Thanks to Jess for another review.
If you recognize it, it is not mine.
The following chapter contains references to the Exorcism and the book MASH FAQ by Dale Sherman.
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Claudia's night shift on Thursday was one of the busiest she experienced at 4077. She stitched up three cuts, bandaged two broken limbs and got rid of one appendix. And that was just in the first half of her shift. It seemed everyone was having accidents in Korea.
She was absolutely groggy after BJ came to relieve her. There weren't many serious cases, only two needed to be discussed before handing the work over, both of them stomach wounds. After that, Claudia had a quick shower and went to get some sleep.
She woke up around 2pm, hungry as hell, but still pretty tired. She unpacked Colonel Potter's gift and took one of the pills. It was amazingly convenient that someone went to Tokyo around the same time she needed another batch of medicine that was not available at MASH. Thanks heaven! Otherwise it would have gotten terrible for her.
The mess tent was pretty packed, but there was some space left between Hawkeye and Colonel Potter, so she squeezed in there.
"Heard you had a busy night." Colonel Potter said to Claudia.
"Yeah, unfortunately not in the way I wanted." Claudia admitted and then continued. "It was like I treated everyone in Korea, but thankfully nothing too serious. How's the food today?"
"Inedible as always." Hawkeye offered a description.
"Good. I hate change." Claudia smiled at him, chewing on some toast. "Hi, Frank, did you come to sit on my lap? It's the only free place left in this tent."
"May I volunteer?" Hawkeye quickly declared, not even letting Frank answer. Swiftly grabbing Claudia's hand he stared into her eyes for a second, before the conversation went on.
"You are officers, you should behave appropriately." His voice as annoying as always, sounded throughout the tent. Why was he speaking so loud, anyway?
"And you're married and should behave appropriately." Claudia said quietly while rolling her eyes. It earned her shocking looks from everyone. Apparently people didn't speak so directly about that stuff here.
Frank ignored Claudia's remark and turned to Colonel Potter. "Colonel, there is an old Korean hustler selling junk from a pushcart like we are some shopping center."
"Thank you for informing me. I'll deal with it." The Colonel said, still fighting a little smile after what Claudia said. Taking his empty tray, he rose to his feet and left. Frank sat in his place and began to eat, trying too hard to focus only on his meal. Claudia and Hawkeye shared an amused look.
"I gotta go. I'll see you later." Hawkeye said and quickly disappeared. Claudia found it odd, but just shrugged and went back to eating. She was starving and she wanted to check on a few of her patients before the planned meeting in Colonel Potter's office.
On the way to Post-Op, she bumped into Radar who was holding onto the Spirit Post that locals made to scare away bad spirits or something. "Aww, Radar, don't hug the Spirit Post and find a nice lady."
"Oh no, I am just moving it, ma'am. It was blocking traffic. And- "
When he stopped talking and just listened for something, Claudia thought she knew what it meant, but still, she asked. "What is it, Radar?"
"Choppers, ma'am. And ambulances, too."
"Well, of course." Claudia ran towards the helipad and started triage there. Two soldiers with bad head wounds needed to go first, others could wait. She jumped on the jeep, accompanying one of the wounded to the Pre-Op where Colonel Potter was already getting dressed for the OR. She told him about the two serious cases and he said he'd start on one of them immediately.
All the other doctors arrived right after that, getting dressed for the show as well. She noticed Klinger doing his round with a ladder, changing lightbulbs that were popping all around the camp. Then a patient in the Pre-Op stopped breathing and she was called over there.
When she finally took care of everything in Pre-Op, the work in OR was in full swing. Frank was clipping Margaret fingers in surgical clamps every chance he got and lightbulbs were still exploding all over the place. BJ was reunited with a patient he operated on a few months ago, who was shot again – and in the same foot. Thankfully the injury wasn't too bad.
Margaret got even with Frank and sprayed him with saline. She loudly claimed it was an accident, but somehow that didn't matter. Father Mulcahy bumped into a tray of instruments and it tumbled onto the floor. And then to top it off, all lights stopped functioning.
"Oh, come on." Claudia sighed. "I can operate in bad conditions, but not blind. I mean I think I finished the operation, but right now I cannot even see the patient."
"What do you expect on Friday 13th?" Klinger joined the conversation, repairing another light.
"Klinger, that doesn't mean anything. I was born on Friday 13th and my light started working first. Get another patient here, please, Corporal."
"You were born on Friday 13th?" Frank spoke up his voice sounding with alarm.
"Yes, Major. Am I scaring you?" Claudia said provocatively, laughing.
