September somewhere, 1955?
Crabapple Cove, Maine

I don't know what day it is anymore. This illness has made primitive people out of all of us. We hardly pay attention to the time or the day. We just measure everything by the achievements the girls accomplish when they are sick. For giving them the medication was the best thing we could have done for them.

BJ went back to the clinic. Hawkeye has stayed with me. We've taken turns watching out for our girls. Within the day of administering the shots, they began to lose the fever. The swelling decreased drastically. Blood pressure went down to normal numbers. But they were not out of the woods yet. The coughing and inflammation are still bad.

Hawkeye ordered BJ to begin creating larger doses of the drugs. Charles was going to be the first to be tested. If it worked, then it will go to the hospital board for approval. Once they give their ok, it goes to the Surgeon General. If he likes it, it will be sent to the general public. That part is going to be the most difficult.

I think Charles, with his wit about him, will help us. I am sure he will make Cochran and his cronies pay the price if they do not take this to the market. For this could have helped people in the past and will prevent future outbreaks, here and everywhere else.

I am so tired. I cannot hold the pen for much longer. I am still sick. This pregnancy is also trying me. I cannot sleep…

~00~

Night fell. Hawkeye and I had been taking turns being with the girls so one could rest or fetch things. Neither one of us slept though. But the good news of the day was that Cochran approved the medication and ordered it sent to the Surgeon General's office for his stamp of approval. In the morning at the latest, we were going to hear it he will allow it to be distributed.

Hawkeye saw so much improvement in the girls that he continued to administer the drug regardless of the consequences and no matter what some high-ranking government official said. He timed the doses and wrote down what happened. By the time I gave him some dinner in their room, they were sleeping peaceful and coughed on occasion. It was working.

I sat down with him and rubbed my eyes. I don't remember the last time I slept. It was tiring to keep a pregnancy from Hawkeye too. Until this has ended, he will be in the dark. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer.

"You want an hour to yourself?" he asked me as he scarfed down some mashed potatoes.

"No," I told him. I took a bite of the mushy food when he offered and swallowed. It tasted like cement. "I can't leave them."

"Me neither. But you're a genius, Jeanie. How did you do it?"

"Thinking outside the box. But it makes me wonder. How are you immune?"

"I caught it and barely survived. This is why I get colds every winter that my wife has to tend to."

I snorted. "It never goes away, does it?"

"No," Hawkeye told me, "but neither does your work. You're a lifesaver, Jeanie. I don't know what I could have done without you. I love you."

The words touched me. It was more than validation of my presence here. For Hawkeye, I may have saved his home from destruction for the last time. It was more than our family that was preserved. Many parents will be able to watch their children grow up too. There will be a thriving community. Crabapple Cove will live on.

I leaned into him and allowed him to hold me. "I love you so much. Oh, my God. I love you."

When Hawkeye put his plate down, we held each other for some time, whispering the same endearment over and over again. Each of our head rested on the other's shoulder. We cried together, bound by our deep love and what we experienced as parents. All of those bad months melted away. All that we had was now.

BJ interrupted us with a throat clearing. He stood in the doorway quietly until we separated. "Good news," he announced. "Surgeon General has approved the serum. It is also being turned into a vaccine by his lab rats."

I didn't have the energy to celebrate. I smiled as Hawkeye got up and whooped. He grabbed BJ by the arms and they danced in the hallway. After a few minutes of watching their revelry, I got up and joined them outside the sickroom. My head spun so much that I was using a wall behind me as support. It was easier to watch them than to participate.

"How are the girls doing?" BJ asked Hawkeye when they stopped making so much noise. "They doing ok?"

"Better," Hawkeye told him. "Here, let me show you."

The pair went into the girls' room. Quietly, Hawkeye talked to BJ about the changes with each dose. But I could not join them again. Now that I felt like I could relax, my body began to shut down. My head swam in a fog. My stomach rolled over and flipped. My throat gurgled with leftover mucus and vomit. My joints could not hold me up anymore.

BJ exited and saw me. "Hey, Jeanie, you ok?"

