Disclaimer: I do not own M*A*S*H, I just play with the toys.
Please R+R!
But you're a girl - chapter four Memories and Nightmares
It wasn't long before word had gotten round the camp of Hawkeye's illness. It had been established that Pearce was most likely suffering from a form of blood poisoning.
'Septicaemia?' Trapper roared. He found it hard to believe that his best friend could become so ill in such a short space of time.
Trapper found himself in a state of denial. It had been several weeks since Hawkeye had been taken ill but he had made little to no change; he was even falling back in some ways. All he seemed to do was work; many noted the decrease in nurses he dated. When Trap was on post-op duty, he tried to spend time with his unconscious friend. He could often be found simply sitting on the end of Hawkeye's bed or asleep in a chair by his side. As Hawkeye was considered to be infectious and too ill to travel, the whole camp where ordered to wear surgical masks around the wards to avoid the risk of infection.
Trapper wanted nothing more than for Hawk to get better, maybe it came in second to seeing his wife and kids but it was a tough fight for the top spot. All personnel were examined for signs of infections and were given strict instructions not to enter the wards unless absolutely necessary. Trap had nothing else to do as he has been physically removed from Hawkeye's side. The Swamp was defiantly a lonelier place without him. A saying that his wife used to use when they first met suddenly sprung to mind and it now felt quite fitting 'Its so much more friendly with two'.
Trapper sat on his cot, staring at the floor, his fingers interlocked around the back of his neck. He thought he heard a door open and he looked up to see the figure of Christmas Hallwell standing in the doorway.
'Thought you could use some company' she smiled as Trapper stood up. He crossed the room to the still and poured two martinis.
'A drink Captain?' Trap asked
'Why not, it's been a while since we did this' Christmas smiled again with a hit sarcasm to her voice.
They both sat down on a cot but struggled to find a happy topic of conversation. Trapper was still pre-occupied with Hawk.
'Is Hawkeye any better?' asked Christmas, it was as if she had read his mind.
'No change, he's still very sick and we can't seem to make contact with his father'.
Christmas could see that this topic was paining Trapper greatly so she quickly cast around for something else to say.
'Do you have any family Trap, someone at home waiting for you' Christmas enquired.
'Yeah I do' Trapper said with a smile 'five year old twin girls, Kathy and Becky'
'Do you have any pictures of them Trap' she asked trying to make him think of something else.
'Of course' he reached up to the cabinet over his bed and brought down a photograph of two small girls. 'That picture was taken a few day before I was drafted' he sighs heavily at his memory 'ahh, happy days'
Christmas enjoyed looking at photos; it gave a brief moment when all that mattered was the subject of the picture.
'Cheeky smiles' Christmas observed. 'They must have gotten that from their father' Trapper half smiled to himself, the pain of missing his two little girls was obviously bad. 'Do you have any other photos' she asked as she handed the picture back.
'Yeah, I should have somewhere' Trapper got up from his cot and began to rummage in his footlocker. He found a small patterned box, which he brought out and carried back over to sit beside Christmas.
'I'd forgotten I had these' as he produced a pile of family photo's. 'This is my wife Louise, god I miss her' a silence fell over him as he handed the photo to Christmas.
'We married soon after I finished med school, I suppose we just knew we were right for each other'
When she looked at Trapper again, he has stopped leafing though the photos, he was staring at a picture and smiling deeply to himself.
'What?' she asked in an inquisitive tone.
'Oh nothing, I just haven't seen this one for a while' as Trapper lovingly hands her the photograph.
'That's from when Louise was pregnant with the girls, it must have been the hottest day of the year when that was taken'. The picture showed a youthful smiling woman who was being embraced by an even happier looking Trapper.
'She's beautiful Trapper, you did well there' Christmas sighed 'You're a very lucky man'
'Yeah, I am aren't I' he smiled as he took back the photos and this time put them all into the cabinet above his bed and not into his footlocker.
