Waking up to Hell
"Come." she said tiredly.
After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours she had finally managed to drift off and was in the middle of what could only be described as a very exciting dream when she was woken by the knocking at her door. She quickly pulled the covers up to make she was covered up properly, knowing it could be anyone knocking at this time of night.
The door opened and Corporal Klinger entered, looking as tired as she felt. "Sorry to disturb you this time of night Major, but there's a phone call for you."
"Do you know who it's from?" She asked.
"No, Ma'am." He answered.
"Okay, I'll just get decent." She said, pulling the covers back and sliding her feet into her slippers.
"I'll be just outside when you're ready." Klinger said, giving her some privacy.
She appreciated it, but didn't tell him so. She felt too tired after the long day she'd had and now she was disturbed from her sleep for a phone call. It may be true that they were regularly woken here for incoming wounded but this was different. When it was announced over the PA system that the wounded were on there way, adrenaline just kicked in and you didn't even think about how tired you were.
Margaret quickly threw her robe around her and went outside to see who was waiting to speak to her.
Klinger entered the tent where the C.O was sleeping soundly. He always hated waking people up in the middle of the night, but he knew someone had to do it.
He lightly tapped Colonel Potter on the shoulder. "Sir, I need to speak to you," he said. "Major Houlihan is in your office and needs to speak to you immediately."
"Is it important? Can't it wait 'til morning?" Potter asked, turning round to look at Klinger.
"It's very important, sir." Klinger said.
"Okay, I'm coming."
Hawkeye was surprised when Klinger started to shake him and was telling him to get up.
He was mostly surprised he'd managed to sleep. He was then surprised when he didn't immediately remember that he'd moved to the VIP tent for the night.
"What is it, Klinger?" he asked.
"Colonel Potter want you in his office for a meeting with all the other officers." Klinger said, explaining the situation, not for the first time.
"A meeting? What time is it?"
"8am, sir," Klinger responded. "Colonel says, as quick as you can."
Hawkeye was glad he wasn't the last one to enter the office. Charles and BJ were both still missing, as was Klinger.
Already seated was Father Mulcahy and the Colonel himself.
"Morning Hawkeye." Mulcahy said when Hawkeye sat down next to him.
"Morning."
Potter looked up from some paper work in front of him at Pierce. "Get some sleep?"
"Yeah." Hawkeye replied. He still felt half asleep even though he had got more rest than he thought he would but couldn't quite manage conversation without a large coffee intake.
The three men stayed silent until the others arrived. Once they were all seated, Colonel Potter began.
"Sorry to have you all here so early. Klinger received a call last night for Margaret. Her father was taken poorly in Tokyo and she's gone to spend some time with him." He said seriously.
"Do we know what's wrong?" Charles asked, the first to find his voice.
"I think they suspect a heart attack."
"Serious?" Hawkeye added.
"Not sure. Details were sketch. I'm not sure how much Margaret was told, but she was in quite a state when I got here. I got Sgt. Zale to take her."
The group was very quiet, all wrapped up in their own thoughts, each thinking of their own loved one's and thankful that it wasn't them who had to suffer this tragedy.
"Well that's all. You're all free to go. If you need to talk, you know where I am." Potter said.
The group slowly got up and left the room. Once outside they all went their separate ways.
Hawkeye stood outside the door not moving anywhere.
BJ stayed there too, waiting to see what he would do. After a few moments of nothing, he spoke. "You wanna come to the mess tent and try to force something down?"
Hawkeye looked at BJ, "No, I think I want to finish of that letter to my dad." He said as he started to walk towards the swamp.
"Sounds like a good idea." BJ said, thinking of Peg and even more about Erin. He couldn't imagine what Margaret was going through, but he hated to think that his baby might have to go through something like that while he was here. You just could never be sure what was round the next corner.