Blackout
By: AliasCWN
Chapter 2
Mark Hitchcock rose from his cot as the guard stopped in front of his cell door.
Turning to the man behind him, the guard nodded toward Hitch. "You have five minutes sergeant. I'll be at the end of the hall. Don't try to approach the cell and don't try to pass him anything."
Troy nodded his understanding and the guard retreated to the end of the hall. The sergeant turned to face the cell. "Are you all right Hitch?" Troy studied the pale face looking back at him. His driver looked thinner than he had just days earlier. Standing in his cell in nothing but his boxers, he looked like he wasn't eating enough.
"I'm okay Sarge." Hitch mumbled miserably.
"Where are your clothes?"
Hitch shrugged and shifted his bare feet. "They thought I was suicidal and they were afraid I would hang myself with some of my clothing. They took my belt and my shoelaces first. Then someone suggested that I might make a rope by braiding strips of cloth from my shirt, so they took that too."
"What about your pants? They didn't think you would tear them into strips did they?"
Hitch shrugged again. "I sort of said that I could tie one leg around the bars on the window and tie the other one around my neck if I was serious about killing myself." Hitch tried to smile but Troy looked worried.
"Why Hitch?"
"I didn't mean it Sarge." Hitch answered in a voice so low that Troy had to strain to hear it. "I admit, I considered it, but I wasn't really going to do it. I was just trying to point out how silly they were being."
"You aren't still considering it are you?"
"No." Hitch shook his head. "That would be too easy."
His driver's toneless reply didn't reassure Troy. "Hitch!"
"I killed Moffitt Sarge. I don't remember doing it but Moffitt said I did. How could I do that Sarge?"
Troy took a step toward the cells. The MP at the end of the hall cleared his throat. Troy stopped and returned to his original position. "It wasn't your fault Hitch. You haven't been yourself lately. The doctors are going to say it was the head injury, just wait and see."
"That won't bring Moffitt back." The blond shook his head sadly. "It doesn't change a thing."
"It explains it Hitch! It was an accident!"
"An accident? How did I pull my knife and stab Doc by accident? I don't know why you and Tully don't hate me." Hitch's voice dropped lower. "Even I hate me."
"Don't Hitch." Troy protested. "None of this was your fault. You've got to believe that! We'll work this out!"
"How Sarge?" Hitch's voice broke.
"We'll find a way. I promise Hitch, I'll find a way to make this all go away."
"They won't let me see him. I asked but they said no." Hitch kept talking as if he hadn't heard a thing Troy was saying.
Troy shook his head. "The British sent a detail to collect his body. Because of his father's position with the war department they are sending his body back to London."
"I just wanted to see him one last time. I wanted to say good-bye." Hitch looked up and his eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "I'm sorry Sarge. I never meant to hurt Doc. I don't know what happened. I don't remember any of it."
"What do you remember Hitch?"
The blond shrugged. "I guess the last thing I remember clearly is having lunch with you guys in the mess hall earlier in the day. They said I went to the bar with Tully but I don't remember that at all."
Troy nodded. "Tully said you've blacked out several times over the last couple of weeks. He said you forget what happens for hours before you black out. I talked to the doctors and they think your recent head injury might be to blame."
"I was afraid to tell you about it. I thought you would take me off the team." Hitch admitted.
"I would have," Troy replied, "for your own good."
"I wish I'd told you." Hitch answered. "Maybe if I had Doc would still be alive."
"You don't know that." Troy argued.
"They told me that that's what we argued about that night."
"Hitch."
"I killed him Sarge. I can live with the accusations. It wouldn't be so bad if I could just say it wasn't me, but I can't. What I can't handle is knowing that I'm guilty. They'll probably hang me, and I deserve it. Doc was my friend. How could I have hurt him?"
Troy looked at the younger man and ground his teeth in frustration. There was nothing he could say that would change the young man's mind. Not knowing what else to do, he changed the subject. "Tully has been reassigned to the motor pool until headquarters decides what they want to do with us. They have me delivering messages to the neighboring bases. Colonel Quint says he'll be sending us out to do some recon every once in a while but he wants us to stay close until this is cleared up."
