Author's note: Unfortunately, I don't own any of the characters. (20th Century Fox does…Lucky buggers.) I do own the rights to Cora though. (Yay!) Enjoy! (This is only my second fan fiction story, so…don't be too harsh!)
"It Takes A Teenager To Tell"
By: Corka
There was a high pitched whistling that all of a sudden changed to a loud BANG. Cora dropped to her feet and blacked out.
"She can't be more than fourteen years old, what the hell is she doing here?" Hawkeye Pierce and Margaret Houlihan were looking over the (in their eyes) little girl in triage. She was hurt very badly with about four pieces of shrapnel in her leg alone. "We'll have to do an arterial transplant." He told Margaret. "Okay, she goes first!" he got two enlisted men to carry her litter in. Before they lifted the litter and Hawkeye left, Cora, very faintly said:
"Am I gonna be alright doc?"
"Your gonna be fine sweet-hart." Hawkeye didn't know what the HELL a girl like that was doing in Korea. She was defiantly American.
About 6 hours later
"How is she Hawk?" B.J. asked while working on a North Korean.
"I think she'll be alright. Kellye, close for me." There were no more wounded so he went out to get some fresh air. He didn't notice, but Margaret followed him.
"Are you okay?" She asked. She noticed that Hawkeye defiantly wasn't himself today. It started right after triage.
"It's just that girl in there. She had a home made dog tag on. I read it. She's 14, from a town in Michigan that I've never heard of, and her name's Cora O'Lanny."
"I don't know how she could have gotten here. You think she'll be fine though?"
"God, I hope so. She should. You have post-op duty tonight?"
"Gee, what do you have in mind?" She was just egging him on, but decided to 'correct her ways' "Why?"
"Can you let me know when she wakes up?"
"Of course." At that, she went into post-op and waited while Hawkeye went to the Swamp.
3 hours later
Cora started waking up. Margaret noticed and ran to the Swamp to get Hawkeye. When they got back, they sat on the bed next to her and asked what they were dieing to know. "Cora," Margaret started, "we were wondering…"
Cora cut her off. Weekly, she finished her sentence, "why I'm here?"
"Yeah, why?" Hawkeye listened intently.
"Well," She started telling her story to the chief surgeon and head nurse, "about four years ago, I lived in Muskegon, Michigan where my dad was in the Army. A captain…" She trailed off and then started up again, her voice a little stronger. "Then, my dad got transferred to Tokyo. That's where h-e-double-toothpicks started."
"This is Korea, you can say hell when your in it." Hawkeye laughed at her Radar-like saying.
"Okay, then that's where hell started. It first started when my dad got a telegram from the U.S. Army saying that he was to be fighting in Korea in two weeks. Anyway, when he shipped out, my mom made sure that if my dad were to die, she wouldn't have to be a single parent…She killed herself." At this Cora started to cry like a scared little girl. "RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" she was so upset.
"Oh my God." Margaret stroked Cora's hair motherly, "I'm so sorry."
When she caught her voice again, she continued her story. "After that, I found some of our money, packed a few of my favorite things in my bag, and ran away. I walked to the airport where my dad had taken off from and found a plane that was on its was to Kimpo Air Base. I was just able to get on it. I found an empty footlocker and shoved myself into it and rode all the way to Korea like that. Before I left though, I got a letter. Well, my mom got a letter, but, you know what happened to her so I took it and I read it on the plane. My father…" She started crying again. "My father was killed. He was wounded and sent to a MASH unite. He died there. I'm not sure which MASH unit it was, but when I got in Korea, I wanted to make sure that I got hurt."
"Wait, what?" At this Hawkeye was VERY confused.
"I wanted to get sent to a MASH unit to see if it was the one that he was at. The letter said that a B. F. Pierce worked on him. I was wondering if maybe you could help me find him. I wanted to thank him for trying to help my daddy." Cora's voice started getting week again. Her leg hurt so bad.
"Look no further." Hawkeye said. "I'm Benjamin Franklin Pierce. Call me Hawkeye."
"Hawkeye? That's from Last of the Mohicans right?" Cora said excitedly.
"That's right, how did you know?" Hawkeye tried to get the subject away from her father so they could have a happy discussion. Margaret had set up the curtain for privacy for Cora since she was a girl in a man filled post-op and had started some paper work.
"That was the only book my mom ever read. Cora was her favorite character."
"You're kidding? That was the only book my dad ever read. His favorite character was, well, I think you get the idea."
"Yeah, I do. Say, I was wondering, the blond nurse…do you like her? You just look at her like you want her to be yours." Cora had a knack at figuring these things out at school.
