Chapter Nine: Opportunity
~~
"All present and correct?" Colonel Potter asked, looking around the room to check. Charles was sitting, checking his watch, as he had been interrupted during his shift in Post-Op and he wanted to return to his work as soon as possible. BJ was leaning against the wall, staring into the distance as if concentrating used up too much energy. Hawkeye was fidgeting in his seat, he was anxious to speak to BJ, but Colonel Potter would not let this continue until the meeting was over.
"Now, an Aid Station up the Front is making an exchange with us, surgeon for surgeon, to keep up with techniques. I realise that it would be better for M*A*S*H units to exchange with each other, because we're working the same system, but these aren't my orders, and I don't question them. Captain David Shawcross will be arriving after lunch today, and I need one of you doctors to travel up to his unit for this evening. I need you to leave sharp, we're expecting a heavy load of casualties by sundown, so things will be hopping later on. So, who wants to go?"
Charles and Hawkeye threw each other looks, mentally telling the other to be the one to volunteer to go. That was until BJ stuck his hand up and said, "I'll go."
Colonel Potter had hoped and prayed that one of the other two would have volunteered, following the events of the previous night. "I think you went last time, Hunnicutt, wouldn't..."
"Charles went last time," BJ reminded him blandly.
Hawkeye suddenly saw his chance. He knew that something was up with BJ, but he didn't know what. He had toyed with the idea of going through his bunkmate's belongings, just to find out exactly what it was that had upset him over the past three weeks or so. With BJ gone, it would give him plenty of chance to find out exactly what it was. He kept quiet, hoping that Colonel Potter would allow BJ to go.
Seeing no other option, as the other two were apparently not going to relent, Colonel Potter sighed and said, "Rizzo will have a jeep for you, pack your bags and report to Klinger for the travelling papers. You leave in an hour."
"Yes, sir," BJ said quickly, leaving the room to pack his belongings. Charles too left, having assumed that the meeting was over, so that he could return to his work in Post-Op.
Colonel Potter and Hawkeye were left alone in the office, which gave Colonel Potter a chance to air his feelings. "I don't suppose it occurred to you to take a trip up there, did it? BJ doesn't seem to be himself lately, and I don't know about you but I think that maybe you volunteering to go up to the Front might have been of some help to him?"
"On the contrary, Colonel, I'm helping him by staying right here, in the 4077th," Hawkeye said, sitting and crossing his arms, a signal to the Colonel that he was not moving.
"How is your staying here a help?" Colonel Potter demanded to know, both his temper and blood pressure in danger of rising. It was like Hawkeye didn't seem to care, that he was too self-absorbed to see that something was definitely not right with BJ, Colonel Potter thought to himself.
"Colonel, I don't know whether you've noticed or not, but something has been up with BJ for a while," Hawkeye said, beginning to become annoyed with Colonel, as he felt that his CO was in some way blaming him for what was happening. "He won't open up to me, and God knows I tried to get him to. I know I'll be invading his privacy when I do this, but when he's gone I plan on going through his footlocker to find something, a clue, anything, to tell me what's been going on."
This silenced Colonel Potter, and gave him a moment to think this through. This would be an answer, yes, but was it the only answer, and if it were, would it lead them to the cause of the problem? In the end, he decided, "something has to be done. Keep it between us, though, we don't want the whole camp to know about this unofficial search or they'll get suspicious."
"Understood, Colonel, I'll start as soon as he's gone," Hawkeye said, getting up from his chair before throwing Colonel Potter a mock salute and leaving the office. He walked through Klinger's office and was about to leave when he stopped, turned to Klinger and said, "I guess that goes for you, too."
"I won't say a word, sir," Klinger said, not looking up from his filing.
~~
Hawkeye returned to the Swamp to find BJ packing a few things for his trip up to the Front. He watched as BJ held a T-shirt in front of him, to check that it was reasonably clean, and Hawkeye noticed how large the shirt looked compared to BJ's own figure. Maybe it's Charles' shirt, Hawkeye thought to himself.
