They got an early start, continuing southwest to Boston.
"Hawkeye, if we both find jobs that work out, and a place to live–"
"Margaret, you never answered my question earlier. What do you think about living together?"
She took a deep breath. "Don't people usually date for a while before taking such a big step?"
"But..." He glanced at her and then turned his eyes back on the road. "Isn't the purpose of dating to get to know one other?" He glanced at her again for a moment. "We've known each other for years. And then the other goal of dating is to see how far you can get with a woman. I know you'll go all the way with me, baby," he said lasciviously, grinning at her with eyes full of mischief, and a bit of desire too.
She smiled and shook her head in mild exasperation.
"What we don't know is whether we can coexist under the same roof long term. We have some pretty major differences. Major."
She nodded. "I see your point." She shrugged. "I'm willing to give it a go. So... if we both find jobs that work out, and a place to live–"
"Sorry for interrupting before. And again. Fire away."
"If we're going to live together, we'll be renegotiating the terms of our agreement. Right?"
"I would sure think so. We've already violated the hell out of the no-falling-in-love rule."
"What about the seeing-other-people rule?"
He remained silent for so long that Margaret was starting to wonder if he'd heard the question. She was debating whether to ask again when he pulled the car over to the side of the road, set the parking brake, and turned to face her. "Do you want to still see other people? My non-performance these last two days–"
"No!" she said vehemently. "No, no! I don't want to see anyone but you! I was asking how you feel!"
Of course. How many other women had he been with during the course of their arrangement? Guilt gnawed at him again and he sighed greatly. "I feel like I have an awful lot to make up to you."
She shook her head. "It's not like you were the only one seeing other people."
"Yeah, but you were a lot more discreet and I was a lot more licentious. How did you ever manage to fall in love with me, with me parading so many women right under your nose?" And some of it had been deliberate, to guarantee she wouldn't fall. Some guarantee that had turned out to be.
"I think you were in a dry spell at the time, not with anyone else and spending more time with me. Falling in love was gradual. The more time I spent with you, the more I liked you and the more I trusted you, until one day... " She shrugged.
"And then I broke things off."
She sighed. "What's past is past. It can't be changed, and there's no point rehashing it. I'm more interested in the future."
"Me too. I wish I knew if this thing between us is going to work out."
"Can you give up other women?"
He stared at her intently for a long moment before answering. "I'm sorry you have to ask that question. And I'm even sorrier I can't give you a definitive answer. I've done it before. With all my heart, I want to do it for you. For us. But how do we get past..." He took a deep breath and sighed. "How do we get past the past? In any normal relationship, what we did would be considered cheating on one another–and in plain view no less! Can we put that behind us? Can we make the transition from the casual, fun relationship we had to... to..."
"To a serious relationship?" Why would someone as fun-loving as Hawkeye want a serious anything? she thought ominously.
"I was about to settle on the word BJ used Sunday morning. He said it was about time I had a real relationship with a woman. If this is going to work, the casual thing is definitely out. But there's no reason to leave the fun behind. I don't think I could live without it anyway."
She smiled. "A real relationship sounds wonderful." Her smile began to fade. "And, if I'm honest, a little scary."
Hawkeye smiled. "If brave Margaret is scared too, that makes me feel better." He held out his hand to her.
She took it and smiled back. "I can't think of anyone I'd rather be scared with."
"Me neither." He found himself leaning closer to kiss her, and she was just as drawn to him, accustomed as they were to dealing with their mutual fear in such a fashion. After the briefest of kisses, Hawkeye released the parking brake and put the car back in gear. Back on the road he quipped, "As much as I look forward to parking with you, Margaret, broad daylight on a major road isn't the time or place."
She giggled. "There was one other term of our agreement," she reminded him.
He thought a moment. "Secrecy. That one was yours. What do you think?"
"I think it has to go too, for the most part."
"And for the part that's not most?"
"Well... I'm not sure I want it widely known that I'm living with you."
"How did my reputation get so bad that you don't want to be associated with me?" he wondered out loud.
"What?! This isn't about your reputation! It's about mine! If you tell people you're living with a woman they'll congratulate you and probably make lewd remarks!"
"Ah! The good old double standard again! And you'll be ostracized for that same behavior." He shook his head. "That stinks!"
"You're telling me!"
"So, you're thinking you want our relationship out in the open but our living arrangements hush-hush?"
She nodded. "Yeah. It will come out eventually, but it sure would be nice to keep it quiet at first. I have enough trouble fitting in without being judged for that too."
"Well, it shouldn't be a problem, at first."
"There's just the matter of neighbors, assuming we have friendly ones. And of who answers the phone."
"Ah. Right. Pity there's no way to know who it is before we answer. I guess answering the phone will be your job then."
"Thanks."
"Are we done renegotiating terms? We've dealt with all three, haven't we?"
She grinned. "Technically, there was one other term, the primary one, and I think it's safe to assume we're keeping that one."
God, he loved her open interest in sex. "I'm starting to wish we'd had this conversation when were still back at the motel. Though if we had, we might not have made it to Boston today." Better change the subject. "Speaking of which... Since we went to civilian hospitals yesterday, should we start today with military ones?"
When they arrived at the VA hospital, Hawkeye left Margaret on her own; prevailing gender attitudes being what they were, they both thought it best. He wandered the hospital as a visitor, stopping to chat whenever a patient flagged him down with a "Hey, Doc!"
Apart from catching up with a half dozen former patients, most of whom he could barely remember, he had a chance to observe the hospital staff and to hear about them from a patient perspective. One guy asked him for a second opinion. It seemed somewhat inappropriate under the circumstances, but it had been so long since he'd done any real doctoring, he couldn't resist.
