I gave him the story, including what Makstutis had told me about the bloody urine.
He nodded his head. "Yes, it must be so. I cannot now prevent it, but I can help you to get well." He took a syringe and a bottle of solution from the small pack he carried. "Lee Sung told me. I brought serum. Every day you must take a dose, and the other man, too. I have no doubt he will have the same disease."
It was probably some sort of concentrated convalescent serum. I never did find out; but it seemed to help. There was no more bleeding and the fever dropped. Lim improved too and, fortunately, none of the others seemed to have caught it. I was still terribly weak and somewhat depressed but I was able to get around a bit by the end of our second week in North Korea.
The days dragged along and my strength was slow to return. I read and re-read the letter I had received just before the take-off from South Korea.
"I am getting along fine," Pat had written, "in spite of feeling somewhat bloated and clumsy, which, after all, I must expect. We had some more news about Harry. Apparently the raiding party he was with got ashore all right and set up their headquarters in one of the small villages near the coast. They seem to be getting along real well so far.
"I am so glad Polly is staying with me, we are good company for each other. When I got the letter from General Rawlins that told me you had left, I was relieved in a way, as I had wondered why you didn't write. Now at least I know and I am sure you are glad that, one way or another, it will soon be over. I don't expect to hear from you again until your mission is completed. Darling, please be careful. The General told me you had had shots for the measlepox, (they sent some out for Harry's team too), so I am not quite so worried. At least the dangers you face will be those of a soldier and you will have a fighting chance."
"She obviously had never heard or had forgotten about hemorrhagic fever," I thought ruefully, the pages trembling in my fever-weakened hands.
"Dr. Hallam is often over to see us in the evenings," she continued. "I believe he is really fond of Polly ... and she of him ... but naturally he doesn't express such feelings. If anything happens to Harry I'm sure he will take care of her."
"And who will take care of you and the baby if I don't come back," I thought as I crumpled the letter and burned it. We shouldn't have carried that last batch of mail into the airplane. It was the one sentimental chink in our disguise. As soon as I was well enough I checked to be sure that everyone else had destroyed all mementoes. I was not naive enough to think that we could keep our secret if captured, but pages of letters could be misplaced or fragments blown away and picked up by anyone coming into the area.