HOPE'S CALLING- CHAPTER 13- HOME AGAIN
Hawkeye put his arm around Hope and pulled her close. He whispered, "Gosh, the first time I'm in the back seat of a car with you and we have chaperones!" When she didn't respond to his joke he lifted her chin and saw tears streaming down her face.
"Hawkeye, I was really scared," she sobbed softly. He reached down, first kissing her cheeks where the tears had left their traces and then her mouth. At first the kiss was soft and gentle, but it deepened and Hope responded to it by opening her mouth to him. His tongue traced the corners of her lips. She let out a long, shuddering sigh. The kiss went on until the jeep hit a small pothole. Hawkeye let out a frustrated groan. "Well that was fun while it lasted," he whispered in Hope's ear.
"Klinger watch it!" Father Mulcahy shouted. "My head already has a full orchestra inside it playing the 1812 Overture!"
"Sorry Father," Klinger told him. "But I can't make any promises I won't hit another pothole again. I'll try to be real careful."
Mulcahy touched him on the shoulder, "It's alright Max, I know you're doing the best you can. I'm sorry I shouted at you." The priest made a silent prayer, "Thank you Lord, for being rescued. I have another favor to ask. Could we get back to camp a little faster and in one piece? Amen."
It was dawn when Klinger drove the jeep into the 4077th's compound. Colonel Potter, Major Houlihan, BJ and Charles had been sitting in the mess tent having coffee. Colonel Potter got to the jeep first. "Thank God you found them!" He pointed at Hawkeye and Klinger. "You two, I ought to string you up for going out in the middle of the night to look for them. But I won't, because I would have done the same thing." He helped Father Mulcahy out of the jeep. "Let's get the Lieutenant and the padre to Pre-Op and take a look at their injuries."
Hawkeye got out of the jeep, lifted Hope into his arms and followed the Colonel to Pre-Op. He laid Hope on a table and said, "Let's get you checked out." Major Houlihan was standing right behind him. "Oh no you don't, Pierce. BJ or Charles can look at her. I'll let you know when they're finished. Now shoo!"
Hawkeye had no choice but to leave as the Major told him to do. He winked at Hope and she suppressed a giggle.
When he was gone, Hope said, "Major, I'm really sorry about I didn't make it for duty last night and I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you the other day. There's no excuse for that."
"Now is not the time to talk about it, Lieutenant. Let's get you taken care of."
"Yes ma'am," Hope responded.
Margaret asked her an unexpected question. "Why are you wearing a poncho? It hasn't rained for several days."
To answer the Major's question, Hope pulled up the poncho to reveal the state of the dress she was wearing. "It got ripped up in the accident. I covered myself up with the poncho so as not to embarrass Father Mulcahy . Guess I owe Klinger a dress, don't I?"
Margaret didn't respond to the question. Instead she cleaned Hope's face, arms and legs and helped her in to a clean gown and called BJ over to look at Hope.
"Hi Lieutenant, I heard you and Father Mulcahy had an adventure that turned into an accident. Let me take a look at you." When he was finished, he said, "Everything looks o.k., except for your right ankle. It's swollen up to the size of Kansas." BJ touched it and she yelped. "Can you move it at all?" She tried to move the ankle and groaned while she shook her head "no". BJ took her to have it x-rayed.
On the other side of Pre-Op, Colonel Potter was looking over Father Mulcahy. "Well padre, you took a good knock to your noggin'. You do have a concussion and will probably have a humdinger of a headache for a few days, but you'll be just fine. Take it easy for a few days." Then he changed the subject. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
"Our jeep hit a very large pothole and it flipped it over on its side. Hope and I were thrown out. Thank God, we weren't hurt any worse than we were. She did her best to take care of me, you'd be proud of her." Francis Mulcahy believed in telling the truth, but this time he wasn't going to elaborate on it and tell the Colonel that the accident was Hope's fault.
After BJ had looked at the x-ray, he gathered up the supplies he needed to put a cast on Hope's ankle and came back into Pre-Op. "Looks like a clean break. I'll put a cast on it and if you behave yourself in about 6 weeks, you're ankle should have healed nicely." When BJ was finished putting on the cast he told Hope," No doing the Lindy Hop or Jitterbugging for a while. I'm going to get a wheelchair for you. Be right back."
While Hope waited for BJ to come back with the wheelchair, Klinger stopped by to see her. "Hope, I'm so glad you and Father Mulcahy are o.k. "She hugged him and said, "Thanks Max. I'm sorry about the dress."
"Look kid, a dress is replaceable but you're not. Don't worry about it."
Hawkeye, not BJ, brought the wheelchair to Hope. "Your chariot mademoiselle, where would you like to go?" He picked her up and put her in the wheelchair.
She looked up and him and grinned. "Believe it or not, I want to go to the mess tent. I'm starving. I haven't had anything to eat since lunch yesterday. "
He bent down and kissed her forehead. "Alright Hope, your wish is my command."
Now Hope and Father Mulcahy are home safe and more or less sound. Wonder if the good Father will talk to anyone about his feelings for Hope? Time will tell. Thanks so much for reading. I appreciate your support! Love reviews, too!