Title: Photograph
Author: Drey'auc475
MASH
Rating: K
Spoilers: probably the last ep, though I haven't seen it yet.
Genre: general
Setting/Season: after the war
Summary: BJ and his family flip through the photo album
A/N: song inspiration, Photograph by Nickelback.
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"Daddy, Daddy, we wanna see the photos of the hospital again!" Erin cries as her and her little brother crawl onto my lap after dinner.
I know exactly what she's talking about. She wants to see the pictures from the good ol' MASH 4077th where I used to work over in Korea. The war has been over for thee years now. Erin and Ben, our youngest who is 2, crawl up onto my lap as Peg smiles at me and goes to fetch the photo album from the bedroom.
I can't remember whose idea it was to take pictures of the camp and of everyone. I think maybe Margaret's or Potter's.
Peg hands me the book and takes Ben off my knee and sits with him next to me on the thread-bare sofa. I put my arm around her shoulders and place the album on Erin's lap, so she can turn the pages, that way she can go as fast as she likes. Besides, I've already memorized all of them.
My darling daughter opens the cover and we see the photo that we took for the big reunion party that I organized all those years back. We're all standing beneath a sign that reads "WELCOME TO FORT DIX – NEW JERSEY". I remember that we had to do that for Klinger so that his mom wouldn't know that he was in Korea. We didn't have to. Apparently she knew all along. I study their faces as Erin tries to name them all. There's Hawkeye and me, Klinger then Charles. Radar, Sherman, Farther Mulchay and then Margaret.
Peg urges her to turn the page and now we get into the really good part. We all took turns with the camera. Hawkeye and I were the first to get it, so we took heaps of photos of really unusual things, thing that would be impossible to forget. Things like the Latrine, the cesspool, Hawkeye's food tray on the day that we had spam cutlets and cream corn. Hawkeye insisted that we get pictures of all the nurses as well. He used about a whole roll of film on that!
I took pictures of other things, like the Swamp, Potter's office, Radar's 'office', the Mess Tent and the showers. Margaret had it next and she took about a hundred pictures of everyone else. She also got some of the Chopper pad, the scrub room, the OR room, Post Op, Pre Op and about everywhere in between.
Potter got a hold of it after her, and he took pictures of all the paintings he did, as well as his dying palm that he was growing for the shade, his horse, Radar, Sgt. Zale, and the kitchen. Radar and Klinger got it after that and all we got were hundreds of pictures of Klinger, modeling a different outfit from his wardrobe, Radar and his pets, and a few dozen of a teddy bear in a different pose in every one.
Charles insisted that he have it after that, and he took some of the weirdest pictures yet. He took several of Hawk and me coming home from Rosie's one night, drunk as sailors. The camera was on an angle so we look even more drunk. He also took several of us the morning after. He managed to shoot some of us coming out of our last OR session, when we were totally beat. And for some reason he went around to all the tents and took pictures of everyone as they slept! I had no idea that Klinger even wore a bra in bed!
I smile in memory of all the times that we had. Erin, Peg and Ben are laughing as they flip though the photos. Peg looks over at me. I'm not laughing with them. I give her a reassuring smile and pull her closer to me.
I turn the last page for Erin and we see all of us again, but as a huge group hug. We were a family, at MASH, and I miss them all, very much. But I am still glad that I have my family here, at home.
Every year we all have a big reunion to count all the graying hairs on each others heads. The next one isn't for another 4 months, and I can't wait to see everyone again. But for now, all I have are photographs.