Chapter Ten: Revelations I
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In the end, the search through BJ's footlocker was not as thorough as Hawkeye had first planned it to be. At first, he had had the drive to search carefully, but soon the realisation of what he was doing sunk in, and he more or less stopped looking and gave up. Besides, most of the recent letters contained nothing that would explain BJ's recently neurotic behaviour, they were just normal letters with domestic news from Peg, and crayon-penned letters from Erin.
He had to cut his hunt short in any case, because the wounded began to roll in only two hours after BJ had left at about eleven o'clock, far earlier than expected, in deluge form. Staff were literally tripping over casualties in the compound as they ran with haste to and from their various jobs. Doctors and nurses flew between patients trying to assess their injuries and wounds with hardly the time to breathe. And that was just the triage procedure.
Surgery was a long, arduous, draining experience for all involved, particularly for Dr Shawcross, who had just arrived and had barely time to test his cot before he was whisked away to perform surgery. Hawkeye, who had not met the new doctor before surgery, was resecting a bowel when he realised this, and decided to begin a conversation with him. "So, Doctor Shawcross, how do you like this place so far?"
"Well, if this is the welcoming committee, then I can't wait for the leaving party," he said, working efficiently through his operation, "Call me David, by the way."
"Since we're not going for formalities, I'm Hawkeye, Charles is the one who operates with his nose and mask in the air, and at the far table Colonel Potter." Hawkeye liked the man already, as he wasn't the formal army type, he had a sense of humour, and he seemed to be a good surgeon. He was glad of this, as many temporary doctors that had been assigned to the unit always seemed to possess one great flaw.
"What are the medical procedures like up at the Front, David?" Colonel Potter asked, he too trying to make conversation in an OR that seemed almost too sterile, plus it was always interesting to find out about any new medical techniques that could be used during surgery.
"Medical procedure is a term used loosely up at the Aid Station I work in," David explained. "Our motto is to put them together long enough to withstand a journey to one of your M*A*S*H outfits, so you guys can finish the rest. I haven't done this kind of work for a while, I hope I'm doing all right."
Charles, who was nearest to David's table, took a moment to look over his shoulder and take a glance at the doctor's work. "Everything seems to be in good order," he commented, inspecting the work, "Good job, Doctor."
"Praise from Charles? I never thought I'd see the day," Hawkeye said spectacularly, as though the event were as special as the day a new President won an election.
Hours passed, and chitchat continued smoothly as the doctors and nurses slowly worked through the line of patients that were all waiting for treatment. Nearing the end of what had been eighteen hours of surgery, Colonel Potter said, "All right, close for me," before he snapped off his surgical gloves. "Is that it?"
"There's no more wounded," Klinger confirmed as he walked in with another corpsman to see if Colonel Potter had wanted anything. "I told you that an hour ago, that's why Captain Pierce left. He said he would have stayed to see how it ended, but Major Houlihan said he looked dead on his feet and that he should go back to the Swamp to get some sleep."
"I must not have heard," Colonel Potter murmured, not really thinking it surprising considering how tired he was. He sighed and said, "Klinger, get on the horn to the Aid Station that Hunnicutt went to, I want to see that he made it there in one piece."
"Yes sir," Klinger said, leaving the room to make the call.
~~ It was about five o'clock in the morning when Colonel Potter had dragged his feet out of surgery and into the Mess tent. In here, as well as finding a steaming cup of coffee, he found Igor setting up the Mess Tent for breakfast. "Hi, Colonel," he said, walking over to Colonel Potter. "Holding up okay?"
"Been better," Colonel Potter said, gratefully sipping the steaming liquid in the cup. Everything had been better, like the amount of wounded that had rolled in, the war, even the coffee. "Speaking of better, what's it like to be back at work again?"
"Great, sir," Igor said earnestly, and Colonel Potter was glad to hear that zeal in the Private's voice. "It's great to see everyone back again, well, almost everyone," he added as an afterthought.
"Almost everyone?" Colonel Potter questioned, only half listening as fatigue threatened to take over and his eyelids were in danger of closing.
"Yeah, I haven't seen Captain Hunnicutt since I've come back," Igor rambled on. "I mean, I usually notice when I serve him, because he always has something funny to say about the food, like the time he said that my mashed potatoes looked like something his kid threw up once, okay that wasn't funny but you know what I mean. Come to think of it, I didn't see him so much even before I wound up in the hospital..."
Colonel Potter had not heard anything past Igor's statement that BJ had not been into the Mess Tent since Igor had returned to his duties there, as it had suddenly got him thinking. He knew well that all was not well with BJ, but he couldn't put his finger on what, and suddenly something had occurred to him. "Igor, can you remember the last time you saw BJ in the Mess Tent?"
Igor thought hard about this, muttering, "It's been a while," before he finally said, "It must have been about ten days ago."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Colonel Potter exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, I serve a helluva lot of people in here, and until you said it I really didn't think about it," Igor said indignantly.
Colonel Potter nodded, knowing that it was by no means Igor's fault. "I'm sorry, son, I shouldn't have snapped," he said, slightly annoyed at how many times he had flown off the handle in recent days. "Excuse me, I have a phone call to make." With that, he left Igor to his own devices.
