Nikolai stared at Werner is confusion. "What?" He spluttered.
"I have cancer." Werner repeated noncholantly. "Well, I'm not sure if I still have it because I feel a lot better now, but at sixteen I was diagnosed with it and since then I've had a tumor growing in my brain."
"But how could they have recruited you if you have cancer?"
"Well, I'm not sure if I have it anymore..."
"They still couldn't have recruited you!" Nikolai cried out. "Did you sneak into Auschwitz or what?" His eyes widened as a new thought popped up into his head; "Are you a spy, Killian?"
"Oh God no." He answered. "I don't think it'll do any good to tell you the truth, you won't believe me anyway. But I'm not a spy."
"Well then how the fuck did you get here?" Nikolai asked.
"I happened to be in the same train as a lot of soldiers, and they thought that I was one too. I woke up in a hospital and less than a week later I was on my way here."
"And they didn't ask you if you had any medical conditions?"
"Why would they? They thought I was a soldier!"
Nikolai let out a large breath. He still looked very confused. Then he started to laugh. "I can't believe it! You're even more suspicious than I am!"
"You don't believe me?"
"I do, don't worry. If you were lying you'd tell me a much more believable story. But maybe you should get yourself checked? Just to make sure the tumor is gone?"
"I'm pretty sure it is." Werner answered reassuringly. "I feel much too alive and healthy to have cancer. I used to feel very sick and weak."
"Well...it definitly makes sense why you want to find a cure and why you'd be so stupid as to ask Dr. Ziegler about it." He playfully cuffed his friend around the ears, causing Werner to yelp in pain. "But if he does agree...then you might actually be able to save Wojciechowski, at least for a little while..."
"I hope so."
"Listen, Killy, I need to go back to work. But I'll see you at lunch." Nikolai said. He waved at one of the officers who had started to shout at them. "But it was good talking to you, take care of yourself."
"One more thing Kolya," Werner said, pulling his friend back by grabbing his sleeve, "in case Dr. Ziegler tells on me, please call Marie and tell her what happened..." Nikolai nodded and smiled.
"Of course I will, Killian." And he returned to work. Striding back onto the field and immeditaly raising his voice to shout at some of the workers. The other officers stopped waving at him and continued their work.
Werner smiled after his friend. It felt surprisingly good to have told somebody about his illness. But now that he had, and that that weight was lifted off his shoulders, he couldn't stop thinking about Dr. Ziegler...if the doctor denied his request and reported him to the authorities he was lost.
Dr. Ziegler was in his office, still musing about the proposal from his young assistant. He'd switched from cigars to whiskey, and as he pondered what to do he spun the little glass in his hand. He had the picture of Wojciechowski and the Lagerführer which he could hold against the latter, he was very sure Werner wouldn't rat, and he was convinced from the fact that they would find the cure, which would give him a saftey ticket in case the Nazis won the war. He nodded to himself, yes, he would agree to the proposal. But then the sight of the men he'd seen, lined up in front of the brick wall popped into his mind. Was it really worth risking his life for? The Lagerführer was powerfull enough to swipe the picture under the rug even if Dr. Ziegler would publish it. He was torn between his two choices. One minute he was almost convinced he'd agree to Werner and the next his hand was on his phone, all set to call the authorities and report his assistant as an enemy.
He gave up thinking about it and started pick up sorting the files again. He'd sleep on it and then decide tomorrow or maybe even the next day. Being a good doctor and a good nazi was nearly impossible to do simultaneously.