Family Care

By:AliasCWN

Chapter 8

The ride back to the base was unpleasant for all four men. The bouncing of the jeep would send Hitch into fits of moaning while the others were forced to listen while knowing there was nothing they could do differently. Hitch was unconscious when they pulled through the gates of the base so he was the only one who didn't sigh with relief.

They dropped Hitch off at the hospital and Troy and Moffitt immediately went to report to Captain Boggs. Troy nabbed a passing soldier to help Tully get the jeeps to the motor pool. The sergeants gave the Captain a hurried verbal report so that they could get to the hospital to check on Hitch, but as fast as they were, Tully was faster. He was pacing outside of the hospital when they got there.

"Any news Tully?"

"Nothing yet."

"It may take a while Troy, they may have had to take x-rays." Moffitt cautioned.

"What did the Captain say?" Tully asked as the sergeants settled in to wait.

"About what?" Asked Troy.

"About killing that major."

Troy and Moffitt exchanged looks. "He said we could kill him if our paths cross again but he doesn't want us to go looking for him. He says we can't let it get personal."

"It is personal Sarge, it's about family."

"Not according to the Captain."

"But he doesn't care if that kraut dies?"

"Not as long as we don't make a special trip to go find him." Troy responded.

"I don't need to go after him Sarge."

Troy glanced at Moffitt, Tully wasn't making much sense. He was going to ask him to explain but Tully chose that moment to say he was going to go find a nurse to tell him what was going on. The private came back a few minutes later to say that there was still no news. All three men waited in silence, lost in their own thoughts until the doctor finally came out to talk to them.

"Sergeant Troy?"

"That's me." Troy stepped forward anxiously.

"Private Hitchcock will recover Sergeant. His feet are badly bruised and they will be tender for quite a while but nothing is broken. The other injuries are minor. He has a bump on his head and some bruised ribs. The swelling in his feet and legs is our most pressing concern. We gave him something to help him sleep and we are watching him closely for the time being. He's going to be out of action for some time. Walking is going to be painful even after the coloring from the bruises goes away. Wearing boots will be difficult too." The doctor looked over their heads to stare off into the desert. "I just don't have any clue how someone could do something like that to another human being, enemy or not." He looked back at Troy and smiled and the exhaustion on his face seemed to lift for just a second. "At least now your private can rest and start to heal. Not all of us have that option. If you get the chance I would suggest that all three of you try to get some rest too, speaking as a doctor of course."

"Can we see him?"

"After you've all had some rest Sergeant."

Troy turned to glance at Moffitt and Tully. Their faces reflected his own feelings on the matter. "Doctor, I think we would all sleep a lot better if we could see him for just a minute."

The doctor looked into their worried eyes and relented. "Just for a minute Sergeant, then I want all of you to hit the sack. I've got enough patients to keep me busy without you three driving yourselves to exhaustion too."

"Just a minute Doctor and then we'll go to sleep."

The doctor led the way across the hospital to where Hitch lay sleeping. A young nurse was sitting by the bed and rose as they approached. "This will be his private nurse for the rest of the night." The doctor explained.

"Hitch will be upset to find out that he had his own personal nurse and he slept right through it." Tully drawled with a smile.

Moffitt and Troy laughed with relief and at the truth of the statement. The doctor looked at them with a question in his eyes.

"Hitchcock is our ladies' man." Troy explained with a smile.

"Well at least I know he won't be chasing my nurses around for a while." The doctor smiled down at his patient. "Once he starts getting around I'll have to keep my eye on him. Just a minute Sergeant. then off to bed for all of you." The doctor reminded them. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Thank you Doctor." Troy called softly so he wouldn't wake the patients sleeping in the nearby beds. Turning back to the bed the sergeant smiled at the homemade tent frame that held the weight of the blankets off of his driver's legs. "Hey Tully, they used your idea to keep the weight off of his feet."

"Doctor Wright said a soldier suggested it and even made it or him." The nurse explained. "Was that you private?" The nurse looked at Tully expectantly.

"We used something like it at home for my uncle." Tully explained with a shrug. "I made it so Hitch could rest easier."

"It's a marvelous idea." The nurse smiled. "Doctor Wright was impressed."

"Anything to help Hitch." Tully responded. "We take care of each other."

"Well I think he'll rest much better with it than without it." The nurse agreed. She stepped aside and let the three men say their goodnights to the sleeping private. She watched as they shuffled out of the ward and off to their beds.

