Please read and review this little story. There is more to come, and it should improve. All input gratefully received.
JUST WATCHING, NOT HELPING
Keliza

He had been so looking forward to this, it was such an opportunity and not a lot short of a miracle that he of all his peers had been chosen. Alex Bradley sat in the small, not entirely sturdy, helicopter mentally preparing himself for the week ahead of him. In his hand he held his authorisation, signed by some senior military official. He was on a fact- finding assignment to a MASH unit, singled out from his colleagues to go to the Korean theatre to observe for one wee the workings of a front line hospital.

He was only a college kid, he told himself in one of his greater moments of self-doubt, unsure of his future and only following his talents into a career in journalism. He pushed the questions about his father to be back of his mind, surely he had had nothing to do with this. The culmination of this week would be an article in a national paper and, with luck, an internship. Alex knew it was not a little unusual to send young reporters to a war zone and, his self-doubter reasoned, exactly how much of a compliment was it to be sent to a place where people got shot as a matter of course?

His reverie was abruptly ended when the chopper set down. The preoccupied pilot gestured to him to get out and pointed vaguely towards a mass of khaki tentage. Alex scurried away from the chopper, little stories about rotor blades present in his mind. He wondered in the direction of the camp, feeling a little lost already. Around him so many people were rushing here and there, each with a deliberate purpose.

He was to report to the commanding officer at 0900. Alex wandered tentatively between the clusters of tents, feeling smaller than he had since his first visit to a football stadium. He saw an approachable-looking woman in uniform. " Excuse me, ma'am? Do you know where the Colonel's office is? The approachable-looking woman actually looked rather masculine when she came close, and when she spoke, she also sounded rather, well, gruff. "Over there on the right." "Thanks, .sergeant? said Alex unsure of the rank or gender of the wearer of the uniform. "It Corporal Klinger. Welcome to the 4077th!"

Alex followed the directions and found himself in an office of sorts, stacks of paper everywhere. A young man, who looked about his own age despite being a good foot shorter, greeted him. "Hello, Mr. Bradley. The colonel's busy right now but you're gonna be with Capt. Hunnicutt. He's real nice. Look, I got you a white coat, cleanliness or something. Nice, huh?" Alex took the coat, slightly bewildered. He wasn't quite sure who the young man was, but he seemed to know what he was doing. He had called him 'Mr Bradley', which nobody ever called him. He fought the impulse to look around for his uncle. What was he supposed to do now? "You'll find BJ, uh, that's Capt. Hunnicutt, in Pre-Op," he said, before Alex's mouth had the opportunity to form a question. "I'm Corporal O'Reilly, the company clerk. Call me Radar."

Alex wandered slowly out of the office to Pre-Op, which he managed to find on the second attempt, thanks to the large painted sign. He introduced himself to Capt. Hunnicutt. He was surprised at how young the doctor was. In his experiences doctors were old and smelled strongly of whisky. This younger doctor certainly seemed to have a more professional attitude than those old lechers.

BJ was setting up transfusions for the latest admission of wounded. The boy who walked up to him was striking I appearance, nearly as tall as he was with green eyes and blond hair. He had a wholesome all-American look about him; his presence in the dingy ward only reminded BJ of the sadness of his normality.

Alex glanced around him. There were 8 men in the room, but a lingering look at a few of the faces revealed that they were no older than Alex himself. He made eye contact with a patient that the doctor was walking over to. He was just resting. Alex couldn't see any injury on him, just a slightly pale and tired appearance. The patient- Morley was his name- gave Alex a small smile, which made him look ever so like Alex's younger brother. When Capt. Hunnicutt had finished, he walked with Alex to supply. "You are here to observe, but don't be afraid to ask questions. If you don't feel comfortable, leave, ok?" Alex nodded. BJ caught his glance fall on Morley. "Nice kid. 17 years old, but he won't make it. Internal bleeding, there just isn't a whole lot we can do. Grab some bandages will you? We're moving on."

Alex looked back at the boy in the bed, who was still smiling up at him weakly, and felt that something inside him go.

After spending some time in Pre-Op, trying to learn something about the blood transfusion protocols, Alex went with Capt. Hunnicutt over to Post- Op, where Alex once again felt a change in atmosphere. Here he saw for the first time what his assignment had always promised; blood, pain and disfigurement. The knowledge that this was why he was here did not settle the queasiness in his stomach. He focused on the doctor's back and followed him, head down. BJ walked past the sick men in their beds to one at the very end of the ward, a bed with a curtain screen around it.