"Can you keep a secret?" Hawkeye lowered his voice.
"They didn't call my Quite Cora for nothin'."
"Yeah, I do like her. Well, more like love her. I've always loved her. I hate to see her get hurt. How did you know?" Hawkeye wanted to know what gave him away.
"You look at her differently than you do for the other nurses."
"I do?"
"Yeah. Have you told her?"
"No. I don't know if I should."
"Hawkeye, I never told my dad that I loved him. Now, I never will. You need to tell her. Trust me, you'll feel better if you tell her."
"You know, I think you're right kid."
"Oh…hey Hawkeye," Hawkeye was about to leave, "Thanks for taking care of my dad."
"It's part of my job." With that, he walked over to the Swamp to get something and then went to Margaret's tent.
About 20 minutes later, Margaret was back at her tent. Hawkeye walked over. Knock knock. Hawkeye did as the sign on her door said. She quickly opened and was actually glad to see who was there. "Hey Hawk. Come on in."
"Thanks. I uh…brought you something." He took out a bottle of scotch and two shot glasses.
"Oh, thank you. Come on, I'm thirsty." She cleared her desk off and sat down, Hawkeye sat on the opposite end of the desk. "So, what's up?"
"Uh, well, I have something I really want to tell you and Cora said I should before it's too late, so I'm just gonna say it. Margaret, I love you." Hawkeye waited for her to get mad.
"Really? You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that." Margaret got up and sat on Hawkeye's lap. She then bent down and kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back and when they came up for air, Hawkeye pulled the other thing out of his pocket.
"Margaret, I love you so much and for the last year and a half, I've been dieing to ask you this." He put a ring with a single stone on her finger. "Will you marry me?"
"Oh my God, YES!!" Margaret jumped up and Hawkeye followed. They flung into each other's arms and stood there in the comfort of each other's arms.
"Want to tell the camp the good news?" Hawkeye asked his fiancée.
"Let's use the PA system. Then everyone can hear at once." With that, they both ran out of her tent and into Radar's office.
"Radar, we need to use the PA for a minute." Margaret was grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh, yes sir, I mean ma'am, I mean ma'am sir…oh, here you go." He nervously got up.
"Attention all personnel." Hawkeye said with a huge smile on his face. "Margaret and I have a little announcement to make."
"WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!" She couldn't contain herself.
"Oh yeah, I'm good." Cora said to herself in her bed in post-op.
2 weeks later
Cora was out of post-op and had fully recovered from her wounds. She begged Col. Potter to let her stay at the 4077th and help out. She was able to stay and she was now bunking with the nurses in the nurses' quarters and always having fun. Except when the wounded came. The nurses and everyone else was pretty good to her. Tomorrow, Margaret and Hawkeye's wedding was to be at 3:00. She was the maid of honor. Margaret said that if it wasn't for her, Hawkeye might not have ever said how he felt and they might have never realized the other's feelings. It was about 10:00 p.m. and she and the other nurses were in the Officer's Club. While the others had either scotch or beer, she was stuck with Grape Nehi. She loved it though. Almost as much as Strawberry Nehi, but they didn't have it here. Only grape. She didn't mind.
"I think it's time the maid of honor makes a toast." Kellye pointed to her watch and said. "Look at the time, and we all still need to get our hair and everything done before the wedding."
"What are you worried about Kellye? I'm the one getting married." Margaret and the rest of the nurses laughed at that.
"Okay. God, I hate talking to public. It's a good thing I consider you family." Again everyone laughed as Cora got up and held her Grape Nehi. "I'm so happy for tomorrow's new couple. But, it's a good thing I was here to get you two to actually tell each other. If it wasn't for me, you guys would still be giving each other those looks that you hope the other one doesn't see and get you embarrassed. You know the ones I'm talking about." She did her best 'lovesick' look that she could. Everyone laughed. They all seemed to really like her. She was glad at that, she wasn't one for making friends. She never really got the chance with the Army making her and her family move all the time. But now she didn't have a family; not even any grandparents or aunts or uncles. "So, here's to the happy to-be bride!" All the nurses clapped and then Margaret got up and said her own toast.
"Thank you Cora. And thanks for getting Hawkeye to tell me his feelings. I'll probably owe the rest of my life to you. Unless he hurts me like that jack ass Donald did and then I won't like you. No, I'm just kidding, Hawkeye would never do that to me. So…actually, here's to you Cora." Again, everyone clapped. Twenty minutes later, everyone went to their tents and gave Margaret a hug on their way out. You could tell she was nervous.