I wanted to say something. My mouth moved, but my lips couldn't get the words out. I lost control of myself completely. I slid down the wall faster than BJ's reach. My landing did not hurt me as much as the last one did. But the fact that my daughters were on the mend was the best news in days.

"Hawkeye!" BJ yelled. "Hawkeye!"

That was the last thing I remembered. There were blurry figures dancing before me. I thought I saw Hawkeye kneel before me, begging me to talk. But I could not help him now. The darkness claimed me.

~00~

I woke up, my eyes trained on my bedroom ceiling. It was a cool day, I noted, as the sea breeze ruffled my hair. The windows were opened to the autumn air. The sound of the ocean soothed me and almost put me back to sleep, had I not recalled that I passed out.

I searched for my saviors. It was not too hard to find them actually. Hawkeye was sleeping on the other side of the bed. BJ was on the floor, snoring comfortably.

I tried moving, but it hurt me. My joints were still on fire and required some getting used to again. My head was not so much of a fog anymore. I was dizzy when I lifted myself up and felt my stomach churn. The morning sickness was returning.

Before I tried getting up from the bed, I checked my belly. It still felt hard. I sighed in relief. I don't think I miscarried and that was a blessing. It meant that I still had a surprise I could tell Hawkeye.

But that had to wait. I was already gagging and would have dashed for the bathroom had not Hawkeye woke up from the motion on the bed. He was already at my side, holding my hair back and guiding me to throw up in the kitchen garbage bin. He stayed there, gently using his strength to hold me and keep me from hurting myself. I was already too weak and could not stand or kneel.

Eventually, Hawkeye managed to position ourselves where he was behind me and I was kneeling until my stomach didn't have any more contents. Even so, I was spitting up acid. When that was finished, I collapsed onto the floor, Hawkeye rolling with me. While it was hilarious to move with the freefall motion, this was still a serious moment. This was the time. I had to speak the truth.

The thing is, Hawkeye began first. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"

"I tried," I explained. "When I called you, I had every intention of telling you. Then, you ordered me to bring the girls inside."

"Wait, that's why you called the clinic?" Hawkeye was incredulous. "You didn't tell Dad?"

"No," I reassured him. "I wanted to let you blow up on the way home."

"And you were sick?"

"Yes, I was. I used myself, to test the medication."

Hawkeye could not speak. Every time he did, some angry words sputtered out. I was afraid of his rage again. I tried getting up and only managed to hold onto the bed. I climbed up and fell, crying. I had no way to run. Hawkeye was going to be angry.

BJ had woken up by then. He heard Hawkeye yelling at me and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hawk, we've done some pretty damned foolish things. Don't blame Jeanie."

"She could have died!" Hawkeye screamed at his friend. "The baby could have died! And where would we have been?"

"Sometimes, being a doctor or a nurse is a grey area," BJ reminded him. "How else could we have found out this worked?"

"It was me or the girls," I justified through my tears. "I'd rather die."

"It doesn't mean it was right," BJ reminded me. He crossed his arms. "I applaud your ingenuity. I have to condemn your lack of common sense. Jeanie, you're pregnant. What if you survived and the baby did not? Nobody would have been here to help you."

"You think I never thought of that?" I questioned. "What would you have done?"

BJ didn't answer. He helped me position myself back to my side of the bed and threw Hawkeye out, to stop the crying. "Rest then. We'll talk later."

"Later" meant dealing with Dad. He had just heard of the epidemic sweeping through Canada and the border states and rushed back from Vermont the day before. Dolly had to ensure that he waited until it was safe (she even kept the news from him for days). Then, when the roads cleared, he ordered her to rush back to Crabapple Cove. By the time Hawkeye and BJ saw that I was fine, Dad was at the door.

He was out of breath by the time he reached our bedroom. By the time it happened, Hawkeye and I were reconciled and were discussing new baby plans. Dad checked himself at the door, but boy, was he angry. He waited until we noticed him and said our hellos.

"What the hell happened?" Dad demanded. "Why didn't you call me?"

"I thought the cabin didn't have a telephone," Hawkeye observed.

"You could have reached the damned General Store!" Dad thundered. "I would have come back." He sounded so helpless.

"Well, thanks to Jeanie, very few people died," Hawkeye told him proudly. "There is now a cure to the common plague."

