Hawk's eyes jerked open. He glanced at Margaret, jumped up and began pacing around the room.
"Hawk?" Her voice made his heart jump into his throat.
He rushed beside her. He needed to comfort himself by being near her.
"Hey, we've been worried sick about you!" He picked up her hand and she smiled weakly as if to say "Well I'll try not to do it again."
"What happened?" she asked weakly. He was surprised; he had been hoping she could tell him.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
As she recounted the events she last remembered he realized that there was quite a bit of her memory she was missing. He looked at her intently and saw a deep blush creep over her face as she said that she couldn't remember anymore.
"Then why are you blushing?" He asked teasingly. Margaret shifted uncomfortably and redirected the conversation back to the original subject.
Hawkeye began to tell her of the events of the past few days. Avoiding any mention of her actual ailments. He knew he shouldn't ask her but he was dying to know.
"What happened?"
"The engine, it was on fire." She paused, trying to sort everything out in her mind. "When I woke up, Koreans…I tried to crawl away…" She was sobbing now and Hawkeye regretted his question immensely. He got up from the chair and sat down beside her on the cot, putting a reassuring arm around her shoulders. Ever since they found her he had wanted nothing more that to take her in his arms and hold her close to him.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry." He had meant it as an apology for his careless question but to him it took on another meaning. He was so sorry for everything that had occurred in the past week. Even the things he couldn't control. He felt her stiffen and his heart sank. He knew she had remembered the awkward night of the dance.
"I'm tired. I want to try and get some sleep." He sighed and rose reluctantly. He tried to make one last effort to keep her friendliness around.
"I'll come to check on you in a few hours." He said it almost hopefully.
"Don't bother." Her voice had an icy quality and it made him cringe. He didn't hear what else she said. He had to get out of there. He was torturing himself by staying there next to her.
Hawkeye headed straight for the swap. He thought he could get some sleep; he had hardly slept at all for the past few days. As he entered he groaned inwardly when he saw he wasn't alone. He was in no mood to be pestered by Charles. He glared at him and crashed onto his cot.
"She's still upset with you isn't she?" Hawkeye sighed; all he wanted was to be left alone. Instead of strangling Charles as he so desperately wanted to; he sat up and nodded.
"I'm not surprised. A disappointed woman can be a very frightful thing."
Hawkeye looked at him suspiciously. What was he getting at?
"Don't look at me like that. All I'm trying to do is point out that she needs reassurance from you. Woman like men who can reassure them that their feelings are not one sided."
"Look who's talking." Hawkeye muttered spitefully. Charles was about to respond but Colonel Potter walked in suddenly.
"Margaret wants to speak with you." Hawkeye looked up at the elderly man and then lay back down.
"What you mean is, she doesn't really want to talk to me but you talked with her and gave her a very strong suggestion." Potter chuckled.
"Get off your bum and go talk to her." Hawkeye sighed and slowly made his way over to post-op.
As he walked inside he smiled cynically as he saw Margaret nervously chewing her bottom lip. When she saw him she leaned forward to let her hair drape over her face.
"You wanted to talk with me?" Hawkeye was surprised with the tone his voice had taken. He hadn't meant to sound so stern.
"I'm sorry." She whispered meekly. Hawkeye chuckled; she sounded like she was being forced to speak to him. She took a shaky breath and tried to continue. "I… I…uh…I" Hawkeye watched in amazement as this strong woman burst out in tears. He watched for a moment and then quickly sat down beside her and began rubbing her back soothingly.
"Hey, shhh, its okay Margaret. It's okay." He hated seeing her like this. He wanted to make all her worries disappear. He hated thinking that he was the reason for her tears.
"I love you." She whispered. His head began to spin. Could he trust her feelings this time? Her sobbing brought him to a conclusion. He was willing to take a chance. If she changed her mind later on than so be it. But he loved her and he couldn't let another moment go by without telling her.
"I love you too." Her tears stopped almost instantly and she looked up at him. He lovingly placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head back so he could look into her eyes. His heart began to rejoice. All he saw in her eyes was joy; pure joy. He leaned forward and kissed her.