There was a knock at the door, and the woman slowly rose from her seat and laboriously made her way towards it. Though she was no more than thirty, her joints were stiff and her pace slow. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” She called irritably as the knock came again.
When she reached the door, she opened it to see a young man standing in the corridor
“What do you want?”
“Can I come in?”
She paused for a moment, then pushed the door open wider and turned to walk back into the apartment. He followed her at a distance, matching her speed and taking care not to walk too closely to her. They went through to the sparsely decorated kitchen, where the woman had clearly been half way through her breakfast. There was a plate of bread and a half empty glass of water sitting on the table.
She lowered herself into a chair, then motioned for her companion to sit down opposite, and after a moment’s hesitation, he did, perching himself on the edge of the seat.
“Well?” she asked tersely “What do you want?”
“Brigitte,” he began, “I’m sorry.”
She looked at him coldly, and he shrank back a little. Her eyes seemed to be boring through him. “So?” she said snidely.
“I just wanted to tell you.”  He said, his voice quiet, and a little uncertain.
“Did you think I would forgive you?”
He shrugged. “No.”
“Then why bother?”
“Look,” he said as he got to his feet. “Clearly I shouldn’t have come. I’m sorry.”
He looked at her for a moment, before turning and heading for the door.
“Why did you do it?” Her voice rang out clearly through the silence. “He never hurt you.”
The man stopped and turned back to face her. “I know,” he said sadly, dropping his head in shame, “but you did.”
“I did?” she asked in disbelief
“I thought you did.”
She stood and walked slowly towards him, pulling up her left sleeve as she moved. “Enough to deserve everything they did to me?” she demanded, brandishing her forearm. “Enough to deserve this?” The dark numbers stood out sharply against her pale skin.
“I didn’t know!” he protested, backing away from the sight.
“Scheisse!” She scoffed. “You knew what the punishment was for hiding him, and you still told them that he was here. You’re pathetic.”
“You’re right.” He said, stepping hurriedly out of the kitchen away from her scorn. “You’re right.” He scurried down the corridor and out of the apartment completely, swinging the door shut with a bang behind him.