Cryptonomicon

The doctor etherizes Root, opens his chest, and goes in to repair the damage. Combat surgery isn't his metier, and so he makes a few mistakes and generally does a great job of keeping the tension level high. Some major artery gives way, and it's necessary for Shaftoe and the minister to go out and yank Swedes off the streets and persuade them to donate blood. Rudy is nowhere to be found, and Shaftoe suspects for a few minutes that he has blown town. But then suddenly he shows up at Root's bedside holding an ancient Cuban cigar box, Spanish words all over it.

When Enoch Root dies, the only other people in the room are Rudolf von Hacklheber, Bobby Shaftoe, and the Swedish doctor.

The doctor checks his watch, then steps out of the room.

Rudy reaches out and closes Enoch's eyes, then stands there with his hand on the late padre's face, and looks at Shaftoe. "Go," he says, "and make sure that the doctor files the death certificate."

In war, it happens pretty frequently that one of your buddies dies, and you have to go right back into action, and save the waterworks for later. "Right," Shaftoe says, and leaves the room.

The doctor's sitting in his little office, umlaut-studded diplomas all over the walls, filling out the death certificate. A skeleton dangles in one corner. Bobby Shaftoe stands at attention on the opposite flank, he and the skeleton sort of triangulating on the doctor and watching him scrawl out the date and time of Enoch Root's demise.

When the doctor's finished, he leans back in his chair and rubs his eyes.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" asks Bobby Shaftoe.

"Thank you," says the doctor.

The young bride and her father are sprawled blearily in the doctor's waiting room. Shaftoe offers to buy them coffee too. They leave Rudy to keep watch over the body of their late friend and coconspirator, and walk down the high street of Norrsbruck. Swedish people are beginning to come out of their houses. They look exactlylike American midwesterners, and Shaftoe's always startled when they fail to speak English.

The doctor stops in at the courthouse to drop off the death certificate. Otto and Julieta go on ahead to the cafe. Bobby Shaftoe loiters outside, staring back up the street. After a minute or two he sees Rudy poke his head out the door of the doctor's office and look one way, then the other. He pulls his head back inside for a moment. Then he and another man walk out of the office. The other man is wrapped in a blanket that covers even his head. They climb into the Mercedes, Blanket Man lies down in the back seat, and Rudy drives off in the direction of his cottage.

Bobby Shaftoe sits down in the cafe with the Finns.

"Later today I'm gonna get into that fucking Mercedes and drive into Stockholm like a fucking bat out of hell," Shaftoe says. Though the Finns will never appreciate it, he has chosen the "bat out of hell" phrase for a good reason. He understands, now, why he has thought of himself as a dead man ever since Guadalcanal. "Anyway, I hope y'all have a nice boat ride."

"Boat ride?" Otto says innocently.

"I gave you up to the Germans, just like you did to me," Shaftoe lies.

"You bastard!" Julieta begins. But Bobby cuts her off: "You got what you wanted and then some. A British passport and--" glancing out the window he sees the doctor emerging from the courthouse "--Enoch's survivor's benefits on top of it. And maybe more later. As for you, Otto, your career as a smuggler is over. I suggest you get the fuck out of here."

Otto's still too flabbergasted to be outraged, but he's sure enough gonna be outraged pretty soon. "And go where!? Have you bothered to look at a map?"

"Display some fucking adaptability," Shaftoe says. "You can figure out a way to get that tub of yours to England."

Say what you will about Otto, he likes a challenge. "I could traverse the Göta Canal from Stockholm to Göteborg--no Germans there--that would get me almost to Norway--but Norway's full of Germans! Even if I make it through the Skagerrak--you expect me to cross the North Sea? In winter? During a war?"

"If it makes you feel any better, after you get to England you have to sail to Manila."

"Manila!?"

"Makes England seem easy, huh?"

"You think I am a rich yachtsman, who sails around the world for fun!?"

"No, but Rudolf von Hacklheber is. He's got money, he's got connections. He's got a line on a good yacht that makes your ketch look like a dinghy," Shaftoe says. "C'mon, Otto. Stop whining, pull some more diamonds out of your asshole, and get it done. It beats being tortured to death by Germans." Shaftoe stands up and chucks Otto encouragingly on the shoulder, which Otto does not like at all. "See you in Manila."

The doctor's coming in the door. Bobby Shaftoe slaps some money down on the table. He looks Julieta in the eye. "Got some miles to cover now," he says, "Glory's waiting for me."