'll come back to see you tomorrow. ”

"Tomorrow, can you find time?" Hearing me say that I was leaving, Vasily's mood became low again.

"Don't worry, Vasily." I tapped the back of his hand twice and said, "I'm probably going to be in the hospital for a long time, and I'll come to see you whenever I can." ”

"What, you're going to be in the hospital for a long time?" Hearing me say this, Vasily immediately asked vigilantly: "Could it be you." Are you injured too? ”

I smiled bitterly at Vasily, the initiator, but replied with a smile: "There is nothing wrong with the eyes, but there is something wrong with the eyes, which needs to be treated for a while." At present, the military hospital in the city is full, so I have to temporarily stay in this general hospital. ”

After hearing this, Vasily asked with concern: "What is wrong with your eyes, does it matter?" ”

"It's not a big deal," I said lightly for fear of adding a psychological burden to him, "Maybe I've been overusing my eyes lately, and I've seen things a little blurry." So I took the opportunity to go back to Moscow and went to the hospital to have a look. All right. You have a good rest, I still have things to discuss with Comrade Dean. ”

"Thank you, thank you, Comrade Commander!" Vasily held my hand tightly and said gratefully.

As we walked out of the ward and towards the dean's room, Osimmenin, who was walking beside me, suddenly spoke and said: "Comrade General, if you have time, please enlighten Comrade Vasily, who has been in a very low mood since he was wounded and sent to the hospital, and he is not very cooperative with our treatment, so the recovery from the eye injury is not ideal. ”

When I heard Osimmenin's words, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart, and wondered if Vasily's injury was serious? Hurriedly asked: "Comrade Dean, what is Vasily's injury, please tell me the truth!" ”

Osiminin slowed down and said to me with a serious expression: "Comrade Vasily's eye, scratched by shrapnel from mines, is not lightly wounded. If he doesn't keep his mood happy and actively cooperate with our treatment, it is estimated that his eyes will not be saved. ”

"If a sniper doesn't have eyes, then he will be in pain worse than death." After Osimmenin said these words, Bezikov said: "Especially with a sniper as good as him, the situation will be even more serious. ”

As he spoke, he unconsciously came to Osimen's dean's office. He beckoned us to sit down, then turned around and asked the doctor on duty who followed up: "How is Polev I?" ”

The doctor on duty obviously didn't expect the dean to suddenly ask such a question, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

"Bolev one," Osimmenin repeated the name he had just said, reminding him that "it was the wounded man who was sent from the outskirts yesterday with a wounded leg." ”

"I've had surgery." The doctor on duty replied: "The shrapnel on my leg has been removed, and after a week's rest, I can try to get out of bed and walk." ”

"How's the old lady in the first ward on the second floor?" Osimonen then asked, "Is the situation getting better?" ”

"Excuse me, are you talking about the old Chekovna lady?" The doctor on duty asked tentatively.

"Exactly, I'm talking about her." Osiminen affirmed: "She has frequent fainting symptoms because of long-term poor drinking, and as long as she supplements with adequate nutrition, her condition will improve......"

Listening to Osimonen discussing his condition with his own doctors as if no one was around, I couldn't help but secretly admire him, as the director of the hospital, how he could remember so many patients and their illnesses.

After the doctor on duty left, Osiminin sat down behind the desk opposite us, picked up the case on the table, looked at it for a while, put it down and said to me: "Comrade General, judging from Sergei's medical certificate, your condition is not optimistic, and you need to undergo surgery immediately. However, to be on the safe side, I will have to observe for two days before the operation, and I will perform the surgery myself. However, during these two days, I recommend that you stay in bed all the time so that the retinal detachment does not increase. ”

Osiminen's performance just now made me full of confidence in his medical skills, but I wanted to know more about when I would be able to resume normal work after the operation, so I cautiously asked: "Comrade Dean, I don't know how many days after the operation can I be discharged from the hospital?" ”

"Generally, after surgery, the stitches can be removed in three days, and the hospital can be discharged in seven days at most." He probably saw the relaxed expression on my face, and immediately added: "But for three months, you can't exercise vigorously, otherwise it will cause the retina that has just been patched up to fall off again." ”

His words made my heart cool at once, and I asked tentatively: "Comrade Dean, I don't know what you mean by strenuous exercise?" ”

"Running and jumping are not allowed, let alone going to the front to participate in the battle." When Osimonen spoke of the doctor's order, he said as if he were an ordinary patient: "So for the next three months you will only be able to do some light work." ”

Just as I was about to ask a few more questions, a nurse ran in from outside the door and reported loudly to Osimmenin: "Dean, Comrade General's ward is ready. ”

After listening to the nurse's report, Osiminen hurriedly asked me with a smile on his face: "Comrade General, the ward is ready, let's go over and have a look?" ”

The newly furnished ward, seven or eight square meters, has only a sick case and a bedside table in it, and there is not much space left. As soon as I entered the door, I smelled a pungent smell of disinfectant, and Osimmenen saw that I was frowning, and hurriedly said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, because this room used to be a storage room, so the comrades in the logistics department disinfected it with disinfectant when they cleaned it." ”

I waved my hand and said to him with a smile, "It's okay, stay a little longer, and you'll be able to get used to the smell." Comrade Dean, there is nothing to do here, go about your work. ”

As soon as Beziakov and Osiminin left, he immediately walked up to me and said to me: "Lida, I will immediately go back and report to Marshal Zhukov about your hospitalization. Also, in order to ensure your safety, I asked Captain Yushchenko and them to come over and set up a sentry at your door. ”

I knew that I would have to report to my superiors that I would definitely need to report such a big matter as my hospitalization, and since Bezikov was willing to do it for me, I couldn't ask for it. As for asking Yushchenko and them to come to the hospital to serve as guards, I felt that it was a bit too exciting, so I hurriedly objected: "Comrade Colonel, I am hospitalized here, there should be no danger, and I don't think there is any need to let Captain Yushchenko and them come and stand guard." ”

Unexpectedly, Bezikov stubbornly said: "No, if you are still a lieutenant colonel or other rank, maybe you don't need soldiers to stand guard for you." But look at your epaulettes, you are now a general, and your safety must be guaranteed, so I will arrange for Yushchenko and them to come and protect your safety as soon as possible. (To be continued......)