She flashed a wan smile. “Don’t let the guards hear that. Call me Janina.” She moved from bed to bed, a flurry of instructions and bandages and medications. When she’d gone, I braced myself against my bunk and pushed myself up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hania asked, watching me.

“Block 11 for my labor assignment. Help me up, please.”

“You heard Janina, you’re not—”

“Father Kolbe is all I have,” I whispered. “This is all the time I have left with him.”

She remained silent. At last she voiced an unintelligible complaint in Yiddish before sighing. “Janina will have our heads for this.”

I eased myself upright, but even with Hania’s help my progress was painstakingly slow. By the time I was seated, I was already exhausted and lightheaded. Hania offered me a cup of water and a morsel of bread, and while I consumed them she stared at the back of my uniform. It was still open and exposed to my lower back, thanks to Fritzsch, barely clinging to my thin frame.

“I repaired your collar while you were unconscious, but I didn’t have enough thread for the rest of the rip,” she said.

“That’s all right. I’ll sew it later.” I felt for the small hidden pocket until I found the beads contained inside, and I suppressed a relieved sigh.

After instructing me to meet her in the hospital block during free time so Janina could evaluate my injuries, Hania helped me to the door. The progress was even slower than my attempts to sit up, but determination drove me forward. Once outside, I paused to catch my breath.

“Hania, the last time we spoke, I—”

She held up a hand, cutting my apology short. “It’s all right. Now, are you certain you can work?”

I nodded, and we pressed on. She supported me until we neared Block 11, then allowed me to continue alone. She watched me go, probably waiting until she was satisfied I could make it on my own, then I heard her walking away.

“Hania,” I called after her, and she turned around. “Do you know how to play chess?”

“No,” she replied, offering me a small smile. “But I’d like to learn.”

* * *

When I reached Block 11 and staggered through the door, I insisted I was fit to work, and the kapo didn’t dispute me. He assigned me to fetch waste buckets, so I spent my day in the basement.