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

Being Careful

By Suzie2b

Tully was hoping to check for mail before he left to go on a five to six day recon mission with Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch. He was disappointed when he saw the line that had formed well outside the door. Then he spotted Charley walking away as she read a letter.

Tully jogged over to catch up with her. "Hey…" When Charley stopped and looked at him, a smile made her eyes shine. "Good morning, beautiful."

"Good morning, handsome. I thought you and the guys were off on a mission today?"

"We are. I wanted to check for mail first, but it doesn't look like I'll have time."

Charley grinned and handed Tully an envelope. "I was going to hang onto it until you got back. It's from your mom."

Tully took the envelope and kissed her cheek. "I'm so glad I have you." He glanced at the letter she'd been reading. "Is that from your father?"

"It's from Aunt Em. She says that dad's home now and resting. I guess he won't be reporting to Fort Belvoir until the first of the month. They should be driving each other crazy by then." Charley smiled. "She's also very excited about our engagement."

Tully smiled, still getting used to the idea of being engaged. "Good to hear your dad's recovering." He folded the envelope and tucked it into his shirt pocket. "I gotta get going. I'll see you in about a week. Love you."

They kissed and Charley said, "Love you too. Be careful."

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They had driven all day and ended up in a wadi for the night. After supper and clean up, Hitch took first watch. Troy, Moffitt, and Tully were sitting around a small fire. The two sergeants were talking about home and family, which reminded Tully of the letter in his pocket.

Tully opened the envelope and took out the letter. He smiled at his mother's bold handwriting, which was handy since he was reading by firelight. Beth and Katy were doing well in school. They had joined 4-H and both were raising hogs as their projects. She told him about what was happening on the farm. Tully's father was working harder than usual to make sure the crops stayed hardy throughout some bad weather. Their cow, Eloise, had given birth to a sixty-four pound heifer and his sisters had named her Luella. He got all the latest gossip, which was always amusing.

Tully smiled as he refolded the letter and put it back into the envelope. As he put it in his shirt pocket again he heard Troy say, "Hey, Tully, you with me?"

He looked up to see Troy staring at him with a grin on his face. "Huh?"

"Good reading?"

Tully smiled. "Letter from my mom."

"Everything good back home?"

"Yep. Eloise gave birth to a sixty-four pound baby girl and my sisters have named her Luella." Troy looked at him with confusion and he explained, "Eloise is a cow, sarge."

Troy chuckled. "I keep forgetting you grew up on a farm." He glanced at Moffitt, who at some point Tully didn't recall, had gone to his bedroll and was already sleeping. Troy said to Tully, "You better get some sleep too. You're on watch after Hitch."

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The next morning, per their plans, Troy and Hitch went east while Moffitt and Tully headed west. They would follow the routes set by Captain Boggs' maps and look for any enemy activity. If the enemy was spotted they were to try and avoid contact.

Tully pulled up next to a sand dune and stopped. They had finished the first part of the recon and Moffitt needed to let Troy know that they were going to head south.

As Moffitt got the walky-talky out of the jeep, he said, "Go up and keep a look out."

He grabbed a machine gun. "On my way."

Moffitt contacted Troy and was explaining that he and Tully hadn't seen any enemy activity yet.

However, as soon as Tully got to the top, he ducked down before he turned and slid down the dune shouting, "Sarge! We've got company!" He stopped in front of Moffitt. "A German scout column. Don't think they saw me, but they're almost on us."

Moffitt relayed what Tully had said and Troy told him, "Get outta there! We'll meet at the rendezvous point!"

They jumped into the jeep and sped away, but the column had spotted them as they came around the dune and was giving chase. Moffitt turned the 50 caliber around to return fire behind them.

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Tully felt the bullet hit him in the back of his left arm, but didn't even slow down. Out of the corner of his eye, Moffitt saw Tully jerk slightly as he was hit. Then a bullet hit the sergeant in the right thigh.

Finally, the column gave up the chase and Moffitt had Tully stop at the first place that gave them cover. He was sitting on the hood with his feet on the seat, still hanging onto the 50.

Tully saw the blood on Moffitt's pant leg as he got out of the jeep. He hurried around and helped the sergeant sit down in the seat. "Easy does it, sarge." Tully tore open the pant leg and took a look. He found an exit wound in the back of Moffitt's leg. "You got lucky. The bullet hit the outer part of your leg and went on through. The bleeding's almost stopped already."

Moffitt grimaced. "Funny, I don't feel very lucky. Hand me the walky-talky and the map."

Tully got the requested items along with a med kit. As he bandaged Moffitt's leg, the sergeant called Troy to tell him what happened and approximately where they were. By the time he was finished talking to Troy, Tully had his leg snuggly wrapped and was standing there with two aspirin and a canteen.

Moffitt swallowed the pills with water, then said, "We're to wait here. Troy and Hitch are on their way." He gave the walky-talky and map bag to the private, who put them in the back of the jeep. "All right, Tully. Your turn. Give me the med kit."

Tully's brow furrowed. "Huh?"

Moffitt gave him a slight smile. "In case you didn't notice, you were hit in the arm."

Tully glanced over his left shoulder at the blood on his jacket. "I'm okay, sarge. It doesn't even hurt."

"Nonsense. Take your jacket off." Tully opened his mouth to say something, but Moffitt said pointedly, "No arguments."

Tully sighed and gritted his teeth as he pulled his arm out of the sleeve.

"Thought you said it didn't hurt."

"It didn't then. It does now." Tully turned so Moffitt could examine the wound. "How's it look?"

