Discalimer: I do not own MASH, I never have, and I never will.(Unless some miracle occurs, but since I can't even win the 50/50 draws at my 10 year old brother's hockey games, I doubt that's going to happen.)
Margaret Houlihan yawned for what must have been the 30th time in the past 15 minutes. Hawkeye saw her yawn, and he yawned. BJ and Potter saw them both yawn, and they yawned. Wow, yawning was the most contagious disease in the post-op ward at the moment. All four of them sat around the bed side of their newest patient. He was a very young soldier who had only been over here for a month and a half. He had come in here with his insides shot all to hell, and the three surgeons and the nurse had worked on him for 4 hours. He had almost died three times on the operating table, but somehow they had managed to pull him through. Now they sat at his bed side rejoicing with every breath he managed to take.
"He's stablized now Margaret," Potter said finally, "You can go on to bed." Margaret had been at the end of an 10 hour hsift when he had come in, then operated for 4 hours, and they had been sitting at the side of his bed for almost 2. She was exhausted.
"Oh, no sir," she said, denying the obvious fact that she was tired, "I'm fine. I won't go to bed until you guys get to."
"Fine, one of us will stay here and watch him, and the rest of us will go to bed." said BJ.
"I'll stay." said Potter, a yawn distorting his words.
"No no, you go." said Pierce, "and I'll stay. I'm barely even tired. Really."
"Well, I hate to break the pattern, but I'm not vollunteering to stay." said BJ, starting to walk toward the door.
"Really, Colonel, you're on duty first thing in the morning. You go ahead, and I'll stay here for a few hours until he's out of the woods and the nurse can take it from there." said Hawkeye.
"Well..." started Potter, but that was the end of his thought because just then he yawned once more.
"Oh, oh, just GO. All of you." said Hawkeye, standing up and pulling Margaret up with him. "Especially you Margaret. You've been here all day. Go back to your tent and get some sleep."
"Ok." she said, too tired to fight any longer. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything."
"Exactly. Colonel, you too."
"Yes sir." responded the Colonel, deciding that this wasn't important enough to fight about.
"Well, you don't have to convince me." said BJ, the first one out the door.
"Good night Pierce." said Potter, following the captain.
"Good night, colonel." the tall doctor responded.
"Good night, Hawkeye." said Margaret, walking slowly toward the door.
"Good night Margaret, I love you." he said, wondering just how tired she was.
"I love you too." she responded, making her way out into the camp. Hawkeye just grinned and shook his head. She never even knew what she'd said.