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But you're a girl - chapter thirteen
The frantic stitching of Klinger's sewing machine rang through the musty air of his tent, finishing the hemline of his new black evening gown; his latest attempt at a section eight discharge. A pot of black sequins lay at his side and as he removed them one by one with the end of his needle, Klinger hummed gently to himself. His wardrobe was already extensive and admired by each every nurse in the outfit.
'You'll never know how much I love you' Klinger sang in characteristically deep voice that betrayed his patterned housecoat and rollers complete with hair net.
As the song reached a crescendo, the last few bars were punctuated with loud cursing as Klinger had managed yet again to prick his finger with the needle.
'What a guy won't do to get out of the army' Klinger mumbled, sucking his fingertip that was seeped blood into his mouth. After Klinger's extraordinary marriage to Laverne over the camp's radio several months ago, he was trying every trick twice and using every excuse under the sun to get home to his wife.
The winter sun punctuated the spilt seams of the corporal's tent and sent brilliant splinters slashing through the damp surrounding gloom. It was unusually warm for December, the recent spate of muggy weather was welcomed by one and all; their summer was finally arrived, only five months late. Summer was a rare creature in Korea, it rarely reared its head; but when the sun finally made an appearance at the camp, all personnel seemed to take on a new level of insanity.
'Hand me that gauze roll will you Hawkeye?' Christmas called across the post-op and she stood over Private Weston, setting his right arm in a plaster cast.
'Well of course' Hawkeye boomed taking on the tone of Dr. Frankenstein 'how about we play a little doctor of our own?'
'Hawkeye!' Chrissie squeaked as Hawkeye grabbed her around her waist 'I have to finish this' she indicated to the motionless and sedated Weston.
'Then maybe....' Hawk started but Chrissie placed a finger across his lips to stop his words. Chrissie's only reply was to smile.
She was teasing him, Hawkeye could always tell. That cheeky smile and those glittering eyes spoke volumes to him, he would have walked a thousand miles on broken glass in the snow for that smile. Hawkeye physically shook himself as cold hard reality hit him as hard as the shell that had just landed in the compound. The vibrations from the blast shook the walls and sent Chrissie knocking over Hawkeye who in turn careered into the cot behind him.
'My god, Hawkeye, are you okay?' Christmas hollered across the room as she picked herself up from the floor.
'Fine, Aww!' he exclaimed, the shriek of pain sent Chrissie running to his side. As Chrissie drew closer, she witnessed the cause of Hawkeye's pain; he had a gash above his right eyebrow that was pumping blood down his temple.
'That's going to need stitches Hawk' Chrissie informed her fellow doctor in her best bedside manner.
Several corpsman had raced to the post-op with Trapper in close pursuit to check on the patients. He was relieved to find only two injuries; a marine who's IV had been ripped out in his fall and Hawkeye's bleeding head. Chrissie took the wounded doctor by the hand and led him away to the 'quarantine' side room. As she pushed open the door, she felt the weight of Hawkeye stop dead behind her. Chrissie turned to see Hawkeye standing stock- still, staring at the doors. A cold sweat had broken over this forehead as his skin become pallid and an uncertain look spread across his face.
'Hawkeye?' Chrissie questioned, an undertone of concern clearly audible.
'I.. I.. I cant' Hawkeye stuttered, his eyes glistering 'not in there' Hawk inhaled deeply as he shook his head.
It was then that it dawned on her; the room they were standing outside was the exact room that Hawkeye had spent three months lying in close to death. The recognition of her lover's fear played across her face as Chrissie took Hawkeye by the arm and led him to the pre-op.
'I'm sorry Hawk' Chrissie cooed as she put her arms around him 'I didn't think'.
Hawk reached up to wipe the tears from his face that had mingled with the blood that had seeped from his temple. Chrissie pushed Hawkeye down gently onto an empty bed as she gathered a medical bag up in her arms.
'This may sting' Chrissie breathed as she applied a cotton swab soaked with iodine to Hawkeye's forehead.
A reign of fiery pain ripped through Hawkeye's face as the solution made contact with his skin. The clinical chemical burnt the exposed wound and made Hawk's vision blur slightly from the heady fumes as Chrissie pressed the swab to his face, Hawk recoiled slightly as he winced. To take his mind away from the stabbing pain that pierced his forehead, Hawkeye cast his mind around for a memory to lead him to distraction. The thought he landed upon was when he had to do the same thing to Chrissie; when she slipped and cut her forehead in the mess tent, it was Hawkeye that had fixed her up.
