Chapter 18 Christmas Activities
Although Seryozha had regained consciousness, he could not be discharged from the hospital immediately. Although Seryozha's fainting was caused by lack of water and overwork, the more serious problem is that Seryozha has been in a state of anxiety and fear since he came to this world. When he was in Lubyanka, he was surrounded by Dangerous elements have to be careful when sleeping. Later, in Gorky City, he was slowly involved in gang activities, and he was always worried about the KGB and the police. On the contrary, after coming to Afghanistan, I can sleep with peace of mind every day. I don’t have to worry about threats from the KGB and the police, or hostile gangs. I just need to be a soldier. It's a pity that he was unfortunately involved in a war with the guerrillas later, and the nerves that had been relaxed became tense again, which finally led to the complete collapse of Seryozha's body.
Yuri and the others are not as serious as Seryozha, they are almost better. However, the accommodation here in the hospital is much better than the dormitory. There are single wards here, and there are many charming nurses. Everyone is reluctant to leave here. Seryozha and the five of them won the respect of the entire 103rd Airborne Division because they brought back the body of Battalion Commander Vasily. Now the five of them are heroes of the 103rd Airborne Division. From the condolences they received during their hospitalization, we know that they have What a welcome. And with New Years and Christmas holidays coming up, no one is going to throw them out of the hospital.
During the few days in the hospital, Seryozha received meticulous care from Eva. Although Eva took the initiative to kiss Seryozha that day, the two have not yet reached the stage of relationship between men and women. The two of them just kissed in the ward that day and did not take any further actions. Eva would push Seryozha to go out for activities every day to get a breath of fresh air. Seryozha could only see his brothers at this time of the day. Everyone would play a few small cards outside and then go back. Then Eva would ask Seryozha what he would like to have for dinner, and try to satisfy his taste at dinner. Seryozha couldn't figure out how Eva viewed their relationship, and he didn't dare to ask, for fear that if he didn't say that well, it would ruin the current relationship between the two of them.
On the afternoon when the body of Battalion Commander Vasily returned home, Seryozha also went to see him off. Six coffins covered with national flags were slowly lifted onto the Il-76 transport plane, and the scene was filled with a sad atmosphere. Most of the remains of the Soviet Red Army sacrificed in this battle were left in the area controlled by the fighters. The only body brought back was Battalion Commander Vasily. Which of the five remaining coffins is that because Pilots who committed suicide due to guilt. The top management of the 103rd Airborne Division covered up the fact that he committed suicide. Although the pilot did not die on the battlefield, his sense of responsibility is still moving. The top brass of the 103rd Airborne Division couldn't help but give him the title of martyr. The remaining four martyrs died of their injuries after returning.
Commander Grachev has been visiting Sergey almost every day since he ran to confess that day. He told Sergey that the 103rd Airborne Division had already asked for credit from Moscow for them, and Sergey and the others had won the Order of the Red Star. When Grachev told Sergey the good news, Sergey felt a little uneasy. He was afraid that the medal would lead to investigations by the KGB and the Ministry of Defense. Fortunately, all this was speculation until the Red Star medal was obtained. Nothing happened.
On the evening of 7 January, the Orthodox Christmas Day, Seryozha returned to the 354th Airborne Regiment to participate in the Christmas celebrations. When Eva pushed Seryozha in a wheelchair into the room, the 354th Airborne Regiment took the initiative to make way for him, lined up neatly on both sides, clapped hands to welcome Seryozha, and everyone sang in unison. Tribute to Seryozha with the song of the paratroopers. Seryozha felt that he deserved it. If it wasn't for him, Battalion Commander Vasily might not have died. Thinking of this, Seryozha couldn't help but shed tears. Seryozha did not want others to see him crying, and he tried to keep his eyes wide open to keep the tears from flowing.
Yuri and the others came over and handed Seryozha a glass of vodka,
Today they are also heroes here, equally respected. Seryozha turned to Eva behind him and asked, "Can I have some wine?"
"Yes, as long as you don't get drunk!" Eva would not forbid Seryozha to drink at Christmas, especially if Seryozha's health allowed it.
Hearing this, Seryozha raised his glass and drank it down, and then said to Eva, "I won't get drunk." As soon as the words fell, Yuri filled the glass for Seryozha again.
The Christmas celebration of the 354th Airborne Regiment is actually very simple. There are two main activities. The first one is drinking. Everyone gathers together to say the toast in turn, and then everyone drinks it up. Seryozha didn't see the fun in it at all, he felt that everyone still wanted to drink. At the beginning, everyone was more reserved, and the toasts they said were more serious. Some people would introduce their hometowns, and some people would sing a song. After three glasses of wine, everyone gradually lost the restraint just now, and the topics gradually became more and more. Some people described their first time vividly, and some people told a dirty joke. The atmosphere of the scene began. Push to the climax.
When it was Seryozha's turn, Seryozha said that he was often kissed by women, that he was very charming, and that he always won the hearts of the most beautiful girls. Everyone didn't believe it, so they asked him to prove it. Seryozha looked at Eva behind her. Eva boldly sat on Seryozha in front of everyone, and slowly approached her lips. When the two are about to kiss each other,
But Eva pushed Seryozha aside, the scene immediately burst into laughter, Seryozha also laughed, and the carnival atmosphere was pushed to a climax.
After the zero o'clock bell rang, the second activity began, the lottery draw. The only lady in the audience, Eva, was invited to draw a lottery for everyone and distribute gifts. These props were prepared a long time ago. Eva reached into the lottery box with her tender little hand, took out a ball of paper, and read from it: "Corporal Sergey Ivanovich Petrov!"
Seryozha made an expression of is it really me, everyone was amused by him, Eva showed the note to everyone, and then said to Seryozha: "It's really you, I didn't cheat !"
Seryozha was pushed in front of Eva, who said to him: "Congratulations on winning the participation prize!" and handed the smallest prize to Seryozha. The audience burst into laughter again, the first prize drawn was not the first prize. Eva drew out a ball of paper again, this time it was a shy guy on stage, Eva awarded him the grand prize, and he actually asked Eva to give him a kiss, which is unimaginable in normal times, Amidst the booing from the audience, a lipstick mark soon appeared on that guy's face.
Eva pulled out another ball of paper and announced with a smile: "The winner of the second prize is Andrei Stryzhinov."
The people in the field fell silent when they heard the name, and no one stepped forward to accept the award. Eva thought that everyone hadn't heard clearly, and repeated it again, saying: "Where is Andrei Strizhinov, you won the second prize."
The audience was still silent, and it took a long time before someone said: "He is on duty!"
"Well, I didn't expect Christmas Eve to be so hard, let's move on to the next one!" Eva continued to draw out a ball of paper, and then read: "Is Semyon Markov here?"
This time it was only silent for a while, and then someone replied immediately: "He is also on duty!" Eva could only helplessly put him and Andrei Strizhinov's note together.
Then Eva continued to draw out the next one, and she read: "Vassily Zha~~~!" Eva didn't continue reading, because he knew who it was, and this person was the sacrificial person brought back by Seryozha battalion commander. She already understood the meaning of "on duty".