Night fell and the wind died down in the little corner of Oklahoma. Tex had been gone for hours and Ellie assumed he'd followed the ambulance to the hospital. She tried to wait up for him but usually ended up dozing on the couch. Tonight was no exception. The arrival of her parents tired her out.
Charles wandered upstairs for some water at about ten and noticed the blanket had fallen off his daughter-in-law. She had the same sleep habits he'd endured in the Swamp as Hawkeye slumbered, snoring and kicking away the covers every night. Charles tucked the blanket around Ellie and lifted her hand to his lips.
"Sweet dreams, young lady."
He watched her for awhile. When he was in his what-if mode, Charles had always wished for a daughter. Fathers and sons carry animosities over who's the bigger man, who accomplishes the most. Fathers and daughters watch out for one another. Hawkeye would literally kill for Ellie, Charles thought. Hawkeye had plenty of opportunity in Korea to kill the enemy, but he chose not to. But if something threatened his own daughter, he responded like a rabid dog. Even Margaret didn't have his allegiance like that. Charles hoped Tex knew this too.
When the kitten came ambling in, he moved quickly downstairs, fearing another sneak attack on the bare skin of his legs.
When Tex finally got in at about midnight, the house was very quiet. His scrubs were bloody and dusty, so he shed them by the washing machine and just threw on an old pair of jeans from the basket. Tex walked barefoot into the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice and opened a container of vanilla ice cream. He was sitting there eating it in the dark when Margaret shuffled in and began opening cupboards.
"If you're looking for a glass it's the third one on your left."
Margaret jumped and put a hand on her chest. "God Tex, you gave me a scare."
"Sorry."
He noticed Margaret was wearing glasses. This was something new. Bifocals. Her nightgown was a little revealing, but she probably hadn't bargained on encountering anyone on her errand.
"Did your patient pull through?"
Tex smiled. "Yes, just by the skin of her teeth. I hope I didn't wake anyone but she wanted me down at the hospital with her. They did a bypass and I stayed there the whole time."
Margaret smiled at him and it was like the sun coming up.
"You're a good doctor," she said. "They're lucky to have you around here."
Tex turned bright red, feeling the heat creep into his cheeks. It was having Einstein praise you as a scientist. She patted his shoulder and went back to rummaging in the cabinets. She was not like Ellie at all, yet she was. It was that smile and all the kilowatts behind it.
A cool wind blew through the open windows and fluttered the curtains. Tex felt the gooseflesh began to rise. He'd forgotten he was shirtless. He felt scrawny these days and was embarassed to be barechested in front of his mother-in-law.
"Well, I guess it's off to bed, then. Where's your wife, young man?"
He startled at Margaret's voice and stood up quickly. "Probably asleep in the other room with the heating pad on her hand. I usually have to drag her upstairs this time of night."
"Is her hand okay?"
Tex grimaced. He knew Ellie's hand could be painful. One night he rolled over on top of it by accidnet and she yelped so loud she scared herself. "Oh, it comes and goes. The moist heat seems to do the trick. And I learned about some physical therapy exercises that seem to keep the joints a little looser. The ibuprofen helps, I know," he said, looking at his own hands.
Margaret hugged him, causing gooseflesh to rise on his skin again. She kissed his cheek and smiled.
"Goodnight, Tex."
"Night, Mom."
Hawkeye was just dozing off when Margaret came back into their bedroom. She put the glass on the bedside table and snuggled next to him.
"Who were you talking to out there?" Hawkeye asked in a sleepy voice.
"Just Tex. He's home."
Hawkeye turned over and kissed her twice. They were too tired for any heavy physical activity. She suddenly became aware Tex probably got an eyeful when she walked in.
"I like this nightgown," Hawkeye said, nestling his head on her chest. The gown was cut low, really too low for someone creeping up on sixty.
"I'll bet you do." She still didn't like to walk around exposing herself, but Hawkeye was perfectly fine wandering around and even sometimes answering the door clad in boxers and a robe.
"You know who else would like it? Charles!"
She reached over and pinched the skin on his arm. He whacked her with a pillow. One of her breasts fell out of the top of the nightgown, and Hawkeye grabbed it. She yanked his boxer shorts down and grabbed him in turn.