'I guess this means you're returning a favour' Hawk grinned trying desperately to ignore the deep burning sensation caused by the iodine.
'Hmm?' Chrissie breathed as she removed the swab from his head 'what favour?'
'I did this for you once remember' he reminded her quietly.
Chrissie looked blankly at Hawk for a moment but then raised her hand to her forehead and smiled as she felt the uneven surface of the now faint and pale scar. To relieve the sting left by the chemical on Hawkeye's skin, Chrissie blew cool air gently onto the affected area. As Hawk felt the cool breath on his skin, he reached up to Chrissie's chin and gently pulled her face towards him. Overcome by the moment, Chrissie leaned in towards him as Hawkeye kissed her gently. After a few blissful moments, she pulled away and turned to pick up the gauze to cover Hawkeye's injury.
'You know Hawk' Chrissie started 'you're really to have to stop injuring yourself intentionally to get my attention'. She smiled at her comment as the last of the surgical tape was stuck to Hawks skin to hold the gauze patch in place.
As Hawkeye drew breath to reply, the camp PA system crackled into life.
'ATTENION! ALL PERSONNEL! ICOMING WOUNDED BY AMBULANCE AND CHOPPERS ON BOTH UPPER AND LOWER PADS! ITS GONNA BE A LONG ONE FOLKS, BE SURE TO WEAR YOUR TAP SHOES'
As the echo from the announcement died out, the doors to the pre-op crashed open and several corpsman carrying stretched barged their way in. Chrissie pulled Hawkeye to his feet, he wobbled slightly from the heady rush but supported by Chrissie, they both dashed through the OR to scrub up.
14 hours after that fateful announcement, a weary band of bedraggled souls traipsed from the small khaki building and headed towards the mess tent. The lifeless bodies threw themselves and the old wooden benches and collapsed with heads on their arms praying for coffee. As if their prayers had been answered by a guardian angel, several cups of coffee glided towards them in the arms or Radar. The lifeless form of Trapper shifted slightly so he could remove a cup of luke-warm coffee from the cold steel tray. Radar placed the remaining two cups of coffee on the table in front of Hawk and Chrissie with a slight bump. The noise of ceramic on wood roused Hawkeye from his semi-slumber with a small start that made Radar jump.
'What a shift' Chrissie moaned, her arms muffling the sound.
'Hey good looking' Hawk smiled as he slid over to Chrissie and put his head against hers 'wanna come back to mine?'
Chrissie turned her tired eyes to Hawks and pushed his head away from her.
'Cant' she pronounced 'I want to check back on that severe cerebral damage case' Chrissie rubbed her eyes and sighed deeply.
'He'll be fine, Baker is going to give you half hour updates anyway, he'll be out for a good four hours yet' Hawk reassured Chrissie by placing an arm around her tense shoulders.
The tired form of Trapper had fallen against the table and was sleeping fitfully. Instead of waking him, Hawk left him to sleep as he carefully helped Chrissie out from behind the battered wooden table. The tired pair walked slowly through the compound hand in hand; their combined energies barely registering. They couldn't repair to the Swamp because Frank was there, ever since the hearing Chrissie had done her utmost to avoid the Major. Major Houlihan occupied Chrissie's tent so that too was out of the question. As if to kill time, Hawk led Chrissie to sit on the outcrop of rocks over looking the meadows of war-torn Korea.
'You know' Hawk started as they both sat together on the cold rock 'I don't really know much about you Chrissie, apart from being sexy, gorgeous, talented, able.' Chrissie had a placed to fingers over his lips to quiet him. She felt slightly embarrassed as her cheeks tinged a lighter shade of rose, she wasn't really used to other people reeling off her good traits.
'Well now' Chrissie thought hard about who she really was 'let me see. Well I'm 27, my middle name is Hope..' She was cut off by a sheepish grin from her partner.
'I didn't know you even had a middle name' he smiled, flashing one of his trademark grins.
'Are you even going to let me finish?' Chrissie demanded in mock anger, Hawkeye's only reply was to hold up his hands in apology.
'As I was saying' Chrissie stared at Hawk who smiled back 'I'm an only child, was born in Maine but moved back to England at 6 weeks old, grew up wanting to be a ballerina, didn't become a ballerina, Mum died when I was 12, went to med school instead, joined up, was sent to Korea, Dad was killed in the throws of battle and I hope to die in the Army.' Chrissie stated with a flourish.
'Quite a childhood' Hawk smiled as he kissed her gently on the forehead.
