7

BJ walked into post-op. He walked to the far end of the room where Hawkeye was sitting. "Any special cases I need to know about?" When Hawkeye didn't answer BJ put his hand on Hawkeye's shoulder.

Hawkeye jumped. "Uh, oh." Hawkeye looked at BJ.

"Sorry, Hawk. I didn't mean to scare you." BJ sat down in a chair next to Hawkeye. "Are there any special cases I need to know about?"

"Just Lieutenant Markson. Secondary infection. He's running a fever. I've given him penicillin and ordered some blood test." Hawkeye ran his fingers through his graying hair. Hawkeye stood up and began briefing BJ on each patient's condition. When they were done, Hawkeye walked back to the desk and sat down.

BJ sat down in the chair next to the desk and looked at his watch.

"It's dinner time. Do you want to walk over to the mess tent and get something to eat?"

"That's okay, I'm not hungry." He looked off across the room.

"Neither am I." He noticed that Hawkeye wasn't paying attention to him. "Hawk, you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I don't know, you seem a little preoccupied."

"Well, considering everything that has happened today..."

"Are you sure it isn't something else or maybe someone else?"

"Wh-What do you mean?" Hawkeye looked at BJ with an inquisitive smile.

"Margaret." BJ looked at Hawkeye.

Just the sound of her name struck him like a bullet. "What about Margaret?" Hawkeye asked nonchalantly.

"I just left her in the supply room and I think you should talk to her, Hawk. This may be your last chance." BJ could see the anxiety in his friend's face. "Come on, Hawk. You can't avoid her forever."

Hawkeye leaned forward on the desk. "Beej, I don't know what to do. I didn't expect to see her again." He sighed. "I-I don't know." He paused. "What am I going to do?"

BJ didn't answer. He just stood up, took Hawkeye by the arm and pulled him to his feet. "Why don't you go back to the swamp and get some sleep. You look exhausted." He led him to the post-op doors. "I'll take care of post-op."

"Now that's the best offer I have had all day. Thanks Beej."

BJ just smiled. "Hey, what are friends for."

Hawkeye stood outside of post-op for a few minutes just staring into the evening sky. He sighed. "What am I going to do?" He said quietly. He didn't really want to go back to the swamp. He knew that if he went back to the swamp he would just lay there and think about Margaret. He didn't want to think about her. He didn't even want to hear her name. He was about to walk to the mess tent to get something to eat when he heard noises coming from the swamp. He went to investigate. As he opened the door he couldn't believe his eyes. There was Margaret standing over a table and setting down plates.

When Margaret heard to door open she turned and looked at Hawkeye, "Hi there stranger. Long time no see." She smiled shyly.

He didn't say anything. He just stood their staring at her. He couldn't believe she was standing right in front of him.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" Margaret moved toward him.

He reached out took her in his arms and hugged her. "Margaret, what are you doing here?" He didn't know what else to say as he let her go.

"I thought I would bring you something to eat." She continued to smile. "Here, sit down." She pointed to a chair. "I know it's not much. Just bologna sandwiches but it's better than what they are serving in the mess tent."

"Margaret, this is great." He pulled out a chair for her before he sat down. "It good to see you, Margaret."

"It's good to see you too." She said as she poured each of them a glass of wine.

As they ate, they talked about the events of the past few days. They completely avoided the subject of their feelings. Then they talked about the weather and about the happenings at the 8063rd. They even talked about the 4077th recalling things like Frank Burns and Colonel Flagg.

"...and then when insisted that we close our eyes so we wouldn't see him leave." Margaret was laughing so hard her side ached.

Hawkeye was laughing just as hard. "Yeah, thanks to that broken leg he got when he went through the window, we had to put up with him for another week. If we hadn't kept him sedated I don't think any of us would have made it through with our sanity intact."


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