Dad stared at me like I was a sideshow freak. I couldn't blame him. This was a disease that killed his wife and daughter. He watched more people take their last gasps of air because of the same thing. How one former Army nurse could have beaten the odds and found a way to circumvent the spread was a miracle. Years had been spent on the causes and effects. Nobody had come closer than I had.

"And you're pregnant," Dad said to me.

"Right," Hawkeye told him cheerfully.

"Hawkeye, has anyone in the house taken ill?"

"All of the girls did. Charles did, but BJ and I did not."

Dad was frightened. "Is everyone ok?"

"Annabeth and Shannon are fine," I reassured him. "They're resting in their room."

This gave Dad enough running power to check on them. He dashed out and looked in on the girls. We heard him rummage through the bedroom, loud enough that they could have woken up. Luckily, I heard no cries. When Dad returned, he was satisfied. Next, he was on top of me, asking me all sorts of questions.

I waved them all away. "I am feeling great actually."

"You said that last time," Hawkeye warned.

"I call for precautions," Dad decreed. "Let's hope this is the last."

We all agreed. It was something we'd discuss in the future. But for the time being, everything was calm and perfect. We had endured the worst we could have faced past Korea. There was nothing that could faze us now.

~00~

Near Halloween, Eddie decided to throw a party. It was colder out, but he did not care. He invited the whole town to his bar to celebrate the end of the crises we faced as a whole. There was going to be a cookout, drinking and dancing and singing.

I was three months pregnant and already appearing to be five months gone (we thought I was going to have twins). I had not done much in the time since being bedridden to ride out the last of the sickness. However, I was antsy. Dad and Hawkeye had always confined me to bed, hoping that a repeat of the last pregnancy will not happen. When I heard news of Eddie's party, I wanted to go. Dad and Hawkeye were planning on taking Shannon and Annabeth anyway.

I nagged at both of them about attending. They had taken so many precautions that it was ridiculous, I argued. I was able to get up and tend to two girls and a house with some help. Granted, the disease took a lot out of all of us. The coughing continued and dissipated eventually, but it was difficult to shake off. To be throwing up at the same time in the mornings was pure hell.

"You can't leave me here," I told Hawkeye the day before the appointed event. It was our bedtime and we had been discussing the outing in depth. "I will sneak out."

"You're setting a good example for our daughters," he pointed out. He turned the page of his medical journal. "Pregnant mother goes down gutter pipe to escape mandated bedrest to attend party meant for town. That seems like a good headline."

I sighed and reached for the lamp. "Try and stop me."

"Jeanie, I can't. But I am afraid."

"You always are. I will be fine."

"Where have I heard that before? Oh, yes. In Korea, when you told me that everything was fine and dandy. You were ok with Dean being dead. You didn't tell me that you were trying to kill yourself slowly."

"Don't hold that against me," I hissed.

"You have a track record," Hawkeye continued, reading on like there was no problem between us. "Besides, why would my lovely wife miss out?"

"Wait, wait, wait." I stopped for a moment and let down my defenses. "You were planning on bringing me?"

"Dad and I finally agreed," Hawkeye said. His eyes still did not leave the page. "It's not far and he's bringing the Packard."

I could have pulled down his pants and give him his favorite fantasy right then and there. Instead, I reached over and kissed him full on the lips. It interrupted his reading and gave him something else to think about. He kissed me back, prying my mouth open with his tongue. I returned fire and we were soon turning off the light and closing the door. The medical journal was forgotten.

The next afternoon, we drove on over to Eddie's. Dad parked the car and almost had to jump out to get the girls. Shannon and Annabeth were so excited, caught up in the happiness of the moment, that they nearly exited before Dad stopped. Hawkeye and I grabbed them before they decided to disappear into the crowds. Shannon managed to persuade Daddy for a ride on his shoulders. Annabeth, so unusually shy, felt comfort in my arms.

We entered the long line to the establishment, waiting to be seated at the table. Instead, there was Paulie at the door, motioning for us to cut in front of everyone in the line. I didn't want to budge. These people had waited for longer than we had. When I told him no, he still insisted on us coming inside. Soon, everyone else was telling us to go ahead.