'What about you Hawk' Chrissie breathed into the material of his scrub shirt 'your turn to tell me about your good self'.
Hawk grinned as he rubbed his tired eyes.
'Well' Hawk stifled a yawn before he continued 'I'm not going to reveal my age because a lady never should, am an only child as you were, my Mum died when I was eight and was raised by Dad, only ever wanted to be a doctor, was drafted because I foolishly opened an invitation from Harry Truman to come to this cocktail party, hope to go home to Maine and become the worlds best surgeon'. Hawkeye drew breath at released it slowly.
'Tell me something else Hawk' Chrissie probed.
'Like what, you know my life history now' Hawk joked.
'Something that only you know' Chrissie knew this would be pushing her luck, but she tried anyway. She had a way of getting Hawk to do what she wanted. Hawk sat there in silence casting around for a dark secret, he must have one after all, he WAS Hawkeye Pierce. It finally hit him, the secret he had been longing to reveal to Chrissie ever since he had been ill. He took another deep breath and went on before he changed his mind yet again.
'When I was ill' Hawk had suddenly become serious and the tone of his voice brought her closer to him as she placed a hand gently over his 'I used to dream, sometimes of meaningless images that I couldn't decipher and sometimes they were nightmares I just couldn't wake from' Chrissie turned her face away from his, she could tell this was hard for him. 'But the thing that kept me going then any other, were my thoughts and dreams of you Chrissie'
Hawkeye stopped, allowing what had just said to sink in. Chrissie was speechless, she had no idea that she was the only reason Hawk kept to the surface and didn't sink completely. Chrissie couldn't speak; there were just no words to describe what she had just heard. Her face came level to his as she fixed her gaze to those icy blue eyes.
'Its uh, all true, I never even told Trapper' Hawkeye averted his gaze from Chrissie's and fixed his vision on several large rocks below them. Chrissie didn't reply, tears had formed behind her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. Instead she took Hawkeye's cheek in her hand and pulled his face gently towards her. She looked at him tenderly; the softness of her touch was echoed in the emotion she portrayed.
'You know Hawk' Chrissie whispered 'I dreamed about you too'. Hawkeye gently moved his hands from his knees to surround her face and allowed his lips meet with Chrissie's.
But you're a girl - chapter thirteen
The frantic stitching of Klinger's sewing machine rang through the musty air of his tent, finishing the hemline of his new black evening gown; his latest attempt at a section eight discharge. A pot of black sequins lay at his side and as he removed them one by one with the end of his needle, Klinger hummed gently to himself. His wardrobe was already extensive and admired by each every nurse in the outfit.
'You'll never know how much I love you' Klinger sang in characteristically deep voice that betrayed his patterned housecoat and rollers complete with hair net.
As the song reached a crescendo, the last few bars were punctuated with loud cursing as Klinger had managed yet again to prick his finger with the needle.
'What a guy won't do to get out of the army' Klinger mumbled, sucking his fingertip that was seeped blood into his mouth. After Klinger's extraordinary marriage to Laverne over the camp's radio several months ago, he was trying every trick twice and using every excuse under the sun to get home to his wife.
The winter sun punctuated the spilt seams of the corporal's tent and sent brilliant splinters slashing through the damp surrounding gloom. It was unusually warm for December, the recent spate of muggy weather was welcomed by one and all; their summer was finally arrived, only five months late. Summer was a rare creature in Korea, it rarely reared its head; but when the sun finally made an appearance at the camp, all personnel seemed to take on a new level of insanity.
'Hand me that gauze roll will you Hawkeye?' Christmas called across the post-op and she stood over Private Weston, setting his right arm in a plaster cast.
'Well of course' Hawkeye boomed taking on the tone of Dr. Frankenstein 'how about we play a little doctor of our own?'
'Hawkeye!' Chrissie squeaked as Hawkeye grabbed her around her waist 'I have to finish this' she indicated to the motionless and sedated Weston.
'Then maybe....' Hawk started but Chrissie placed a finger across his lips to stop his words. Chrissie's only reply was to smile.
She was teasing him, Hawkeye could always tell. That cheeky smile and those glittering eyes spoke volumes to him, he would have walked a thousand miles on broken glass in the snow for that smile. Hawkeye physically shook himself as cold hard reality hit him as hard as the shell that had just landed in the compound. The vibrations from the blast shook the walls and sent Chrissie knocking over Hawkeye who in turn careered into the cot behind him.
'My god, Hawkeye, are you okay?' Christmas hollered across the room as she picked herself up from the floor.