'You really miss your kids don't you' Christmas asked 'I know I would'. Christmas had more in common with Hawkeye on that front, no siblings, no mother and no children. It was just Christmas and her father against the world.
'What about you Christmas, you have anybody waiting for you? Trapper had woken her out of her chain of thoughts.
'Hmm, oh, no; nobody special'
'What?' Trapper sounded surprised 'a pretty girl like you with no sweetheart'. This did make Christmas smile.
'I'm never in one place long enough for anything serious' she explained. 'I know my father would want me to find someone, as long as he was GI'.
They continued to talk for what seemed like hours, about everything and nothing. They covered every topic from the newest surgical techniques to what the schools where like in their local areas back home. Christmas looked at her watch and realised the time, she had promised Major Houlihan that's he would take a shift from a nurse and acquaint her self with the post-op ward.
'What time does your shift start' Trapper questioned 'cos I've gotta go'
'Erm, now, I promised Major Houlihan I would cover a shift' Christmas answered.
The post-op ward was pretty quiet due the uncharacteristic lack of casualties. Trapper and Christmas did the rounds together so he could show her the ropes and they ran the place.
'Its not uncommon for a patient to develop a brief post-op infection' Trapper explained 'the symptoms can include.'
'Elevated temperature and white count, fever, pain around the affected area and in extreme cases vomiting and unconsciousness' Christmas interrupted.
Trapper smiled, she was absolutely right.
'Very good, you know your stuff alright Hallwell'
'Why thank-you McIntyre' replied Christmas.
'Doctor' a nurse had approached Trapper 'could you come and have a look at bed nine, the patient is complaining of pain'
Trapper went with the nurse to the afore mentioned patient and left Christmas to herself. She realised that they had not checked on Hawkeye so she tied a surgical mask around her mouth and nose as she pushed the door open. Hawkeye was half asleep when he felt someone sit at the end of his bed. He forced himself to open his eyes enough to see who his visitor was. It wasn't Trapper but he couldn't work out who it was, his brain was full of delirious fever. He felt a cold compress touch his burning skin, which helped to clear his vision. And there they were, the beautiful shining green eyes of Christmas Hallwell.
'What a delightful angel of mercy you are' Hawkeye stammered in a weak rasping voice.
'Shh' Christmas tried to silence him. 'How are you feeling Hawk'?
'I've felt better' he only had the energy to speak in a mumbled whisper. 'I feel like I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana field'.
This made Christmas smile. She enjoyed Hawk's company even when he was so ill he could hardly speak.
'Christmas' Hawk started but cut himself off. It took a while for him to build up the strength to speak again. 'When I'm better, you and me, we're gonna go dancing'
'Of course we will' whispered Christmas 'of course we will'
Christmas would have liked to have spoken to Hawk more but he had drifted back off to sleep. She felt that Hawk looked like a child, slightly curled up with a sleepy expression. She ran the back of her hand along his left cheek and removed the cold compress from his forehead that was now warm to the touch. She sat there for a while just watching him sleep, she was oblivious to Trapper standing behind her.
'How is he'? Trapper asked her in a muted tone as not to wake the patient.
'In a word, delirious' Christmas announced 'but he is becoming more coherent, he told me that we were going to go dancing'
Trapper laughed 'Sounds like the old Hawk all right. We should go, were not supposed to spend to much time in here'
The rest of the shift was relatively slow, a few casualties with what were considered to be 'minor injuries'. It was then that the PA system crackled into life.
'ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNEL, due to circumstances beyond our control, lunch is now being served.
'Well' Trapper started 'in this place you can be sure if the work doesn't kill, the food will'
The lunch was entitled 'army surprise' but it wasn't a surprise as to what was in it, yesterday's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. 'I've been here for three weeks and I'm still not used to this food' Christmas explained as she used her folk to see exactly what she was eating.
'You will get used to it' Trapper promised 'just give it another year and we'll see if you have adjusted'.