Since the chipped beef that was intended for 4077 was blown up, Igor had to improvise. His heart wasn't really in it, because his losses in poker were dragging him down a bit. He burned almost all of the food, so for a while all that was ready was some toast. Instead of lunch, Claudia visited the Swamp and drank some of their poison.
"Want another one?" BJ offered, holding the bottle of clear liquid.
"Ok, let's properly celebrate that we don't have to eat lunch today." Claudia accepted, lifting her glass up and watching it being filled.
"And you, Hawk?"
"No, thanks, Beej. I have a patient waiting." Hawkeye explained.
"How's the Korean man doing?" Claudia asked.
"Radar drove with the granddaughter to find a priestess to exorcise the spirits so he would consent to the operation." Hawkeye was looking out of the tent, hoping it wouldn't take too long.
"Is he stable enough?" BJ wanted to know.
"Yes, but not for long." Hawkeye's voice was sad or tired, or maybe both, Claudia couldn't tell. She got up and walked towards where Hawkeye. She wanted to comfort him, but he ran out of the tent before she could do that. A jeep was arriving into the compound, driven by Radar.
Claudia watched the exorcism for a while, but soon headed to her tent. On the way there, she was stopped by Klinger, who ripped four nylons in a single week and needed another pair. He promised Claudia to buy her another one next time he would go on leave. She told him not to worry about it. Their discussion was interrupted by the PA system announcing that hill 205 had been overrun and that the camp should prepare for incoming casualties.
That particular session was 27 hours long and the wounded were mostly youngsters. Hawkeye called them babies more than once, that's how young they were. Claudia was the first one to leave OR, which didn't happen often, but the last case was so easy se could do it in her sleep. And she refused the last break because they were so close to the end, so fair's fair.
She met with Colonel Potter in the scrub room. He was washing his hands and then he proceeded to get rid of the surgical white he was wearing.
"You also finished?" He asked when he noticed Claudia enter.
"I am also finished." She agreed, but then saw his look. "I am fine." She added with a chuckle, walking to the sink and turning the water on.
"I was not particularly satisfied with the results of your physical exam, Claudia."
She stopped the water and then turned towards him. "Then get used to it."
"Claudia, I …" The Colonel sighed.
"Talking about it won't change the outcome, sir."
She walked out of the building after saying that, she was too tired to argue. She had just about enough strength left for a quick shower and the way back to her tent.
Hawkeye later came to give her a kiss before she went to bed. Apparently he also came to ignore questions about whether he had any more bad dreams, which probably would have made her angry, had she had the energy. He confessed them to her a few days before, but desperately avoided the topic ever since.
Claudia was awakened by the shelling around three thirty in the morning. The movement outside told her that she wasn't the only who abandoned the land of dreams because of the noise. She took a few deep breaths before getting up, then stretched her limbs a little and put her uniform on. She swallowed her medicine and drank a cup of water before making a tight braid out of her hair to keep them in place. She inspected her look quickly, fasten her belt and ran out of her tent, putting her jacket on at the same time.
It seemed that everyone gathered in the mess tent, already holding or waiting for a cup of substandard coffee. Claudia joined Colonel Potter, the Swamp inhabitants and Margaret at the table and soon thereafter Father Mulcahy sat down next to her.
"Well, my distinguished guests, I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Claudia said, seemingly lost deep in thought. Everyone mumbled their greetings in return.
"It doesn't seem to be easing I the slightest. They'd been shelling us like that from around midnight." Colonel Potter was worried.
"What did headquarters say?" Major Houllihan asked the commanding officer, and then thanked for the refill Radar offered.
"We are ordered to sit tight, Major. More information will be available in a few hours."
"Let's hope we will be available in a few hours to hear them." Hawkeye said with a smirk and changed seats with BJ to be next to Claudia. Then he swung a hand around her shoulders and brought her closer to him. "What is a girl like you doing in a war like this?"
"Good question, honey." She pulled back a little and stared him down, noticing how tired he still looked. "Have you slept at all?"
"Couldn't really. We have noisy neighbors."
Claudia snuggled into the soft robe that loosely hung from Hawkeye's shoulders, wanting to provide some comfort. She could feel him hugging her tighter. A smile showed on her face.
"So, what should we do when everyone's up? Poker in the Swamp?" BJ suggested, earning him a low growl from Hawkeye who enjoyed himself just holding Claudia like that.
"Colonel?" Claudia's voice was full of determination. "As much as I hope the fighting will move away, it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for evac."
"Oh, come on. Let's have some fun… " Hawkeye's proposed, leading many to speculate what exactly he meant.
"Colonel! Our boys will beat those Commies back!" Frank was the voice of unreason as always.
