I don't own M*A*S*H.
New nurses.
Probably the only thing entertaining that ever happened at the 4077th was when the nursing staff was rotated out.
Of course, Hawkeye only noticed the blondes. Brunettes and redheads were nice too, but there was just something about blondes with blue eyes that got him.
So when the jeep rolled in with 4 new nurses in it, Hawkeye focused on the 2 blondes in the group, barely registering the other two, one redhead and one brunette.
He didn't get a chance to approach them though before he heard Radar's voice ringing out across the compound.
"Incoming Wounded!"
Pandemonium. Chaos. A flurry of activity leading to just one thing, hours upon hours standing in blood.
Hawkeye hated it.
Frank wasn't much help either. The man, who called himself a surgeon, made several mistakes and constantly caused trouble for others in the operating room. Hawkeye wished they could get rid of him, but he was another set of hands in the room so they had no choice but to keep him.
Hawkeye worked feverishly as patient after patient was moved through the room. Finally they had the less dire cases to work on and the pace started to slow, the sign that they were getting close to the end of a session.
"Captain Pierce."
Hawkeye looked up into the blue eyes of Major "Hot Lips" Hoolihan. Although her face and hair were mostly covered, Hawkeye knew the exact shad of blonde her hair was. She was an attractive woman and definably his type, but she had an interest in Frank Burns that was almost unnatural. He didn't get it himself.
"This is Lieutenant Karen Walters. Lt. Walters, this is Captain Pierce, Head Surgeon."
Hawkeye turned his attention to the shorter woman standing next to the Major. He had been too busy to notice her before.
The girl looked up and Hawkeye felt his heart do a double-jump.
Bright green eyes shone out from between the white of the uniform she wore. He had looked into many a nurse's eyes before, some over the operating table and some in the darkness of the supply tent or wherever a moment of privacy could be found, and never had a set of eyes affected him like Lt. Walters' had.
"It's nice to meet you Dr. Pierce," she said. Her voice was calming, like a rainbow after a rain storm. "Shall I assist you?"
It was then that Hawkeye realized that he was still working on a patient. He looked back down at the patient and then at Karen. "Yes," he said, his voice stronger despite the tornado swirling inside him, "some suction."
She nodded and went to work assisting him.
They worked together for the next couple of hours. Despite everything, Hawkeye couldn't bring himself to joke with her as he did with the other nurses. He knew she wasn't one of the new blondes, as they both had blue eyes, so she was either the redhead or the brunette.
He almost wanted to ask her, but didn't want to give her a bad first impression of him. Instead he focused on the task at hand and tried his best not to let the attractive pair of eyes distract him. It was harder than it looked.
When there were finally no more patients, Hawkeye removed his mask and turned to his nurse. She had removed her mask as well. A round face, a petite nose and full lips. She looked young, younger than many of the other women here at least. A red flag went up in Hawkeye's mind that she was too young for him.
Before she could remove her hat and finally end Hawkeye's curiosity of her hair color, Margaret walked in and started assigning tasks to the nurses, including Lt. Walters. She moved away from him to get to work on her tasks. Hawkeye took a deep breath before leaving the OR.
He was tired, hungry and wanted nothing more than to fall into his bed after a hot shower. However, he also wanted to know more about Karen Walters, actually get to know things about her. Usually he just looked for something quick and simple, something to distract both parties from the war and the death it brought, but now...
He took a quick shower before meeting up with BJ at the Swamp. Together the two men started out across the compound towards the mess tent. Hawkeye kept his eyes peeled for the new nurses, specifically one new nurse.
"You okay Hawk? You seem distracted."
Hawkeye blinked and looked at his closest friend. He hadn't even realized that BJ had been talking to him.
"There's no problem," he said quickly. Too quickly based on BJ's look of interest. He knew that Hawkeye was hiding something, he just didn't know what it was.
They entered the mess tent and BJ watched as Hawkeye scanned the room.
"If you're looking for those new blonde nurses," BJ said with a smile as he took a tray, "I wouldn't waste your time. According to Margaret, both of them are engaged to men in the Navy who wouldn't take kindly to them being unfaithful."
Hawkeye shrugged, not wanting to let BJ know what he was really doing. For some reason it felt weird looking for the woman without knowing anything about her other than her eye color.
They got their food, or what passed for food anyways, and took a seat. Hawkeye continued to look around the room.
He saw three of the new nurses sitting with the other off-duty nurses. The two blondes and the redhead. The brunette was missing.
Once he saw her face, Hawkeye realized that the brunette was the one who had assisted him today. She was the one who had caused all these feelings to well up inside of him. She was the farthest thing from his type and she was suddenly the one he wanted.
"The redhead is recently married," BJ said with a smirk. "I would stay away."
Hawkeye looked at his friend with a smile. Let BJ think what he wanted, Hawkeye suddenly found himself unable to think about anyone but brunette Karen Walters and her fascinating green eyes.
"What about the brunette?" Hawkeye asked with a smirk. "You seem to know everything about these new nurses that have only been here a few hours."
BJ's smile went away. "Don't think about her Hawkeye," he said firmly. "She's only 20."
Hawkeye blinked in surprise. He had known from her face that she was young, but he hadn't realized that she was that young.
"Is that even possible?"
BJ shrugged. "I didn't believe it either, but when I asked her she said that it was. She turned 20 a week before she was assigned here."
Hawkeye couldn't believe it. She had to be some sort of genius to be a nurse at her age. It was amazing.
Then the door opened and he saw her, Karen Walters. He would know that face anywhere.
Her long brown hair was up in a ponytail as she maneuvered her way through the line. He watched, waiting for her to join the other nurses, except she didn't.
Instead she walked past him and BJ and sat at the empty table next to them, opened a book she had carried in with her and proceeded to read as she ate.
It was a medical textbook, she was studying.
Hawkeye looked at her for a moment before turning back to BJ. "Not my type anyways," he said with a fake smile. "I'm into blondes you know."
BJ shrugged and went back to eating, never noticing Hawkeye's gaze frequently shifting to the young brunette at the next table.