'Mind if I join you Sirs' it was Klinger.
'Sure lady sit yourself down' Trapper joked.
Klinger was going to any lengths to get out of the army, but bucking for a section eight was his speciality. Today he was dressed in a nurse's uniform complete with high-heels and mascara.
'Looking stunning today Klinger' Christmas observed 'You even got your seams straight'
'Thanks ma'am, it took me an hour to get dressed but I feel that it's the small things that make all the difference'.
'I should get back Trapper, I have my own shift to work' Christmas sighed as she forced herself up from the table.
'They're going to run you into the ground you know' Trapper said to her retreating back.
'Don't I know it' Christmas replied.
It was quiet in post-op; the patients were either asleep or talking to each other. After checking the running list of the day she went to check on Hawkeye. He was restless, thrashing about in his bed. Once again she wore a surgical mask as she entered the room. Christmas knew that if you woke someone when they were delirious, it could prove an enormous shock to their system. She placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature; he still had a raging fever.
'Is that you mom?' Hawkeye mumbled; his voice broken and quivering.
'Its Christmas Hawkeye' she tried to calm him but he went on.
'Huh?' he seemed to be having trouble understanding the voice that spoke to him.
Christmas managed to sit Hawk up enough to check his IV in his arm. It had been pulled out during Hawkeye's thrashing nightmare, causing blood to soak through his bed sheets. Christmas cleaned the wound and re-inserted the IV. Hawk had managed to open his eyes enough to recognise the shape leaning over him.
'Christmas' Hawk stammered
She turned around to see Hawkeye in extreme discomfort, clutching at his stomach.
'Do feel like your going to be sick' Christmas spoke softly to him and he nodded in a half-hearted manner as his breathing speed up.
Hawkeye did vomit, as there was nothing in his stomach; only bile filled his mouth and flowed into the dish Christmas had placed in front of him. This act seemed to drain him of all available energy and he fell back into unconsciousness.
But you're a girl - chapter four Memories and Nightmares
It wasn't long before word had gotten round the camp of Hawkeye's illness. It had been established that Pearce was most likely suffering from a form of blood poisoning.
'Septicaemia?' Trapper roared. He found it hard to believe that his best friend could become so ill in such a short space of time.
Trapper found himself in a state of denial. It had been several weeks since Hawkeye had been taken ill but he had made little to no change; he was even falling back in some ways. All he seemed to do was work; many noted the decrease in nurses he dated. When Trap was on post-op duty, he tried to spend time with his unconscious friend. He could often be found simply sitting on the end of Hawkeye's bed or asleep in a chair by his side. As Hawkeye was considered to be infectious and too ill to travel, the whole camp where ordered to wear surgical masks around the wards to avoid the risk of infection.
Trapper wanted nothing more than for Hawk to get better, maybe it came in second to seeing his wife and kids but it was a tough fight for the top spot. All personnel were examined for signs of infections and were given strict instructions not to enter the wards unless absolutely necessary. Trap had nothing else to do as he has been physically removed from Hawkeye's side. The Swamp was defiantly a lonelier place without him. A saying that his wife used to use when they first met suddenly sprung to mind and it now felt quite fitting 'Its so much more friendly with two'.
Trapper sat on his cot, staring at the floor, his fingers interlocked around the back of his neck. He thought he heard a door open and he looked up to see the figure of Christmas Hallwell standing in the doorway.
'Thought you could use some company' she smiled as Trapper stood up. He crossed the room to the still and poured two martinis.
'A drink Captain?' Trap asked
'Why not, it's been a while since we did this' Christmas smiled again with a hit sarcasm to her voice.
They both sat down on a cot but struggled to find a happy topic of conversation. Trapper was still pre-occupied with Hawk.
'Is Hawkeye any better?' asked Christmas, it was as if she had read his mind.
'No change, he's still very sick and we can't seem to make contact with his father'.