"I don't propose we pack up everything on the off chance we'll have to shove off. But we can take care of the supply tent and personal belongings, which wouldn't hinder preparedness of this unit, but would make a difference if we had to bug out." Claudia explained her plan.
Colonel Potter reluctantly agreed with Claudia. And his reluctance was due to him being regular army rather than thinking what she was saying didn't make sense. Everyone except the Colonel and Radar, who were the connection to the outside world, were to pack their things and then wait for orders. Claudia was the one to deliver them.
The shelling was getting closer, no two ways about it. Claudia sent all the doctors to Post-Op with a few enlisted to help take care of the wounded and do whatever they could to secure the building. Mattresses were appearing everywhere, blankets were being used to cover the windows and patients were being examined to determine whether they could be moved if necessary.
The nurses were in charge of organizing the material in the supply tent. Igor and Klinger made sure there was enough coffee for everyone and prepared food that had to be eaten the soonest or that would be difficult to move during a bug out. They got a few shipments in improvised containers and those would probably be lost during an evacuation.
Actually, it was the nurses who were done first. Claudia sent them to get something to eat, because Margaret didn't let them have refreshments as they work. She went to check up on the state of the supply tent, trying to figure out the volume of the supplies and how much room it would take up during a move. She was almost done, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"Well, aren't you a hard worker, sweetheart." She turned around and saw Hawkeye standing there, with a tray of sandwiches in one hand and two cups in the other.
"Oh, hey. Sweetheart? Really?" Claudia took the cups, because it looked like he was going to drop them any moment now and watched Hawkeye putting down the tray.
"Would you like me to call you saccharine myocardium, then?" He took a few steps closer to her, getting one cup of coffee and taking a long sip. It was so nice to hear Claudia's laugh, somehow it made everything seem bearable.
Hawkeye bent his left hand in elbow, set it up on a high shelf and propped his head up against it, not letting his eyes off Claudia for one second. He studied her face, taking in the color of her eyes and how tired they looked, the way her braid accented the crimson tone of her long hair and how her unbuttoned jacket fluttered around her body. She drank up the coffee in one big gulp and set the cup down on a nearby shelf.
"You need to eat something." He said firmly, noticing she intended to carry on working.
"I am almost finished here, Hawk."
He surged forwards to grab her in his arms and was rewarded with a soft moan filled with satisfaction. He hugged her even tighter, one of his hand travelling up her back to her neck and the other staying around her waist pressing their hips together. He needed to hold her, to feel her chest expanding with each breath, to know she was okay. Ever since the shelling started, he was haunted by massive insecurities in that respect.
She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, her hands roaming over any part of his body she could reach and then their lips reunited for a long passionate kiss.
"Hawkeye... " She whispered, meeting his gaze. There was no space between them at all, that's how tight they were wrapped around each other.
"You deserve a break, it- what is this?" Hawkeye's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and Claudia subsequently felt the grip on her disappear. "You wear a gun on your belt now?"
"That's what the gun belt is for."
"Claudia…" She could hear the disapproval in his voice, even though he did not said anything further. Another explosion could be heard from the north and it made them jump at the sudden roaring noise. But still the atmosphere remained tense.
She quickly crossed the distance he put between them and put her hands gently on his shoulders. Glad that he looked at her, she lightly pressed her lips on his. She kept them there only for a minute, making no effort to deepen this kiss, just running her tongue slowly over his lips and feeling him tremble in her arms.
"Hawkeye, this is war." She said finally, putting an end to their making out.
He inhaled loudly and then slowly let the air out of his lungs. His heart was still racing like he had just ran a marathon and he was hyperventilating, unable to speak. The sensation of her lips on his were unbelievable.
"I am aware that you hate guns, Hawkeye. But I will do everything in my power to protect those close to me. Including you." They were staring right in each other's eyes, holding hands. "Especially you."
He brought her closer for another kiss, but this time it was full of passion and urgent roughness. He felt her hands stroking him under his shirt, trailing along his muscles and outlining his spine. Finally she rested her hands on his behind, cupping it possessively. He froze for a bit, surprised equally by her forwardness and the fierce reaction it provoked in his body.
He recovered, though, gripping the back of her neck and taking control of the scorching kiss. Soon after that they shed their jackets, letting them fall on the floor. She just reached to his belt buckle, when their gasping was mixed with another, terrifying sound.
Claudia dove down on the ground, taking Hawkeye with her as they listened for the sound. They were both still out of breath and the fact Hawkeye was practically lying on top of her really didn't help things. They shared a shocked look and then Hawkeye whispered into her ear.
"Was that gunfire?"