Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Bubble Gum and Friends
By Suzie2b
Hitch sighed as he lay on his cot in the field hospital he'd been in for the last couple of days. He'd been shot in the leg during a mission. However, it hadn't been too serious and he was going to be transferred to the hospital at Ras Tenura the next day. Sergeants Troy and Moffitt, along with his fellow private, Tully Pettigrew had gone out on another assignment, but promised they'd be back in time to escort his ambulance back to base.
Hitch absently blew another bubble and let it pop. Nurse Ratchet glared at him and he shrugged apologetically, thinking, "What's she got against bubble gum?"
After a while Hitch threw the piece of gum away and closed his eyes. He wasn't tired. He'd done a lot of sleeping since getting to the hospital. What he was, was bored. Hitch sighed and let his mind find his friends. Troy, Moffitt, and Tully were the first real friends he'd ever had, since his controlling parents weren't in North Africa to tell him what to do and who to see.
First there was Sergeant Sam Troy, or 'sarge' as he and Tully called him most of the time. Hitch thought, "The first time I met him I could tell he thought I was just a spoiled rich kid. I had to prove myself to him and I did." He smiled. "Actually, it wasn't that long before I realized that Troy wasn't as hard as he liked people to think. He'd give you the shirt off his back if he thought it would help you out." Troy took care of his men, watched over them, and made sure they were all accounted for at the end of the day. He'd taught Hitch and Tully more about being soldiers than any drill sergeant did in boot camp. "Troy may be a good, generous friend, but he will never take any crap from anyone—especially not from one of his own men. I know I get a little mouthy now and then, and sarge lets me get away with it a good deal of the time, but he's also put me in my place more than once."
Hitch remembered meeting Jack Moffitt. He wasn't sure what to think of the British sergeant at first. Hitch knew that Troy hadn't been too happy about the new arrangement at the time, and Tully wasn't at all impressed by Moffitt's attitude. But Hitch found it easy to like the sergeant and by the time they were off on their second mission together, they were already becoming trusted friends. "Moffitt's a real smart person. After all he is a Professor of Anthropology. He knows the desert better than some of the locals. He speaks German, Arabic, and all kinds of African dialects, which has come in handy on numerous occasions." Moffitt did his best to take care of them. He'd removed bullets and shrapnel, stitched them up, cleaned and dressed wounds for all of them. He was strong and caring, with a ready smile. An easy person to work with, who would go to great lengths to make sure you understood something. However, he wouldn't hesitate to snap the neck of an enemy like a twig if he needed to.
Hitch chuckled to himself as he thought about his good friend and fellow private, Tully Pettigrew. He'd been running moonshine since he was a kid in Kentucky before the war. He was the last to join the long range desert patrol. Friendly, quiet, protective. "Kids and animals love him. Close to his family, which I'm a little jealous of." Tully was a great fighter and an excellent driver. He always knew what was going on around him. "He's always learning something. He borrowed Moffitt's father's book about anthropology and archeology and actually read it." Tully was smarter than he gave himself credit for. And not just book learning smart. He knew about life and what he wanted from it. A loving husband to Charley. Hitch grinned and thought, "They really adore each other. She's become something of a little sister to Troy, Moffitt, and me."
He opened his eyes and reached under the cot for one of his last three pieces of bubble gum, but the bag was missing. Hitch looked around and locked eyes with Nurse Ratchet. Then noticed a bit of the bag peeking out of her pocket. He sighed as he thought, "That woman's crazy. I'll be glad to get outta here tomorrow."
A half hour later Tully wandered in and sat down next to his friend. Hitch smiled. "Everything go okay?"
Tully nodded with a smile. "Yeah, it was an easy one. Missed you though. Troy complained the whole time about having to do his own driving." He pulled a bag out of his jacket pocket. "Hey, I noticed you were getting low on bubble gum so I picked some up for you."
Hitch took the bag with a grin. "Thanks, Tully." He immediately took a piece, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth as Nurse Ratchet looked on with an angry glare.