Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.

Wishing Well

By Suzie2b

The Rat Patrol had been chased by a German column into the remains of a bombed out village. There wasn't a lot of cover—just a few broken walls and dead trees were left standing.

Troy and his men took whatever cover they could find to continue the fight. As the Germans rolled in behind them, their tank began to fire shells as they tried to force the American unit out of hiding. One hit very close to where Moffitt and Tully were with the jeep, making them duck and dive for cover as shrapnel and dirt flew up around them. When Moffitt turned to check on Tully, the private was gone.

Moffitt looked around frantically. "Tully!"

Troy yelled, "We can't beat 'em like this! We have to get outta here!"

"I can't find Tully!"

Troy and Hitch looked around, but they saw no sign of the missing private. Troy said, "Hitch and I will lead the German's out of here! Once we've lost them we'll circle back!"

When the single jeep headed out at high speed, the German's assumed the other two men were dead. They followed in hopes of ridding the desert of the Rat Patrol once and for all.

When he was alone, Moffitt climbed down out of the back of the jeep and looked around. "Tully!"

He spotted the private's helmet and machine gun on the ground near where Moffitt had last seen him. When he went to collect the items and continue the search, he noticed something odd. As he got closer, he realized it was a hole in the ground.

Moffitt picked up the machine gun and set it aside, then went to pick up Tully's steel helmet. There was a cracking sound under the sergeant's feet and he quickly stepped back. Upon closer inspection, Moffitt realized the hole wasn't just in the ground … it was an old board and it looked like Tully may have fallen through it.

Using a long stick, Moffitt retrieved the helmet and placed it with the gun. Then he carefully found the edge of the board under a layer of sand. As he tried to move it aside, Moffitt discovered there was more than one. He knew he had to be careful. If Tully was down there, he didn't want anything to fall on him.

By the time he finally got the hole uncovered, Moffitt knew it was an old well. He hurried to the jeep for a flashlight. When he shined the beam inside, he was relieved to see that it was dry. However, Moffitt also found Tully lying unmoving at the bottom.

#################

It was nearly an hour before Troy and Hitch returned. Moffitt met the jeep when it stopped and Troy asked, "Did you find him?"

Moffitt nodded. "He's in an old dry well. He fell through the boards that were covering it." He began to lead Troy and Hitch to the well. "They were covered with sand. He couldn't have known they were there. I've examined the area around it. The ground has been fractured by the shelling." Troy and Hitch started to approach the hole together, but Moffitt stopped them. "Too much weight on the edge could cause it to give way."

The sergeant handed Troy the flashlight. He took it and slowly stepped forward as Hitch stayed with Moffitt. With the beam of light Troy could make out Tully's still form. "Has he been out the whole time?"

Moffitt nodded. "He hasn't moved."

Hitch quickly said, "We've got rope. You guys can lower me down…"

"We'll have to find a way to stabilize the edge before we can do anything."

Troy stepped back and asked, "Where are those boards?"

Moffitt pointed. "Over there. Tully fell through one, so there's no telling how sturdy any of them are."

"What if we could use them as a platform? Stack them to add strength."

"That's definitely a possibility."

Hitch said, "I'll get started."

Then they heard a quiet voice make its way up to them. "Moffitt? You up there?"

Troy moved to the edge again and looked down at Tully with the flashlight. "Are you okay?"

Tully was sitting up squinting into the light as he said groggily, "Yeah … no … I don't know yet. What happened? Is Moffitt and Hitch all right?"

"They're both fine. You fell through the cover of an old well. We're working on a way to get you out of there. Just stay put."

"I don't have anywhere to go, sarge … but if I had a nickel I'd wish myself outta here."

When Troy stepped away from the edge, Moffitt asked, "How's he look?"

Troy sighed. "He's hurt. Probably a concussion at the very least. How deep do you think it is?"

"Hard to tell for sure, but I'd guess twelve to fifteen feet."

Hitch had dragged the three boards together on top of each other. He quickly went to Tully's toolbox and returned with a hammer. "I need some nails."

Moffitt said, "Arabs make spikes of varying lengths to use as nails. We'll look around in the rubble. I'm sure we'll find plenty."

While Moffitt and Hitch searched out nails, Troy got the coils of rope from the jeeps. He heard Tully call and he answered, "What do you need, Tully?"

The private said, "Is there any way I can get some water?"

"I'll have it to you in a minute." Troy got two full canteens that were in heavy canvas covers on belts. He looped the rope through the belts and lowered the water down. He watched Tully untie the canteens and Troy started to pull the rope up as he asked, "How're you feeling?"

Tully took a drink before he said, "I'm startin' to hurt some."

