Chapter Five: Healing From The Sickbed
~~
The sky cracked across the horizon and the golden rays of sunshine streamed over Korea as dawn broke early in the morning two days later. As the sun rose further and light began to flood into the Swamp, causing Hawkeye to roll over and face away from the brightening outdoors. For a few moments he remained comfortable, until he realised that that the rest of the tent was becoming lighter also. Groaning, he peeled back his eyelids as far as a squint, when the sight of BJ's empty cot caused them to go to their full wide and blinking extent. Rubbing his eyes with the balls of his fists still did not make BJ reappear, so his only answer was to question.
"Charles," Hawkeye began in a groggy voice, "Where's BJ?"
"Post-Op duty," Charles said just as groggily. "He said he'd take my shift."
"He took your shift again?" Hawkeye said in disbelief. "You owe him eight hours now! It's not difficult to do a few hours a day, Charles, why..."
"He offered to take my shift," Charles snarled, irritated at being berated so early in the morning, and without good cause. "I am going to take his afternoon shift, because for some obscure reason he wanted to rise with the rooster at six o'clock this morning and do his Post-Op duty, and I would love nothing better than to have the lie-in which I am currently being denied," he added testily.
Hawkeye sat, dumbstruck and taken aback at this. Why would BJ switch shifts and take the early morning one? He knew that BJ liked his sleep, so why take on a shift that entailed him waking up an hour earlier than usual? Hawkeye decided to ask that very question after breakfast.
~~
"All right, Martin and Anderson can be taken to the 121st Evac. tomorrow," BJ told the nurse as he signed the pieces of paper.
"Yes, Doctor," Nurse Able said before going to file the paperwork. As BJ replaced his pen in his doctor's jacket pocket, Hawkeye entered Post-Op and made a beeline for where he stood.
"You know, the fact that they're called shifts doesn't mean that you can change them just when you feel like it," Hawkeye said, sounding like a teacher lecturing a child before he softened his tone and asked, "Why did you change with Charles?"
"I like to get up and watch the early-morning sun, and the flies over the garbage cans," BJ said with forced humour. "Besides, I thought that Charles needs his beauty sleep."
Just then, Klinger rushed into Post-Op. "Doctors, Father Mulcahy's just driven up, he's in pretty bad shape, you guys had better get out there."
Both Hawkeye and BJ turned on their heel and hurried into the compound, where they found a swarm of onlookers gathering around the jeep containing a Korean woman at the wheel, and a very sick-looking Father Mulcahy in the passenger seat, doubled over a wooden bucket.
"He been sick," the Korean woman said, apparently at a loss for any other words to describe what had happened.
Hawkeye looked in the contents of the bucket and recoiled with eyes clamped shut, saying, "Great diagnosis."
"Let's go, Father, there's a bed with your name on it in Post-Op," BJ said, gently helping the Priest out of the jeep.
The Korean woman followed, babbling, "we most sorry, we not know food bad."
"I think we now have a great idea of the cause," Hawkeye said, before turning to Father Mulcahy and asking, "what did you eat, Father?"
"Chicken," Father Mulcahy said, almost spitting the word out. He added, "at least, that's what I think it was."
"Don't worry, Father, after a few days you'll be able to stomach Mess Tent food once again."
"Looking forward to it," Father Mulcahy said, pushing himself to try not to feel down about this experience. He kept his mouth firmly shut after this, for fear of once again vomiting.
Colonel Potter was waiting in Post-Op, having apparently been told about the malady. "Padre, park it over here," he said, ushering him to a bed. "I hear you've not agreed with something cooked up over the orphanage."
Father Mulcahy nodded as he was helped into a bed. He was handed a kidney dish, should he have the urge to be sick again, and Margaret walked over to take his temperature.
"One hundred," she read.
BJ stepped back and let everyone around Father Mulcahy work to diagnose and provide treatment for his food poisoning. For now he had been forgotten, exactly how he wished for everything to remain.
~~
In the evening of that day, when Father Mulcahy was beginning to recover, he received a surprise visit.