"The guests of honor must be first," Paulie inside.

Eddie came up from behind him and agreed. "Come on, all of you. Inside. Drinks are on us."

Hawkeye was always for free drinks. Scoundrel that he is, he moved all of us forward, parting the line like Moses with the Red Sea. Once inside, we were decorated with flower necklaces and confetti. The girls squealed in wonder and Hawkeye and I exchanged smiles. Dad tried excluding himself from the festivities and edged towards some elderly patrons, but Eddie was having none of it. He pulled Dad right to a bar stool and seated him there, placing a beer in his hands. We were at a nearby table, at the front.

Lucy skated on by and winked. Smoking a cigarette as she danced on wheels, she dropped off meals left and right. When she returned to our table, she dropped off two shot glasses filled with booze. She also left the bottle. Annabeth and Shannon got pop with ice.

Not everyone was ready with their drinks. However, Eddie solved that problem. People still in line managed to get a pop for their children or a shot for themselves, glasses and all. Paulie and Chuck were passing out the goodies as Eddie waited patiently enough. Jake popped up near our table and asked to join us. Hawkeye was surprised and waved him in. He found it unusual that the quiet one stayed with us.

Then, it was time for the finale. Eddie had Lucy and the other waitresses running a drum roll before giving him back the floor. It brought suspense to an otherwise thrilling event so far. It also made me anxious for some reason. The people and the noise almost made me jump out of my own skin.

Relax, Jeanie, it's just a party. You've been to many of them before. Remember the Marines?

"I'd like to make the first toast," Eddie finally announced. He raised his glass. "First, to Doctor Daniel Pierce, for without his service to this town, we all wouldn't be here." Before everyone repeated Eddie's words, he added, "And, if he didn't tell his son to get off his ass and propose to that pretty lady over there, there'd be less of a family here today."

"To Dad!" Hawkeye and I yelled, laughing.

"To Grandpa!" the girls said with giggles.

The rest repeated after Eddie and drank. There were many slurps from children's bottles. Adults licked up the last drops of alcohol. But they need not worry. There was more to come. Paulie and Chuck made another round, refilling glasses and replacing bottles. That means there were additional toasts coming from Eddie's mouth.

He raised his glass again. "Next toast is for Doctor Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce. Without your insanity, you'd be just another migrant who'd head way out there. But you brought honor to this town. You served with the worst of them and brought back the best of them. Cheers!"

Everyone drank to Hawkeye, especially him. Love took the bottle on our table and poured himself a generous drink. He downed two more for himself and one for me. Then, with everyone looking on, he reached over from across the table and kissed me, right in front of everyone.

We heard enough whistles to last us a lifetime, more so than at the 4077th. Even the girls were agog. They never saw us show affection to each other to that extent before. If we allowed ourselves the freedom, there would be more they'd witness and that was inappropriate. Sometimes, it was best for Hawkeye to give kisses on the forehead or the cheek when they were around.

There was one last hoorah. Eddie made this one special. He ordered Paulie and Chuck to pull out the best stuff he had on the shelves. This got people talking. What was this last toast going to be dedicated to?

Eddie left the speculation going until everyone was ready. "Well, this one is a pretty damned special one. This toast is for Jeanie Pierce. Without those men prompting her to live here, we all would not be here. It was thanks to her that many people are alive."

I felt my face turned red with embarrassment. But I took the praise and the cheers. The simple need to keep my girls alive had a larger impact on the community than I thought. While I understood that this had to pass through many channels to be sent to the general public, I had not realized that this had saved so many other lives other than Annabeth and Shannon and myself.

I don't know how many shots Hawkeye took for me. But I could not toast myself. I did not deserve it. Before Hawkeye could grab my shot, I stood up with it. Eddie was surprised and held out his hand for me. I walked over and took it. I faced the staring crowds before me as I gripped Eddie's hand.

"For those who died, past and present," I said, raising my drink.

It was a solemn moment. When everyone noted my seriousness, they repeated after me and drank. And in that time, I never knew so much satisfaction. For once, I felt like I found a place in Crabapple Cove. I earned my respect. I was going to ensure it was kept.