It only took a few minutes (and Klinger dragging Hawkeye the whole way because of his severe claustrophobia) for the duo to reach their destination. Just barely able to balance himself and Hawkeye in his arms, Klinger struggled to get up the ladder, dropping his gun he carried in his dress down it to save his arms and them from being shot. A sigh of relief escaped his lips, knowing that a discharged gun could lead the MP's to where they are.
One trouble down, another to go. And if Captain Pierce could only stop his panting and dragging, then my job would be easier. When Chief Potter said that I had to guard him, he meant it!
"I'm ok, Klinger, I'm ok," Hawkeye rasped out as soon as they reached the empty exam room from the secret door, wooden boxes and tables greeting them.
Shoving Hawkeye up and over his head with the remainder of his strength, Klinger himself started breathing easily. Shutting and locking the trap door behind him as Hawkeye stood up, he replied, "If you say so, Captain. But if this gets me my Section Eight, then I'll gladly do it again."
Hawkeye almost shuddered visibly. "I don't think so. I don't think we both can fit into that closet space again."
"You probably will if no nurse will help you slip into a spare room," a voice behind them said, both of them knowing that it was Gale Curtis. "There are MP's out there still, but at least they're not looking for you anymore. They are, however, posted at the front door, so you're going to have to go underground again if there is no other choice."
Hawkeye and Klinger both groaned. The former was not looking forward to the tunnels and the latter was not keen on dragging Hawkeye around, quite literally.
"But that's not what you came here for, was it?" Nurse Curtis asked. "You came here about my sister, Winnie."
"Winnie?" Klinger snickered, thinking of AA Milne.
"It was a childhood nickname," Nurse Curtis explained, knowing what the snicker was about. "She was the youngest of the three of us that survived childhood. Both Saul and I are about a decade older than her and our sister, Amy, died when Winnie was four. Now, she used to be known by that name before, you know…before the books about the bear became famous. But when she grew older and nastier, she started using 'Winifred' more often."
"Older and nastier? You mean, she actually played nice?" Hawkeye asked.
"Yes," Nurse Curtis replied. "Once upon a time, Winnie was actually a little girl who liked to play with flowers, acorns and leaves. I was nine when she was born, Saul was eleven and Amy was not even thought of yet. After that tragic loss when Winnie was four, we did everything with her to make her feel special, minus the clubs that Las Vegas has. She just seemed like a ray of sunshine then, always a ball of energy, until our father left us. She was about six then and it devastated her greatly. Winnie was attached to Dad unlike the rest of us and she couldn't bear him leaving her alone. The two were most alike and had similar interests.
"Finally, when Winnie finally started figuring things out for herself, she then blamed it on Mom all the time, saying that she didn't do enough to make him stay. Even though Mom explained that they didn't love each other anymore and that the marriage didn't work out, she then turned into a dark cloud, very depressed that she didn't have Dad around anymore. Mom did everything to cheer her up…we all did still…but there was no use. When Mom sued for custody during their divorce later that year, she wasn't granted it. All three of us were sent to Dad."
"I take it, this went over well?" Klinger scratched the back of his dress, now covered in sweat.
Nurse Curtis sat on an empty crate as the two continued to stand, wringing her hands. "Yes, for a while. Winnie was ecstatic. She seemed to be happy with the arrangement. However, I don't think it did her a bit of good. Saul and I knew that Dad was a hardened criminal and that he did time for the Army for going AWOL during the First World War. He was also suspected, along with his superior officer, of working for the Germans during the same war, but nothing was proven besides a piece of paper saying, 'H21 coming for you'. Nobody knew what 'H21' meant. It was a cryptic code almost, one that would let Dad escape because he pointed the finger elsewhere else, along with another officer."
"What happened to the superior officer?" Hawkeye eyed Nurse Curtis suspiciously, almost not believing much of what she was saying. Winifred Curtis being a harmless little girl seemed unreal. Her father being an actual criminal, accused of working with the Germans, was equally unbelievable. However, even if it was true, it seemed to explain the nastiness behind the spy/nurse.
"He was tried and put in front of a firing squad," Nurse Curtis said. "His name was Ploid, I think. Colonel Leonard Ploid."
Alarm bells went off in Hawkeye's head, but he ignored it.
"Anyhow, back to Winnie. Now, while she loved and admired Dad from afar, he saw potential in her. While Saul and I were almost legal adults and incapable of not having an empty slate, he saw that Winnie had eagerness to work and that he could mold her. He knew that he could make her into something that he wanted and he did. Before she was ten years old, Winnie was already accompanying Dad on trips to the bank, standing guard as he robbed them. By the time she was twelve, she witnessed him rape and murder a woman. At fifteen, she had been in too many relationships that Saul and I could count and she even had an abortion, to boot. The next year, she dropped out of school. For two years, we lost track of her until one day, she sent me and Saul a letter from Texas. She was in basic training for the Army, she said, and seemed too bored with it. It was about three years before we went into the war in Europe, remember."
"After all of that, you'd think you'd never hear from her again," Klinger mentioned.
"Right." Nurse Curtis shook her head. "Saul thought that the Army would clean her up. He said that she might get her act together and actually get her off the streets."
"Hey, hey –" Klinger started.
