The next day the rain had stopped at for the time being, large puddles were around the camp and if you even stepped outside you would sink into a foot of mud, It was heaven. No casualties were expected for that day which was for the better, no helicopter could land on the ground without sinking.

Frank had spent the night in Margaret's tent and now couldn't return to the Swamp much to Hawkeye and Trapper's delight, Sara could have cared less because she didn't know Frank very well. No one mentioned having heard her sing the night before, in fact both Hawkeye and Trapper had woken up with just hangovers that they didn't remember anything from the night before except trying to drink something that didn't have alcohol in it.

So to pass by the time Hawkeye and Trapper brought out their cards and began to play poker, never seen the game played before, Sara pulled up a metal box and sat down to watch them play. After a few minutes of going back and forth, taking cards and adding more money to the small pile in the middle of the table.

"Hey kiddo," Trapper said as he added two dollars to the pile, "Wanna play. I fold, what do you have?"

Hawkeye produced his cards, "Full house, aces over queens, come to poppa." Hawkeye grinned as he pulled all the money and chips over to his side of the table, "You know how to play?"

Sara shrugged, "Nope but I've got five dollars in quarters if that counts for anything." Trapper and Hawkeye smiled, "Pull up a chair." Sara did just that and for the next half hour two men and one girl played poker, in the end Sara had swiped over half of the money and one five out of ten games.

"I thought you said you'd never played before..." Hawkeye said to her suspiciously.

"I was bluffing." She said simply as she pocketed the money she had won.

"Attention all personnel" Radar's voice came over the intercom, "Incoming casualties, better get to surgery stat, it's going to be a long day." Hawkeye sighed and stood up from his cot, "On to meat ball surgery," He said with little enthusiasm, "What to try and nurse?"

Sara looked up and was thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose I out to try to help anyway I can,"

Trapper helped Sara up, "All help is appreciated."

The mud outside was worse than they thought, Several times Sara got stuck and either Trapper or Hawkeye had to help her out, one time Hawkeye just stood where he was in the middle of the mud.

"What's wrong?" Sara asked as she looked back.

"I lost my boot," He replied, "I think the mud ate it." And so Trapper went ahead to the post-op to begin cutting chest and Sara searched for Hawkeye's boot while he stood on one foot in the middle of the mud, eventually she found the lost boot but it now provided less protection from the mud then Hawkeye's socks, still he put it on. Once they reached the post-op, Margaret, who had become quite fond of Sara and treated her almost like a daughter, helped the young girl get ready to help operate.

"We've got to get rid of this third rib," Hawkeye told Trapper, "It's broken and crushing this guys aorta."

"Rib spreader."

"Rib spreader," Sara said as she handed Trapper the instrument.

"So how do you like your first meatball surgery?" He asked as he carefully removed the rib that blocked his way, "Kelly clamp"

"Kelly" Sara handed him the clamp, "It's certainly a new experience, after all I've seen here I would have expected someone to be singing Frank Sinatra tunes."

Trapper smiled, "That's Hawkeye's job, Sponge." Sara handed him the sponge, "What do you say Hawk? Give us a tune." Hawkeye smiled as he stitched up his patient.

"What? More Frank?" He asked, "Honestly, don't you ever get tired of him?"

"Not at all Pierce," Henry said as he clamped down a bleeding artery, "Anything to keep you from making you comments..." Radar's head peeked around the curtain in the OR.

"Sir?" He said timidly.

"Yo." Henry replied in a sort of annoyed way.

"um, General Hammond says he's coming to take Sara to Seoul on Thursday at 0900 hours." Everyone in the room became deathly quiet.

"What?" Henry roared, "She can't go back, she's....she's, she's not well yet!" Sara only sighed, "Colonel Blake, you and I both know that I'm well to travel, even if I don't want to." She picked up, "Now if this scalpel should accidentally fall on my foot and cut off a toe, that would be a completely different situation."

Everyone in the room laughed, then Hawkeye spoke, "Henry? Isn't there anyway to stop her from going back?"

"What?" Sara whispered quietly.

"Well I suppose you could beg General Hammond to let her stay, but of course that would involve eighty percent of the officers signing a petition saying that they were fine with it. Then you would have to go on appeal to him and try to convince him that she could stay."

"I see" Hawkeye said quietly.