Unfortunately his opinion didn't match the one in the chart, and the friendly-suggestion-turned-serious-discussion-turned-argument he got into with the hospital staff did no one any good. In fact, it got him escorted from the premises.
Which rather interfered with the plan to meet Margaret in the lobby. Instead, he waited in the parking lot, grateful at least that they hadn't escorted him to the car and made sure he left the grounds. He didn't even want to think about how mad Margaret would have been if that had come to pass! He watched for her and waved when she finally came out.
He told her what had happened as they got into the car, and as they discussed what they each had seen and heard, Margaret took notes.
At the second hospital they visited, they followed the same plan, but with far different results. For a start Hawkeye didn't get thrown out. He did discuss patient care with the staff, but it was far better received at this hospital.
While Margaret had had a much more dignified and uneventful visit than Hawkeye at the first hospital, her tour of this second one was more interesting. Military discipline seemed to be in shorter supply here (though still better than it had ever been at the 4077th). Her tour guide and would-be CO, especially, seemed very informal. (Hawkeye would love him, she mused.)
While at the first hospital she'd been given a very professional introduction to the staff and facilities, here they seemed to be taking a casual walk as Col. Woodrow asked her about her past experiences. Several times during their tour he stopped and interrupted the conversations of other staff; some of those times he solicited Margaret's input. This caught her off guard the first time, but she did the best she could. By the time their tour came to an end, she'd developed a very healthy respect for Woodrow's interview style.
"Major, I thank you for visiting. Your service record is outstanding, as I'm sure you're aware. Should you decide to transfer here, we'd be most happy to welcome you." He extended his hand with a smile.
She shook it. "Thank you, Colonel. This has been an interesting visit."
He laughed. "I hope you mean that in a good way. We've had quite a bit of staff turnover lately, so we do seem to be sporting a few rough edges." He winked.
Margaret smiled. "Rough edges can always be smoothed out. Why the turnover, if you don't mind my asking?"
He cleared his throat. "I transferred here six months ago, and I've made some changes... that... some people don't seem to like."
She frowned. "From what you've shown me today, quality seems to count more than regulations here. Or rank, for that matter."
He smiled. "Exactly. And that's just as things should be, as far as I'm concerned. But I've ruffled more than a few feathers."
She smiled. "You know, military discipline was always less than I was comfortable with at the 4077th. It took me way too long to stop struggling against that and realize that the army was right to foster a more casual culture there. Some of our best and brightest barely kept their sanity as things were. I'm sure they would have gone straight off the deep end if there had also been a strict expectation they follow every regulation. That, or they'd have wound up in the stockade in pretty short order." She grinned.
He smiled and nodded. "Well your unit's record certainly speaks for itself. How soon are you looking to change your circumstances?"
"As soon as I can get everything arranged. I haven't discussed a transfer with my current CO yet."
"Oh? Why not?"
She sighed. "It's a... difficult situation. I don't see eye to eye with my CO or the other staff on... a variety of matters regarding procedures and patient care. I took a leave to do some soul searching, and I've come to the conclusion it would be best for everyone if I transfer. And so, while I still had some of my leave left, I thought I'd check out some hospitals I might like to transfer to."
"I see." He nodded, then began to speak again but cut himself off.
"Sir?"
He smiled wryly. "I was going to offer to provide you with a set of the transfer paperwork. But I'm not eager for you to work here or anything," he said, smiling.
She beamed. "Oh, sir! That would be wonderful! I could mail it and hopefully have it approved that much sooner."
"Would you like to come up to my office and use the phone to call your CO?"
"Really? Sir, thank you!"
Margaret returned to the lobby as radiantly happy as Hawkeye had ever seen her and threw herself into his arms.
"Margaret, you look positively post-orgasmic!"
"Pierce! You–"
"I take it things went well?" he interrupted.
She let his lewd remark go. "Fantastic! And I talked to my CO. He's going to expedite my paperwork! I don't have to go back after my leave!" She was bouncing up and down in excitement.
"That's great, Margaret!"
"Great?! It's perfect! Let's go to the post office so I can get these forms in the mail!"
After mailing the transfer paperwork and taking a break for lunch, they visited a civilian hospital, where Margaret decided to follow Hawkeye's plan of parting company and checking things out on her own. She didn't realize until after she'd actually attempted this why he'd subtly tried to dissuade her. Her uniform made it nearly impossible for her to blend in as a normal visitor. Keeping her coat closed and ditching her hat improved matters, but as she didn't know any of the patients, she still had a far less easy time of it than Hawkeye obviously had. She was feeling a bit frustrated and not to mention, a bit foolish. Her excitement must have interfered with her ability to think clearly.
Turning a corner she found herself unexpectedly in the maternity ward, and the babies captured her attention completely. Army hospitals didn't have much use for maternity wards. She remembered how much she'd enjoyed giving childbirth classes and delivering babies in Korea.
And she couldn't help thinking about having a child herself some day. She'd never given the idea a great deal of thought, but she'd realized she wanted to have a baby when the results of her pregnancy test had both relieved and disappointed her. She was well into her childbearing years, would soon be nearing the end of them, in fact. Not knowing whether she would ever have a child of her own made her a bit wistful.
She returned to the lobby well ahead of schedule and was surprised to find Hawkeye already there.
He stood and came to meet her. "Would you believe they wouldn't see me without an appointment? Of all the nerve," he grinned. "I made one for tomorrow morning. How about going to the hospital where I did my residency? We can visit whether or not they'll officially see me."