The Price of Friendship Raid

By:AliasCWN

Chapter 6

"Tully, help me get Hitch out of the jeep!" Moffitt held on to their wounded member until Tully arrived to help him.

"He looks bad." Tully drawled as he reached for his friend.

"He caught several bullets." Moffitt answered. "The one in the shoulder isn't too bad but the other one could be serious."

Tully nodded wordlessly and took Hitch's shoulders while Moffitt took his feet. Together they lifted the unconscious private out of the jeep and placed him on the ground.

"Get the medical kit." Moffitt ordered in a terse tone.

Tully hurried around the jeep to get the medical kit while Moffitt cut away the material of Hitch's shirt. He was pressing on the chest wound with his bare hands when Tully returned with the medical kit and a canteen.

"How's it look?"

"The bullets are still in there. I'm not even going to try to take them out." The Brit answered in a tight voice. Leaning forward, he applied more pressure to the wound.

Tully nodded and opened a package of gauze. Handing it to the sergeant he reached for the canteen by his knees. He uncapped the canteen and held it for when the sergeant would need it to clean the wound. Hitch's shirt had turned a bright red and the red was spreading despite the sergeant's care. They sat that way for what seemed like a long time before Moffitt finally took a chance and checked the wound. New blood seeped out around his hands as he looked at the hole left by the bullet.

"I'm going to need more bandages." Moffitt warned.

"We have more in the jeep." Tully answered. "Sarge made sure we had extra after we ran out that last time. Do you want me to go get them?"

"Not yet." The sergeant replied. "Right now I need you to see what you can do with the wound in his arm. If I let go of this one it will start bleeding again. Wrap the arm and then go get the other bandages."

"Right Doc." Tully began to clean the arm wound, making sure that he didn't pull on it to make it start bleeding again. He could feel the lump where the bullet was lodged in the muscle but he didn't dare try to do anything about it. He glanced over at Moffitt and frowned at the look of concentration on the sergeant's face. Tully looked into his buddy's face and wondered if this was the wound that was going to kill him.

"We need to get him to a hospital right way." Moffitt's terse comment startled Tully after Moffitt had worked so long in silence.

"Will he make it that far?" Tully asked worriedly.

"He'll have to, it's his only chance. I can't take the bullet out."

"You could try."

"I can't Tully!" Moffitt answered with a strangled cry. "There's a very real possibility that I would kill him if I tried."

"He could die if you don't."

Moffitt sighed. "I'm aware of that Tully…but I can't! I'm not a doctor, not that kind of doctor. He needs a real doctor, not me, not this time." Moffitt gave Tully a look that begged for understanding.

"Okay Doc." Tully nodded. "I'll get a bed ready. Is there anything else I can do?"

"Pray."

Tully smiled sadly. "I do that all the time Doc. I grew up in the Bible-belt of America. Folks there believe in prayer. Sometimes they're answered; sometimes they aren't, at least not with the answers we're hoping for."

Moffitt nodded as his fingers continued to bandage the wounds. "We don't always get what we want. Some cultures believe that your fate is written before you are born and there is nothing you can do, or should do, to change it."

"Do you believe that?"

"No, I believe that we have free will so that we can control our own destiny. What we do with it is up to us."

"But we can't stop death."

"No, but we can sometimes delay it. We all die sooner or later. I guess all we can really hope for is a good life well lived."

"Hitch hasn't had much of a chance to live yet." Tully observed.

"True." Moffitt agreed. "So if we're lucky, if he's lucky, perhaps we can delay it long enough to give him a chance to experience more life well lived."

"I'll go along with that."

"Then make the bed Tully; we'll leave as soon as I get him stable."

"What about Troy?"

Moffitt closed his eyes a moment before answering. "Troy will have to take care of himself for right now. I don't think he was hit. I think he was knocked out when he was thrown through the air. He is with Dietrich and the captain has always treated his prisoners humanely. We may have to rescue him from a POW camp or a processing center but he will understand. Right now our main priority is getting Hitch to a hospital. If Troy were here it's what he would tell us to do."

"I hope the jeep holds up. That patch job I did was only meant to be temporary." Tully moved to get the blankets to make the bed in the rear of the jeep. He was folding the last blanket, getting ready to make a pillow when Moffitt called his name. Dropping the blanket Tully ran to help the sergeant.

