Chapter Eleven
Korea, 1952
Sydney had been walking around the camp thinking when the chopper landed in the middle of the compound. The PA came out loud and clear calling the doctors and nurses outside. Hawkeye, who hadn't gone back to the Swamp after the incident with Jack, was the first to arrive. He helped the two passengers and the pilot out of the helicopter. Only then did he realize how badly hurt they were.
The first passenger was bleeding from the stomach. The other passenger was unconscious and had a large portion of his arm missing. The pilot, and Hawkeye marveled at how he could have flown a helicopter in his condition, had a hurt leg. BJ and Margaret helped Hawkeye load them onto stretchers and they were taken into Pre-Op immediately. Sydney looked at them in horror. Since she'd come here she'd seen batch after batch of wounded, but never this close up.
Klinger came up behind her. "You okay, Sydney?"
She jumped a mile, then turned to face him. "Yeah, I'm okay. I guess." She watched the men being carted away. "There's just so much of it."
"I know. It takes a while to get used to it." Klinger put a hand on her shoulder. "Believe me you. I've been trying to get out of this place ever since I got here and it hasn't worked."
"Is that why you wear the, uh…?" She motioned to his blue dress and her own black one.
Klinger nodded. "There've been other schemes too, but none that Potter would believe enough to give me a Section Eight."
"Ah." She nodded. "Don't they need you in there?"
"Probably not. It's a pretty light night." The two of them started to walk away from the helicopter. "Major Winchester will take one of them, Hawkeye another, and BJ a third. They've got enough nurses and corpsmen to last them a lifetime. If they need me, believe me, you'll know."
There were a few moments of silence then Sydney spoke again. "He doesn't like me, does he?"
"Who?"
"Major Winchester."
Klinger chuckled. "Well, the Major doesn't like anyone. I doubt he likes his own mother."
"I know what that's like," Sydney murmured.
"What'd ya say?"
She waved her hand. "Nothing."
"What makes you think that Major Winchester doesn't like you?"
"He wanted me to tell him about the future last night and when I told him I couldn't he left."
"Ah, the old Major prying into things that should not be pried into. That's Charles for you."
"What are these people really like?" She asked, motioning for him to come into her tent. It wasn't something she did on a regular basis, but she felt she could trust him. "I know what I see in them, but you know them so much better than I do."
He sat in the chair next to her bed while she lay down on top of the cot, a pillow underneath her chin, her feet dangling off the side.
"Hmm. What do I think of the people here?" He thought a moment. "Who first?"
"Major Winchester."
"He's a pompous windbag who doesn't know good music from the hair on his head, what little he has left, that is."
She laughed. "All right, um, Margaret."
"Hell of a nurse but a pain in the you-know-what."
"Why's that?"
"She's head nurse so naturally she's gonna be bossy, right?"
"Right. Colonel Potter."
"Top-notch guy. I just wish I could get that damn section eight. Don't you think it would be nice for me to wear some pants once in a while? When I get back to the states, I'm gonna either burn all those dresses or sell them." He stopped. "But other than that, the Colonel's a great man."
"BJ."
"He's obsessed with his wife and kid."
"Well, wouldn't you be after being away from them so long?"
"Yeah, I guess I would. He's a great surgeon and a heck of a guy."
She paused before saying the next name. "What about Hawkeye?"
"There are no words to describe him."
"I'm sure you can think of a few."
"Hmm…Loony. Insane. Crazy. Mad as a hatter." He smiled. "No, really. He fights for what he wants and he doesn't take no for an answer. Just don't make him mad when he's been in surgery for more than two hours."
She held up her hands. "I won't. Scout's honor."
"Once you've been here a while, you'll get used to all of this. You'll get to know them, unfortunately, as well as I do."
"I don't want to get used to anything. This isn't where I belong."
"I know that and I understand you wanting to get back home but word around camp is that you can't get back, so you might as well start adjusting." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.
"Look, all I can tell you is-"
"KLINGER!" Someone was yelling somewhere close by. "KLINGER!"
"I gotta go. I told you that you'd know when they needed me." He walked out of the tent, leaving Sydney to think about everything that he'd said.