"Hurt where?"

"My head mostly. Back hurts when I take a deep breath and it feels like my knee's a mess."

Troy moved the flashlight's beam and saw the torn and bloody material of Tully's pants at his right knee. He heard banging as Moffitt and Hitch worked on the platform. "You'll be outta there soon."

After securely tying the ends of the ropes together and carefully coiling it up, Troy went to check on Moffitt and Hitch's progress. When he joined them, Moffitt explained, "We found these small timbers. By nailing the boards to them the platform should be sturdy enough to hold at least one of us."

Troy asked, "Are you sure it's not too heavy to sit on the edge?"

"We won't know until we try it."

Hitch asked, "How's Tully doing?"

Troy sighed. "He says his head and back hurt, and it looks like there's a nasty gash in his right knee."

Moffitt frowned. "Is he moving around?"

"Yeah. He's sitting up and his arms work. I sent down some water. How long until you're done here?"

"Shouldn't be too much longer."

#################

Less than an hour later the platform was ready. Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch dragged it to the well and carefully placed it where they wanted it. When it appeared stable, Hitch looked at it and said, "We forgot something."

Troy growled, "What?"

"We need something to lessen the rope's friction on the wood or the rope might break before we get Tully up here."

Moffitt looked around until his eyes landed on one of the jeeps. "Rubber. Cut a piece from one of the spare tires."

Hitch nodded. "Right. I'm on it."

After the private hurried off, Troy lowered himself to his knees on the platform. Moffitt asked, "What are you doing?"

Troy said, "I'm the smallest of the team. I should be the one on the platform." He laid down on his belly to distribute his weight as evenly as possible and moved to the edge. When Troy shone the light down into the well to check on Tully, the private was sprawled on his back. "Tully, you still with me?"

Troy could barely hear Tully's response as he said, "I'm okay. Just … restin'."

The sergeant knew it was a lie, but wasn't going to argue. "We're getting ready to send down the rope."

Hitch returned with a strip of rubber. He handed it to Troy along with the hammer and nails. With that being taken care of, Moffitt had Hitch bring a jeep around to use as an anchor for the rope.

With one end tied to the front bumper Troy lowered the rope down and said, "Tully, you need to grab the rope." No response. "It's next to your right hand, Tully." Still nothing. "Tully … answer me!"

Moffitt asked worriedly, "What's going on, Troy."

"I hope he's just passed out. I'll have to go down…"

Hitch said, "Let me do it, sarge."

Troy looked back at the young, worried private and thought about refusing the offer, but the expression on that face told him to do otherwise. "You sure?" Hitch didn't hesitate to nod. Troy said, "All right." He scooted off the platform and Hitch took his place. "Once you're on the rope, I'll be there with the light."

Hitch gave a nod and carefully maneuvered down onto the rope. As soon as he dropped from sight, Troy moved in with the flashlight.

At the bottom, Hitch quickly knelt next to his friend. "Tully, you need to wake up." Dull, pained eyes opened. "Talk to me. Where's it hurt?"

Tully whispered, "My head … back…"

"Can you move your legs?" Tully shuffled his legs a bit and grimaced. Hitch asked, "Did that hurt?"

"Just my … knee."

"Okay, I'm going to sit you up. Don't try to help." Hitch moved around and slowly got his injured friend up while supporting his shoulders. When Tully was upright, Hitch asked, "How's your back? Has the pain worsened?"

Tully grimaced, "Only hurts … when … I breathe."

Hitch winced when he saw the gash on the back of Tully's along with the blood that had soaked his hair and the collar of his shirt. "No wonder your head hurts." Tully started to go limp. "Hang on, Tully. I need you to stay awake."

"Wanna sleep."

"I know. You'll be able to soon, but for now I need you sitting up. Can you do that for me?"

Tully gave a slight nod. "Yeah."

Troy called down, "How's he doing?"

Hitch said, "He's hanging in there. We'll be ready to come up in a minute."

Troy watched as Hitch wrapped the rope around Tully twice under his arms. On his knees, Hitch moved in close so that Tully's back was snug against his chest and was securing the rope when Troy said, "Moffitt, get in the jeep and wait for my signal. They're going to come up together."

Hitch looked up at Troy and called, "Okay, sarge! We're ready to go!"

Troy turned to Moffitt. "Back it up slowly."

Moffitt started the engine and began to back the jeep away, bringing the two men up. Just before Hitch and Tully were within reach, Troy carefully backed off of the platform. He stood by and could only watch as Hitch pulled himself and Tully over the edge as the jeep continued to pull them up.

When his two men were lying on the platform, Troy called, "Hold it, Moffitt!" The jeep stopped. "Can you get yourself untied, Hitch?"