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~~
In the end, the search through BJ's footlocker was not as thorough as Hawkeye had first planned it to be. At first, he had had the drive to search carefully, but soon the realisation of what he was doing sunk in, and he more or less stopped looking and gave up. Besides, most of the recent letters contained nothing that would explain BJ's recently neurotic behaviour, they were just normal letters with domestic news from Peg, and crayon-penned letters from Erin.
He had to cut his hunt short in any case, because the wounded began to roll in only two hours after BJ had left at about eleven o'clock, far earlier than expected, in deluge form. Staff were literally tripping over casualties in the compound as they ran with haste to and from their various jobs. Doctors and nurses flew between patients trying to assess their injuries and wounds with hardly the time to breathe. And that was just the triage procedure.
Surgery was a long, arduous, draining experience for all involved, particularly for Dr Shawcross, who had just arrived and had barely time to test his cot before he was whisked away to perform surgery. Hawkeye, who had not met the new doctor before surgery, was resecting a bowel when he realised this, and decided to begin a conversation with him. "So, Doctor Shawcross, how do you like this place so far?"
"Well, if this is the welcoming committee, then I can't wait for the leaving party," he said, working efficiently through his operation, "Call me David, by the way."
"Since we're not going for formalities, I'm Hawkeye, Charles is the one who operates with his nose and mask in the air, and at the far table Colonel Potter." Hawkeye liked the man already, as he wasn't the formal army type, he had a sense of humour, and he seemed to be a good surgeon. He was glad of this, as many temporary doctors that had been assigned to the unit always seemed to possess one great flaw.
"What are the medical procedures like up at the Front, David?" Colonel Potter asked, he too trying to make conversation in an OR that seemed almost too sterile, plus it was always interesting to find out about any new medical techniques that could be used during surgery.
"Medical procedure is a term used loosely up at the Aid Station I work in," David explained. "Our motto is to put them together long enough to withstand a journey to one of your M*A*S*H outfits, so you guys can finish the rest. I haven't done this kind of work for a while, I hope I'm doing all right."
Charles, who was nearest to David's table, took a moment to look over his shoulder and take a glance at the doctor's work. "Everything seems to be in good order," he commented, inspecting the work, "Good job, Doctor."
"Praise from Charles? I never thought I'd see the day," Hawkeye said spectacularly, as though the event were as special as the day a new President won an election.
Hours passed, and chitchat continued smoothly as the doctors and nurses slowly worked through the line of patients that were all waiting for treatment. Nearing the end of what had been eighteen hours of surgery, Colonel Potter said, "All right, close for me," before he snapped off his surgical gloves. "Is that it?"
"There's no more wounded," Klinger confirmed as he walked in with another corpsman to see if Colonel Potter had wanted anything. "I told you that an hour ago, that's why Captain Pierce left. He said he would have stayed to see how it ended, but Major Houlihan said he looked dead on his feet and that he should go back to the Swamp to get some sleep."
"I must not have heard," Colonel Potter murmured, not really thinking it surprising considering how tired he was. He sighed and said, "Klinger, get on the horn to the Aid Station that Hunnicutt went to, I want to see that he made it there in one piece."
"Yes sir," Klinger said, leaving the room to make the call.
~~ It was about five o'clock in the morning when Colonel Potter had dragged his feet out of surgery and into the Mess tent. In here, as well as finding a steaming cup of coffee, he found Igor setting up the Mess Tent for breakfast. "Hi, Colonel," he said, walking over to Colonel Potter. "Holding up okay?"
"Been better," Colonel Potter said, gratefully sipping the steaming liquid in the cup. Everything had been better, like the amount of wounded that had rolled in, the war, even the coffee. "Speaking of better, what's it like to be back at work again?"
"Great, sir," Igor said earnestly, and Colonel Potter was glad to hear that zeal in the Private's voice. "It's great to see everyone back again, well, almost everyone," he added as an afterthought.
"Almost everyone?" Colonel Potter questioned, only half listening as fatigue threatened to take over and his eyelids were in danger of closing.
"Yeah, I haven't seen Captain Hunnicutt since I've come back," Igor rambled on. "I mean, I usually notice when I serve him, because he always has something funny to say about the food, like the time he said that my mashed potatoes looked like something his kid threw up once, okay that wasn't funny but you know what I mean. Come to think of it, I didn't see him so much even before I wound up in the hospital..."
Colonel Potter had not heard anything past Igor's statement that BJ had not been into the Mess Tent since Igor had returned to his duties there, as it had suddenly got him thinking. He knew well that all was not well with BJ, but he couldn't put his finger on what, and suddenly something had occurred to him. "Igor, can you remember the last time you saw BJ in the Mess Tent?"
Igor thought hard about this, muttering, "It's been a while," before he finally said, "It must have been about ten days ago."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Colonel Potter exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, I serve a helluva lot of people in here, and until you said it I really didn't think about it," Igor said indignantly.
Colonel Potter nodded, knowing that it was by no means Igor's fault. "I'm sorry, son, I shouldn't have snapped," he said, slightly annoyed at how many times he had flown off the handle in recent days. "Excuse me, I have a phone call to make." With that, he left Igor to his own devices.
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