Familiar Moments

I was alone in my tent when there was a knock at the door. I saw Hawkeye standing outside and told him to come in.

"I need help."

"With what?"

"There's a patient in post op who's asking to see you and won't tell anyone else what he needs."

Oh boy, I thought. It's probably another crush.

It happened more often than I wanted it too. The boys got so lonely sometimes and they tended to fall in love with the first pretty girl they saw. I wasn't trying to sound vain, there were lots of other nurses more beautiful than I was, but I was the one who was there the most. It was sweet sometimes, but also frustrating, especially when I had to push them away. Not even the engagement ring on my finger deterred some of them.

"I'm on my way," I said reluctantly. I followed Hawkeye across the camp and into post op.

"It's that young man over there with the shoulder injury."

He's kinda cute, I noticed. Also a little bit familiar. Wait…

"Jimmy?"

"Hey Mags."

"What are you doing here?"

"I joined up a few months ago."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, the doctor says I'll be leaving in a day or two."

My heart fell at the thought of him leaving so soon. I hadn't seen Jimmy since we were kids, but our parents had kept in touch. Our families had been so close. His parents were my godparents and he was like a cousin to me. Korea was the last place I expected to find him. The last place I wanted to find him.

"Hawkeye." I motioned him over. "I'd like you to meet Jimmy Malone, the proverbial boy next door."

"Well, not literally next door because our families moved around a lot, but close enough," Jimmy added.

"Nice to meet you, Jimmy. For a while there we were worried about your fixation on the major here. It's good to know we don't need to call out the MPs."

"Hawkeye!" I scolded. "He's always like this. The only thing he takes seriously is surgery, and even then it's hard to tell for sure," I apologized to Jimmy.

"How dare you suggest that I'm a professional. If you're not careful, you could ruin my reputation," Hawkeye teased.

"That's the plan," I retorted. This is fun, I thought. At some point Hawkeye had become a friend and it made me happy to be able to introduce him to one of my old friends.

"Well, I'll leave you two to reminisce," he said as he got up and walked away.

"Looks like I've got some competition." Jimmy winked.

"What are you talking about?"

"That handsome doctor seems to have his eye on you."

"He's like that with all the nurses." I pointed across the room to where he was flirting with Lt. Able.

"Mm hm," he said skeptically.

I took another look at Hawkeye. He really was quite attractive. I mean, that wasn't the first time I had noticed, but it was the first time someone else had suggested that there might be something more.

"Leave it alone, Jimmy."

"Ok, sweetheart."

"And don't call me that. Someone might overhear and that could be damaging to my authority." I was legitimately concerned. I knew gossip had already started to spread.

I could tell Jimmy was starting to get tired, so I left him a few minutes later.

As I was leaving, Hawkeye pulled me aside. "I need to talk to you."

"Ok."

"Let's go somewhere quiet."

"Ok."

We both walked outside and stopped in front of my tent.

"Jimmy's sick."

"Well obviously, he's in a hospital."

"No. He's not just injured. He's sick."

My heart sank. I had just found something familiar in this hell of a place and now even that was being taken from me.

"So what is it? Hepatitis? Pneumonia? Chicken Pox?" I prayed it was something curable.

"Cancer."

Shit. Fuck. Goddamit.

My legs buckled and Hawkeye reached out a hand to steady me.

"It's lung cancer. The late stages of it too."

"Have you told him?"

"You're the only one who has talked to him so far."

Well at least he hadn't told me before I saw Jimmy. There's no way I could've hidden the pain from my face. I pride myself on professionalism, but some moments were even too much for Major Margaret Houlihan to handle.

"And you want me to tell him? He thinks he's getting out of here in a few days."

"I'll be there with you, but we've been through this before. It needs to come from someone he trusts."

"Ok." I turned away. "I need some time."

"Take all you need."

"Ok."

Hawkeye left. I went inside my tent, sat down and cried. It took a lot to make me cry, and always when I'd lost something or someone. This time I found someone and lost them in the same day.