"Shh!" Hawkeye elbowed Klinger in the ribs, then directed another question at the sad-eyed nurse. "I take it she was just as nasty as snow?"
"Yes," was the reply. "She was also aiming to go to Germany. She wrote something in her letter about seeing what all the fuss was about, since people were coming to America and telling stories about the brutality of those not 'Aryan'. I didn't like the idea, but Saul thought that seeing the world would give her more insight into everything."
"Your brother seems to give her a lot of faith," Hawkeye observed.
"Too much. He died before he found out what Winnie was up to. And she became a fright after my divorce and custody battle and Saul's untimely funeral. First, she would dangle my children in front of my face, saying that she would help me gain custody of them back by sleeping with my ex husband, who was just as horrible. Then, when I didn't pay any attention to her, she went after the ones who barely could ignore her: Helen, Saul's wife. All but terrorizing her and children to tears at the funeral, calling their home constantly and saying that it's Saul in her best male voice…she was nasty.
"About that time, in 1939, she went to Germany, just like she wanted to doing God knows what. About the time Pearl Harbor happened two years later, though, she was recalled to the United States and was stationed out in Asia as a nurse and then as a personal aide to General MacArthur. Now, I don't know how she became a nurse, but I'm pretty sure she watched and learned."
"I can tell you that from personal experience," Hawkeye recalled. "It was like she memorized everything, my dear Mrs. Hudson. She also didn't know basic doctoring skills, which every nurse, much like you, should know. She always relied on others to do her work and walked out before the OR session was over most of the time. The bedpans weren't even cleaned out well."
Nurse Curtis beamed with recognition, realizing that Hawkeye was giving her a hidden compliment, albeit generalized. She also knew that he was telling her nothing new. Her sister did the same thing at Tokyo General under her supervision.
"However," Hawkeye continued, "what remains a mystery is how she became an aide to General MacArthur in Japan after that war. How did she receive such a cozy position?"
"I don't know," Nurse Curtis admitted. "I did get a letter from her, saying that she was in Japan and then Guam. Bragging, she added that she had a very young German wrapped around her fingers and that she was going to Argentina when her assignment was over. She was planning on going AWOL like Dad did and live a life with a Nazi. Well, she indicated that the German in question was a Nazi."
"Are you sure?" Klinger asked, finally sitting on another empty crate.
"Yes. No doubt about it. And I know that she was still with him when this war started. She had no time to run to Argentina. When she was here at Tokyo General, before I petitioned to have her kicked out, he was around a lot, before she went after that Church guy in Korea. The guy came in while she was supposed to be cleaning bedpans. Snuck in for sex in the linen closet when they thought that I wasn't looking. It irritated me. I had to let her go. I knew that she was no nurse and even told everyone that, even my superiors."
"Did they listen?" Hawkeye leaned against a wall, tapping his fingers against it in impatience.
"No, but they did suggest that Winnie be transferred to a war zone. Somebody up there was watching her though. I guess that they have been since she joined the Army, since everything she did was seemed a little ridiculous." She paused. "I mean, being MacArthur's aide was out there, even for me. I doubted it for a while, but when I saw the newspaper clippings with her in there, I knew that she was telling the truth. Escaping Germany before the war without publically being accused of being a Nazi was amazing. Even being murdered without cause I denied. I didn't know what to think when I heard the news that she was dead. I didn't want to believe it, but it was true. Winnie was dead."
Wiping tears from her eyes, Nurse Curtis continued. "I may be upset that she's dead, but I'm not sorry she's gone still. I don't regret saying it. She caused a lot of trouble and I'm sure there's more to come. I know she must have left something behind."
"But you must think that the main suspect is not guilty?" Hawkeye asked, anxious to hear the answer, noting that the victim's sister even thought that she left behind something. Somebody must know that Margaret was innocent!
"I don't know," Nurse Curtis answered honestly, looking Hawkeye in the eyes. "After lying for so many years and then actively telling the truth…somebody has to be pulling my leg here. The Army hasn't been exactly telling me everything either. So, I don't know who to believe."
"Would you believe me if I said your sister was a spy?" Hawkeye then asked.
After a minute of thought, her answer was, "Somehow, no. Winnie was always butting in other people's business. But who was she spying for and who was paying her? Why did she have to be murdered so brutally for it, even if it was true?"
"We don't know yet," Klinger replied carefully.
"Well, I hope you find out soon." Nurse Curtis got up. "I'll talk to the both of you later. I need to be at my shift. I'll send somebody in to disguise you two so that you don't have to use the tunnels again, as I see it obviously bothers you both. I can't leave you running around them forever."
"So, you're letting us off the hook?" Hawkeye breathed a sigh of relief. "You'll look for someone to get us out of here and not push us underground?"
"You never know who else might be after you, Captain…?"
"Hawkeye." The captain extended a hand, happy to receive one back in a shake. "Hawkeye Pierce. And this is Corporal Klinger."
"Why are you in dresses?" Nurse Curtis had to ask, cocking an eyebrow up.
"You don't want to know," Klinger said. "But I do want to know if I could get my umbrella back."
"I take it you left your gun down the tunnels, Corporal?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Klinger smiled. "And I know. No guns in hospitals."