Christmas could see that this topic was paining Trapper greatly so she quickly cast around for something else to say.
'Do you have any family Trap, someone at home waiting for you' Christmas enquired.
'Yeah I do' Trapper said with a smile 'five year old twin girls, Kathy and Becky'
'Do you have any pictures of them Trap' she asked trying to make him think of something else.
'Of course' he reached up to the cabinet over his bed and brought down a photograph of two small girls. 'That picture was taken a few day before I was drafted' he sighs heavily at his memory 'ahh, happy days'
Christmas enjoyed looking at photos; it gave a brief moment when all that mattered was the subject of the picture.
'Cheeky smiles' Christmas observed. 'They must have gotten that from their father' Trapper half smiled to himself, the pain of missing his two little girls was obviously bad. 'Do you have any other photos' she asked as she handed the picture back.
'Yeah, I should have somewhere' Trapper got up from his cot and began to rummage in his footlocker. He found a small patterned box, which he brought out and carried back over to sit beside Christmas.
'I'd forgotten I had these' as he produced a pile of family photo's. 'This is my wife Louise, god I miss her' a silence fell over him as he handed the photo to Christmas.
'We married soon after I finished med school, I suppose we just knew we were right for each other'
When she looked at Trapper again, he has stopped leafing though the photos, he was staring at a picture and smiling deeply to himself.
'What?' she asked in an inquisitive tone.
'Oh nothing, I just haven't seen this one for a while' as Trapper lovingly hands her the photograph.
'That's from when Louise was pregnant with the girls, it must have been the hottest day of the year when that was taken'. The picture showed a youthful smiling woman who was being embraced by an even happier looking Trapper.
'She's beautiful Trapper, you did well there' Christmas sighed 'You're a very lucky man'
'Yeah, I am aren't I' he smiled as he took back the photos and this time put them all into the cabinet above his bed and not into his footlocker.
'You really miss your kids don't you' Christmas asked 'I know I would'. Christmas had more in common with Hawkeye on that front, no siblings, no mother and no children. It was just Christmas and her father against the world.
'What about you Christmas, you have anybody waiting for you? Trapper had woken her out of her chain of thoughts.
'Hmm, oh, no; nobody special'
'What?' Trapper sounded surprised 'a pretty girl like you with no sweetheart'. This did make Christmas smile.
'I'm never in one place long enough for anything serious' she explained. 'I know my father would want me to find someone, as long as he was GI'.
They continued to talk for what seemed like hours, about everything and nothing. They covered every topic from the newest surgical techniques to what the schools where like in their local areas back home. Christmas looked at her watch and realised the time, she had promised Major Houlihan that's he would take a shift from a nurse and acquaint her self with the post-op ward.
'What time does your shift start' Trapper questioned 'cos I've gotta go'
'Erm, now, I promised Major Houlihan I would cover a shift' Christmas answered.
The post-op ward was pretty quiet due the uncharacteristic lack of casualties. Trapper and Christmas did the rounds together so he could show her the ropes and they ran the place.
'Its not uncommon for a patient to develop a brief post-op infection' Trapper explained 'the symptoms can include.'
'Elevated temperature and white count, fever, pain around the affected area and in extreme cases vomiting and unconsciousness' Christmas interrupted.
Trapper smiled, she was absolutely right.
'Very good, you know your stuff alright Hallwell'
'Why thank-you McIntyre' replied Christmas.
'Doctor' a nurse had approached Trapper 'could you come and have a look at bed nine, the patient is complaining of pain'
Trapper went with the nurse to the afore mentioned patient and left Christmas to herself. She realised that they had not checked on Hawkeye so she tied a surgical mask around her mouth and nose as she pushed the door open. Hawkeye was half asleep when he felt someone sit at the end of his bed. He forced himself to open his eyes enough to see who his visitor was. It wasn't Trapper but he couldn't work out who it was, his brain was full of delirious fever. He felt a cold compress touch his burning skin, which helped to clear his vision. And there they were, the beautiful shining green eyes of Christmas Hallwell.
