The scream woke him out of a sound sleep and he bolted upright, his heart pounding. What in the hell was that? He sat still for a moment, wondering if he'd
dreamt it. If any place could give a guy crazy dreams it was this place. The nightmares were just as bad but in truth, reality was worse. After a few minutes, he
decided that he'd imagined it and returned his head to his pillow. But seconds later he heard it again. He sat up and looked around. Hawkeye was fast asleep,
oblivious to the scream that somehow entered the swamp. Frank was asleep too, but that guy could sleep through anything.
When the scream came a third time, Trapper bolted out of bed and grabbed his robe. Something was definitely going on. He ran outside, waiting for Radar's yell
of "Choppers!". Choppers never flew casualties in during the dead of night. Who the hell fought a war at 3:30 in the morning? But he'd learned that in the army
and in Korea, anything was possible.
The air was dry and humid, typical for this time of year in Korea but even more typical of the whole dammed war. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him
again. Oh well, since he was up there was no sense in wasting a good walk. He passed by Klinger who jumped in front of him, nearly scaring him to death.
"HALT!"
"What the hell, Klinger? Geez, what are you trying to do? Kill me?"
"I-I'm sorry, Trapper. I didn't see you."
"What do you mean you didn't see me?"
"Well I saw you but I thought you were the enemy."
"Since when does the enemy wear a yellow bathrobe?"
"I'm sorry. Just doing my job."
"It's fine."
"Say, what are you doing out this late at night? Shouldn't you be asleep?"
"I should, but I could have sworn I heard scre-."
A scream floated by them.
"There it is again!"
Klinger swung his gun around. "I'll protect you, Captain!"
"Just… mind your post, okay? I'll go and see what it is!"
Annoyed, Trapper followed the sound until he came to Margaret's tent. When the sound came again he raced toward the door and opened it, horrified to find her
sitting on the bed shaking. He let the door slam behind him and went to her at once, sitting down beside her.
"Margaret, honey, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Get away from me! Go! Please!"
"Margaret!"
"I said get out of here! Why won't you leave me alone? Please! I-." Her eyes flew open. "Trapper…"
"Yeah, it's me. What's wrong?"
She burst into tears and flung herself against him. He held her close, trying to forget about the way her silky blue nightgown felt against his fingertips. She
trembled almost uncontrollably, prompting him to hold her tightly as he rocked her back and forth. "It's over now… Shhh… Come on… you're okay. I'm here."
But it took a long time for her to calm down, even a little. He considered going to the OR to get her something to sedate her, but he couldn't leave her in this
state. She was so fragile and it scared him. Best to stay with her until she was better. The hell with what anyone thought; especially Frank.
Finally she pulled away from him, albeit slowly. "God, I'm sorry about that."
"Sorry about what? You didn't do anything wrong."
"Are you kidding me?" She scoffed. "I made a fool out of myself in front of everyone!"
"There's no one here except you and me."
"You and I." She corrected.
"Really? You're correcting my grammar now?"
This made her laugh. "Sorry.."
He reached for a tissue on her makeshift nightstand and blotted the tears from her eyes. "What was that about?"
"Oh nothing."
"The hell it was nothing. I heard your scream all the way over by the swamp!"
"Oh it was just…"
"I swear I won't laugh."
She grew very still and very quiet. "All right if you must know I've been having these nightmares… about my father."
"Your father? Why?"
"Well, how am I supposed to know why?" she shrieked
"All right, no need to raise your voice. I'm just.. you know, concerned."
"Thank you, but I'm fine."
"You don't look fine."
"Are you going to sit here and accuse me of faking it or are you going to listen to me?"
"I'm listening, I'm listening! But Margaret, nightmares that wake up people across the camp aren't normal!"
"You're right." She nodded. "But I don't know how to make them go away!"
He looked into her beautiful eyes and brushed the hair from her face. "I think I know a way…" His face moved closer and closer to hers until he could feel her
breath. But their lips barely touched when she pushed him away.
"Trapper, no."
"Why not?"
"There are a million reasons, all right? I can't name them all right now. I just need…"
"What? What do you need?"
"Will you stay with me? For a little while?"
He tried to hide his smile. "Sure. I'll stay. But what about Frank?"
"The hell with Frank!"
"The hell with Frank? What, you two have a fight?"
"No, it's just… he'd never understand."
"Well, you're probably right about that."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing! I'm just saying…"
She sighed. "You're right. And anyway, I don't care. I'm just so… tired…"
"You work hard. You deserve to be tired."
"I deserve rest."
"Yes you do."
"So will you?"
"Will I what?"
"Stay with me?"
"Of course. I'll take this extra bunk over here." He rose to his feet, but she took his hand, preventing him from leaving.
"No… stay with me."
He looked around and hesitated. Frank was sure to have a fit if he saw them together, but the hell with him. If he was so concerned about her all the time, he
would have heard her screaming.
"Please?"
Trapper kissed her forehead and removed his robe, revealing his boxer shorts and green t-shirt. "Make room for me?"
She slid over and he climbed in beside her, turning out the light. Almost instantly her head was on his shoulder and she was sound asleep.
The soft rhythm of her breathing lulled him to sleep as well. He all but forgot about Frank and how Ferret Face might make a sudden appearance. He didn't care.
He was content to hold Margaret in his arms, at least for a little while.
~Fin~