The Different Battles Raid

By: AliasCWN

Chapter 10

Mark Hitchcock woke up with the sounds of battle raging in his ears. He tried to sit up but the room spun crazily around him. Twisting at a sound behind him, he saw a medical corpsman rushing to his side.

"Take it easy Private, the meds haven't worn off yet, you're going to be dizzy and weak until they do."

"What meds?"

"The doctor had to knock you out to clean and stitch that wound in your leg. You lost a lot of blood so he gave you some plasma too. Right now the pain meds are reacting with the meds he gave you to knock you out. You'll be fine in a little while, but for now, you need to lie still."

Hitch leaned back against the pillow and listened to the sounds of the battle. The medical tent wasn't really a tent, but a fortified area covered by a tent to keep the sun out. "Sounds close." Hitch remarked to the corpsman.

"Right outside the oasis; the Germans are trying to capture the base."

"Are they having any luck?" Hitch asked with just a touch of concern.

"Not really." The corpsman laughed. "Those ambushes the Major set up took quite a toll on them. They outnumbered us before the ambushes, now we outnumber them. Our guys are trying to outflank them and catch them between our two forces. The wounded coming in, say that we've got them on the run."

"That's good," Hitch responded with a yawn, " maybe I can finally get some sleep."

The corpsman turned to the patient to say something but he held his tongue, instead he pulled the blanket up over the sleeping form and slipped away. Making his way across the tent, he checked on the other patients under his care. The sounds of battle faded as the Germans tried to retreat, gradually stopping altogether.

"Some guys will do anything to get out of work."

The comment was the first thing Hitch heard when he awoke from his drugged sleep. The sun was beating down on the canvas, making the tent uncomfortably warm. Eyelids heavy from a deep sleep, he had to struggle to open his eyes.

Tully sat on a chair next to his bed, a big grin on his face. "It's about time you woke up, Sarge is getting restless." Tully studied his friends face, noting the confused look he got in return. "The Colonel ordered us back to the base but Troy won't leave without you. The doc wouldn't let us take you until you were conscious; and he's not happy about it even then."

Hitch tried to respond but his throat was so parched that all he could get out was a croak. Tully took a cup from next to the bed and filled it with water. Helping Hitch lift his head, Tully carefully held the cup until Hitch had taken half the contents.

"That's enough for now; we don't want you getting sick."

Hitch nodded, he didn't want that either. Tully fluffed the pillow and helped Hitch sit up, the pillow supporting his back.

"What happened?" The words sounded like they came from the throat of a frog, but they were understandable.

"The ambush did the job, we won. Both columns were captured or killed; our losses were light. The Major is happy, so Sarge is happy, and that means we're happy."

Hitch managed to smile at that. "And I managed to get some sleep."

Tully smiled but there was a shadow in his eyes. "Yeah, you finally got some sleep."

"Is everything okay?"

"Fine now, but you had us worried. The leg wound got infected; you've been here for four days."

Hitch swallowed hard, four days and he didn't remember any of it. "Was Sarge mad because I didn't tell him sooner?"

"Hitch," Tully said earnestly, looking the blonde in the eye, "Sarge was too worried to be mad. He didn't say so, but he was; but he'll probably pretend to be mad now that you're on the mend." Tully smiled at his friend, his own relief plain to see.

"Maybe I should go back to sleep." Hitch tried to grin, but his usually bright smile faltered. The wound was healing but he was still very weak and the leg still hurt.

"Coward." Tully laughed in relief.