"Good evening, Father," they said, drawing up a chair and sitting beside the bed.
"Why, Major Winchester, this is a pleasant surprise," Father Mulcahy said, wondering if perhaps his fever had launched to delirium and he was dreaming Charles' presence. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Charles assured him. "I came to see how you are, to see whether you were recuperating well following your bout of food poisoning, and to see if Doctor Pierce is treating you well," he added, sending a side-long glance Hawkeye's way.
Father Mulcahy had now decided that this was definitely a dream, but he decided to go along with it. "Well, thank you Major, I am recovering well thank you, the staff are doing a great job."
Charles nodded and said, "You see, Father, I received word not three days ago that my dear sister Honoria was stricken with your ailment, and I was most distressed at this. Of course, I was troubled to learn you were also suffering from this dreadful illness, but you must understand, being in Korea when my family are ill..."
"No need to explain, I understand," Father Mulcahy said genially. "How is your sister, have you heard from home?"
"Klinger graciously placed a call through to Boston for me, but in the time spent waiting for that call I was, well in all honesty I was terrified. Even afterwards I was upset, because I wasn't there to give her medical attention. But during sleep that night, I realised that she would be fine, even without me being there to make sure of it."
"I'm glad all is well now, Major," Father Mulcahy said sincerely. "I hope our little chat has helped you to let off some steam, as it were."
"Little chat? Why, I was merely checking to see how you were," Charles said self-importantly before quickly scraping the chair back. "I will be on Post-Op duty tomorrow, make sure you get some rest." With that, he strode out of Post-Op.
Hawkeye strolled over to Father Mulcahy and said, "he thanks you really."
"I know," Father Mulcahy said, nodding. "I don't need to know that I've helped by him saying so, I can see I have. I mean, he's back to his normal self again."
Hawkeye laughed, thinking about how true that was. Charles was back to being a peg above the rest, and for the moment he was back to being his normal, snooty self.
~~~~
Note: Sorry I haven't posted in a while, some error keeps happening when I try to Log On, so postings might be few and far between for a while. Keep reading though, because I'm still busy writing :-)
~~
The sky cracked across the horizon and the golden rays of sunshine streamed over Korea as dawn broke early in the morning two days later. As the sun rose further and light began to flood into the Swamp, causing Hawkeye to roll over and face away from the brightening outdoors. For a few moments he remained comfortable, until he realised that that the rest of the tent was becoming lighter also. Groaning, he peeled back his eyelids as far as a squint, when the sight of BJ's empty cot caused them to go to their full wide and blinking extent. Rubbing his eyes with the balls of his fists still did not make BJ reappear, so his only answer was to question.
"Charles," Hawkeye began in a groggy voice, "Where's BJ?"
"Post-Op duty," Charles said just as groggily. "He said he'd take my shift."
"He took your shift again?" Hawkeye said in disbelief. "You owe him eight hours now! It's not difficult to do a few hours a day, Charles, why..."
"He offered to take my shift," Charles snarled, irritated at being berated so early in the morning, and without good cause. "I am going to take his afternoon shift, because for some obscure reason he wanted to rise with the rooster at six o'clock this morning and do his Post-Op duty, and I would love nothing better than to have the lie-in which I am currently being denied," he added testily.
Hawkeye sat, dumbstruck and taken aback at this. Why would BJ switch shifts and take the early morning one? He knew that BJ liked his sleep, so why take on a shift that entailed him waking up an hour earlier than usual? Hawkeye decided to ask that very question after breakfast.
~~
"All right, Martin and Anderson can be taken to the 121st Evac. tomorrow," BJ told the nurse as he signed the pieces of paper.
"Yes, Doctor," Nurse Able said before going to file the paperwork. As BJ replaced his pen in his doctor's jacket pocket, Hawkeye entered Post-Op and made a beeline for where he stood.
"You know, the fact that they're called shifts doesn't mean that you can change them just when you feel like it," Hawkeye said, sounding like a teacher lecturing a child before he softened his tone and asked, "Why did you change with Charles?"
