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

A One-Eyed Jack

By Suzie2b

There was trouble in Ras Tanura. A group of men had been attacking the army personnel stationed there. In the past two weeks four GIs had been murdered. Two nurses, and one secretary had been severely beaten. No one knew why or knew who was responsible. The only description was that they were dressed as Arabs and had most of their faces covered. Warnings were posted to remind people not to wander around alone, especially at night. And women should be escorted by men.

The Rat Patrol had been assigned to work with the military police to find who was behind the attacks and stop them. Tully had been escorting Charley everywhere since the attacks started to happen. And if he couldn't do it, he found someone he trusted to take care of her.

One morning, as Charley was getting ready to go to headquarters, there was a knock at her door. Expecting it to be Tully, she was surprised when she opened it. "Carl! I wasn't expecting you. Where's Tully?"

"There's a big meeting with Captain Boggs and the MPs. Tully said he and the rest of the guys had to be there."

Charley smiled. "And he sent you to be my bodyguard."

Carl grinned. "Yep. He said that I'm not supposed to let you go anywhere alone."

Charley picked up her satchel. "Okay. First stop is headquarters to pick up my daily deliveries."

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Charley's last stop was the supply depot with a stack of requisitions. Then she and Carl went to the mess hall for lunch.

As they ate, Carl asked, "So, what's next?"

Charley swallowed, then said, "Since I don't have a mission at the moment, I'm done for the day. Unless I get a message from Captain Boggs."

"So all I have to do is get you back to your quarters and make sure you lock the door."

"Yep. And then you're free of me."

Carl chuckled. "It hasn't been that bad. It was kinda nice to have something different to do."

After lunch, Charley and Carl headed towards the women's barracks. They climbed the stairs and stopped at the top when they saw two men dressed as Arabs in the hallway.

Carl calmly said, "Get outta here, Charley. Run."

Charley turned, but was grabbed by one of the Arabs that had followed them into the building.

When Carl opened his eyes, there were MPs and medics everywhere. He started to sit up, but was pushed back down. The medic said, "Lay still, private. Stretchers are coming."

Carl tried to look around. "Where's Charley?"

Avoiding the question, the medic said, "You were lucky that someone heard the commotion. The five that attacked you two got scared off."

There was a weak cry of pain that could only have belonged to Charley and a voice said, "Hang on … just a little more."

Carl sat up and brushed the medic aside. Charley had been pinned to a wooden beam by a knife through her hand above her head. A medic was holding Charley as the MP tried to carefully work the knife loose. She was crying against the medic's shoulder. Carl stood up and swayed as his vision blurred for a second.

The medic next to him grabbed his arm. "You need to sit down. You probably have a concussion."

Carl put his hand on his head as his vision blurred again. The stretchers arrived as Carl's knees gave out and he was lowered onto one of them. "I have to get Tully."

The medic asked, "Who's Tully?"

"Private Tully Pettigrew. Him and her are engaged."

"Okay, we'll take care of it. Do you know where he is?"

"Meeting with Captain Boggs."

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A note was delivered to the captain and he frowned as he read it. "There's been another attack." He looked at Tully. "A Private Jensen and Miss Williams are at the hospital now. You'd better get over there." Captain Boggs looked at Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch. "Go with him."

They burst through the door and Tully looked around frantically. Vicky caught sight of them and waved them over. She put a hand on Tully's arm and said, "Charley's in x-ray." She pointed to a room. "When they bring her back, she'll be in there. Should be just another minute or so."

Troy asked, "Where's Private Jensen?"

"He's getting patched up now. He's got a concussion along with cracked ribs and bruises. The private obviously put up quite a fight. I'll take you to him."

"Hitch, stay here with Tully. Moffitt and I are going to go talk to Carl."

As the two sergeants followed Vicky, Hitch put a hand on Tully's shoulder. "Charley's going to be okay, Tully."

He simply nodded and walked into the room to wait.

A few minutes later Charley was brought in on a stretcher and moved to the bed. Tully saw the bloody bandage on her left hand as he moved to her side. He took her right hand and she opened her eyes. "Hey there, sweetheart. You're going to be all right."

Charley's face was wet with tears and her chin trembled as she whispered, "Hurts."

Vicky arrived with a hospital gown. She handed Tully Charley's engagement ring. "Her hand was swelling pretty fast. The medic that removed it gave it to me."

