This has ties to the episode "Comrades in Arms", so be familiar with that or you may be a little lost. Also, all grammatical errors are mine. Other than that, you should be good.
Enjoy!
After finishing dinner, Margaret begins to clear the dishes away. Hawkeye watches for a second wondering if the woman in the wool, blue dress wants the life he wants. He knows deep down she wants kids one day, but wonders if she resigns herself to never finding the right man. Finally obtaining the courage to ask what he wants, the former Chief Surgeon asks, "Do you ever dream about having a family? Now, after the war?"
The question comes as a surprise to her. Of course she thinks on the subject of children and marriage, but after the dreams she has through out the week. The former Head Army Nurse wonders if she will ever get the chance. Instead of unloading her deepest fears on the man, Margaret answers simply, "Sometimes."
Content with the answer, Hawkeye helps his friend with the dishes before they sit at the table again. Their conversation is fairly platonic, and somehow throughout the course of the evening, Margaret opens a couple beers causing both to be a little tipsy, but still coherent as they continue their overdue conversation. Setting her cup down, Margaret looks at her friend asking, "Do you ever think about it? After everything?"
"Settling down?" Hawkeye comments. His eyes stare back at his friend much like in Korea when they feel as if they are the only ones there. She nods prompting him to continue, "Yeah. It's just hard, yah know? No one wants a war addled former Army surgeon. At least in and near Crabapple Cove. They want the younger guys. The boys that we helped patch up to send back to the fighting."
"Is that why you drank the other night?" Margaret asks. Hawkeye can see the concern in her expression and knows he has little chance to joke his way out of the situation. Instead, he knocks back the rest of his drink before replying, "You'd 've made a great Sydney Freeman. I can see how all the older men liked you."
As soon as he says his words he wants to take them back. He can see the pained expression in his friend's face which prompts him to quickly stand from the table. Bumping his knee in the process of standing, Hawkeye pretends the pain does not bother him as he walks toward the door.
"Hawkeye," Margaret calls after him. She is not angry and is rather used to his outbursts. The last comment may sting a bit, but she wants to continue talking. She needs to. If only for the sake of whatever their relationship is. Grabbing his hand, the woman watches her friend turn to face her. She sees his remorse flash through his features as he explains, "I hurt you, Margaret. I crossed a line."
"It's not the first one," She responds with a small smirk. Part of the man wonders if he is in a dream. The last time Margaret is in this mood they are stuck in a hut with the sweet serenade of shells and gunfire. He barely meets her eyes as he tries to stare anywhere than at her. Instead, Margaret turns his face toward her as she states, "You didn't cross a line."
Prompting her friend to sit down, Margaret grabs some beer she has from the kitchen along with a couple glasses and places them on the coffee table. Sitting down, she pours the drinks while trying to ignore her friend's confused expression.
"Think of it as a peace offering," She explains. The pair sits awkwardly on Margaret's sofa as they try to begin a normal conversation that does not pertain to Hawkeye's drunken episode from the two nights prior. To break the silence, Hawkeye takes his glass and says, "To the army's uncanny ability to alter the lives of its unwilling participants."
Margaret raises an eyebrow unsure if she really wants to drink to the proposed toast. As she begins to form a complaint, the pair hears a knock on the woman's apartment door.
"Were you expecting someone?" Hawkeye questions setting his drink down. She shakes her head giving the man a quick, worried glance before looking to see who is at her door.
"Danny?" She questions opening the door to the worried child.
"Mom said you're a nurse. She wants me to come get you," He says breathlessly. Letting the boy inside, she meets him at eye level as she tries to get more information from him. Taking a long breath, Danny says, "Mom cut her hand really bad. She needs stitches but Dad's working and has the car tonight."
Nodding, the blonde tells her friend to follow her. A minute later, a confused Hawkeye follows his friend and his former patient into the neighboring apartment.
"Mrs. Rodgers?" Hawkeye pleasantly asks once Margaret introduces the pair and calms the woman down.
"Linda," The woman interrupts. The former army surgeon nods answering, "Linda, do you mind if I look at your hand?"
Linda nods as Margaret goes to sit with the woman's son who is currently watching the exchange.
"That's a lot of blood!" Danny comments as he walks out of the kitchen. Coming back in the room from keeping the boy occupied, the nurse asks, "Do you think it needs stitches?"
Nodding, Hawkeye replies, "I just wish I had my suture kit with me."
Nodding, Margaret heads back to her apartment and comes back with a suture kit. Staring at her in shock he almost kisses her. Sadly for him, he is currently applying pressure to a nasty cut. After getting the okay from Danny's mother, Hawkeye begins his work. The woman hisses in pain, but is relatively calm throughout the procedure. He attributes the calm more toward Margaret's talking to the woman rather than his surgical skills. After bandaging the wound, the former surgeon explains, "That should hold, but the stitches will need to be removed in about a week or two. Call Margaret if you need me for anything and make sure not to use your hand too much."
She nods thanking him for his help before setting aside the rest of the dishes. Margaret disposes of the bloodied dish the woman breaks prior to her stitches earning an appreciative smile. Leaving the apartment, the former army hospital staff walk down the hallway. Entering Margaret's home, Hawkeye holds up the suture kit which his friend shakes her head at prompting the man to place the case on the coffee table.
"You did well in there," Margaret comments with a smile on her face. Hawkeye shakes his head answering, "So did you. Thanks, Margaret."
"For what?"
"Making me come over tonight. Letting me sew up a hand for old time sake. This'll be a great story to tell the grand kids one day," He quips. She can tell no malice enters his statement; however she does question his phrasing. Instead of shrugging off the statement, Margaret asks, "You still want kids?"
"One or two," He states before looking down at their unfinished drinks from earlier. Unsure why he feels such raw emotion, Hawkeye picks up his glass and takes a sip of the liquor inside. Setting the glass container back down, the man puts a hand through his hair explaining, "I'm usually not this candid. Normally I'd talk to Beej about these things. Now, I'd talk to Dad, but he doesn't need to hear my inner monologues. No one does, really. It's just, we've talked. We've shared things that no one else knows. I know you're afraid of loud noises, so we'll both skip the annual fireworks this year. I skipped them on New Years!"
He pauses before continuing, "I just can't shake this nagging feeling to talk. To anyone."
Margaret gently places her hand on his shoulder. She knows how he feels. The other day she nearly begins a rant to one of the nurses about Korea after a simple operation. Turning him toward her, she looks in his eyes and can see the despair. Without a word, she comforts him the only way she knows how. Wiping a single tear that escapes his eyes, she lets the longing they compress for months consume them. For at least the night they can be Captain Pierce and Major Houlihan back in a hut escaping shellfire.
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