As the private reached for the knot, they could hear a lot of cracking as the boards began to give way and splinter. Troy tried to yell at Moffitt to pull them off the platform, but it was too late. It shattered and fell into the well.

As they fell, Hitch wrapped his arms around Tully and managed to turn, taking the brunt of the force on his back and left shoulder as they slammed into the wall.

Moffitt scrambled from the jeep to join Troy. They looked down at the two men dangling at the end of the rope and Troy said, "You okay, Hitch?"

The private looked up and said a little breathlessly, "Ask me that again in a couple of hours."

Together Troy and Moffitt pulled Hitch and Tully to safety. After getting the ropes off the two men, an unconscious Tully was laid gently on a blanket so Moffitt could examine him.

The sergeant checked for broken bones while Troy cleaned and bandaged the gash on the back of Tully's head. Hitch tore open the pant leg to take care of his friend's right knee.

Finally, Moffitt said, "There doesn't seem to be any broken bones, but he's very badly bruised. And I'm concerned about his back."

Troy looked at the swollen bruise on Tully's jaw. "It'll be dark soon."

"I don't think it's a good idea to wait. He could have internal damage."

Troy nodded. "The closest medical help is Ras Tanura. We'd better get going."

##################

It was nearly 2am when they got Tully to the base hospital at Ras Tanura. After the injured private was taken in for evaluation and x-rays, Moffitt went to tell Charley.

When the groggy young woman opened the apartment door wearing one of Tully's shirts with her hair in complete disarray, she blinking up at Moffitt and quietly said, "Tully?"

The sergeant nodded. "I'm afraid so."

At medical it seemed to take forever before they heard anything from Doctor Lewis. When he finally appeared, he told them, "There's no broken bones. He does have a concussion and some internal bruising, but at the moment there's no sign of internal bleeding that we need to worry about."

Charley worriedly said, "'At the moment'?"

"There's quite a bit of trauma from the fall. Right now I'd rather not put him through what could be unnecessary surgery. If he starts to show signs of worsening bleeding within the next twenty-four hours we'll take care of it then. But right now he's in stable, but serious condition." Charley nodded and Lewis continued, "The nurses are stitching up the head wound and his knee. We'll get him into a bunk as soon as possible."

Moffitt asked, "What about his back?"

Doctor Lewis said, "Again, the x-rays showed nothing's damaged and he's able to move his limbs without difficulty or pain. All in all he's a very lucky young man."

After Tully was moved to a bed, Charley took up residence in a chair next to him. He had woken up enough to realize that his wife was there and she held his hand as she watched him sleep.

Every hour for the next twenty-four a nurse would stop by to check Tully's vitals and wake him to make sure he could recognize his surroundings and was able to move his arms and legs.

By day four Tully was sitting up in bed and was eating soft foods. Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch stopped by before lunch. Moffitt smiled and said, "You're getting your color back. How do you feel?"

Tully sighed. "Still tired and sore, but the headaches aren't as frequent. The doc says I'll be able to get outta bed this afternoon."

Hitch smiled. "Crutches?"

"Wheelchair. The stitches in my knee come out in another day or so. I'm hoping for a cane if anything. How's your back and shoulder?"

"Still a very nice shade of purple, thank you."

Moffitt asked, "How's Charley doing?"

Tully managed a tired smile. "Better. She's not hovering as much. She'll be here for lunch when she's finished with her deliveries."

Troy said, "We wanted to let you know that Captain Boggs is sending us out on a mission. We'll be gone for a few days."

"Who's my replacement?"

"That's 'temporary' replacement, and it's Scott Devers."

Tully shrugged. "He's a pretty good driver, but he hasn't seen our kind of action."

Hitch said, "More specifically, he's a pretty good 'truck' driver. We'll see how he handles the jeep."

Moffitt said, "Should be interesting. I for one hope you won't be out of commission too long, Tully."

Tully nodded slowly. "Me too. Don't like layin' around like this unless it's in my own bed with Charley."

They all chuckled and Troy said, "Well, we have to get going. We're heading out after we get some lunch. We'll see you when we get back."

"Right, sarge. You guys be careful out there."

Hitch grinned and said, "Hey, I heard there's a real wishing well over in Eilat. Maybe we should stop by after you're healed up and try it out. You could wish for no more accidents."

Moffitt grinned. "You don't really believe that throwing a coin in a well and making a wish really works, do you, Hitch?"

"But I heard from a friend who heard from a guy who heard from a Bedouin that this one really works."

Tully said, "You guys go ahead with that without me. I think old wells, along with old buildings, are on my list of things to stay away from."