He took the ring and looked at it before he put it in his shirt pocket.

"I need to get her ready for surgery. Why don't you wait outside with Hitch?"

Tully shook his head. "I'll help." He saw Charley squeeze her eyes closed against the pain as her hand tightened around his. "Have you given her anything for pain?"

"Codeine. We're out of morphine. Shipment should be here tomorrow."

While Vicky and Tully undressed Charley to get the gown on her, Troy and Moffitt met Hitch outside the room.

Moffitt asked, "How's she doing?"

Hitch replied, "They're getting her ready for surgery. Did you find anything out from Carl?"

Troy sighed. "Not much. There were five of them, all dressed like Arabs with their faces covered."

Moffitt added, "They're getting bolder. This time it happened in the women's barracks during the day instead of a back alley at night. Carl was dropping Charley off at her quarters when they were jumped."

Two orderlies arrived to take Charley to surgery. After they left with her, Vicky and Tully walked out and joined the other three men. She smiled slightly as she said, "We have a very good orthopedic surgeon here. The same one that fixed her wrist. She's going to be well taken care of." Then she walked away.

Moffitt asked, "How's Charley?"

Tully frowned. "She's in a lot of pain and they're out of morphine. Vicky said that two bones in her hand are broken where the knife went in."

Troy said, "Carl wants to see you. Go easy on him. He was outnumbered four-to-one."

Tully nodded. "I'll go over there now."

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Tully sat down next to Carl's bunk. He opened his bruised eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Tully."

"I don't blame you, Carl. You were outnumbered. How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little sore, but not too bad. Doc says I have to say here for a day or two because of the concussion. How's Charley?"

Tully sighed. "They just took her into surgery."

Carl looked at his friend and scowled. "You gotta get these guys, Tully."

"Don't worry. We'll get 'em."

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Guards were stationed around the clock outside both the women's and the men's barracks, as well as outside headquarters. No one got in without an ID. A curfew was set for dusk to dawn and no one was to be out on the street at any time without a reason.

Tully sat next to Charley's bed. The surgeon had said that the bones in her hand weren't badly broken and he was able to set them. Tully held her hand and absently watched as the IV dripped into her arm. Finally, Charley's fingers twitched against his palm as she woke.

Tully looked at her and waited for her eyes to open. When they did, he smiled and said, "Hi."

Charley looked at him groggily. "Where…"

"Hospital. Do you remember anything?" When she slowly shook her head, Tully said, "That's okay. Just take your time."

Charley closed her eyes and dozed off. Ten minutes later she awoke with a start that sent a shock of pain through her hand and she gasped, "Tully!"

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Still right here. You okay?"

"Where's Carl?"

Tully quietly replied, "Bruised up some, but he's all right."

Charley said, "I saw him."

Tully's brow furrowed. "Saw who?"

"The guy who stabbed me. When we got to the top of the stairs and saw them, Carl told me run. I turned, but there were three more behind us and one of them grabbed me. I struggled with him while the others attacked Carl. I somehow managed to grab the scarf that covered his face." Charley's eyes widened as she realized what she had seen. "He wasn't Arab."

"What do mean he wasn't Arab?"

Charley squeezed Tully's hand as pain started to throb in her hand. "I mean I think he was German. Light skin … weird eyes. He threw me down and pulled out a knife. That's when a door opened and I heard someone yell. One of them told the others in German to get out of there."

Vicky walked into the room. "Good, you're awake. How's the pain?"

"I'm okay."

Tully shook his head. "She's hurting."

Vicky smiled. "What is this thing you both have of not admitting when you're in pain? I'll be right back with some codeine and a sedative."

After she left, Tully said, "You said his eyes were weird. Weird how?"

Charley gritted her teeth. "One eye was blue … the other was black. Like he had a blown pupil or something."

Vicky returned and administered the medication. "There now. Just rest, Charley."

"Thanks, Vicky."

Tully stood up and leaned down for a kiss. "Okay, you get some sleep. I'll be back in a little while."

Charley felt the sedative begin to work as she nodded and closed her eyes.

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Tully found Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch in Captain Boggs office. The captain asked how Charley was doing and Tully replied, "She going be all right. Wasn't as bad as the doctor first thought."

"That's good to hear, private. Has she been awake yet?"

"Yes, sir. She got a good look at the one that stabbed her. He wasn't Arab."

