A/N Part two follows, only to stop you getting too bored!

The Ultimate Sacrifice (Part 2)

She heard the door slam shut behind her and then it being bolted to stop her escaping. And then she heard something else, which suddenly made this whole situation bearable.

"Sally? What on earth are you doing here?" the voice said, a voice which was heartbreakingly familiar.

She looked up and saw Mulcahy sitting in the corner of the room, looking astonished.

In a second, she was in his arms. He held her so tightly she though he might crush her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering his name over and over as she buried her face in his neck.

After a few moments, she pulled back and put her hands on either side of his face. She knew that the soldier would be back at any moment and she didn't want to waste a single precious moment of this time alone.

"How… how did you find me?" Mulcahy asked, completely at a loss at how she managed to work out where he was.

"Pure and simple luck," she replied. "Listen, John. We don't have much time. What's going on here?"

Mulcahy began to explain how he got a flat tyre on the way back from Seoul.

"He ambushed me while I tried to change the wheel, he saw the red cross on the side of the jeep and assumed I must be a doctor. He brought me here and asked me to help his friend. I explained I couldn't, but I don't think he understands." He decided not to tell Sally that, in the moments before she arrived, the soldier was threatening to shoot him.

There was a noise outside the door as their captor returned. Mulcahy pulled back quickly, motioning to Sally to stand up.

"We shouldn't let on we know each other yet – it might work against us," he whispered frantically.

Sally nodded in response, and stood up just as the door swung open and the young solider came in carrying a bucket. He set it down on the floor and gestured towards his friend.

"OK, I bring water. You make him good again," he said, waving his gun about in a way that made Sally think he didn't really know what to do with it. Close up she could see that it wasn't a Korean gun. It looked very similar to her own, in fact. She decided that it must have come from the black market, and wondered if her own gun would end up being sold there if she wasn't lucky enough. Consoling herself with the thought that Hawkeye and BJ would have informed the MPs of her movements and that they would, by now, be on their way, Sally moved over to where the wounded soldier lay.

"What happened to him?" she asked, as she cut the shirt off him and began probing the wounds on his chest.

"You not ask questions. You make him good," was the stilted reply.

Sally continued with her examination in silence. The injuries had obviously been caused by a shell exploding nearby. There were several large pieces of shrapnel embedded that she could feel. But without the x-ray equipment and sterile conditions to operate, she was at a loss as to what she could do for him. She could only try to do her very best in the circumstances.

"Father, can you pass me my bag please?" she asked the priest in the corner. It took a moment for him to realise she was talking to him. She hadn't called him 'Father' since her first week in camp – a late night conversation on their childhoods saw her referring to him as Johnny, a development which he didn't mind one bit.

As soon as Mulcahy moved, the soldier cocked his gun. "You stay put. You no doctor."

Sally turned to him with a sigh. "I cannot do this alone, I need someone to help. Please?"

The Korean thought for a moment. "OK. I help," he turned back to Mulcahy. "You stay put."

Sally lifted her bag and began removing the medical equipment that she would need. She washed the caked blood off his chest with the cold water and then bathed the wounds in alcohol. The soldier was unconscious and his pulse weak and rapid. Sally was amazed that he had lasted as long as he had. She pulled what limited instruments she had from her bag and began trying to remove the pieces of metal which she could see. Once the last piece was out, she began suturing the wounds back together, drawing together the sides of the gashes and making the young man whole again. This was the piece of surgery which Sally missed most at the 4077th – during 'Meatball Surgery' it was all about getting on to the next patient which meant never having the chance to finish the operation as she had been trained to do. Both men watched in admiration as her deft fingers worked the silk, until the wounds were closed. She stepped back to examine her handiwork, and then turned to her captor.

"I'll have to keep a close eye on him for a while, we can't move him yet." She said.

"OK. You stay here, too. You make sure he live or I kill you both."

Sally nodded in reply, and looked at Mulcahy. She knew that he could guess at the severity of the injuries, and what the chances of survival were. She became aware of the rapidly fading light within the hut.

"Can we sleep?" she asked. "It's been a long day."

She got no response from the man, so she curled up in the corner and put her head on Mulcahy's lap. "Wake me if there's any change" she murmured, her eyes already closing. Within a minute, she was fast asleep.

oOo

Sally woke with the sun, and struggled to make sense of exactly what angle each of her limbs was contorted into. She realised her legs were twisted up underneath her, but her head lay on something much softer. She opened her eyes and saw both Koreans were fast asleep across the hut from her. Gently, she tilted her head upwards and saw the sleeping countenance of Mulcahy above her, his arms wrapped protectively about her body. She eased herself onto one elbow, taking care not to disturb him. Asleep, he looked even more pure and innocent, she thought. With his glasses off and his fair hair tousled by sleep, he looked like a little boy. She could quite easily picture him as a child, tending the altar in his white and red robes. Angelic, and beautiful. As she sat there watching his chest rise and fall, she felt her throat tighten. It's not fair, God. Why do you get to have him all to yourself? Surely you wouldn't begrudge me just a moment with him? Just one kiss? Tentatively, she stretched out an arm and brushed his fine fringe to one side.