*********************************
"Clamp!" Hawkeye ordered Nurse Kellye.
He was busy trying to fix up the stomach of the first passenger that had come in on the chopper. Across the room BJ had finally pulled the bullet from the pilot's leg. Winchester, who had been stuck with the man with half an arm, wasn't having any luck. There was so much tissue damage that he didn't know where to start amputating the rest of it.
"What happened to these guys?" Margaret wanted to know. She was helping Charles as best she could.
"I don't know," Hawkeye replied, "but I'd like to find the bastards who did this and kill them."
"Only after we've cut off their arms." BJ said.
"And shot them through the stomachs." Charles agreed.
"Oh, damn!"
"What is it, Hawk?" BJ asked, suturing part of the leg.
"The damage is worse than I thought. This kid's got bullets in every corner of his stomach. How do these guys survive like this?" He started working on getting out another bullet. "I mean, you think that the worst is over and then find that their body is a Pandora's Box of metal."
"Very nice use of allusion, Pierce." Charles commented, trying to figure what to do next.
"You know, if I didn't know better I'd put these kid's out of their misery, every single one of them." Hawkeye dumped the bullet in a nearby pan. "That one you've got there, Charles? I'd put him to sleep and he'd never have to know that he was an amputee."
"That's terrible!" Margaret was shocked.
"I agree with Margaret, Pierce," Potter said. He was assisting BJ at the moment.
"No, you know what's terrible? This is terrible! We work day in and day out to keep these kids alive and all that does is cause more problems for them. They come over here with pride in their heart and a uniform on their back thinking that they're going to make a difference in the world. Then they get shot and they're sent here and we send them home with shame in their heart and a bloodied uniform on whatever's left of them." He pulled another bullet out. "It isn't fair that we try our damndest to keep these kids out on the front just so that they can be sent back two weeks later only to lose an arm or a leg…or their life."
"Pierce, do you need to take a break?" Potter asked. "You seem a little tuckered out."
Hawkeye shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I just…" He pulled out the last bullet and told Kellye to retract. "I just wish that I didn't have to be patching up somebody's stomach at 10:45 at night."
"11:00." Klinger corrected, walking into the OR.
"Where the blazes have you been?" Potter demanded.
The corpsmen who had gone to find him said, "I found him in Miss Bristow's tent."
Hawkeye's bullets dropped to the floor. "What?"
"What were you doing there?" Margaret wanted to know.
"Sydney was a little upset about the men that came in tonight. She isn't used to seeing stuff like that."
"I doubt that," Pierce said quietly.
"I just sat with her a little till she had calmed down. I figured that you could handle this by yourself." Klinger held up his hands. "Apparently I was wrong."
"Apparently." Charles said.
BJ was fixing up the leg, attempting to reconstruct. "Pull up a body Klinger. Join the pity party."
"Yes," Charles agreed. "You just missed Pierce's touching speech. It brought a tear to my eye."
"I'll bring a foot to your mouth if you don't shut up, Charles." BJ threatened.
"Once again, Hunnicut, you have struck a chord of fear in my heart. I shall do as you-"
Suddenly Radar burst in. "Colonel Potter, sir!"
"What is it, Radar?" He asked, looking up from the leg he was helping BJ with.
"It's Colonel Riley, sir. He's in the office."
"Right." He nodded to BJ. "Can you finish this by yourself, son?"
"If not, I can sure as hell try."
"Good. I'll be right there Radar."
"Right sir." And then he had run off again.
*************************************
"Richard!" Colonel Potter greeted his old pal Colonel Richard Riley of the 4075th M*A*S*H. It had been years since they'd seen each other but had talked over the phone quite a few times since they found out that they were both in Korea. They had known each other for about fifteen years, ever since they had been on the same surgical staff back in the states.
"Potter, you old fool! It's good to see ya again!" Riley and Potter gave each other a big hug. It had been too long. "So, what did you need me to come here for?"
"Well, last week I got a call from a friend of ours. Do you remember General Kite?"
