Kooshball: Even I didn't know what was happening with Lona when I started this chapter. I came up with a few solutions, but none really worked. Finally, I came up with the perfect answer, but you'll have to read on to find out what it is.


Hawkeye walked into the Swamp, silent.

"What happened?" BJ asked.

"I lost her," Hawkeye said, more to himself than his tent mate. "One moment, she was there, the next, she was gone."

BJ looked up from Peg's letter to say something encouraging, but instantly forgot what he was going to say when he saw the sticky red substance on Hawkeye's shirt.

Before

"What's happening?" Klinger asked desperately.

"Relapse," Charles said. "Pierce has to go back in." Klinger turned pale, and struggled to remember what Lona's smile looked like, the real one, to make everything feel better. The image didn't float to the top of his head like it used to, his mind was frozen.

"What about BJ?" he asked. "BJ operated originally."

"Hunnicutt is with Father Mulcahy at the orphanage, giving the children vaccinations. They won't be back for at least another hour. We need to act now," Charles said. Klinger struggled away, still trying to bring up Lona's face in his mind. He panicked when he couldn't even see her features. He ran from the Post op, trying to hold down his stomach. Outside, Lona was sitting in the sun in her red dress and writing a letter.

"Klinger, are you ok?" she asked.

"A guy in there, relapsed," Klinger explained, trying hard to breathe. "I was talking to him yesterday, he was going home, he had a family, kids, a dog." Klinger felt a tear slide down his cheek. "It's so unfair," he wailed. Lona opened her arms and hugged Klinger, rubbing him gently on the back.

"He might be alright," Lona said.

"I don't think so," Klinger said, calming down. "He was pretty bad."

"He'll be ok," Lona said, giving Klinger a final squeeze before letting him go.

"You really think so?" Klinger asked. Lona nodded, a small smile on her lips. He took a deep breath, and then smiled at her. "Thanks," he said. "I'm over reacting, Hawkeye's a great doctor, if he can't pull that guy through, it's impossible." Lona continued nodding, the smile almost invisible to the world.

"It'll work out," she said. "You'll see."


Hawkeye walked into the Swamp, silent.

"What happened?" BJ asked.

"I lost her," Hawkeye said, more to himself than his tent mate. "One moment, she was there, the next, she was gone."

BJ looked up from Peg's letter to say something encouraging, but instantly forgot what he was going to say when he saw the sticky red substance on Hawkeye's shirt.

"So what happened?" he asked eventually.

"Threw her drink at me," Hawkeye replied sullenly.

"Tough break," BJ said. "Charles won't be happy when he finds out that was his best port, either."

"Well he shouldn't have stored it where I would find it," Hawkeye said.

"Where's that?" BJ asked.

"In the secret compartment of his record player," Hawkeye said grinning. He sighed. "Am I losing my touch, Beej?" he asked. "I mean, at the beginning of the war, I was doing great. No nurse could resist me. Now, it's like I'm Frankenstein's monster and no nurse will have a thing to do with me."

"It's only because they know what you're like," BJ said, going back to his letter. "it'll be right once a new nurse comes in."

"Yeah," Hawkeye said, pulling his wine soaked shirt off. "I hope this will come out, it looks too much like blood for my liking."

"Sirs?" Klinger knocked at the tent door.

"Come in, Klinger," BJ said, putting his letter away. Klinger came in and paled when he saw the red stained shirt.

"Relax, just wine," Hawkeye said, seeing the Corporal's look.

"I want to talk to you about something, Captain Hunnicutt," Klinger said.

"Fine then, ignore me," Hawkeye said, pretending to sulk as he pulled his robe on.

"What's up, Klinger?" BJ said, inviting him to sit down.

"I… I bought Lona a ring," he said.

"A wedding ring?" BJ asked. Klinger nodded.

"You want to know when the best time is to propose to her?" Hawkeye guessed. Klinger nodded again.

"I know you can't fit too much romance into a MASH unit, but I want to try," he said.

"Leave it to us," BJ said, giving Klinger a grin. "We'll set up the officer's club for you."

"Really?" Klinger's face lit up. "Awww, you guys are the best!"

Hawkeye opened his mouth as if to say something, but BJ gave him a look and shook his head. Hawkeye sighed quietly. "Good luck," he finally said.

"Thank you, sir," Klinger said, unable to keep a grin off his face. He left the Swamp, almost skipping with happiness.

"I tell you, this isn't good," Hawkeye muttered, stretching out on his cot.

"If you were any more paranoid, we'd have to start calling you Frank," BJ replied.


"That man who relapsed earlier today is stable, Captain," the nurse said.

"Ok, just check up on him every half hour," the doctor replied. "I'm going to talk to Lieutenant Humphrey privately." The nurse nodded and left, and the surgeon walked to Lona's cot. The woman woke instantly.