'Fine, Aww!' he exclaimed, the shriek of pain sent Chrissie running to his side. As Chrissie drew closer, she witnessed the cause of Hawkeye's pain; he had a gash above his right eyebrow that was pumping blood down his temple.
'That's going to need stitches Hawk' Chrissie informed her fellow doctor in her best bedside manner.
Several corpsman had raced to the post-op with Trapper in close pursuit to check on the patients. He was relieved to find only two injuries; a marine who's IV had been ripped out in his fall and Hawkeye's bleeding head. Chrissie took the wounded doctor by the hand and led him away to the 'quarantine' side room. As she pushed open the door, she felt the weight of Hawkeye stop dead behind her. Chrissie turned to see Hawkeye standing stock- still, staring at the doors. A cold sweat had broken over this forehead as his skin become pallid and an uncertain look spread across his face.
'Hawkeye?' Chrissie questioned, an undertone of concern clearly audible.
'I.. I.. I cant' Hawkeye stuttered, his eyes glistering 'not in there' Hawk inhaled deeply as he shook his head.
It was then that it dawned on her; the room they were standing outside was the exact room that Hawkeye had spent three months lying in close to death. The recognition of her lover's fear played across her face as Chrissie took Hawkeye by the arm and led him to the pre-op.
'I'm sorry Hawk' Chrissie cooed as she put her arms around him 'I didn't think'.
Hawk reached up to wipe the tears from his face that had mingled with the blood that had seeped from his temple. Chrissie pushed Hawkeye down gently onto an empty bed as she gathered a medical bag up in her arms.
'This may sting' Chrissie breathed as she applied a cotton swab soaked with iodine to Hawkeye's forehead.
A reign of fiery pain ripped through Hawkeye's face as the solution made contact with his skin. The clinical chemical burnt the exposed wound and made Hawk's vision blur slightly from the heady fumes as Chrissie pressed the swab to his face, Hawk recoiled slightly as he winced. To take his mind away from the stabbing pain that pierced his forehead, Hawkeye cast his mind around for a memory to lead him to distraction. The thought he landed upon was when he had to do the same thing to Chrissie; when she slipped and cut her forehead in the mess tent, it was Hawkeye that had fixed her up.
'I guess this means you're returning a favour' Hawk grinned trying desperately to ignore the deep burning sensation caused by the iodine.
'Hmm?' Chrissie breathed as she removed the swab from his head 'what favour?'
'I did this for you once remember' he reminded her quietly.
Chrissie looked blankly at Hawk for a moment but then raised her hand to her forehead and smiled as she felt the uneven surface of the now faint and pale scar. To relieve the sting left by the chemical on Hawkeye's skin, Chrissie blew cool air gently onto the affected area. As Hawk felt the cool breath on his skin, he reached up to Chrissie's chin and gently pulled her face towards him. Overcome by the moment, Chrissie leaned in towards him as Hawkeye kissed her gently. After a few blissful moments, she pulled away and turned to pick up the gauze to cover Hawkeye's injury.
'You know Hawk' Chrissie started 'you're really to have to stop injuring yourself intentionally to get my attention'. She smiled at her comment as the last of the surgical tape was stuck to Hawks skin to hold the gauze patch in place.
As Hawkeye drew breath to reply, the camp PA system crackled into life.
'ATTENION! ALL PERSONNEL! ICOMING WOUNDED BY AMBULANCE AND CHOPPERS ON BOTH UPPER AND LOWER PADS! ITS GONNA BE A LONG ONE FOLKS, BE SURE TO WEAR YOUR TAP SHOES'
As the echo from the announcement died out, the doors to the pre-op crashed open and several corpsman carrying stretched barged their way in. Chrissie pulled Hawkeye to his feet, he wobbled slightly from the heady rush but supported by Chrissie, they both dashed through the OR to scrub up.
14 hours after that fateful announcement, a weary band of bedraggled souls traipsed from the small khaki building and headed towards the mess tent. The lifeless bodies threw themselves and the old wooden benches and collapsed with heads on their arms praying for coffee. As if their prayers had been answered by a guardian angel, several cups of coffee glided towards them in the arms or Radar. The lifeless form of Trapper shifted slightly so he could remove a cup of luke-warm coffee from the cold steel tray. Radar placed the remaining two cups of coffee on the table in front of Hawk and Chrissie with a slight bump. The noise of ceramic on wood roused Hawkeye from his semi-slumber with a small start that made Radar jump.