'What a delightful angel of mercy you are' Hawkeye stammered in a weak rasping voice.
'Shh' Christmas tried to silence him. 'How are you feeling Hawk'?
'I've felt better' he only had the energy to speak in a mumbled whisper. 'I feel like I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana field'.
This made Christmas smile. She enjoyed Hawk's company even when he was so ill he could hardly speak.
'Christmas' Hawk started but cut himself off. It took a while for him to build up the strength to speak again. 'When I'm better, you and me, we're gonna go dancing'
'Of course we will' whispered Christmas 'of course we will'
Christmas would have liked to have spoken to Hawk more but he had drifted back off to sleep. She felt that Hawk looked like a child, slightly curled up with a sleepy expression. She ran the back of her hand along his left cheek and removed the cold compress from his forehead that was now warm to the touch. She sat there for a while just watching him sleep, she was oblivious to Trapper standing behind her.
'How is he'? Trapper asked her in a muted tone as not to wake the patient.
'In a word, delirious' Christmas announced 'but he is becoming more coherent, he told me that we were going to go dancing'
Trapper laughed 'Sounds like the old Hawk all right. We should go, were not supposed to spend to much time in here'
The rest of the shift was relatively slow, a few casualties with what were considered to be 'minor injuries'. It was then that the PA system crackled into life.
'ATTENTION, ATTENTION, ALL PERSONNEL, due to circumstances beyond our control, lunch is now being served.
'Well' Trapper started 'in this place you can be sure if the work doesn't kill, the food will'
The lunch was entitled 'army surprise' but it wasn't a surprise as to what was in it, yesterday's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast. 'I've been here for three weeks and I'm still not used to this food' Christmas explained as she used her folk to see exactly what she was eating.
'You will get used to it' Trapper promised 'just give it another year and we'll see if you have adjusted'.
'Mind if I join you Sirs' it was Klinger.
'Sure lady sit yourself down' Trapper joked.
Klinger was going to any lengths to get out of the army, but bucking for a section eight was his speciality. Today he was dressed in a nurse's uniform complete with high-heels and mascara.
'Looking stunning today Klinger' Christmas observed 'You even got your seams straight'
'Thanks ma'am, it took me an hour to get dressed but I feel that it's the small things that make all the difference'.
'I should get back Trapper, I have my own shift to work' Christmas sighed as she forced herself up from the table.
'They're going to run you into the ground you know' Trapper said to her retreating back.
'Don't I know it' Christmas replied.
It was quiet in post-op; the patients were either asleep or talking to each other. After checking the running list of the day she went to check on Hawkeye. He was restless, thrashing about in his bed. Once again she wore a surgical mask as she entered the room. Christmas knew that if you woke someone when they were delirious, it could prove an enormous shock to their system. She placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature; he still had a raging fever.
'Is that you mom?' Hawkeye mumbled; his voice broken and quivering.
'Its Christmas Hawkeye' she tried to calm him but he went on.
'Huh?' he seemed to be having trouble understanding the voice that spoke to him.
Christmas managed to sit Hawk up enough to check his IV in his arm. It had been pulled out during Hawkeye's thrashing nightmare, causing blood to soak through his bed sheets. Christmas cleaned the wound and re-inserted the IV. Hawk had managed to open his eyes enough to recognise the shape leaning over him.
'Christmas' Hawk stammered
She turned around to see Hawkeye in extreme discomfort, clutching at his stomach.
'Do feel like your going to be sick' Christmas spoke softly to him and he nodded in a half-hearted manner as his breathing speed up.
Hawkeye did vomit, as there was nothing in his stomach; only bile filled his mouth and flowed into the dish Christmas had placed in front of him. This act seemed to drain him of all available energy and he fell back into unconsciousness.