"I like to get up and watch the early-morning sun, and the flies over the garbage cans," BJ said with forced humour. "Besides, I thought that Charles needs his beauty sleep."
Just then, Klinger rushed into Post-Op. "Doctors, Father Mulcahy's just driven up, he's in pretty bad shape, you guys had better get out there."
Both Hawkeye and BJ turned on their heel and hurried into the compound, where they found a swarm of onlookers gathering around the jeep containing a Korean woman at the wheel, and a very sick-looking Father Mulcahy in the passenger seat, doubled over a wooden bucket.
"He been sick," the Korean woman said, apparently at a loss for any other words to describe what had happened.
Hawkeye looked in the contents of the bucket and recoiled with eyes clamped shut, saying, "Great diagnosis."
"Let's go, Father, there's a bed with your name on it in Post-Op," BJ said, gently helping the Priest out of the jeep.
The Korean woman followed, babbling, "we most sorry, we not know food bad."
"I think we now have a great idea of the cause," Hawkeye said, before turning to Father Mulcahy and asking, "what did you eat, Father?"
"Chicken," Father Mulcahy said, almost spitting the word out. He added, "at least, that's what I think it was."
"Don't worry, Father, after a few days you'll be able to stomach Mess Tent food once again."
"Looking forward to it," Father Mulcahy said, pushing himself to try not to feel down about this experience. He kept his mouth firmly shut after this, for fear of once again vomiting.
Colonel Potter was waiting in Post-Op, having apparently been told about the malady. "Padre, park it over here," he said, ushering him to a bed. "I hear you've not agreed with something cooked up over the orphanage."
Father Mulcahy nodded as he was helped into a bed. He was handed a kidney dish, should he have the urge to be sick again, and Margaret walked over to take his temperature.
"One hundred," she read.
BJ stepped back and let everyone around Father Mulcahy work to diagnose and provide treatment for his food poisoning. For now he had been forgotten, exactly how he wished for everything to remain.
~~
In the evening of that day, when Father Mulcahy was beginning to recover, he received a surprise visit.
"Good evening, Father," they said, drawing up a chair and sitting beside the bed.
"Why, Major Winchester, this is a pleasant surprise," Father Mulcahy said, wondering if perhaps his fever had launched to delirium and he was dreaming Charles' presence. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Charles assured him. "I came to see how you are, to see whether you were recuperating well following your bout of food poisoning, and to see if Doctor Pierce is treating you well," he added, sending a side-long glance Hawkeye's way.
Father Mulcahy had now decided that this was definitely a dream, but he decided to go along with it. "Well, thank you Major, I am recovering well thank you, the staff are doing a great job."
Charles nodded and said, "You see, Father, I received word not three days ago that my dear sister Honoria was stricken with your ailment, and I was most distressed at this. Of course, I was troubled to learn you were also suffering from this dreadful illness, but you must understand, being in Korea when my family are ill..."
"No need to explain, I understand," Father Mulcahy said genially. "How is your sister, have you heard from home?"
"Klinger graciously placed a call through to Boston for me, but in the time spent waiting for that call I was, well in all honesty I was terrified. Even afterwards I was upset, because I wasn't there to give her medical attention. But during sleep that night, I realised that she would be fine, even without me being there to make sure of it."
"I'm glad all is well now, Major," Father Mulcahy said sincerely. "I hope our little chat has helped you to let off some steam, as it were."
"Little chat? Why, I was merely checking to see how you were," Charles said self-importantly before quickly scraping the chair back. "I will be on Post-Op duty tomorrow, make sure you get some rest." With that, he strode out of Post-Op.
Hawkeye strolled over to Father Mulcahy and said, "he thanks you really."
"I know," Father Mulcahy said, nodding. "I don't need to know that I've helped by him saying so, I can see I have. I mean, he's back to his normal self again."
Hawkeye laughed, thinking about how true that was. Charles was back to being a peg above the rest, and for the moment he was back to being his normal, snooty self.
~~~~
Note: Sorry I haven't posted in a while, some error keeps happening when I try to Log On, so postings might be few and far between for a while. Keep reading though, because I'm still busy writing :-)