"Hi," she said, sitting up quietly.

"I need to talk to you. About your injuries," the Captain said.

"I didn't think Hawkeye would keep it to himself," Lona said. "It is unusual, you might even think supernatural. I can't explain it, really, but I can try."

"If you would," BJ said. He felt guilty, as if he were betraying Klinger. He'd told Hawkeye there was nothing strange about Lona, and now he was here, in Post op, looking into the story himself.

"My great Grandmother," Lona said. "Yes, I guess it could be traced back to her."

"What could be traced back to her?" BJ asked.

"The… abnormalities. It usually skips most of the family, but occasionally, one of us will find we're slightly different to the rest," Lona said. "Psychic abilities, sixth senses, healing properties, telepathic powers. Whatever they are, it doesn't really matter." She looked up at BJ. "People have tried to explain it. They can never prove it, though."

"Could you explain a little more clearly?" BJ asked. Lona gave her small smile.

"I can… sense things. I can… see things… happening miles away… months away. Not always clear, not always correct. Sometimes, I even experience events as if I were there. They are more rare, harder to predict, but whatever happens there, happens to me." Lona paused to lick her lips thoughtfully.

"My great Grandmother was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. Folklore says that's how women can gain mystical powers. She seemed to have them, too." Lona paused. "If she predicted rain, it would rain. If she said a woman would become pregnant, she would. Sensed disasters, before they happened. But like I said, not all my family has those abilities, and I just seem to have one or two."

"You know, Hawkeye suspects you of being a witch, or an alien," BJ said, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. Lona smiled slightly.

"Maybe I am," she said.

"How did you heal so fast?" BJ asked, his spine tingling with the smile. Lona shrugged.

"I don't know how any of this happens, it just does," she said. "Same way if I close my eyes, I can sometimes see what's happening, or what will happen."

"Could I have a demonstration?" BJ asked, still a little skeptical. Lona closed her eyes slowly.

"Major Winchester should stop hiding his valuables in the compartment on his record player is he wants to keep them safe from you and Captain Pierce," she said. BJ's spine tingled again, and this time he shivered.

"OK, I believe you," he said hurriedly. "Our last company clerk was kind of similar." Lona looked up with interest.

"What was his name?" she asked.

"Radar, no, Walter O'Reilly," BJ said, correcting himself. Lona smiled, almost a genuine one this time.

"Yeah, I know him," she said. "He's my second cousin, my mother's side. I don't see him much, a Christmas card each year, occasionally a phone call." BJ smiled back.

"Might have guessed you'd be related somehow," he said. "I've never known anyone to be able to sense things before they happen, quite like Radar."

"Radar," Lona said. "Better than what I used to get. I was called witch, and a few other nasty names I won't mention."

"So it's been tough?" BJ asked.

"Walt had it lucky, as far as I could tell. Kept it under wraps as much as he could until he was older, came from a nice town. I made the mistake of telling my primary school teacher her daughter was going to be left at the alter," Lona said.

"Was she?" BJ asked. Lona nodded. "Weird," BJ muttered. Lona gave her small smile.

"Captain Pierce will be wondering where you are," she said. "You just said you were checking up on a patient."

"Right," BJ said, standing up. "Thanks for explaining everything." Lona shrugged.

"I figured you would understand," she said. Her eyes closed again, and BJ let her be.


The Officer's club was empty. Native flowers, streamers and candles were positioned on the tables and walls around the room, except for on the centre table, which instead supported a silk shawl, doubling as a table cloth. The candles flicked slightly from the drafts coming in the gaps in the walls, giving the room a mystical look, but essentially, it was warm and cozy inside. Lona's face had burst into a happy smile when Klinger showed it to her.

"Max, it's beautiful," she said. "You've gone to so much trouble."

"I wanted it to be perfect," Klinger said. He was annoyed he hadn't been able to wear anything but his green khaki uniform, but thought Lona looked very beautiful in her red dress. Some of the nurses had lent Lona bits and pieces of make-up they had around their tents, and she glimmered like an exotic rose.

"I bet you don't do this for all of the other people who go home," Lona said, a small smile playing on her lips. Klinger grinned sheepishly. Lona leant forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. Klinger stopped for a moment, slightly surprised at her forwardness, then got out of his chair, kneeling on one knee on the ground in front of her. He took the small velvet box from his pocket and opened it.

"Lona…" he said. He paused as he tried to remember the exact words he'd rehearsed in his tent earlier.

"Oh, Klinger," Lona said, sounding upset. She pulled Klinger up, and he sat back on his chair. "I… I can't." She could feel her heart breaking into tiny pieces as she said the words, and she knew there was no taking them back.

