Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Tears
By Suzie2b
Tully let himself into the apartment for the last time. He hadn't been there in more than a week. He was again sharing quarters with Hitch. His fellow private and Moffitt had volunteered to get his footlocker and clothes, because Tully hadn't been able to bring himself to go into the building. He sighed sadly as he closed the door and looked around the place he had shared with the woman he loved. Their home.
He gathered Charley's clothes from the closet and began to pack them neatly in the box on the bed. Tully picked up the robe she'd worn so many times and had been wearing that morning before she had dressed and left to meet the convoy for her latest mission. He held it to his face and inhaled deeply. Her scent was still on the fabric. Then he folded it and placed it in the box. Tully emptied the dresser and put Charley's extra boots in the box, then closed it.
One by one Tully looked at the pictures Charley had kept in frames on the dresser. There was one of her father and mother on the wedding day. One of her Aunt Emily and another, more recent picture, of her father. Tully's family was there too. His mom and dad. His sisters school pictures. He picked up the one of him and Charley on their wedding day and sat down on the bed. He never stopped thinking about her.
Tully thought back to the day the call came in that a convoy was in trouble. By the time he, Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch had gotten there, it was all over. There would be no survivors. He found Charley lying next to the truck she'd been riding in with her driver Carl Jensen, who was slumped behind the wheel. Tully had held is wife, kissed her as she took her last breath.
There was a memorial service for Charley. A flurry of activity Tully couldn't remember. His heart was heavy, numb. A tear splashed onto the picture in his hand. It was the first time since Charley had died that he cried. He felt lost.
Tully finished packing and closed the last box. Three would be shipped to Charley's family. One he intended to take back to his quarters. He picked up the satchel that was on the table and went back to the bed to sit down. Tully opened it. There was a key to their apartment, a handkerchief, a few loose coins, a small picture of him in a thin plastic sleeve, her pistol, and a loaded clip.
The gun felt heavy in Tully's hand. He stared at it a long time, then picked up the picture of him and Charley. Her wedding dress was the one her mother had worn the day she married Charley's father. A sad smile played on his lips as he remembered how beautiful she'd been on that day. How they had danced in each other's arms right there in the apartment after the reception. He could remember the warmth of her skin through the material.
Another tear fell, hitting the pistol he held. When did he put the clip in? Didn't matter. Tully clicked the safety off and chambered a round. He stared at the picture through a blur of tears and lifted the barrel to his temple…
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Tully awoke with a gasp and sat up. Sweat beaded his body and tears ran down his face as he fumbled for the bedside lamp. The light came on … he was alone in the bed. He looked around quickly. "Charley?"
Tully sat there in a daze. He saw the pictures on the dresser, books neatly stacked on a shelf … everything was there. Then the door creaked open. A beam of light entered followed by Charley.
She smiled apologetically and turned off the flashlight. "Hope I didn't wake you."
In a way she had, but Tully said, "No. I just woke up and you weren't here…"
Charley closed and locked the door. "Too much beer at the bar we were at tonight. Had to make a run down the hall."
Tully silently watched her replace the bathroom door key on the shelf and then the flashlight on the dresser. Then Charley slipped out of her robe and moved the covers to climb into bed. Tully stopped her with his hands on her hips as she climbed over him.
Charley's smile slipped from her face when she looked at him. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "What's wrong?" She gently wiped his face with her hands. "Bad dream?"
Tully's voice was a whisper as he said, "Something like that."
"Want to talk about it?"
Tully knew he would never tell her. "No need. It was just a dream."
Charley kissed him lightly on the lips. "Okay now?"
Tully smiled as he ran his hands up and down her warm back. She was really there with him. "Yeah, I'm okay … now that you're here."
Charley smiled. "Wanna go back to sleep?"
"No … not yet."
"We don't have a reason to get up early in the morning." Charley moved her hips against him and Tully moaned. "Why don't we work on chasing that bad dream out of your head?"
Tully pulled her against his chest for a passionate kiss that made them both feel alive and for a little while they could forget about the war.