The next morning found all three of them at the hospital but Hitch was still not awake.

"We're still giving him something to help him sleep." Doctor Wright explained when Troy asked about it. "In all honesty Sergeant, I hope to keep him asleep until the swelling goes down. He'll be much more comfortable then."

"How long will that take?"

"I can't say for sure, a day or two at the very least."

"Doctor, we have to go out on patrol again."

"Already?"

"Yeah, we got our orders at breakfast. Do you think you could let Hitch know that we will be back as soon as we can?"

"Of course Sergeant. I'll put a note in his chart so that the nurses know to tell him when he wakes up."

"We'll be back in a couple of days if all goes well."

"Good luck Sergeant."

Troy nodded at the doctor. "We'll be back."

Five days later:

Troy and Moffitt walked into the hospital. They had dropped their report off with the Captain's aide since the Captain was busy elsewhere on the base. Tully and their replacement driver had dropped the jeeps off at the motor pool and Tully had gone directly to the hospital. He was walking up and down the aisle checking all of the beds when the sergeants arrived.

"What's going on Tully?"

"I can't find Hitch." Tully explained as he checked the next row of cots. "Somebody else is in his bed and I can't find him."

"There must be a perfectly reasonable explanation." Moffitt suggested as Troy began to search the room for the familiar blond head.

"Like what Doc? That doc said he'd be here for a while and it's only been five days."

"Why don't we find someone and ask them?"

Tully began marching toward the nearest nurse.

"Sergeant!"

Troy turned to see Doctor Wright striding into the room.

"Glad to see you made it back Sergeant. Private Hitchcock was starting to worry."

"Where is he?" Troy asked.

"He's not in his bed." Tully said at the same time.

The doctor smiled at the anxious faces. "No, we moved him to the next floor; this floor is for critical patients who need constant care."

"Then he's better?" Moffitt asked.

"Much better Sergeant." The doctor confirmed. "The swelling is gone and the worst of the pain went with it. His feet are still sore and will be for some time but we are managing the pain so that it's bearable."

"You said we could see him when we got back." Tully reminded him.

The doctor smile again and handed the clipboard in his hand to a passing nurse. "Follow me; I'll take you to him."

Hitch saw them coming and his face lit up. The smile he gave them threatened to split his face in two. "Hey, where have you guys been?"

"Working." Troy growled. "Not all of us get to lie around and flirt with the nurses."

"I wasn't flirting Sarge." Hitch protested.

"Hitch!" Troy said sternly.

"Who was here Sarge, you or me?"

Troy sobered immediately at the tone of his driver's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hitch answered sullenly. "I just didn't feel like flirting."

"Come on Hitch, give." Troy ordered. He lifted his eyes until he met Moffitt's. The British sergeant looked concerned too.

Hitch began to shake his head. "Nothing is wrong Sarge. The doctors have the swelling down and the pain is bearable. It doesn't hurt too badly as long as I don't try to move my feet. They ached so badly before I couldn't sleep but they're better now."

"So what's bothering you?" Troy leaned closer but Hitch lowered his head. "Hitch, we don't have much time."

Startled blue eyes flashed to his face. "What do you mean Sarge?"

Troy looked at the others. "Captain Boggs is probably going to want us to go right back out again once he reads out reports."

"Right away?"

"More than likely." Troy confirmed with a nod of his head.

"You just got back!"

Troy raised an eyebrow at his driver's objections. "You know how it is Hitch."

Hitch dropped his head and nodded. "How long will you be gone?"

"As long as it takes. Hitch, I don't like the idea of leaving with this problem unresolved."

"What problem?"

"Hitch!"

The blond looked around to see if anyone other than his friends was close enough to hear what he said.

"Come on Hitch, talk to us."

"I keep seeing his face Sarge." Hitch almost whispered. "I know I'm safe, but I keep seeing his face. He enjoyed it Sarge, He kept telling me to resist so he could show me the things he learned from the others. And he's still out there and there will be others! It's not the pain that's keeping me awake, well at least not just the pain." He admitted. "Knowing that he's going to keep doing this to others is driving me crazy!"

"The Captain won't let us go after him." Troy explained. "You are safe here Hitch, he's not going to get his hands on you again."

"But what about the next guy, or the next?"

"We have permission to kill him if we run into him again." Moffitt explained. "We won't let him keep getting away with this if we can help it."

"That's all we can do for now." Troy continued. "Right now we have other problems to handle. Trust me; we're not going to forget this major."