Hitch was struggling weakly while Moffitt tried to hold him down.

"Don't let him move, he'll reopen the wounds." Moffitt gasped as he held onto Hitch's arms.

Tully grabbed his legs and leaned into them. "Easy Hitch easy." Tully crooned as Hitch thrashed. "Take it easy Hitch!" The sharp tone seemed to penetrate the wounded man's pained delirium. Tully took a breath in relief as Hitch relaxed under his hands. "Just take it easy, you're going to be all right." Tully continued to talk to his buddy. He softened his tone and tried to encourage Hitch to stay still.

"Troy!"

"Troy's with Dietrich." Moffitt assured their wounded friend. "He'll be all right. We'll get him back."

Hitch slowly opened his eyes and looked up into the worried faces of his friends. "Sarge?"

"He was captured." Moffitt repeated. "Dietrich has him." Moffitt released Hitch's shoulders and sat back.

"Is he all right?"

"I think so." Moffitt replied. "Dietrich will see to it that he gets a doctor if he needs one. We'll get him back after we get you to a hospital."

"Before." Hitch whispered.

"After." Moffitt insisted.

"My jeep? It was hit." Hitch gasped.

"Destroyed I'm afraid. We won't be able to salvage the jeep." The British sergeant smiled. "We'll have to ask the captain for a new one once you're feeling better."

Hitch jerked and clenched his jaw. "I'm okay now."

"We're taking you back." Moffitt answered in a tone that discouraged any argument.

Hitch looked at his friends and nodded weakly. "Then you're going to get Sarge back?"

"Then we'll go after Troy." Moffitt agreed.

"Okay."

Moffitt smiled as their youngest member sighed and closed his eyes. "I gave you a shot of morphine, it should take effect soon. If you haven't reopened the wounds we can be on our way as soon as we get you comfortable."

Hitch nodded weakly without opening his eyes. Soon he drifted off to sleep as the morphine did its work.

"All right Tully; if the jeep is ready we can get moving."

"Ready Doc. Do you think Dietrich is still looking for us?"

"Most likely. But for right now he probably has his hands full cleaning up the mess we made of his convoy and his column." The sergeant answered. "Once he gets that done he may be on our trail again. We'll be careful but I want to take the shortest path to get Hitch to the hospital as soon as possible."

"Okay Doc." Hitch was loaded into the jeep and made comfortable. Tully spit out his mangled matchstick and inserted a new one between his lips. "Ready Doc."

"Then let's go Tully. Pick the easiest route for Hitch."

The jeep began the long journey to the base. Tully picked the smoothest route and avoided as many of the bumps as he could. After several hours Moffitt called a halt to check the bandages. Tully checked the jeep, filling the gas tank and checking the radiator.

"She's not running hot Doc. This slow pace is keeping her cool."

Moffitt frowned. "This slow pace, as you call it, is necessary to keep from opening the wounds." Moffitt replied testily. "We can't bounce Hitch around too much."

"I'm not complaining Sarge, just telling you that the engine is not overheated. We don't have to wait for her to cool down." Tully answered softly.

"I'm sorry Tully; I didn't mean to be short with you. Of course you weren't complaining." Moffitt sighed.

"It's all right Doc, I'm worried too." Tully answered. Hitch had passed out after the morphine kicked in and hadn't moved since.

Moffitt sighed. "I've been sitting back here trying to remember how many times we've done something like this." He looked over at Tully. "Not only with Hitch; but with one or another of us. How many times can we hope to do this before our luck runs out?"

"Sarge says we make our own luck." Tully shrugged.

"Yes I know, but how long can we keep doing it?"

"Captain Dietrich says we lead charmed lives."

"What do you say Tully?"

Tully watched Hitch's chest rise and fall as he pondered the question. "Maybe we do lead charmed lives Doc, I can't say for sure about that. And maybe we make our own luck like Sarge says. If that's true then I hope we can keep making the good kind. But in the end I guess it just comes down to doing the best you can and hoping it all works out. Maybe it's that fate thing in action, I don't know. You're no doctor Sarge, but you do a pretty good job of keeping us alive. I don't know, maybe we're just too stubborn, or mean, to die. Whatever it is, it's been working, so I guess we should just stick with that."