"Pick me up something from the Front," Hawkeye said with some humour, picking up a book and flicking through.
"Like what? A grenade?" BJ murmured, searching for a clean pair of socks.
"Guess not," Hawkeye said to himself, wondering where BJ's sense of humour had gone.
A few minutes later, Klinger walked into the Swamp with the mailbag hanging off of his neck. "I come bearing letters," he announced, holding up a few envelopes. "Pierce, B.F, three times over," he said, presenting Hawkeye with the letters, before adding, "and not forgetting this."
"Great, my Nudist Volleyball Monthly!" Hawkeye said, eagerly tearing the wrapper off of the magazine and flipping through. "Mmm, I just love nude volleyball after breakfast. What'd you get, BJ?" Hawkeye asked, not peeling his eyes away from the pages.
"Nothing for you, Captain," Klinger reported, checking through his mailbag a third time, just in case he had missed anything. It wasn't like BJ to not receive any mail, especially after a fairly long delay where the letters would usually pile up.
Hawkeye had noticed this too, and said, "Maybe you left them in your office, Klinger?"
"Maybe it's just been a slow month at home or something," BJ said casually, waving away any other notion that the two might be thinking. He'd managed to keep up the pretence that everything was fine at home for this long, and he hoped that he could do it for longer. Tactfully changing the subject, he asked Klinger, "Do you have the driving orders?"
"On my desk, Captain," Klinger said, leaving a few letters on Charles' bed. "They're all signed, so all you have to do is picked them up. Good luck," he added, rather BJ than him that was travelling to the Front.
"Thanks," BJ said, picking up his small bag, plus his medical bag and helmet, and threw them into the waiting jeep before heading over to Klinger's office to collect the papers.
"Something's screwy with him," Klinger noted before exiting the tent.
For a moment, Hawkeye pondered over what Klinger's statement before he said to himself, "I couldn't have said it better."
~~~~
~~
"All present and correct?" Colonel Potter asked, looking around the room to check. Charles was sitting, checking his watch, as he had been interrupted during his shift in Post-Op and he wanted to return to his work as soon as possible. BJ was leaning against the wall, staring into the distance as if concentrating used up too much energy. Hawkeye was fidgeting in his seat, he was anxious to speak to BJ, but Colonel Potter would not let this continue until the meeting was over.
"Now, an Aid Station up the Front is making an exchange with us, surgeon for surgeon, to keep up with techniques. I realise that it would be better for M*A*S*H units to exchange with each other, because we're working the same system, but these aren't my orders, and I don't question them. Captain David Shawcross will be arriving after lunch today, and I need one of you doctors to travel up to his unit for this evening. I need you to leave sharp, we're expecting a heavy load of casualties by sundown, so things will be hopping later on. So, who wants to go?"
Charles and Hawkeye threw each other looks, mentally telling the other to be the one to volunteer to go. That was until BJ stuck his hand up and said, "I'll go."
Colonel Potter had hoped and prayed that one of the other two would have volunteered, following the events of the previous night. "I think you went last time, Hunnicutt, wouldn't..."
"Charles went last time," BJ reminded him blandly.
Hawkeye suddenly saw his chance. He knew that something was up with BJ, but he didn't know what. He had toyed with the idea of going through his bunkmate's belongings, just to find out exactly what it was that had upset him over the past three weeks or so. With BJ gone, it would give him plenty of chance to find out exactly what it was. He kept quiet, hoping that Colonel Potter would allow BJ to go.
Seeing no other option, as the other two were apparently not going to relent, Colonel Potter sighed and said, "Rizzo will have a jeep for you, pack your bags and report to Klinger for the travelling papers. You leave in an hour."
"Yes, sir," BJ said quickly, leaving the room to pack his belongings. Charles too left, having assumed that the meeting was over, so that he could return to his work in Post-Op.
