As soon as he opened the door, BJ smiled at the sight of his long-time buddy, Hawkeye Pierce, M.D. and his ever-lovely wife and dedicated nurse, Carlye.

"Oh hi! I'm so glad you could make it! Do come in!" BJ shouted, welcoming Hawkeye with a big, strong hug. He shook hands with Carlye, closed the door and guided them into the living room.

Peg bolted out of the kitchen to say hello to their guests. She was wearing a dark green apron and what appeared to be BJ's dog tags around her neck – Carlye immediately noticed this because she and Hawk had done something similar: after the war was over and they arrived home, they had ripped off one tag of the until then inseparable pair and gave it to one another. It was much like buying one of those silver hearts that have a jagged cut in the middle so you can break off one half and give the other half to a loved one.

"Dinner's almost ready, so why don't you folks sit down and.. have some wine. BJ! Get the wine, if you will. I can't believe you're still standing there, com'on dear wake up!" she snapped her fingers at her husband, who was grinning maniacally and seemed to be floating away to some kind of dreamland.

"Looks like he's had enough booze already" Hawkeye said.

"Be right back" BJ muttered and he disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

"You boys certainly knew how to amuse yourselves with alcohol, hmm?" Carlye nudged Hawkeye and grinned.

"What did you want? In those situations alcohol is your best friend"

"Oh? Really? And what about me"

"You," Hawkeye began, slightly raising his voice, "you are my muse, my fairy queen, my saviour and my goddess." He then got up and took a ridiciously overacted bow whereby his nose nearly touched the carpet.

"Oh Hawk, com'on. We're not at home!" Carlye giggled and pulled him back into his chair. Just as they were about to kiss, BJ walked in carrying a bottle of red wine in his right hand. Hawkeye and Carlye straightened their backs and tried to look innocent but BJ didn't pay attention – he was too busy messing about with the corkscrew. Peg sighed loudly as she watched her husband make a fool of himself.

"Give me that!" she snapped at him. BJ backed off, blushing. He helped his wife as she brought dish after dish into the room.

Soon all four of them were sitting at the table, enjoying the delicious food Peg had prepared and talking joyously about family, friends and shared anecdotes about their days in Korea.

"Oh I can't tell you just how happy I am now that my BJ is back, in one piece, that is!" Peg laughed and mischievously pulled BJ's moustache.

"Awww, isn't that sweet?" Carlye sighed. She felt slightly tipsy and couldn't stop giggling whenever Hawkeye tried to say something. The bottle of wine that still stood in the middle of the table was almost empty – everytime he noticed that someone's glass was half empty, BJ would pour some more wine.

"So, Hawkeye. BJ has already told me a hundred stories about you and your crazy adventures. Is there anything else you can add – anything he forgot to mention? I mean, all those years… you can't possibly remember everything, and perhaps you know something… ah uhm what's the word? Ah! Funny"

"Oh I do. Yup. Hmm, BJ? You couldn't have possible mentioned everything, huh"

BJ shifted uncomfortably. He was afraid of what was about to come – it could be anything, yes, perhaps it'd be something completely harmless but with Hawkeye one can never be sure.
"Well, it was one of those days when the wounded kept flooding in, and we would have our hands full, I mean, we'd be working our butts off from dawn till … the next day, whatever, we hardly got time off and by the end of that shift we'd crawl into our cot and just shut our eyes, didn't matter who'd be shouting some order into your ear – we'd refuse to get up until we'd had some rest. So during one of those impossibly outrageously inhuman shifts BJ confided in me that he had 'feelings' for me. You know, we had stuffed ourselves with martini that night… day.. and, and, he sat next to me on my cot, and whispered that he 'really really liked me.' Oh, oh and then he kissed me goodnight. He…" Hawkeye shook with laughter, "he kissed me on the cheek and he went over to his cot, he literally crashed on it and then he smiled at me and dropped off"

All of a sudden everything became quiet. Everyone was quiet, no one moved or dared to make a sound. The silence was unbearable and Hawkeye looked around, confused.

"Hey, whazzup? Whazzup, doc? Why'you starin' at me like that"

"Hawk." BJ began, his voice shook and a tear ran down his cheek. Next to him, Peg began to sniff.

"What? What"

"Shut up. Shut the fuck up"

Carlye stared at the carpet. She tried not to giggle – she had stuffed half of the napkin into her mouth and bit on it furiously to prevent any sound from coming out.

"Hey… what's the matter? Can't you stand a joke"

"That was not funny, Hawk." BJ retorted.

"Whoa. Settle.. settle down buddy. You said those words, I'm not making it up and besides, that was a hoot. You were drunk so you don't know what the hell you were saying. I thought you were kidding because we were so pissed, for all I know you could've been imaging that I was Peg. Haaa, imagine that. Oh God, you're so hilarious, d'you know that"

BJ didn't reply. He threw down his napkin and hastily walked out of the living room, slamming the door behind him. Peg also got up and shuffled back to the kitchen, occasionally letting out a high-pitched sob.

Hawkeye and Carlye simply sat there, not knowing what to do or where to go. Suddenly he was sober again. Perhaps it was because he finally realized what he had said and the effect it had on his best friend. His best friend. Hawkeye also became aware of the damage his remark had caused. Carlye looked into his blue eyes and put her hand on his shoulder. They tried to comfort each other silently for a few minutes. Then Hawkeye got up and went looking for BJ.

They had to settle the matter. It was time to see just how strong their friendship was…