Moffitt pushed his short sleeve up and replied, "Bullet's in there … not too deep though. You're still bleeding." He got a pressure bandage out of the med kit. "We'll wait for Troy and Hitch to get here, then see about getting it out."

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An hour and a half passed before Troy and Hitch rolled up. Moffitt was still sitting in the jeep, while Tully had chosen to just sit on the sand next to him with his back against the vehicle and a machine gun across his lap.

Troy looked at his two men a bit worriedly. "How are you two doing?"

Moffitt replied, "Not too bad … all things considered. But Tully has a bullet in his arm."

Hitch knelt next to his friend. "Let's take a look at it." Tully turned and Hitch removed the pressure bandage. "Bleeding's stopped." He examined the wound with a small flashlight. "I can just see the bullet."

Troy grabbed a med kit. "We'll get it out later. I don't want to stick around here now that the German's know we're in the area."

Moffitt said, "We should contact HQ with what we've found. The sooner they know the better."

"Already done. Hitch, keep your eyes open while I bandage Tully's arm." Troy wrapped the injury and asked, "How's it feel?"

Tully nodded. "Good to go, sarge."

Troy helped him to his feet. "You ride with Hitch. We'll go as far as we can before nightfall."

They stopped at a waterhole for the night. Troy and Hitch helped Moffitt get settled.

Tully, wanting to stay busy, unlashed the jerry cans and started to lift a gas can out of the jeep.

Troy took it from him and set it down. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tully said, "Going to gas up the jeeps before it gets dark."

"Let Hitch do it. Let's take care of your arm."

"I'm fine, sarge."

Troy looked at the tired pain in Tully's eyes and said quietly, "I know you are, Tully. But we need to get that bullet out and the wound cleaned or it'll get infected before we get back to base."

Troy got a med kit and led his private over to sit next to Moffitt, who said, "I'll take care of it, Troy."

"You sure you're up for it?"

"As long as I don't move my leg, I'm fine."

Troy said, "Okay. Yell if you need anything."

Moffitt made sure the forceps were well cleaned with alcohol. "Okay, Tully, this will probably sting a bit." Tully nodded. Moffitt was able to quickly remove the bullet as Tully held his arm steady and closed his eyes against the pain. He pressed a gauze square over the wound. "There. As soon as the bleeding stops again I'll put a fresh dressing on it." Tully nodded again. "You're awfully quiet. Are you in much pain?"

"Burns a little, but not bad."

"Then what's on your mind?"

Tully sighed. "Charley always tells me to be careful."

Moffitt smiled as he started to bandage Tully's arm. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing really. It's just that when something does happen I sort of feel guilty."

"I don't believe you've ever had an injury out here that's been your fault, Tully. There's nothing to feel guilty about."

"Charley tells me to be careful. I get hurt. Then I feel like I've let her down somehow."

Moffitt taped the bandage in place. "If you weren't being careful, you would've been dead a long time ago. Charley knows that. She says it because she loves you. You tell her to be careful when she goes off on a mission, don't you?"

Tully turned to face the sergeant. "Every time she leaves the base I tell her. But she doesn't usually come back all banged up."

"Look, Tully, being in love isn't easy. It can be downright confusing."

Tully nodded and chuckled quietly. "Tell me about it. You ever been in love, sarge?"

Moffitt gave a sigh. "Yes … it was some time ago. Very nearly got married."

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"I joined the army and she decided she wasn't interested in being a military wife." Moffitt smiled. "You, on the other hand, are very lucky to have Charley. She respects you, supports you, and loves you even though you occasionally come back 'all banged up'. She understands what's going on out here and what can happen."

Troy walked up to his men. "You two looked like you were having one serious talk there."

"Just discussing love."

Troy grinned. "Well, that is a pretty heavy subject."

Tully smiled. "You need me to stand watch after Hitch, sarge?"

"Nah. You and Moffitt just get some rest tonight. Hitch and I will take care of it."

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In the morning Troy radioed headquarters again and was told to head back to base. An armored column was heading their way to take over and hopefully chase the Germans out of the sector.

It took the better part of the day to get back to Ras Tanura. Moffitt and Tully were taken care of at the hospital and released—Moffitt with a cane and Tully with a sling.

As they left medical, they ran into Charley as she headed to check in at HQ. She smiled when she saw them, but then realized they'd been injured. She stopped and put her hands of her hips as they approached. "Hey, you're back early." She eyed them both critically. "You call this being careful? What happened?"

Tully kissed her as Moffitt said, "We had a run-in with some Germans. Just got back a couple of hours ago."

"Apparently, you're not in too bad of shape. Medical didn't keep you. Are Sam and Hitch all right?"

Tully nodded. "They're fine. I'm sure they've already hit the showers."

Moffitt grinned. "Which is where I'm headed right now."

Tully asked her, "You just getting back?"

Charley nodded. "Yep. Was going to check in."

Tully smiled. "Okay, I'm going to go get cleaned up and then we can get some dinner."

Charley said, "Right. Give me an hour so I can take a shower. Care to join us, Jack?"

Moffitt shook his head and smiled. "Thanks, but no. I believe I'll just get cleaned up and go to bed."

They watched the sergeant make his way in the direction of his quarters. Tully kissed Charley and whispered, "Need help with that shower?"

Charley grinned. "Be careful there, mister. You're wounded. It would be very easy for me to take advantage of you." Tully laughed and she said, "Why don't you go get some clean clothes and meet me at my place? We can heat some water and scrub each other's backs."

Tully looked at her and Charley knew that look. He smiled and said, "Hurry."