Troy said, "Is she sure?"

Tully nodded. "She said he had light skin and blue eyes … except that one eye looked like it had a blown pupil. And they were speaking German."

Moffitt frowned. "So, when this gang isn't killing or beating people up, they could be wandering around the base looking like you or me."

Hitch asked, "How are we going to catch these guys? We can't just walk around looking at people's eyes."

Troy gave a little smile. "We'll set a trap."

Captain Boggs asked, "What do you have in mind, sergeant?"

"What do you want to bet that the guy Charley saw will want to kill her before she can tell anyone what she saw?"

Hitch said, "But she's already given us the information."

Troy looked at Tully. "Did anyone else hear what Charley told you?"

Tully shook his head. "And she was asleep when I left."

"Good. Then these guys have no idea that she's been awake and talking."

Tully scowled. "You aren't thinking of using Charley as bait, are you?"

Troy shook his head. "Only technically. She'll be safely out of harm's way."

Captain Boggs nodded. "Sounds like the beginning of a plan, gentlemen. Now go out and implement it. Good luck."

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Vicky was informed of their plan and Charley was moved out of the room. A dummy replaced her in the bed. Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Tully were disguised as orderlies. They had let information leak that Charley was being kept sedated and hadn't been awake to be questioned.

They wandered the hospital trying to look busy throughout the night. Before Vicky left for the night she gave the information to the nurse in charge of the next shift. She was to treat the dummy just as if it really was Charley.

At about three in the morning, when things were at their quietest, a man dressed in an American uniform and a doctor's lab coat walked in. He looked around at the sleeping patients. He stopped an orderly and asked where he might find Charley Williams.

Hitch took note of the man's blown pupil as he pointed to a hallway across the room and replied, "Down that hall. First door on the right." As he walked away, Hitch gave a slight nod to his comrades.

A nurse walked out of the room as the man arrived. She didn't recognize him, but said, "Good morning, doctor. Miss Williams is still sleeping."

"Thank you, nurse. I will be careful not to awaken her."

She nodded and walked away, glancing over her shoulder as she went.

The man walked into the dimly lit room and closed the door. He stepped over to the bed and took a knife from where it had been hidden under the lab coat. An unpleasant smile formed on his lips as he began to stab "Charley" over and over.

The door opened and the overhead light was switched on. The man spun around and looked at the four soldiers blocking his escape. Still smiling, he raised the knife as if to show them what he'd done. However, there was no blood on the blade. The smile was replaced by a frown as he turned and tore the blanket off the bed to reveal the dummy.

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A couple hours later when Charley woke up, she didn't have a clue about what had happened. Tully explained what had gone down, and that one of the killers had been caught. "He isn't talking though. We may never know what their mission was. Pretty sure his friends have disappeared, but we'll have to be careful for a while."

The shipment of morphine had arrived and Charley was resting comfortably, propped up on pillows. She smiled groggily. "I'm just glad it's over and no one else got hurt."

Tully nodded and leaned in for a kiss. "I'm going to go get some sleep now. You rest and I'll bring you some lunch later."

After a few hours' sleep, Tully went to the mess hall. He loaded up two trays and was getting ready to leave when Cookie stopped him. "Heard about what happened." He placed a bowl covered with foil on one of the trays. "She likes chocolate pudding. I made up a patch so she could have some."

Tully grinned. "Thanks. I know she'll enjoy it."

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A few days later, Charley was allowed to go back to her quarters. Tully brought the jeep around and drove her to the barracks. Guards were still stationed at the entrance and they both showed their ID before going in. Just before they started up the stairs, Tully picked Charley up. She smiled and asked, "What are you doing?"

Tully grinned. "I am carrying you up these stairs."

"I am capable of walking, you know."

"Doc said you're to take it easy for a while. I'm just making sure you do." At the top Tully put her back on her feet. "You need to eat more. I'd swear you've been losing weight."

Charley put her good arm around his waist as they started walking. "No … you're just getting stronger." She stopped and stared at a spot on the wall between two doors.

Tully followed her line of sight. He could see the hole where the knife had entered the wall beam and the stain of blood. He gently urged her forward. "Want me to see if Cookie has any more pudding?"

Charley sighed. "Nope. I'd rather just snuggle up with you for the rest of the war."

Tully opened the door to her quarters. "I think something can be arranged."