Colonel Potter and Hawkeye were left alone in the office, which gave Colonel Potter a chance to air his feelings. "I don't suppose it occurred to you to take a trip up there, did it? BJ doesn't seem to be himself lately, and I don't know about you but I think that maybe you volunteering to go up to the Front might have been of some help to him?"
"On the contrary, Colonel, I'm helping him by staying right here, in the 4077th," Hawkeye said, sitting and crossing his arms, a signal to the Colonel that he was not moving.
"How is your staying here a help?" Colonel Potter demanded to know, both his temper and blood pressure in danger of rising. It was like Hawkeye didn't seem to care, that he was too self-absorbed to see that something was definitely not right with BJ, Colonel Potter thought to himself.
"Colonel, I don't know whether you've noticed or not, but something has been up with BJ for a while," Hawkeye said, beginning to become annoyed with Colonel, as he felt that his CO was in some way blaming him for what was happening. "He won't open up to me, and God knows I tried to get him to. I know I'll be invading his privacy when I do this, but when he's gone I plan on going through his footlocker to find something, a clue, anything, to tell me what's been going on."
This silenced Colonel Potter, and gave him a moment to think this through. This would be an answer, yes, but was it the only answer, and if it were, would it lead them to the cause of the problem? In the end, he decided, "something has to be done. Keep it between us, though, we don't want the whole camp to know about this unofficial search or they'll get suspicious."
"Understood, Colonel, I'll start as soon as he's gone," Hawkeye said, getting up from his chair before throwing Colonel Potter a mock salute and leaving the office. He walked through Klinger's office and was about to leave when he stopped, turned to Klinger and said, "I guess that goes for you, too."
"I won't say a word, sir," Klinger said, not looking up from his filing.
~~
Hawkeye returned to the Swamp to find BJ packing a few things for his trip up to the Front. He watched as BJ held a T-shirt in front of him, to check that it was reasonably clean, and Hawkeye noticed how large the shirt looked compared to BJ's own figure. Maybe it's Charles' shirt, Hawkeye thought to himself.
"Pick me up something from the Front," Hawkeye said with some humour, picking up a book and flicking through.
"Like what? A grenade?" BJ murmured, searching for a clean pair of socks.
"Guess not," Hawkeye said to himself, wondering where BJ's sense of humour had gone.
A few minutes later, Klinger walked into the Swamp with the mailbag hanging off of his neck. "I come bearing letters," he announced, holding up a few envelopes. "Pierce, B.F, three times over," he said, presenting Hawkeye with the letters, before adding, "and not forgetting this."
"Great, my Nudist Volleyball Monthly!" Hawkeye said, eagerly tearing the wrapper off of the magazine and flipping through. "Mmm, I just love nude volleyball after breakfast. What'd you get, BJ?" Hawkeye asked, not peeling his eyes away from the pages.
"Nothing for you, Captain," Klinger reported, checking through his mailbag a third time, just in case he had missed anything. It wasn't like BJ to not receive any mail, especially after a fairly long delay where the letters would usually pile up.
Hawkeye had noticed this too, and said, "Maybe you left them in your office, Klinger?"
"Maybe it's just been a slow month at home or something," BJ said casually, waving away any other notion that the two might be thinking. He'd managed to keep up the pretence that everything was fine at home for this long, and he hoped that he could do it for longer. Tactfully changing the subject, he asked Klinger, "Do you have the driving orders?"
"On my desk, Captain," Klinger said, leaving a few letters on Charles' bed. "They're all signed, so all you have to do is picked them up. Good luck," he added, rather BJ than him that was travelling to the Front.
"Thanks," BJ said, picking up his small bag, plus his medical bag and helmet, and threw them into the waiting jeep before heading over to Klinger's office to collect the papers.
"Something's screwy with him," Klinger noted before exiting the tent.
For a moment, Hawkeye pondered over what Klinger's statement before he said to himself, "I couldn't have said it better."
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