Mulcahy stirred at her touch, and when he opened his eyes the first thing he saw was her face smiling down at him - a face which he had grown to love. He reached out his hand and picked up his glasses from the dirt. Struggling into a sitting position, he smiled at the young woman next to him.

"I've never woken up next to a beautiful woman before, I'll be excommunicated if anyone were to find out!" he whispered.

Sally smiled back, but blushed slightly at the pertinence of his observation. She realised for the hundredth time that the feelings she had for him would never be reciprocated. She pushed the thoughts from her mind once more, but not before she noted one thing. He thought she was beautiful.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me!" she said, standing slowly. She could feel her limbs were stiff from a night on the ground. The movement disturbed the sleeping soldier opposite, he snapped awake and reached immediately to his belt for his gun, pointing it at Sally. Nervously, she tried to placate him.

"It's OK, it's OK," she soothed, "I need to check on your friend, that's all." She moved over to where the other man lay still sleeping. His pulse was better and he seemed comfortable. She checked her stitching and saw that the wounds looked fairly healthy. Opening her bag, she took out dressing and more alcohol and began dressing the wounds. Then she reached in again, taking out a syringe and filling it from a small phial. The armed soldier rushed forward, obviously thinking the worst. Sally tried to calm him down.

"Please, I need to give him medicine, to make him better? I promise you, it will make him better again," she soothed. To prove this to him, she squirted some liquid into her hand and touched her tongue to it. Reassured, he allowed her to inject the man with the life saving serum.

"Now," she said, "I need you to help me sit him up. Otherwise his chest might become infected and he won't be able to breathe." She guessed that very little she said was being understood, but the Korean seemed to catch onto her caring nature and put down his gun in order to pull his comrade into a sitting position against the wall. But as Sally began propping him up as best she could, events were taken out of her hands.

'ATTENTION PLEASE! THIS IS THE UNITED STATES ARMY. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. COME OUTSIDE WITH YOUR WEAPONS DOWN AND YOUR HANDS UP!'

Sally looked at Mulcahy in terror. The young Korean began to panic.

"Who that? Who know you here?"

Sally tried to calm him down, "They must have found our jeep. People will have missed us. It's OK, just walk outside to them; they won't hurt you I promise." She indicated his unconscious friend beside her, "We can get him proper help if you..."

But the young man wasn't listening. He rushed over to the door and opened it a crack. When he looked out, he saw a dozen soldiers, and when they saw him they simultaneously cocked their weapons in his direction. Frozen to the spot, he took a moment to consider his next option. There weren't many open to him.

Mulcahy watched the young man with fear rising in his throat. He knew that they'd been found, but with a loaded gun in the hands of the enemy and both he and Sally unarmed he knew he had to worry about their safety. He knew his first priority was Sally, he had to protect her.

The soldier turned round quickly and looked to where Sally was. Mulcahy followed his gaze, and saw with horror that she was reaching over his fallen comrade and had her hand on his gun. For a split second, the two men stood staring at the young doctor, and then both rushed towards her at the same moment. Unluckily for Sally, the Korean got there first.

He knocked her against the wall and she hit her head with a sickening crack. Unmoved, the Korean grabbed his weapon and pulled her roughly to her feet. Half conscious, Sally felt her air supply constricted as he put her in a headlock, and pressed the barrel of the gun against her forehead.

Mulcahy stood in front of them, a look of calm defiance in his eyes. "Let her go, you are hurting her," he said quietly.

"No." replied the Korean. "I keep her, you go tell them to leave now and she no get hurt."

"I'm going nowhere without her, let her go" Mulcahy answered, taking a step towards him. The click told Mulcahy that the gun was now ready to fire.

"You go tell them, or I kill you too." He turned the gun on Mulcahy now, aiming right at his head.

Mulcahy looked at the frightened eyes of his friend, red with terror. She couldn't breathe properly and she had blood running down the side of her head where it had connected sharply with the wall. She looked at him, staring deeply back at him, and the feeling which surged through him in that moment gave him the courage to carry out his next action.

"I am not going anywhere without her. And I will die before I will let you have her."

Mulcahy knew what would happen next, his training as a soldier told him exactly what was coming. But it didn't stop him. He looked at Sally, and took another step towards her.

"You come further, I shoot!" screamed the soldier.

Never taking his gaze from Sally's face, Mulcahy stepped forward again.

And the Korean pulled the trigger.