The adventures of Prinz Eugen and the young engineer Volume 1.

Adventure No.2 "No rest for the returned." Chapter 1

Waking up the young engineer was blinded by pure white. The first thing he felt was sheer pain when he tried to breathe. Followed by a cough that almost forced him back into unconsciousness. Half unconscious his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright light. He already knew he was not dead. For that to be the case he felt too much pain. Slowly seeing details, he realized he was in a hospital room. The next thing he tried to figure out was which one. Slowly moving his head around he looked for anything that would indicate where he was. Seeing a little desk next to his bed he tried to reach for whatever papers were on it. The jolt of pain coming from his right arm made him regret that effort immediately. He felt like he was beaten, chewed up and spat out again. Shortly after he fell back into the delirium that was unconsciousness and dreamless sleep.

The next time he regained his mental faculties, he was able to stay awake and see more of his surroundings. He saw a TV at the wall on the other side of the room. A closed window to his left and to his right a little table as well as two seats and a wardrobe. Next to some cough medicine there was only a glass of water as well as the remote for the TV on it. He carefully grabbed the glass of water with his left and drank it. Only then he realized that he had unquenchable thirst and hunger. Catching his breath after downing the contents of the glass he had to cough again. By the pain and severity of this couth he guessed he had caught a bronchitis or lung infection. Nothing surprising, after jumping into the sea in the midst of winter. Next up he reached for the remote. He pressed the "ON" button and the TV started to work. The fact that the first program he saw was the first Television channel of Ironblood relieved him. It seemed like he was actually in the right country or facility at least. Reducing the volume of the TV, the next thing he did was looking for the help button to call in a nurse. He had many questions the nurse might answer. The putton was found left to his pillow on the inside of his bed frame. Pressing it a small red light started to glow next to his bed, indicating that the alarm had been detected and a nurse was on the way. He did not wait long for a response. A nurse entered his room barely a minute after he had pressed the button. "I did not expect you to wake up any time soon." She greeted him. "Some of us thought you were a lost case. Arriving here with a broken wrist, close to hypothermia, coughing blood from a severe case of a lung infection and with a high fever. It is a marvel that you made it so far Captain." He looked at her and tried to answer. His throat sore it sounded like his voice belonged to that of a dead man. "It's good to hear Ironblood again. Can you tell me where I am, how long I have been here and what happened?" He asked her, before he could continue to speak he had another cough attack. The nurse administered medication and tugged him back into his blanket. "Do not speak, the strain of speaking and too heavy breathing will cause you to cough. I will see what I can do to answer your questions Captain. First of all you are in Ironblood. To be exact in the army hospital of Königsberg. You have been here for about 5 days, since a submarine delivered you to the docks. I do not know from where you were picked up by it." She explained. "I guess you are famished and thirsty. Breakfast will be served in about 1 hour. I will prepare something warm to drink for you in short order." With that said the nurse left him again after she had checked on him.

Finally rest assured the young engineer felt all the weight and pressure fall off him. He finally felt no more dread nor fear. Smiling to himself he spent the rest of the day laying in bed and regaining his strength.