3:00 the next day
"Do you, Hawkeye Pierce take this woman, to have and to hold, to love and cherish as long as you both shall live?" Father Mulcahy asked Hawkeye as he was trying to believe who he was giving the vows to.
"You bet I do." He gave a little chuckle along with everyone else in the mess tent.
"And do you, Margaret Houlihan take this man to have and to hold, to love and cherish in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?"
"Definitely." Margaret could hardly say it fast enough.
"Who has the ring?"
"I do Father." B.J., Hawkeye's best man, gave him the ring. Father Mulcahy blessed them and gave them to Hawkeye and Margaret. After they went through the whole 'ring exchange' thing, they were pronounced man, and wife. And kissed…and kissed…and kissed. Finally, B.J. had to tap Hawkeye on the back.
"Oh yeah." Hawkeye joked and both him and Margaret went back outside and everyone came up and congratulated them. Then, they were off to their honeymoon.
While the new love birds were in Tokyo, B.J., Charles, and Col. Potter moved all of Hawkeye's stuff out of the Swamp and moved it into Margaret's tent. They took down the sign on the door that said "Maj. M. Houlihan-Knock before entering" down, painted over Maj. M. Houlihan and painted Dr. and Mrs. Pierce.
Two Months later
"Major, are you okay?" Cora could tell that Margaret didn't feel very good.
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's Margaret. And, yeah, I'm fine." She was being awfully defensive.
"Uh-hu. Look, I've seen you running to the latrine three times in the last three days. Are you sure you're okay?" She was just looking out for a friend. She basically considered her to be a big sister.
"I'm fine Cora, really." At that, she looked like she was going to be sick again. She ran as fast as she could to the latrine. Cora followed. "Uh-hu…looks like it."
"Okay, okay…I think I'm-" Cora didn't let her finish. She knew what was coming.
"CONGRADULATIONS!!" She gave her a big hug. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, you know how I was away for about tree hours the other day. Well, I was in Seoul getting a test and…I'm pregnant!" She was really happy about it.
"Oh, congratulations Margaret. Have you told Hawkeye yet?"
"No, I'm going to tonight though. It's our two month anniversary so…" She didn't really need to say anything else.
That night
"Haha!! Really? Oh, Margaret that's wonderful!" Hawkeye was thrilled when he was told about the new arrival.
"Really, you're happy?"
"Are you kidding, I'm the happiest man alive!"
'Good' Margaret thought. "You know what it means though. Automatic discharge. I don't want to leave you Hawkeye, I want to stay here more than anything else in the world."
"I know, maybe we can talk to Col. Potter." Hawkeye was worried about that too. He didn't want to end up like B.J. and have a wife and kid in the states and not be able to see them all the time. "Come on."
They talked to Col. Potter and he agreed. She should be able to stay at the 4077th. Hawkeye and Margaret were the two happiest people in camp from then on.
7 months later
Margaret had just had the baby the day before. It was a cute little girl that looked just like her mother. With the exception of having her father's eyes. "Margaret, she's beautiful." He couldn't say it enough. Hawkeye was so proud of his wife and new daughter. "You know, she's already a day old and she doesn't have a name yet. We better name her quick before we do any psychological damage." he joked.
"I was thinking…" She whispered her idea in her husband's ear. Five minutes later, Hawkeye walked from Post-op, where Margaret and the baby were, and asked Radar for the use of the PA again.
"Of course Hawkeye. Here you go…daddy." Radar laughed. "I still can't imagine you, a father."
"I have to get used to it too. I don't think it will take long though." He picked up the microphone for the PA and said, "attention all personnel: Hawkeye here. I thought you might want to know what Margaret and my new baby's name is. Am I right?" He waited until Col. Potter came out of his office and told him to get a move on telling everyone what the name was. "Well, our little girls name is Cora O'Lanny Pierce." When Cora heard, she raced to post-op, a huge smile on her face and gave both Margaret and Hawkeye a big hug.
"We thought it fit." Margaret started.
"If it weren't for you, I never would have told her and I would have never been this happy." Hawkeye finished.
"Well, it takes a teenager to tell sometimes." Both Hawkeye and Margaret laughed. Margaret let Cora hold her name-sake and well, you know how it ends. They all lived happily ever after.
Afterwards
Margaret, Hawkeye, and Cora Pierce went to live in Crabapple Cove, Maine after the war. Cora O'Lanny bought a house right next to the Pierces' when she was old enough and finished her education and went to med-school. Her stowing away to Korea, she decided, was the best thing that she ever did. That was also what Hawkeye and Margaret always told her. Everyone lived happily ever after.
J THE ENDJ