"Kite? Kite?" He thought for a moment. "You don't mean Wally Kite, do you?" His smile had faded.
"The same." Potter replied. He wasn't smiling either. "Seems the old bag needs to see the both of us in Seoul PDQ."
"How quick is pretty darn quick?"
"Yesterday, if possible."
Riley slid into the nearest chair. "That is quick." He rubbed his eyes. "What does he want?"
"Wouldn't say. If you ask me, he seemed pretty keen on keeping away from the subject. He even asked me about my wife…Martha."
"But isn't your wife's name-"
"Mildred." Potter nodded. "He was nervous about the call. That always means that something's wrong."
"Why didn't he call me?"
"Not sure. Guess he figured I could handle it."
"You don't think we're being sent state-side, do ya?"
"God I hope not. Not that I wouldn't love being home with Mildred again, but I can't leave this unit. It's become my home away from home. I'd miss these ladies and gents too much."
"When do you think we should head out?"
"Tomorrow. I'm gonna call a meeting early tomorrow morning and explain the situation, in as few words as possible, to my doctors. They'll know what to do. I can leave Hawkeye in charge. I trust he'll do an okay job. He usually does."
"All right. Where do I stay for the night then?"
"Well, I've got someone in the VIP tent now, but I could ask her to buddy up with my head nurse for the night. I don't think she'll mind."
"That's just fine with me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find my way to the latrine."
"If you get lost, holler for Radar."
"That won't be necessary. I can just follow the smell." He went in search of the bathrooms.
"Hell of guy, that Riley. I just hope to God that whatever that blasted Kite has to say, that it's good news." He was about to go looking for Radar when he appeared at his side.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Radar asked.
"Go tell those gloomy Gusses in the OR that I want a meeting tomorrow at O nine hundred."
"Yes sir."
"Thank you Radar."
"And good luck on your trip, sir."
"Thank y-" He was sometimes surprised at the things that Radar knew, but after this long he knew that he should be used to it. "One of these days I'm gonna catch that kid off-guard." Then he stopped. "If I have anymore days at this M*A*S*H, that is."
Korea, 1952
Sydney had been walking around the camp thinking when the chopper landed in the middle of the compound. The PA came out loud and clear calling the doctors and nurses outside. Hawkeye, who hadn't gone back to the Swamp after the incident with Jack, was the first to arrive. He helped the two passengers and the pilot out of the helicopter. Only then did he realize how badly hurt they were.
The first passenger was bleeding from the stomach. The other passenger was unconscious and had a large portion of his arm missing. The pilot, and Hawkeye marveled at how he could have flown a helicopter in his condition, had a hurt leg. BJ and Margaret helped Hawkeye load them onto stretchers and they were taken into Pre-Op immediately. Sydney looked at them in horror. Since she'd come here she'd seen batch after batch of wounded, but never this close up.
Klinger came up behind her. "You okay, Sydney?"
She jumped a mile, then turned to face him. "Yeah, I'm okay. I guess." She watched the men being carted away. "There's just so much of it."
"I know. It takes a while to get used to it." Klinger put a hand on her shoulder. "Believe me you. I've been trying to get out of this place ever since I got here and it hasn't worked."
"Is that why you wear the, uh…?" She motioned to his blue dress and her own black one.
Klinger nodded. "There've been other schemes too, but none that Potter would believe enough to give me a Section Eight."
"Ah." She nodded. "Don't they need you in there?"
"Probably not. It's a pretty light night." The two of them started to walk away from the helicopter. "Major Winchester will take one of them, Hawkeye another, and BJ a third. They've got enough nurses and corpsmen to last them a lifetime. If they need me, believe me, you'll know."
There were a few moments of silence then Sydney spoke again. "He doesn't like me, does he?"
"Who?"
"Major Winchester."
Klinger chuckled. "Well, the Major doesn't like anyone. I doubt he likes his own mother."
"I know what that's like," Sydney murmured.
"What'd ya say?"
She waved her hand. "Nothing."
"What makes you think that Major Winchester doesn't like you?"
"He wanted me to tell him about the future last night and when I told him I couldn't he left."
