Six hours earlier, Hawkeye Pierce had stepped off the plane and onto the solid, reliable ground of a midwestern airport. After an hour cab ride to the outskirts of Minneapolis, he settled into the small hotel room that would likely be his home for the next month or so. He unpacked and then took a nap to try and sleep off the jetlag. He woke up a little while later and called the hospital. The hospital administration asked him to come right over for a tour of his new workplace. Hawkeye got to the hospital a few minutes later.
"Welcome to Minneapolis, Dr. Pierce. It's a pleasure to have you with us."
"Please, call me Hawkeye. Dr. Pierce makes me sound so official."
The administrator introduced him to his welcoming committee: "These are Drs. Jones and Williams, along with Nurse Sullivan."
Dr. Jones was an older gentleman and the head of general surgery, Richard Williams was the kind of young doctor Hawkeye tried to convince himself he still was, and Annie Sullivan was the confident and lovely head nurse of the children's ward who not so vaguely reminded Pierce of another spunky and confident head nurse.
The friendly trio led Hawkeye through the halls of the sleek and modern hospital. By the time they passed the cafeteria, Hawkeye was thoroughly impressed by its efficiency, the likes of which he hadn't seen in over seven years. Not since Korea, he thought. As they stepped into the elevator on their way to the next stop, Hawkeye realized that was the second time today he had been reminded of Korea.
"Here we are - my personal favorite floor," Nurse Sullivan smiled. "I'm not just saying that because I've spent most of my life here. I find it truly amazing how much strength some of these children have in the face of so much pain."
The hallways were unusually full for a weekday. Nurses were pushing patients back and forth, calling for doctors in every room. A young woman came running up to Nurse Sullivan.
"Thank goodness you're back, ma'am. This fire has us pretty overwhelmed. A group of schoolchildren were involved and they're all scared and in shock. We just found out the boy in 803's parents died in the fire too," she said frantically.
Nurse Sullivan's face turned serious. "If you gentlemen will excuse me." She followed the younger nurse down the hallway.
"What was that all about?" Hawkeye asked.
"There was a major fire at the local factory," Dr. Jones responded. "There were casualties of all ages and our emergency room has been full for the last 24 hours."
Hawkeye began to get angry, the kind of anger that always hit him during major crises.
"The area around here is struggling and the factory is - was - the major source of employment. We still have no idea how the fallout with affect the town," Dr. Williams chimed in.
"If you're up for it, we can cut this tour short. You're looking a little restless," Dr. Jones observed.
"If you don't mind. Three years in a war zone was more than enough to prepare me for any disaster. I can't ignore them."
"Well hopefully no one can ignore them, but I understand your point. Let's take a look around and see where we're needed."
Hawkeye and Dr. Jones followed him down the crowded hallway. Hawkeye stopped for a moment when he noticed room 803. He saw Nurse Sullivan standing outside.
"How is he?"
"He's very confused. James visited the hospital a few months ago with his parents to have his appendix out and he doesn't understand why they can't be with him now."
Hawkeye was about to respond when he heard a soft voice, one that had haunted his dreams and memories for the past seven years. He peeked into the room and saw a familiar blonde figure resting on the bed, her arms wrapped around a tired little boy. Nurse Sullivan saw the surprise and recognition in his eyes and mistook them for pleasure at the sight of a beautiful girl.
"That's Margaret Holihan, our head nurse of surgery. She's one of the loveliest and most talented nurses we have. I'm told she served in Korea, just like you."
Just like me, he thought. God, it's been so long. What do I do?
Well, you could just say hi, his inner voice told him. Any moment now she'll look up. How do you think she'll react when she sees you standing there, gaping at her?
As usual, Hawkeye ignored the voice in his head and continued to watch Margaret Houlihan as she explained to this scared little boy why his parents wouldn't be there to see him in the morning.
Her voice was soft and kind, an unfamiliar but beautiful tone he had heard only a few times in his life.
"Will Mommy be here when I wake up?" He heard the little boy ask.
"No, but I will," was her sensitive reply. Hawkeye felt a rush of tenderness flow through his heart as he realized how foolish he had been to let her go.