'What a shift' Chrissie moaned, her arms muffling the sound.
'Hey good looking' Hawk smiled as he slid over to Chrissie and put his head against hers 'wanna come back to mine?'
Chrissie turned her tired eyes to Hawks and pushed his head away from her.
'Cant' she pronounced 'I want to check back on that severe cerebral damage case' Chrissie rubbed her eyes and sighed deeply.
'He'll be fine, Baker is going to give you half hour updates anyway, he'll be out for a good four hours yet' Hawk reassured Chrissie by placing an arm around her tense shoulders.
The tired form of Trapper had fallen against the table and was sleeping fitfully. Instead of waking him, Hawk left him to sleep as he carefully helped Chrissie out from behind the battered wooden table. The tired pair walked slowly through the compound hand in hand; their combined energies barely registering. They couldn't repair to the Swamp because Frank was there, ever since the hearing Chrissie had done her utmost to avoid the Major. Major Houlihan occupied Chrissie's tent so that too was out of the question. As if to kill time, Hawk led Chrissie to sit on the outcrop of rocks over looking the meadows of war-torn Korea.
'You know' Hawk started as they both sat together on the cold rock 'I don't really know much about you Chrissie, apart from being sexy, gorgeous, talented, able.' Chrissie had a placed to fingers over his lips to quiet him. She felt slightly embarrassed as her cheeks tinged a lighter shade of rose, she wasn't really used to other people reeling off her good traits.
'Well now' Chrissie thought hard about who she really was 'let me see. Well I'm 27, my middle name is Hope..' She was cut off by a sheepish grin from her partner.
'I didn't know you even had a middle name' he smiled, flashing one of his trademark grins.
'Are you even going to let me finish?' Chrissie demanded in mock anger, Hawkeye's only reply was to hold up his hands in apology.
'As I was saying' Chrissie stared at Hawk who smiled back 'I'm an only child, was born in Maine but moved back to England at 6 weeks old, grew up wanting to be a ballerina, didn't become a ballerina, Mum died when I was 12, went to med school instead, joined up, was sent to Korea, Dad was killed in the throws of battle and I hope to die in the Army.' Chrissie stated with a flourish.
'Quite a childhood' Hawk smiled as he kissed her gently on the forehead.
'What about you Hawk' Chrissie breathed into the material of his scrub shirt 'your turn to tell me about your good self'.
Hawk grinned as he rubbed his tired eyes.
'Well' Hawk stifled a yawn before he continued 'I'm not going to reveal my age because a lady never should, am an only child as you were, my Mum died when I was eight and was raised by Dad, only ever wanted to be a doctor, was drafted because I foolishly opened an invitation from Harry Truman to come to this cocktail party, hope to go home to Maine and become the worlds best surgeon'. Hawkeye drew breath at released it slowly.
'Tell me something else Hawk' Chrissie probed.
'Like what, you know my life history now' Hawk joked.
'Something that only you know' Chrissie knew this would be pushing her luck, but she tried anyway. She had a way of getting Hawk to do what she wanted. Hawk sat there in silence casting around for a dark secret, he must have one after all, he WAS Hawkeye Pierce. It finally hit him, the secret he had been longing to reveal to Chrissie ever since he had been ill. He took another deep breath and went on before he changed his mind yet again.
'When I was ill' Hawk had suddenly become serious and the tone of his voice brought her closer to him as she placed a hand gently over his 'I used to dream, sometimes of meaningless images that I couldn't decipher and sometimes they were nightmares I just couldn't wake from' Chrissie turned her face away from his, she could tell this was hard for him. 'But the thing that kept me going then any other, were my thoughts and dreams of you Chrissie'
Hawkeye stopped, allowing what had just said to sink in. Chrissie was speechless, she had no idea that she was the only reason Hawk kept to the surface and didn't sink completely. Chrissie couldn't speak; there were just no words to describe what she had just heard. Her face came level to his as she fixed her gaze to those icy blue eyes.
'Its uh, all true, I never even told Trapper' Hawkeye averted his gaze from Chrissie's and fixed his vision on several large rocks below them. Chrissie didn't reply, tears had formed behind her eyes but she wouldn't let them fall. Instead she took Hawkeye's cheek in her hand and pulled his face gently towards her. She looked at him tenderly; the softness of her touch was echoed in the emotion she portrayed.
'You know Hawk' Chrissie whispered 'I dreamed about you too'. Hawkeye gently moved his hands from his knees to surround her face and allowed his lips meet with Chrissie's.