"Me either." Hitch mumbled.

"Sergeant Troy?"

Troy turned to see one of the clerks from the Captain's office standing behind them. "What?"

The clerk blushed at the gruff tone. "The Captain wants to see you right away." He explained nervously.

Troy sighed and nodded. "All right, tell him we'll be right there."

The clerk nodded and hurriedly made his escape.

"We have to go but we'll deal with this when we get back." Troy gripped his driver's arm to get him to make eye contact.

"All right Sarge."

"I'll be right there." Tully called as the sergeants turned to leave.

"Don't be long." Troy warned.

Tully nodded and watched as they left the room.

` "You'd better go Tully." Hitch urged. "I'll be okay."

"In a minute."

Hitch dropped his head and his eyes fell on the tent frame structure that Tully had made for him. "Some pal I am, I didn't even thank you for this thing, or for saving my life."

Tully shrugged, struggling to find the words he wanted.

"They're going to have me use a wheelchair to get around until my feet heal. Doc said it could take a while. Captain Boggs said he could use me in his office until I can go back on duty." Hitch rambled on to fill the silence.

"That's good; you won't be stuck in bed."

"Yeah, I can't sleep anyway so why stay in bed?" Hitch mumbled miserably.

"Hitch, did you know that I took a guard's place and stayed behind on the base while Sarge and Doc took you to the jeeps?"

"No." The blond shook his head. "You risk your life for me and I didn't even say thank you."

"That's not what I'm getting at Hitch."

"Okay, what are you trying to tell me?"

"I was late getting back to the jeeps and Sarge and Doc were worried about me."

"I would have been too Tully."

"I know, and I feel bad about that. You see, I told Sarge that it was because I was one of the guards sent to investigate the explosion."

Hitch looked confused.

"That part was true." Tully went on. "But it wasn't the whole truth."

"I don't understand."

"You're family Hitch, and I was raised to take care of family."

"I appreciate that Tully, and I consider you family too, but what does that have to do with you being late getting back the jeeps?"

"That major, he really hurt you. After I left the wall I followed the others until I could slip away unnoticed. By that time I was real close to that major's quarters. I saw a lieutenant come running out of the building and there was a light on in the major's window."

"Tully, what did you do?" Hitch stared wide eyed at the other private.

Tully raised his head defiantly. "I slipped into the building and I marched up those steps. The Major's rooms were at the top of the stairs. I could hear him inside getting dressed."

Hitch was holding his breath as he listened.

"I knocked on his door." Tully continued. "And when he opened it I took care of family. He won't ever hurt you again Hitch, or anyone else for that matter."

"He's dead?"

"I met him with my knife drawn and I made sure he got my point about family, all of it. Then I shoved him back into the room, cleaned my knife, and left the room." Tully finished as he watched Hitch for a reaction.

Hitch leaned back in his bed and sighed. "He's dead. He can't hurt anyone anymore, he's dead."

"As dead as they get." Tully confirmed. "After I killed him I turned out his light, shut the door and walked away. I made my way back to the wall, climbed over it, and made my way back to the jeeps."

"Do Sarge and Doc know?"

"Nobody knows but me, and now you. Oh, the Germans know he's dead but they don't know who killed him. The way he acted it wouldn't surprise me if some of his own men didn't want him dead."

"Are you going to tell Sarge and Doc?"

"Only if they ask." Tully admitted.

Hitch nodded, relief plain on his face. "He's dead. Thanks Tully. I think that maybe I can sleep now. Tully…"

"Yeah?"

"If Sarge doesn't ask, it can be our little secret."

Tully smiled and rose to leave. "Sleep well Hitch." When he looked back before he left the room Hitch's eyes were already getting heavy.

Tully ran across the base to catch up with his sergeants. They were almost to Captain Boggs' office when he caught up to them.

"Is Hitch okay?" Troy asked as Tully fell into step.

"He will be." Tully answered. "He was almost asleep when I left."

"What did you say to him?" Moffitt questioned. "I thought he was having trouble sleeping."

"I told him we're family and we take care of family." Tully shrugged. "I guess it made him feel better."

Troy glanced over at Moffitt who looked back and shrugged. Just grateful that his driver was feeling better, Troy let the matter drop. He could always talk to Hitch later if the need arose. They had survived another crisis; Hitch would heal and rejoin them. Their replacement driver met them at the door of the Captain's office and they all went in together. Another day, another mission.