"Ah, the old Major prying into things that should not be pried into. That's Charles for you."
"What are these people really like?" She asked, motioning for him to come into her tent. It wasn't something she did on a regular basis, but she felt she could trust him. "I know what I see in them, but you know them so much better than I do."
He sat in the chair next to her bed while she lay down on top of the cot, a pillow underneath her chin, her feet dangling off the side.
"Hmm. What do I think of the people here?" He thought a moment. "Who first?"
"Major Winchester."
"He's a pompous windbag who doesn't know good music from the hair on his head, what little he has left, that is."
She laughed. "All right, um, Margaret."
"Hell of a nurse but a pain in the you-know-what."
"Why's that?"
"She's head nurse so naturally she's gonna be bossy, right?"
"Right. Colonel Potter."
"Top-notch guy. I just wish I could get that damn section eight. Don't you think it would be nice for me to wear some pants once in a while? When I get back to the states, I'm gonna either burn all those dresses or sell them." He stopped. "But other than that, the Colonel's a great man."
"BJ."
"He's obsessed with his wife and kid."
"Well, wouldn't you be after being away from them so long?"
"Yeah, I guess I would. He's a great surgeon and a heck of a guy."
She paused before saying the next name. "What about Hawkeye?"
"There are no words to describe him."
"I'm sure you can think of a few."
"Hmm…Loony. Insane. Crazy. Mad as a hatter." He smiled. "No, really. He fights for what he wants and he doesn't take no for an answer. Just don't make him mad when he's been in surgery for more than two hours."
She held up her hands. "I won't. Scout's honor."
"Once you've been here a while, you'll get used to all of this. You'll get to know them, unfortunately, as well as I do."
"I don't want to get used to anything. This isn't where I belong."
"I know that and I understand you wanting to get back home but word around camp is that you can't get back, so you might as well start adjusting." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off.
"Look, all I can tell you is-"
"KLINGER!" Someone was yelling somewhere close by. "KLINGER!"
"I gotta go. I told you that you'd know when they needed me." He walked out of the tent, leaving Sydney to think about everything that he'd said.
*********************************
"Clamp!" Hawkeye ordered Nurse Kellye.
He was busy trying to fix up the stomach of the first passenger that had come in on the chopper. Across the room BJ had finally pulled the bullet from the pilot's leg. Winchester, who had been stuck with the man with half an arm, wasn't having any luck. There was so much tissue damage that he didn't know where to start amputating the rest of it.
"What happened to these guys?" Margaret wanted to know. She was helping Charles as best she could.
"I don't know," Hawkeye replied, "but I'd like to find the bastards who did this and kill them."
"Only after we've cut off their arms." BJ said.
"And shot them through the stomachs." Charles agreed.
"Oh, damn!"
"What is it, Hawk?" BJ asked, suturing part of the leg.
"The damage is worse than I thought. This kid's got bullets in every corner of his stomach. How do these guys survive like this?" He started working on getting out another bullet. "I mean, you think that the worst is over and then find that their body is a Pandora's Box of metal."
"Very nice use of allusion, Pierce." Charles commented, trying to figure what to do next.
"You know, if I didn't know better I'd put these kid's out of their misery, every single one of them." Hawkeye dumped the bullet in a nearby pan. "That one you've got there, Charles? I'd put him to sleep and he'd never have to know that he was an amputee."
"That's terrible!" Margaret was shocked.
"I agree with Margaret, Pierce," Potter said. He was assisting BJ at the moment.
"No, you know what's terrible? This is terrible! We work day in and day out to keep these kids alive and all that does is cause more problems for them. They come over here with pride in their heart and a uniform on their back thinking that they're going to make a difference in the world. Then they get shot and they're sent here and we send them home with shame in their heart and a bloodied uniform on whatever's left of them." He pulled another bullet out. "It isn't fair that we try our damndest to keep these kids out on the front just so that they can be sent back two weeks later only to lose an arm or a leg…or their life."
"Pierce, do you need to take a break?" Potter asked. "You seem a little tuckered out."