As Alex was about to follow him behind the screen, BJ held him back. He led him aside away from the patient. "Look, this guy is just coming around from the anaesthetic. We've had to take his leg, amputate it below the knee." He spoke in low tones, deliberately and maintaining eye contact with him. "We haven't told him and he won't have noticed yet. He's not fully with it and we need to break it to him gently later. So. I need you to act completely normal. Compose yourself and follow my lead ok?" Alex nodded dumbly and followed the captain in with a bizarre feeling of guilt.

To Alex's surprise, it was him the patient first addressed. Knocked slightly, he suddenly felt very conscious of the white coat he was wearing. He tried to smile reassuringly and looked hopefully at Capt. Hunnicutt. BJ chatted naturally to him, like they had met at the shops. Alex was deliberately focusing his gaze on the patient's torso, not on the recess in the sheets where the left leg, in all rightness, should have been. He felt guilty that this poor guy had no idea of his present situation, whereas he, a nobody with no connection to the patient, stood there fully informed.

Alex yawned discreetly. It wasn't that his morning had been particularly dull - it had been very revealing - but the journey had made him tired. A nurse that had been quietly standing with them turned to him. "He's been up since 3am, we had fresh wounded in. Try and make sure he has a lunch break after his round. Might not thank you for it but he should keep his strength up." Alex had never felt less significant.

At about 2 o'clock, they had finished dealing with most of the wounded . Alex had followed a pace behind the captain at all times, just taking in everything around him. On occasion the doctor would look at him inviting a question but Alex could not think of anything sensible to ask and slowly became convinced that they thought he was a total moron. They went to the mess tent. Alex had been feeling hungry all morning but every time a complaint formed in his mind, he remembered the shift that Capt. Hunnicutt was on. He had, nevertheless been looking forward to lunch. He had distinct memories of the lunches the doctor's back home had at the hotel where he worked part-time. He expected something special from these, since the doctors out there seemed to do something other than drink and play golf. He was not a little disappointed. His comparatively recent encounters with school cafeteria cuisine had somewhat galvanised his stomach, but he still found the army food only a bit less repulsive than the rest of the men. It was clear people here only ate out of necessity.

At dinner two other men joined the group Alex was sat with. There were no introductions, but Alex sat and he listened. "So, Beej. How is that kid from last night? The one who used his leg to probe for mines." "Sullivan? Well, he isn't going to be running away." "Ah, it's one way for the army to keep hold of the men." Alex coughed politely, "Uh, Captain, could you pass me the salt please, sir?" Hunnicutt looked up, "Sure. One thing, though. I'm a doctor not a captain. And as you aren't army then I don't see why you should call me sir. BJ would be just fine"

Alex muttered thanks and looked away. He didn't feel comfortable with the group of people who he felt were so much more experienced, people who could take what he had seen that day as a joke. From the corner of his eye, Hawkeye caught a flicker of something in Alex's face. He broke his conversation with BJ and spoke to him. "Hey Kid! Hey. Sorry, I've been rude. I'm Hawkeye." Alex looked up from his coffee, which was the least like coffee he had ever tasted, and looked at BJ's friend. He had very dark hair and blue eyes. Squaring himself up, Alex spoke, "Hello, I'm Alexander Bradley. I'm here observing you guys, sir. Hey, are you Capt. Hawkeye Pierce?" "The very same." "Ah, yeah. The nurse e were with this morning warned me not to do anything you do." "That would be the sweet Nurse Johnson, Hawk." Said BJ with a knowing look in his eyes.

Just then, Radar ran into the mess, looking flustered. "Choppers, sirs!" Alex was just about to point out that he couldn't hea..when he heard them fly over head. In answer to Alex's confused look, BJ simply said, "He always does that - don't question it. Gonna follow?" So we gulped the rest of his coffee and chased after the men already half way across the compound, nearly knocking over a nurse in the process. He turned to apologise only to hear, "Sorry, sir. Go on, there are more wounded on the way in!" He went on, seeing the groups of soldiers part for him, as if he was important.

He felt once again the weight of the white coat he was wearing. It didn't mean he was anything, but the status that it gave you in people's mind. They attributed you with powers that you just did not have. These doctors, Dr. Hunnicutt and his colleagues, had it, and it was amazing.

TO BE CONTINUED