"I'm really tired," he said.
"Me too," she agreed. "But, oh, what the hell."
Her grip tightened and he moaned. "Margaret, the kids...Charles..."
"Tex and Ellie aren't saints. She's pregnant, remember? And as for Charles..."
Margaret pulled the nightgown over her head.
"...he can just be jealous."
Hawkeye laughed as she winked and reached over to turn out the light.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tex found Ellie where he thought he would. She was on the couch, fully dressed, her hand wrapped in a heating pad. The kitten was idly chewing on the cord.
"You little bastard," Tex said, grabbing the ball of fur. He stuck Tubby on the wing chair and snapped the pad off.
"Who?"
Ellie stirred a bit, burrowing her face into the sofa. Tex crouched on the floor next to her.
"Baby, it's me. Do you want to go upstairs?"
She barely nodded, so he scooped her up and hauled her up the staircase. He laid her down in the darkened, cool bedroom. She reached up for him, pulling him down with her.
"Don't you want to put on some pajamas or something? I do," he said, trying to struggle out of her grip. She let him go, and Tex found her nightgown under a pile of clothes in the closet. Ellie opened her eyes to change and to watch him slip out of his jeans. He was muscular and bowlegged, just like any good cowboy. She thought he looked great in jeans and cowboy boots.
"God, I'm whupped," he said, sliding under the covers. He was asleep almost instantly. Ellie put a hand on his chest and fell into a deep sleep.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The phone rang at six a.m. sharp. Everyone in the house was jolted awake. Hawkeye sprung up out of bed, forgetting he was away from home. The kitten, sleeping on the pillow above Margaret's head, dug his little needle claws into her scalp and sent her flying. Charles almost fell out of his narrow bed, and did manage to upset a stack of books he'd thumbed through the night before. Tex and Ellie had mysteriously switched sides in the night, so when he reached over to answer the phone he poked Ellie in the eye. In pain, she grabbed the phone and dropped the reciever on his head.
"Owww! This is Dr. Winchester," he said, trying to regain his composure.
Ellie could hear the ruckus downstairs, so she went about trying to find a robe. It wasn't easy with a hand over one eye. She made it to the bathroom and ran cool water on a washcloth, hoping that would stop the sharp ache. Tex was off the phone and rubbing his head when she came back in.
"You poked me!"
"And now look, you're pregnant. What's the big idea of dropping the receiver on my head, though? That thing weighs a ton," he said.
She rolled her eyes. "What was the call about?"
"Nothing. I'll go to town to check on Mr. Billingsley later. He was up all night with a mosquito bite," Tex said, still frowning.
"Jeez."
Tex pulled Ellie's hand and the washcloth away from her face. "Let me see your eye. Okay...just keep the washcloth on it for a while and it'll be okay. Sorry."
"Apology accepted," Ellie said, kissing him. "Let's take a shower."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall. Their laughter could be heard throughout the house, all the way down to the basement where Charles was trying to stack his books together again.
XXXXXXX
'So Tex, what would happen if there was a major emergency here, something with multiple injuries, like a bus accident?"
Tex was thoughtful for a moment, pondering Hawkeye's question over Margaret's pancakes.
"Well, I guess we'd get all the rescue squads here...like Ponca City and Smithton...then we have some people with medical knowledge, like Ellie...she'd be out there too. Oklahoma City, Amarillo and Albequerque all have MedStar choppers. We'd do the best we can with what we have. Like you and Dad, in Korea. Just do what you can," he said, hoping he'd never have to put the theory to the test.
Ellie was looking a little pale with morning sickness. Hawkeye talked her into eating a pancake, sans syrup. Charles was eating a stack of them and smiling.
"Margaret, your cookng is fabulous. I believe the last time we had breakfast together was in the mess tent, and those were made of some concrete mixture," Charles said before stuffing another forkful into his mouth.
"Ben always liked these," said Margaret, finally sitting down with her own pile.
"How's my little brother?" Ellie asked.
Margaret and Hawkeye looked at each other and shook their heads.
"He's dropped out of medical school," Margaret whispered.
Tex dropped his fork and Ellie pushed away from the table. Ben hadn't said anything to either of them last time he called. He'd had some romantic troubles that year and was struggling with his grades. UVA was a tough medical school but he'd promised to stick it out.
