Eli looked deeply into Esther’s eyes. “How did I get such a wise woman to marry me?”
“I’ve told you many times, you didn’t have a choice. I willed it to be so.”
* * *
Early the next morning, Maximilian pulled his car up to the curb and waited with the motor running. Eli had packed a small bag of clothes the night before. Esther was preparing to walk to Lipowa, and Eli reached out to kiss his wife goodbye.
“Please be careful,” she said. “You know that Maximilian is a snake. He’ll make promises he can’t keep. Don’t let him get you into trouble. You can’t trust a thing he says. People leave Lublin and they don’t come back. Please promise me, Eli, you’ll come back to me.”
“I will come back, that’s a promise. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine. I’ll try to get home in three or four weeks. If you or Izaak need anything, my father and my brother will help you.” His eyes filled with tears, and he hugged Esther as tightly as he could. “Take care, my girl. I love you more than life itself.”
“You will always be my sunny day.”
He lingered in the softness of her kiss as long as he could. Given the uncertainties of their world and the external forces he could not control, he could not be certain when he would hold her again.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
FÖHRENWALD
FÖHRENWALD DP CAMP
AMERICAN ZONE
DECEMBER 1946
Though it was early in the season, the bitter Bavarian snowstorm was unrelenting. Blasts of winter winds howled down from the Alps and rattled the windowpanes. Upon return from Garmisch and his meeting with Colonel Bivens, Eli discovered that Izaak had come down with a fever and needed immediate medical care. Eli knew he could not take his feverish child out into the elements, and he hoped that he could coax Dr. Weisman into making a house call. Fortunately, Adinah was at the house.
He was in panic mode by the time he reached the clinic. “Please tell Dr. Weisman it’s an emergency,” he said. “My son, Izaak, is burning up.”
The nurse was sympathetic, but she was tasked with serving several patients at once. “I’ll get word to him as soon as I can,” she said, gesturing to the crowded waiting room. “As you can see, there are a number of emergencies here tonight. This snowstorm has taken its toll on our little community.”
Eli paced the floor like a jungle cat. Finally, Dr. Weisman came into the waiting room. “Joel,” Eli said quickly, “it’s Izaak. He’s really sick—a very high fever; his skin is all flushed.”
The doctor nodded. “Calm down, my friend. Where is he?”
“At home, in bed. I was afraid to take him out in this storm. I’m really worried, Joel. Really worried. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Who’s with him?”
“Adinah Szapiro.”
He nodded. “All right, let me finish up here. I have two more patients, and then we’ll go take a look at Izaak.”
It was almost midnight when Eli and Dr. Weisman arrived at the house. “He’s been asleep the entire time,” Adinah said. “I tried to give him a glass of water, but he wouldn’t take it. He says it hurts to swallow.”
“Has he been coughing?” Dr. Weisman asked. “Wheezing? Trouble breathing?”
“Coughing a little. Mostly he complains that his throat hurts. He was very tired when he came home from school, and he went into his room to rest.”
The doctor donned his surgical mask and handed one to Eli, who rejected it with a shake of his head.
“Put it on,” the doctor directed. “I don’t want both of you coming down with whatever Izaak has.” He followed Eli into the back bedroom. “Izaak, Izaak,” Dr. Weisman said loudly, trying to wake him up. “Can you sit up, son?”
Izaak’s eyelids were heavy, and he could barely raise them above a narrow slit. Eli helped him to a sitting position and watched as the doctor conducted his examination. When he was finished, he patted Izaak on the head, laid him back down on the pillow and motioned for Eli to join him in the other room.
“No minimizing this, Eli, he’s a pretty sick boy. His fever is over 102, but his lungs sound clear.”
“What is it, Joel? Is it tuberculosis? Does my boy have TB?”
The doctor’s lips were pursed, and he shrugged. “It’s too soon to tell. His throat is very red, and that may very well be an indication of streptococcus. Strep throat. If it is, I can treat it with penicillin.” He reached into his black bag, took out a bottle and poured a few pills into a small envelope. “I’m going to give him an injection and start him on these today. If it’s strep, we should see some improvement. The next few days will tell us a lot.”
As he prepared to leave, he added, “Aspirin may help keep the fever down. Give him plenty of fluids. Until we know for sure, I want you both to wear the surgical masks when you go into his room.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Eli said as he clasped the doctor’s hand. “You’re a true friend to come out in this weather. And a godsend to our camp.”
The doctor smiled. “Quite the compliment, coming from you, Eli, a man who has devoted himself to the welfare of our community. I walked three blocks in a little snow; you drove a hundred miles through the storm today.”
“We all do what we can.”
“How did it go? Will the colonel help us arrest Max?”
“The colonel will do anything to please General Lucius D. Clay, and he assigned Major Donnelly to help me. The plan is for us to visit the nearby camps over the next couple of weeks. We were supposed to go to Landsberg tomorrow. But given Izaak’s illness, I’ll ask Daniel to step in for me.”
“I will stay with Izzie while you go,” Adinah said. “Go with the major to Landsberg, and I will care for Izzie.”
Dr. Weisman shook his head. “That’s not wise, Adinah. You’re very kind, but the longer you stay, the more you risk exposure. I don’t advise it. I’m sure you know that there are many sick people now in our sanitarium.”
She stood tall and defiant. “I have been with him all day. If he is contagious, then I am infected. And so be it. This family needs my help. Can you understand what that means to me? I survived the death camps. Almost everyone I knew or cared about in my life was taken from me. Sent to their deaths. I lived and they did not, and often I ask myself, Why? Why was I chosen to survive when much better people than me were killed? I keep asking God to give me a reason. Why me? And maybe now He answers: ‘It is for this, Adinah.’ Eli will go tomorrow, and I will stay here with Izaak. I will care for Izaak.”
The doctor smiled and nodded. “I will come and check in on him.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Eli whispered. “Thank you, Adinah. I’ll make up a bed for you.”
Dr. Weisman put on his heavy coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck and chin. He pushed the door against the pressure of the wind, turned and said, “Be careful going out into the community, both of you. You may now be carriers. Until we know for sure, don’t get too close to anyone.” Then he hesitated and smiled. “The world should only know the fellowship shared among our survivors. They should know how much compassion is rendered without a second thought by the good people in our camps.”