Forgive my terrible pranking skills. I'm better at witty comebacks and annoying puns. Also, thanks for reading this!
Enjoy!
Another week goes by and the couple pretends to still be dating their respective lovers. When answering questions, Hawkeye and Margaret give the vaguest answers they can while letting the rumor mill churn a little at work. However, in surgery on Thursday, Margaret comes close to breaking her and her boyfriend's secret. At first, the head surgeon the nurse comes to loathe begins with general conversation regarding her day which the woman replies to, albeit warily. Her only problem comes when the man asks something she does not want to repeat to him.
"Where did you meet this Hank?" The surgeon questions as Margaret tries to ignore him. Seeing her currently sedated patient stirring slightly, she makes a mental note to give him more anesthesia. When the man asks again, the blonde replies tersely, "I met him through a friend of the army."
"Doctor Pierce?" The man questions with a haughty inflection that encases a slight whine. Margaret stays silent for what she hopes is not a beat too long before answering, "That is none of your business."
From that moment, the woman decides to simply do her job and shrugs on her army professionalism. As soon as she can, the head nurse finds herself leaving the operating room before hiding away in the crowded cafeteria. Knowing a wreck that morning swamps her boyfriend, Margaret finds a booth farthest from the two entrances. Halfway through her meager lunch, the woman finds the heavy footfall of a doctor come close to her and wills the person to leave. Looking up and seeing Hawkeye, the woman lets out a sigh of relief as Hawkeye asks, "Rough day?"
Her less than pleased face causes the man to wait for his girlfriend's reply. Waiting until the man sits down, the woman answers, "I have three words for you. Ferret Face Winchester."
"Is he at it again?" Hawkeye questions before being told the tale of the woman's morning surgery session. After listening, the orthopedic asks, "How do you end up getting paired with him?"
"He's the head surgeon and I'm head nurse," Margaret answers simply before picking up her tray and disposing of her trash. Shaking his head, Hawkeye watches his girlfriend exit the cafeteria and decides to call her about his prank. With permission that night, Hawkeye starts to make a list of what he will need. Trying to find time to talk with his girlfriend, the retired prankster is unable to meet until Friday draws to a close. Meeting at the entrance of the hospital, the couple makes plans to iron out any creases in Hawkeye's cleverly orchestrated prank. With a grin, the man bids his leave letting his girlfriend shake her head at his antics. The next morning, Hawkeye meets her at her apartment wearing his signature Hawaiian shirt and his bathrobe. Trying not to gawk, Margaret, wearing a sweater and slacks, quickly lets her boyfriend inside as she closes the door and asks, "What made you wear that?"
A grin playing on his lips, the man answers, "I thought I'd play some golf next week down near surgery."
"Please tell me this is part of the prank?" The woman begs heading toward her kitchen for a cup of coffee. Following her, Hawkeye replies, "Don't worry. I have it all worked out. Now, you said he was asking about your love life?"
"Pierce," She warns holding her cup tighter in her hands. Picking up on his girlfriend's tone, Hawkeye explains, "Hey, easy. I just thought that maybe Hank could pay you a visit?"
Confused, Margaret looks over her boyfriend's attire and mulls over his words before stating, "You were never going to wear those to work were you?"
The man chuckles lightly as he answers, "Depends. Now, can I tell you about this prank?"
Trying to make sense of her boyfriend's shenanigans after months of relative peace, the blonde sits down at her kitchen table and waits for him to explain.
"You're going to get a call before a surgery and it's going to be Hank," The man begins while his girlfriend listens to the plan and stays silent for most of his spiel. Once he finishes, Hawkeye soon asks for more suggestions to which the couple spends most of the day tweaking the plan to fit the work day's schedule. Concluding their prank, Margaret and Hawkeye share a smile hoping to make Ferret Face Winchester quit blatantly flirting with the nurse forever.
Waiting for Tuesday which is Margaret's lightest work day of the week, the nurse waits for the plan as she preps a patient for surgery. When she is told she has a phone call, the woman quickly heads to the nurse's station. Hearing Hawkeye on the other end, Margaret keeps up her charade of talking to Hank until she is called back into surgery and pretends to be distraught over pressing news. Playing her part up a little during the surgery, the nurse makes sure she catches the attending surgeon's attention. Discarding their surgical garb an hour and a half later, Margaret notices the surgeon try to flirt with her again and tries to remain calm before checking the patient after who is admitted into recovery. Upon entering the recovery ward, Margaret and Ferret Face Winchester find a well known orthopedic surgeon in the room with a golf club in hand.
