Chapter 14

At the Lieutenant's words Saunders turned…just in time to catch Hanley as his knees buckled bringing the Sergeant to his knees with the unexpected weight…the Lieutenant's head had come to rest on Saunders shoulder when he had wrapped his arms around the man in order to keep him from hitting the ground…

Saunders: Lieutenant! Lieutenant! (Not receiving a response) "It's ok I got you."

Maneuvering the unconscious man onto his back allowed the Lieutenant's head to rest on his knees and tried to wake him again when that didn't work Saunders took his jacket off folded it and placed it under the unconscious man's head…then moved so he could see his face…

Saunders: Damn! (The Lieutenant's face was ashen and when he placed a hand on the man's arm could feel the tremors of over tired muscles) "Hanley wake up! Come on Hanley! Gil!

Hanley felt himself falling then nothing…hearing his name being called opened his eyes to the worried face of Saunders.

Hanley: What happened?

Saunders: (breathing in relief at the Lieutenant's voice) "You passed out."

Hanley: "Passed out…how long?"

Saunders: "Only a few minutes …here have some water."

Handing his canteen to Hanley, watched while the man took a long drink then he placed his hand on the wound feeling the wet bandage…wiping the blood on his pants he tried to think if there was anywhere close by where they could take time to tend the wound.

Saunders: "You're bleeding again, we need to take care of that."

Hanley: (Handing the canteen back)…How far from our lines are we Saunders?

Saunders: "Maybe two miles then another four or five until we hit camp."

Closing his eyes for a moment Hanley thought about the distance… for a healthy man not far but right now he wasn't healthy and he was so damned tired…opening his eyes he caught Saunders gaze.

Hanley: "Help me up Sergeant."

Saunders: Clasping the hand the Lieutenant held out he brought him to his feet holding on when he swayed "You can't go much further without some rest."

Hanley: "Just help me get to our lines then maybe we both can get some rest."

Staring at the Lieutenant for a few moments, Saunders shook his head then handed the satchel back bending down to get his jacket he put it on…draping the Lieutenant's good arm over his shoulder.

Saunders: "Alright we keep going for now…but as soon as we cross lines we stop and take care of the shoulder."

Hanley: "Ok…let's move out."

Two hours later the men were in allied territory…covering the last few miles to this point had not been easy for either man especially the Lieutenant…they had just missed being seen by a German patrol and when they had to drop to the ground in order to avoid line of sight the Lieutenant had landed on his bad shoulder if Saunders hadn't clamped a hand over his mouth he would have given their position away, Hanley had clinched his jaw tight in order not to make a sound…when the patrol headed north they were able to move on…the Lieutenant had collapsed not long after and it had taken Saunders almost thirty minutes to get the man back on his feet…Saunders knew they had crossed into allied territory by the markings left by their troops and remembered seeing a small house that had been abandoned not too far from where they were it was almost hidden by a stand of trees…scanning the area he located it.

Saunders: "Lieutenant…there's a small house about twenty yards from where we are do you think you can make it?"

By now Hanley was running on auto pilot one foot in front of the other…glancing at the Sergeant, blinking to clear tired eyes, he responded.

Hanley: "Yeah I'll make it."

Saunders nodded adjusting the Lieutenant's arm across his shoulders they moved toward the house…once they were within a few feet, Saunders looked around making sure no unwanted guest were near…finding it clear he helped Hanley inside and over to a couch that sat near a small fire place…once he was settled, Saunders secured the door moving back to the fireplace he used some of the stacked wood to build a small fire…then checked the windows closing shutters so the fire light wouldn't be seen from outside hoping the trees would be tall enough to hide the smoke…he lit a lamp sitting on a table then placed the satchel alongside it…taking out the medical supplies he made his way back to where the Lieutenant was sitting.

Hanley was worn out, as soon as he sat down he closed his eyes…he could hear Saunders moving around but didn't have the energy to open too tired eyes to see what he was doing…his shoulder ached and was bleeding again he figured more stitches had torn when he had hit the ground earlier…his body was shaking from cold and fatigue and the heat from the fireplace was welcome.

Saunders: "Lieutenant…we can take care of that…Stopping in midstream when he noticed the Lieutenant's eyes were closed, checking his breathing he gave a relieved sigh when he realized the Lieutenant had only fallen asleep. "Not yet Sir…Lt. Hanley! Hanley, come on wake up! (Giving the sleeping man a shake) "We still have a few things to do before you can rest."

Hanley: (groaning) he opened his eyes staring at Saunders.

Saunders: "Sorry Lieutenant the shoulder needs tending so."

Hanley: "I know…I know…the sooner you take care of it the sooner we rest."

Saunders: "Yes Sir…you sit still and let me do the work.

Removing the sling Saunders eased the injured arm down by Hanley's side…after he exposed the bandage he frowned at the amount of blood showing and glanced at the Lieutenant.

Saunders: How does it feel?

Hanley: (his eyes were closed and his jaw was tight) "Hurts like Hell…think I tore a few more stitches."

Saunders removed the bandage and using water from his canteen cleaned the blood away finding three stiches torn, applying pressure the bleeding stopped after a few minutes…by the time he had finished tending to the wound Hanley was tense as a bow string.

Saunders: "Alright Sir you can relax now."

Hanley tried to loosen tense muscles to ease the tremors running through him.

Saunders: "Let's get you more comfortable."

Helping Hanley stretch out on the couch Saunders folded the Lieutenant's jacket placing it behind his head to use as a pillow then threw both blankets over him.

Saunders: "Alright Lieutenant…you can rest a while."

Hanley: (holding the Sergeant's gaze)…What about you?

Saunders: "I'll rest but for now…you need it more."

Hanley was trying to keep his eyes open but gravity kept weighing his eyelids down and it was getting harder to fight it…for a moment both men held…

Hanley: "That's what Caje said when I told him he needed to rest." Lashes settled over tired green eyes, feeling the comforting grasp of a hand on his shoulder, he drifted off.