Lotte’s injury had fully healed but for some reason she was still in the hospital. Being there reminded her of her sister Anna, who was a nurse. During Anna’s training, Lotte had often offered herself as a practice patient, and she smiled at the fond memories.
Feeling bored by her inactivity, and never one to sit idle, she decided to make herself useful. If eleven-year-old Pauline measured up to the task, then, surely, the sister of a real nurse could do so as well. She was feeding one of the patients, who had both of his arms in slings, when the only doctor came up to her.
“Hey, you, what are you doing?” he asked in almost flawless German.
“Making myself useful,” she said, keeping her voice low.
“You’re German. A prisoner, not a nurse,” the man said. He ran a hand through his pitch-bl
