We spent a wonderful weekend together. I managed to get the next two days off and we spent all of our time together. The more time I spent with him the more I realized how much I needed him. He managed to bring out a part of me that I had managed to hide for years. I felt awkward at first but that all faded away with the assurance of his love. I was surprised to find that he isn't always what he seems. For example; on the last night we were together he simply wanted to hold me. We lay awake in each others arms all night; neither of us saying a word. Everything we wanted to say we knew the other was already thinking.

On the day he left I sulked around the hospital all day. Kellye attempted to lighten my mood but it wasn't helping. I knew I wouldn't get to see him again until all the nurses were able to go back. Incoming wounded were just too unpredictable. You could never tell when casualties would start pouring in. The first week without him was the hardest. After that everything became routine. I have always managed to use routine to hide behind; it's the only thing that keeps me going when my world is crashing down around me. It really works too. Well unless everything starts to spin completely out of control; than any effort on my part to pretend that everything is fine turns out to be futile. That's what happened about six weeks later.

I was happy because there was talk that they were letting us go back to the front. All of the nurses thought I was really going crazy; but Kellye understood. Well she understood in theory but she was still miserable about going back. A colonel threw a party for all the nurses a week before we were to leave. It was fun, but I was bored for most of the time. Around one o'clock someone gave me a drink. I swear I only had one. I was shocked the next morning when I had the worst hangover in existence. Kellye watched me strangely; apparently she remembered that I only had one drink. I pushed through the day, slightly puzzled. I finally concluded that some jerk had slipped something into my drink.

However I began to get worried when I awoke at four the following morning and almost fell over when I got out of bed. The room was spinning and it was difficult for me to get up. I cautiously got dressed and decided to go for a run to try and shake off whatever it was that was wrong. By the time I got back I felt considerably better. Kellye had just gotten up and was taking a shower. Once she got out I hopped in and let the hot water stream down my body. That was something I would definitely miss at the 4077th. That and indoor plumbing.

Anyway I climbed out of the shower and as I was drying off I felt violently sick. I knelt over the toilet and my stomach emptied its contents. I flushed the toilet and rinsed my mouth out in the sink. Then I sat down, with my back leaning against the wall. I wrapped my arms around my legs and I began to cry. Why did it always happen to me? I honestly think I have the worst luck in the world. If anything could go wrong for me it did.

After crying for about ten minutes I put on my robe and walked back to my room. When I walked in I turned my back to Kellye so she couldn't see my red eyes. That didn't really help. I was still sniffling; I couldn't get my damn nose to stop running!

"What's wrong Margaret?" She asked, walking over to me.

"Nothing," I muttered. I knew I wasn't fooling her. I almost started crying all over again as I said it.

"Are you sick?" She asked gently. I only shook my head. "Then you're pregnant." She said as a statement rather than a question. I didn't say anything as I began to get dressed. "You are aren't you?"

I sat down suddenly on my cot and began to cry softly. "I don't know." I managed to mutter between sobs. "I just don't know." Kellye sat down beside me and put her arm around me comfortingly. I leaned against her and she stayed motionless until my tears ceased.

"You're not sure?" She asked quietly.

"No"

"Come on let's go get you tested." She said as she stood up. I shook my head furiously. There was no way I could go through that right now. "You have to do it eventually." She said, I sighed.

"Fine, let's get it over with.

"Oh my God what am I going to do?" I sobbed as I sat down heavily on a bench in the hall. Kellye sat down beside me; she didn't say anything she just offered her presence which was comforting. "He's going to kill me." I muttered.

At that Kellye looked up at me in surprise. "Hawkeye?" she asked. I nodded. "Margaret, are you crazy? He'll be thrilled!"

"How do you know that?" I asked sharply. She smiled.

"What did he say the last time you thought you were pregnant?"

I looked at her in surprise. How did she know about that?

"Don't look so shocked; everyone knew about that. Now what did he tell you?"

I began to think back to the night when I had confided in him. What was it he had said?

"Margaret, in the midst of all this death and destruction there's a little glimmer of life thanks to you. That's not wonderful, that's a miracle."

I sniffed and wiped my tears away. I turned to Kelly and attempted to smile. "I guess your right." I conceded.

"Of course I'm right. Now let's go give him a call."

I panicked. "No! I…uh…I mean I don't want him to worry about me." I was trying desperately to find a reason to put off calling him and Kellye knew it. "I'll just tell him when we get back."

"Margaret," she said softly. "There's no going back; not for you anyway." My heart dropped.

"Kellye no; please don't tell anyone." I begged. "I have to go back!"

"Major, you're pregnant. You can't go back." I turned and ran as fast as I could out of the building. I had to get away. I stopped myself right after I burst through the double doors. Where was I running? I couldn't escape my problems. I wrapped my arms tightly around my stomach and dropped to my knees. What was I going to do? I began to cry bitterly as Kellye come up behind me and placed a soft hand on my shoulder.

"Come on Margaret, let's head back." I nodded and she helped me up and supported me as we walked back to our room.

"You have to call him Margaret!" Kellye shouted. We were at it again; It was the day before we were going back to the 4077th. "You can't go back!"

"Please Kellye? It's really important to me. I need to tell him in person." We had been arguing about this ever since I found out I was pregnant.

Kellye sighed and sat down on her cot. "You can't go." She said quietly.

I sat down beside her. "What is a few extra days going to hurt? Please Kellye; just keep quiet about this for a few more days." Kellye only sighed and walked out of the room. I knew I had won.

The next morning we extremely busy preparing for the transfer. I was in the middle of packing when I was called into the CO's office. I walked inside and he asked me to sit down. I nervously waited to hear what he wanted. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a small package.

"These are your travel orders." He said gruffly. I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"What?" I asked dumbly.

"Your travel orders," He repeated. "You leave in an hour."

"Where?"

He looked up at me surprised. "Stateside." At my blank expression he clarified, "You've been discharged Ms. Houlihan."

No, no, no! Like I said, if anything can go wrong for me it will. At least that is how it seemed then. After he dismissed me I ran back to find Kellye. I couldn't believe she would do this to me. I arrived at our room and aside from my few belongings it was empty. She had already left. I tried to call Hawkeye but no one picked up. There must have been heavy casualties. An hour later I boarded a plane headed for Tokyo. As the plane took off I glanced out the window and watched as everything that I had known for the past two years slowly slip away.