Hawkeye shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I just…" He pulled out the last bullet and told Kellye to retract. "I just wish that I didn't have to be patching up somebody's stomach at 10:45 at night."
"11:00." Klinger corrected, walking into the OR.
"Where the blazes have you been?" Potter demanded.
The corpsmen who had gone to find him said, "I found him in Miss Bristow's tent."
Hawkeye's bullets dropped to the floor. "What?"
"What were you doing there?" Margaret wanted to know.
"Sydney was a little upset about the men that came in tonight. She isn't used to seeing stuff like that."
"I doubt that," Pierce said quietly.
"I just sat with her a little till she had calmed down. I figured that you could handle this by yourself." Klinger held up his hands. "Apparently I was wrong."
"Apparently." Charles said.
BJ was fixing up the leg, attempting to reconstruct. "Pull up a body Klinger. Join the pity party."
"Yes," Charles agreed. "You just missed Pierce's touching speech. It brought a tear to my eye."
"I'll bring a foot to your mouth if you don't shut up, Charles." BJ threatened.
"Once again, Hunnicut, you have struck a chord of fear in my heart. I shall do as you-"
Suddenly Radar burst in. "Colonel Potter, sir!"
"What is it, Radar?" He asked, looking up from the leg he was helping BJ with.
"It's Colonel Riley, sir. He's in the office."
"Right." He nodded to BJ. "Can you finish this by yourself, son?"
"If not, I can sure as hell try."
"Good. I'll be right there Radar."
"Right sir." And then he had run off again.
*************************************
"Richard!" Colonel Potter greeted his old pal Colonel Richard Riley of the 4075th M*A*S*H. It had been years since they'd seen each other but had talked over the phone quite a few times since they found out that they were both in Korea. They had known each other for about fifteen years, ever since they had been on the same surgical staff back in the states.
"Potter, you old fool! It's good to see ya again!" Riley and Potter gave each other a big hug. It had been too long. "So, what did you need me to come here for?"
"Well, last week I got a call from a friend of ours. Do you remember General Kite?"
"Kite? Kite?" He thought for a moment. "You don't mean Wally Kite, do you?" His smile had faded.
"The same." Potter replied. He wasn't smiling either. "Seems the old bag needs to see the both of us in Seoul PDQ."
"How quick is pretty darn quick?"
"Yesterday, if possible."
Riley slid into the nearest chair. "That is quick." He rubbed his eyes. "What does he want?"
"Wouldn't say. If you ask me, he seemed pretty keen on keeping away from the subject. He even asked me about my wife…Martha."
"But isn't your wife's name-"
"Mildred." Potter nodded. "He was nervous about the call. That always means that something's wrong."
"Why didn't he call me?"
"Not sure. Guess he figured I could handle it."
"You don't think we're being sent state-side, do ya?"
"God I hope not. Not that I wouldn't love being home with Mildred again, but I can't leave this unit. It's become my home away from home. I'd miss these ladies and gents too much."
"When do you think we should head out?"
"Tomorrow. I'm gonna call a meeting early tomorrow morning and explain the situation, in as few words as possible, to my doctors. They'll know what to do. I can leave Hawkeye in charge. I trust he'll do an okay job. He usually does."
"All right. Where do I stay for the night then?"
"Well, I've got someone in the VIP tent now, but I could ask her to buddy up with my head nurse for the night. I don't think she'll mind."
"That's just fine with me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find my way to the latrine."
"If you get lost, holler for Radar."
"That won't be necessary. I can just follow the smell." He went in search of the bathrooms.
"Hell of guy, that Riley. I just hope to God that whatever that blasted Kite has to say, that it's good news." He was about to go looking for Radar when he appeared at his side.
"You wanted to see me sir?" Radar asked.
"Go tell those gloomy Gusses in the OR that I want a meeting tomorrow at O nine hundred."
"Yes sir."
"Thank you Radar."
"And good luck on your trip, sir."
"Thank y-" He was sometimes surprised at the things that Radar knew, but after this long he knew that he should be used to it. "One of these days I'm gonna catch that kid off-guard." Then he stopped. "If I have anymore days at this M*A*S*H, that is."