"Oh, sorry. Just thought I'd play a small bit of golf here. This is by far the easiest area of the hospital that I've played this game. Nurse Houlihan, if you could be so kind as to move?" Hawkeye asks as he tries to put the ball straight through the patients' ward.
"Doctor Pierce," Margaret warns with a slight smirk that only she and anyone of the 4077 can decipher as humor. Waving her off, Hawkeye replies, "Go back to your patients."
Doing as suggested, the blonde soon attends to her charge. Just as she checks the patient's chart again, she can sense the head surgeon stand over her.
"What happened?" Ferret Face Winchester asks alluding to the surgery from earlier. Looking at him, Margaret shakes her head. Coming closer to her, the surgeon asks, "Is there anything I can do to help."
Shrugging him away, Margaret tries to continue with her work. Finally after the much loathed surgeon tries to seduce her once more, she pretends to give in. In a small area outside of the patients' ward, Margaret turns and smiles at the man. Just as she has the man in her trap, Hawkeye walks by and gasps before coming over and pretending to chastise the woman for cheating on Hank. With their plan nearing completion, the former army buddies pretend to fight causing the surgeon to now feel rather uncomfortable amongst the pair before Margaret storms off. As he picks up his golf ball and walks out of the room, Hawkeye notices the chief surgeon follows him out.
"She's a looker, right Doctor Pierce?" The man asks when they are outside recovery.
"Yeah, but I don't think she'd appreciate you calling her that. Last I heard, she and Hank were pretty serious," Hawkeye comments leaning against the wall where an intercom button is located.
"Women like that usually are. Now, if she were my wife-"
"You're married?" Hawkeye asks curiously. Nodding, the surgeon replies, "Fifteen years, but let me tell you Margaret's something. She has this certain je ne sais quoi. Doesn't she?"
The orthopedic doctor shakes his head in response, but lets Ferret Face Winchester continue talking until he sees a few onlookers stare at the men. Finally aware of his surroundings, the surgeon stops talking. Leaning away from the intercom, Hawkeye walks away as an angry Margaret comes by.
"I'm sorry," He stutters in shock as a crowd of employees begin to congregate in the hallway. Not listening to anything, Margaret seethes, "I think it'd be best if you talk to your wife."
After their prank, Margaret sees less of the annoying doctor and happily leaves after her shift on Friday to drive up to her sister's for Easter. Arriving, Margaret greets her sister and brother- in- law before putting her suitcase away and playing with her nieces. Her brother- in- law soon comes in the living room where the woman plays with the babies before standing and giving the man a hug.
"I thought you said you were bringing your boyfriend?" John asks with a smile. Shaking her head, Margaret replies, "He's coming in Saturday night. He wanted to spend some of the weekend with his dad."
"What's your boyfriend's name again, Maggie?" Patricia asks as she sits on the floor playing with her seven month old daughter, Charlotte. As she plays again with her oldest niece, Margaret replies, "Ben Pierce, but most people call him Hawkeye."
"That's an interesting name," John comments from the doorway as he holds a mug in his hand.
"It's from his precision during surgery," Margaret replies as she lets her young niece hand her various toys. Nodding, Patricia soon asks more questions regarding her sister's boyfriend before putting her daughters to bed. After changing into their pajamas, the adult sisters sit in the kitchen and continue to catch up on the other's life.
"Do you like all this, Trish? Staying home and taking care of the girls?" Margaret asks as she sips on a mug of tea. Nodding, the sister says, "I didn't think I would, but I do, yeah. I love these girls to death. Why?"
"I'm just trying to envision myself with your life. I envy you sometimes."
Curious, Patricia asks, "Me? I'm jealous of you. I wish I could've had the army career you did."
A small smile gracing Margaret's lips, causes her sister to smile as she redirects her next statement back to their previous topic.
"You never really wrote me much during the war, but you met Hawkeye there, right?"
Nodding, Margaret replies, "He was one of the first people I met in the unit. Can't say I thoroughly enjoyed it. He flirted with me the first day."
"Looks like it worked," Patricia jokes. Smiling, Margaret answers, "You could say that. It only took a Major to straighten him out."
"You really like him, don't you?"
"I really do," The blonde replies happily.
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