A/N: Is anyone reading this story anymore? I haven't updated since September of last year! I hadn't thought it'd been so long...I'm sorry to whoever has been waiting all this time, if anyone! I especially apologize to Barb, having waited over half a year to meet the MASH 4077. Well, who am I to delay? Let's go!
Barb's eyes fluttered open as she heard the sound of women chattering softly. At first, she thought Margot had invited Elizabeth over to have a party, but then she remembered the events of the previous week...her enlistment...leaving Margot and Beaufort...and then coming to Korea and losing a soldier's life...
Groaning, Barb forced herself to sit up, eyes blurry at first but then clearing as she saw two women grinning up at her. "She's awake!" one rejoiced. "You've been asleep for almost a whole day now," the other informed her, sitting down on the bed. "Henry said you could have this shift off, though, since you had it pretty rough yesterday. The corporal told him everything. If there were wounded coming in, though, you'd be on that operating floor so fast your head would spin."
"Um..." Barb looked from one to the other. "Are you my bunk-mates?" They laughed. "Yeah," one said. She was pretty, with strawberry colored hair and laughing blue eyes. "Sorry for not introducing ourselves yet. I'm Margie, and that's Kellye." Kellye greeted her warmly. She looked Hawaiian, Barb mused, and had pretty black hair and really nice tanned skin. Barb wished for a moment that she could have skin that color, but brushed it away.
"I'm Barb," she said, sliding off her top bunk to shake hands with them. "I'm obviously new." They laughed. "Do you...usually wear that?" Barb asked curiously, motioning towards their khaki jeans and T-shirts. "Yeah," Kellye said. "You can't really work around here wearing a dress, especially when you have to run to get wounded. And it's hard to duck in a dress too." "I can see how that would be a burden," Barb agreed, warming to her new friends.
"So," Margie said, leaning forward. "What do you have from the outside world? Anything good?" "Huh?" Barb asked, confused.
"Oh, yeah," Margie said. "You're new. Here, we don't get anything much that's real or neededif we do, it's army surplus. Chocolate, candy, anything that has taste is greatly appreciated. Our cook never graduated from cooking school. It's really bad. And we've developed habits here: such as, we share everything. Not that you have too, if you don't want to. But we share food, letters from home, packages, etc. We're really close knit."
"Ah," Barb nodded. "Is it that bad?" "Yes!" Kellye and Margie chimed together. "You have no idea," Kellye sighed. "Well," Barb said, pulling uncomfortably at her dress, now very sticky with the summer humidity, "I do have some stuff from home, if you wanna take a look at it."
"That would be so great," Margie gushed, the two looking eagerly over Barb's shoulder as she pulled out her suitcase. "I have a lot of letters," Barb said. "Margot, my friend from back home, wrote letters for me in advance. She's strange that way." They laughed. "Oh, and pictures," Barb said, pulling out a thick stack of envelopes. "Ooh, let's see those!" Kellye begged eagerly. Barb emptied the envelope onto the bed, and picked up some pictures. They looked at pictures for about half an hour, Barb showing them her house, Margot, Beaufort, and various other pictures.
"You had a great life," Margie sighed. "I wish I could have lived near an ocean. I come from Austin, Texas. (A/N: I don't know where Margie came from in actuality from the series, so I'm just having her come from Texas.) I'm kinda used to the heat, although the Korean heat is a lot worse than it is there."
"I love the ocean," Kellye said. "In Hawaii, it was hot all the time, but the ocean was always comforting. So blue, and clear, and really great waves." "Oh, I know," Barb sighed wistfully, thinking of the cool ocean waves. "What I wouldn't give for some cool water on my back right now."
All three sighed, wishing for something cool. "Oh!" Margie said. "We'd better tell you about the 4077. Okay, the head nurse is Major Margaret Houlihan. She is really strict about rules and regulationsregular army." "Isn't everyone here?" Barb asked. Margie and Kellye looked at each other and laughed. "Are you kidding?" Kellye asked. "Almost no one here is, except for Major Houlihan and Major Burns. We get away with anything-it's really crazy!" "I guess it's our way of coping with the stress," Margie explained. "We go crazy instead of going crazy."
Barb digested this information, and then it clicked. "Oh, you mean fun-crazy as opposed to literally crazy." "Right!" they nodded. "Anyway, Major Houlihan is really strict. You'd better avoid her, and be on your best behavior around her, especially on the operating room floor," Margie advised. "You make one little mistake, and you're on her bad list for life." "Okay," Barb nodded. "What about this Major Burns? Who's he?"
"Henry's second in command," Kellye explained. "A real idiot. He's regular army, and a surgeon, but he really doesn't do very well with medicine, and Hawkeye and Trapper never cease to rub it in his face." "Who?" Barb asked, feeling very confused now. Margie and Kellye laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get to know everyone and become like familyand then wish you hadn't," Marige said.
"Hawkeye and Trapper are the local womanizers of the MASH 4077," Margie said. "Watch out especially for Hawkeye. Trapper's okay, and..." she giggled, "really hot. I think Major Houlihan's got a thing for him. You should see the way she looks at him sometimes! It drives Major Burns up a tree!" The two laughed. "As you know," Kellye said, "Henry is our C.O., and Radar is our company clerk. I think that pretty much sums it up. You'll meet the rest of the nurses later, as well as the other interesting characters here. Hey, what's that underneath your bunk?" Kellye pointed to the guitar case, and Margie turned to look.
"Oh, that's my guitar," Barb said. "You play the guitar?" Margie gasped with delight. "I love music! We rarely get to hear anyone perform live here, and so whenever we do it's a special treat. Could you play something for us?" "Could it wait?" Barb asked. "I'm really actually dying to get out of this heat trap." "Oh, right, sorry," Margie said. "Here, Major Houlihan brought over your clothes. She tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't. She was about to wrestle you off the bed but Henry told her to clam up and wait till you woke up."
"I can't believe I'm in this crazy place," Barb muttered, but turned around with a sigh to get out of her uniform and into more comfortable clothes.
A/N: Well, she meets the nurses! In the next chapter, Barb meets the rest of the camp! If anyone is still reading this, I'm really sorry for delaying so long! I'll try to be better about that!
