BJ bounded into the swamp with an energy that only meant something good had happened to him.

"Was the carnage in post-op particularly delightful today?" I asked grumpily. I was going to miss half of the poker game that night because I was in post-op from midnight until three. I had managed to convince Frank, of all people, to take the last half of my shift. Of course, I said to myself sarcastically, the fact that Margaret was in post-op at the same time has nothing to do with it.

"I managed to have a nice day today, despite yesterday's deluge," he said, tossing his lab coat on the floor and throwing his shirt on his bed. "Linda really is a nice girl."

"Where did that come from?" I asked, yawning. "Did you two take a tour of each other while I wasn't looking?" I asked. I meant it as a joke, but it hit me hard saying it.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked indignantly.

Apparently, it hit him hard too.

"Nothing," I said, picking myself up off my bed and trudging over to the kettle of lukewarm coffee sitting on the heater. "What time is Sydney getting here?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Ten-ish, I think," BJ said, pulling a clean shirt over his head. "So, we've got a few hours."

Sydney Freedman the psychiatrist was one of our favorite poker buddies because, brilliant as he was at reading people, he was terrible at bluffing. Plus, being in Tokyo most of the war, he had acquired a tidy nest egg that I thoroughly enjoyed taking away from him a little at a time.

"Who else is coming?" I asked, pulling my robe tighter against my body. The recent warm weather was beginning to ebb and a chill was in the air. Soon, it would be long, lonely nights with nothing but a stove and the occasional nurse to keep me warm.

"Klinger is coming if he can convince Igor to take sentry duty from him again, Radar will stop by periodically as will Colonel Potter, Zale might show up later, and I invited Linda to come as well."

I whipped around. "Linda?"

He looked at me questioningly. "Yeah."

"You invited Linda?"

"Yeah." He stared at me like I had just spoken in a foreign tongue. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"No, it's just that you'll be here and I'll be in post op."

"It's not as if we're gonna be alone together, Hawk," he said, chuckling. "Half of the camp is showing up for poker tonight."

I shook my head and laughed at myself for being so ridiculous. "You're right," I said.

BJ sat down on his bed. "You like her, don't you?" he asked, smiling.

"I didn't say that!" I replied, throwing myself down on my chair. "Just because she's all I can think of doesn't necessarily mean that..." I trailed off. BJ stared at me, a wide grin on his face, and I caved. "Ok, fine, I give. I like her."

"I knew it," he said, jumping up and pouring himself a drink. "I knew the second she walked in here that she was going to make someone very happy." He took a sip of his martini. "I'm just glad it's you."

"Well, she hasn't made me happy quite yet," I said, grabbing my towel. "I'm gonna take a shower before I have to hit post-op."

"I'm gonna take a close look at the inside of my eyelids," he replied as I pushed the door open and strolled into the compound.

"Good night, sweet prince," I yelled over my shoulder. I strolled toward the shower with a bounce in my step like there hadn't been in ages. I have a thing for Linda, I said to myself and smiled. It had been so long since I'd had a genuine crush on anyone that I hardly knew what it was like anymore. But all at once it came back to me; the little fantasies about running off together, her name flashing through my head, all of the symptoms of puppy love.

"Hey Hawkeye!" a voice yelled, jerking me out of my thoughts. I looked around me and into the distance, but I was not able to identify where the voice was coming from. The compound was completely bare with the exception of two nurses who darted from the mess tent to their quarters, and it couldn't have been them because the voice was undoubtedly male.

Suddenly, a hand shot out from behind the shower tent and gestured me near. Instantly, I knew what was going on and I jogged to the spot behind the showers that I had known so well.

I rounded the corner to find a group of soldiers lead by Zelmo Zale, the supply sergeant. His lined face was twisted into a rare grin as he waited to look into the small hole in the back of the nurse's showers and get a good look at what our female personnel had to offer.

"Hey Hawkeye," Zale repeated as he slung his arm around my soldier. "Can you introduce me to her?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"That new nurse, Lieutenant Florence. Can I tell ya, she's got a body that would make a grown man weep. I had to come back for a second look." Several of the men nodded in agreement.

"How do you know anything about her body?" I asked, although I knew the answer. He gestured to the hole in the tent where another soldier was readying himself for a look. "I'd invite you to take a sneak peek, but I bet you've already seen the whole movie," Zale said, elbowing me in the ribs.

I shrugged him off, marched to the hole, threw my body in front of it, and firmly declared, "This peep show is over and anyone who thinks otherwise is gonna get my fist in his eye."

A surge of complaint came at me, especially from those who had not had a chance to peek. Some threw up their hands, exclaimed how unfair life was and left, but others continued to protest. "I don't care if you don't like it, I'm pulling rank on all of you. Now get out of here before I do something I'll regret, like join the army and then report you."

More left, some kept complaining, but I had made it official. Although I had probably peeked through that tent more often than all those other men put together, I felt an obligation to Linda.

"It's not fair, Captain," someone said to me.

"If life was fair none of us would be in Korea in the first place so get used to it," I said, pointing away from the tent. "There will be no more peeping from any of you."

"Well, well, well. Hawkeye Pierce, Defender of Virtue."

I turned around and gazed at Linda standing behind me wrapped in a forest green towel with wet hair daintily dripping down her shoulders.

"It has a nice ring to it," I replied, smiling at her. "It makes me sleep better at night knowing the nurses of this outfit are safe from lewd soldiers whose only preoccupation is sex."

"Well, we nurses thank you from the top of our shower caps to the tips of our toes," she said, throwing me a mock salute and laughing.

"I'll take whatever I can get," I replied, returning her salute. "Why don't you thank me by coming over and trading in your shower cap for a nightcap?" I asked, slipping my arm around her shoulder and heading towards the swamp.

She laughed and walked with me. "Just let me go back to my tent and put on something a little more substantial than this flimsy towel."

"All the way back to your tent?" I said in anguish. "It'll be at least a minute or two until you'll be back. How about I let you use BJ's robe."

"Is he ok with you lending out his things?"

"Sure, I do it all the time." She threw a questioning glance my way. "Do you not trust me?" I asked, playing hurt.

"I never have," she smiled, nudging me softly in the ribs. "But maybe you'll surprise me."

I turned to her and put my hand on her shoulder. "Count on it."

She shot a smile back at me that almost melted the soles of my boots.

Oh yeah, I said to myself. You've got it bad.