"So I ruined it for you and Tully too?"
"We'll be okay Hitch."
"They're splitting you up because of me."
"They haven't made any final decisions yet." Troy argued.
"But they will." Hitch insisted tonelessly.
"Maybe, sooner or later." Troy shrugged.
"Time's up sergeant." The guard called from the other end of the hall.
The guard's call ended their conversation. Troy looked at the guard and nodded shortly.
"Take care of yourself Hitch."
"Yeah."
"I mean it! You need to eat. The guards say you leave most of your meals on your tray."
The blond shrugged. "I'm not really hungry. It's not like I'm getting a lot of exercise in here."
"Promise me that you'll eat."
"Sergeant!"
Troy glared at the guard impatiently. Turning back to the cell he repeated his order. "Eat Hitch! I have enough on my mind without worrying about you starving yourself. I don't need you getting sick on top of everything else."
Hitch hung his head and shrugged. "Okay Sarge."
"Sergeant!"
Troy turned toward the guard, the frown on his face displaying his concern. He looked back to see Hitch dropping listlessly onto his bunk. He was still frowning when he met Tully outside of the mess hall.
"How is he?"
"Depressed." Troy replied. "They think he's suicidal so they took everything he could use to kill himself."
"Like what?" Tully asked, shifting the matchstick in his mouth.
"Everything." Troy growled as he remembered how lost and alone his driver had looked standing in his cell in his boxers. "They have him stripped down to his underwear. They won't even let him have a blanket because they're afraid he might tear it into strips and try to hang himself."
"Hitch wouldn't do that!"
"I wish I was so sure." Troy responded thoughtfully.
"Sarge?"
"He thinks we should hate him. He doesn't understand why we don't because he hates himself. He admitted that he thought about killing himself."
Tully caught his breath.
"He says he won't do it." Troy hurried to explain. "I just don't know what to do or say to make it better." Troy shook his head sadly. "He looked so alone Tully."
"He is alone Sarge." Tully responded. "The whole base is talking about him."
"He's not alone, he has us." Troy argued.
"Yeah." Tully drawled angrily. "But they won't let us in to see him. The Colonel said he'd only be able to make this one exception for you. You won't be able to talk to Hitch again either."
"We'll find a way Tully."
"Will Hitch be all right until then?"
"He'll have to be." Troy answered. "How are things going at the motor pool?"
Tully frowned at the change of topic. "Things are pretty quiet." He finally answered. "Most of the guys there have been there for quite a while. One of the sergeants is fairly new but he takes care of the tanks mostly."
"How are you getting along with them?"
"Fine," Tully answered, "at least with the guys who work with me on the trucks, jeeps and staff cars. I'm not around the guys who work on the tanks that much."
"The sergeant that works on the tanks?"
"I haven't had much to do with him at all. He keeps pretty much to himself."
"What about his crew?"
"They keep busy. I haven't had any reason to mix with them." Tully answered. "Sarge, what are we going to do about Hitch?"
Troy stopped walking and sighed. "I have orders to report to Captain Boggs this afternoon, maybe he can do something."
"Do you think he's going to send you to one of the other bases?" Tully stopped too and turned to face Troy.
"Maybe. He said he was going to use me as a courier. If he does I don't think I will be gone long."
"Be careful Sarge." Tully warned. "That last attack on us felt kind of personal."
Troy nodded absently. "I'll be careful. I'm going to have to leave the base sooner or later; I may as well do it now."
"I'll be glad when this is all over."
Troy looked at Tully in surprise. "Be careful what you wish for. This could all end badly."
Tully nodded solemnly and chewed on the matchstick in his mouth.
"Let's go eat so I can go see what Captain Boggs wants." The sergeant suggested, moving forward again. "While I'm there I'm going to see what he can do for Hitch."