"What?" Klinger was crushed. "Why not?" He slapped himself in the head. "You're married," he said, sounding like he hated himself for being such an idiot. Lona shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "You're engaged?" he asked. Lona shook her head again, a tear sliding down her face.

"I can't marry you," she said, voice shaking slightly. "I love you, but I can't marry you." Klinger took her hands in his own.

"Why not?" he asked gently. Lona shook her head and turned away. Klinger turned her face back towards him. "Why not?" he repeated.

"I just can't," Lona said. "Please understand." Klinger shook his head, trying to blink back his own tears. Lona wiped her eye, then smiled at him. "I told myself I'd never feel happy again," she said. "Then I met you."

"I can't live without you," Klinger pleaded, holding the velvet box out to her again. Lona closed the box, and pushed it into his hands.

"You will married by the end of the war," she said, closing her eyes. "But it won't be to me." She stood up slowly, and walked from the officer's club.


BJ ripped down a streamer. "I feel sorry for Klinger," he said. "I can't believe she said no."

Hawkeye shook his head. "At least he isn't going back to the dresses," he said.

"Do you think she was telling the truth?" BJ asked.

"About the whole marriage thing?" Hawkeye asked. He shrugged. "Maybe."

"She's related to Radar, you know," BJ said.

"Yeah?"

"It might be why she's able to see things."

"How'd you find out she was a relation of Radar's?" Hawkeye wanted to know.

"I asked," BJ said, keeping his back turned on Hawkeye.

"So after telling me she was ok, you went and found out for yourself," Hawkeye said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm a hypocrite," BJ said. "It was worth it though, right?"

"Eh, probably," Hawkeye said with a shrug. BJ scrunched up the streamers he had and threw them at the back of Hawkeye's head.


Lona was quiet when it came time for her to be driven to the Seoul base, where she'd eventually be flown home. A few of the 4077th members had come out to the compound to say goodbye.

"Good luck," BJ said to her.

"I wish I was in your place," Hawkeye added. Lona nodded politely, but didn't smile.

"He's not coming," she said.

"Who?" BJ asked.

"Max," Lona replied. She stared past the two surgeons with a look of longing.

"Do you wants us to go get him?" Hawkeye asked.

"Is there time?" she asked as if she already knew the answer.

"No, not really," BJ said, looking worried.

"We'll make time," Hawkeye said. "Give me two minutes, ok?" He jogged off towards Klinger's office.

"Hawkeye'll talk some sense into him," BJ said to Lona, but he sounded unsure.

Hawkeye found Klinger writing out a report at his desk.

"Lona's leaving, you know," he said.

"I know," Klinger replied.

"This is your last chance to say goodbye," Hawkeye said.

"I know," Klinger said again. Hawkeye sighed, and sat down on the end of Klinger's cot.

"You know, I would have given anything to say goodbye to Trapper," Hawkeye said. "I still would."

"Are you trying to tell me something, sir?" Klinger asked, a slightly bitter tone in his voice.

"You're getting the chance I missed," Hawkeye said. "Don't waste it." Klinger was still for a minute. "She really wants to say goodbye," Hawkeye added.

"I know," Klinger said. He stood slowly, and walked out the door. Hawkeye followed him.

"Here he is," BJ said to Lona, sounding relieved. Klinger stopped beside the jeep, facing Lona. The woman embraced Klinger, and Klinger hugged her back.

"I'm sorry," Lona muttered so only he could hear. She pulled away, and gave him a smile, the one that Klinger had fallen in love with. His heart ached as the jeep was started, and seemed to break as it drove off.

"Come on, Klinger, let us buy you a drink," Hawkeye offered, a comforting hand on Klinger's shoulder. Klinger nodded, and followed the two to the officer's club.


Lona closed her eyes on the plane, as they were going over the sea of Japan. She missed Max, but knew they would never be together, though she wasn't sure why. She thought of Walter, or Radar as everyone had called him at the 4077th, and thought of how lucky he had been at life. He never experienced the name calling she did. She wondered about his life at the 4077th, and decided she'd ask about it when she got home.

Lona suddenly heard bangs, and screaming. The plane started spiraling downward, and she could see people around her panicking. The man beside her was yelling out a woman's name over and over again; "Lorain!" Others around them were screaming out prayers. Lona could feel her heart racing as the water came up to greet the plane, and knew this was the end.

The other passengers on the plane didn't know why the brown haired nurse was screaming. As far as they could tell, nothing was wrong. Some dismissed it as nightmares from the war. It wasn't until five minutes after the screams had stopped did someone realise she was dead. When an autopsy was held back in the States, it was found she'd drowned on salt water, though there was no explanation for it. Then again, no-one had ever been able to explain the things that happened to Lona Humphrey.

Kooshball: Ok, that last little bit was thrown in at the last minute to make it interesting. Tell me what you think, so I know what you guys are looking for next time I write a fic. :)