"My God, I didn't know that," Ellie said, sliding back up to the table.
"Neither did we until about three weeks ago. He's moved in with a local girl in Charlottesville and says he's going to try and find work as an EMT down there," Margaret said, her voice still low. Hawkeye was looking at his plate. His disappointment was palpable. Both of them had encouraged Ellie to pursue medicine at one point, but she wasn't interested at all. She thought now that was the first time she'd ever really let them down.
"I'm sorry about that. I wish he would have told us," said Tex, looking concerned. Ben was his best friend.
"I just can't get over these pancakes!" Charles said, garnering sour looks from the rest of the family.
Tex looked at his watch. "I've got to get going. Bye," he said, kissing Ellie and running towards the door. They heard his footsteps on the porch and he burst back in.
"Ellie! Get this snake off the porch!"
She grumbled and walked barefoot down the hall. Hawkeye, Charles and Margaret followed, but stopped on the safe side of the screen door. "For goodness sake, Tex, it's just an old blacksnake. He does more better than not," she said with a little exasperation edging into her voice.
The snake was about five feet long and it was coiled on the top step. Ellie walked right up to it and grabbed it expertly behind its head. With her other hand, she supported the rest of its body and walked to where the tall grass grew across the road.
"Bye, snake."
Her family had stepped on the porch and they were stunned at her nonchalance.She walked back towards them quickly, mindful of fire ants. "Snake's a snake. I studied marine biology, remember? There's worse things in this world," Ellie mumbled as she brushed past them. Tex shrugged and hopped in his beat-up Land Cruiser.
Two hours later, Hawkeye was trying to fix a squeaky step and Charles was back in the living room reading a Ray Bradbury book he found. Margaret and Ellie were going to town.
"This road is a mess. It used to be corderouy planks and sometimes they stick up," Ellie observed as the Jeep bounced over the terrain.
"Orrie at the store seemed nice," Margaret said, grabbing the dash handle as they hit a huge washout.
"They're okay. It took them awhile to warm up to us. Tex's nurse is nice too, Barbara Sills. We'll stop by and see them. I think she really wants to meet Charles, though. She complains there aren't enough men around here."
"She doesn't know what she'd be in for," Margaret said, and they both laughed.
The store seemed deserted again. Margaret didn't notice the day before just how bare the shelves were. Ellie didn't seem to mind and just went about picking her way through the limited selection.
"Hell-ooo," Orrie called, rushing out of the back, just as she had the day before. "Ellie! You brought your mom. That's so nice."
"Yes m'am. She made breakfast so I'm making dinner."
"Jude just brough in some fresh pork chops. We've got those right now, fifty cents a pound."
Ellie shrugged and smiled. "I'll need eight. And some bacon if you have any, too."
Orrie disappeared behind the meat counter. "We do. I have some green beans as well. They go good with bacon if you put a little in the pot while you boil them."
"Sounds good. Ma, that okay with you?"
Margaret's head popped up from over in the bread section. She walked over with a package of those brown and serve rolls.
"Let's get these too," Margaret smiled, laying them on the counter
"Miz Orrie, just write it down. Ben will probably be over later to get some beer,' Ellie said as Orrie wrapped everything up.
"Sure thing. Say, did y'all see the weather report for tomorrow? Looks like some fronts will collide."
A shadow crossed Ellie's face. "No. I didn't know that."
They said goodbye and walked out into the sunlight. Ellie stared at the sky, her hand on the Jeep's doorhandle.
"Honey, are you okay? You got kind of quiet in there."
"I'm fine, I just felt like a goose stepped on my grave. Those colliding fronts are bad news sometimes."
Margaret nodded. "I remember we'd get crazy weather like that in Korea. You heard about the tornado we were in."
Ellie nodded as her mother chattered on but drove in throughful silence. She had a strange feeling of deja vu, but couldn't pin down exactly why.
"Maybe it's nothing," she said out loud as they turned into the clinic driveway.
"Huh?" Margaret said, but Ellie was already out of the car before she got any answer.
I do not own MASH or its characters. I made up everything else.
Something scary happens in the next chapter! And no, it's not a tornado. Been there, done dat.
Thanks to all readers!