It seemed like saying "Good luck" wasn't quite enough to prepare Linda for the onslaught she was about to receive. I had known Margaret Houlihan long enough to know that she wasn't going to let something like not having Linda's consent stop her from announcing her as a senior nurse.

"Poor kid," I said to myself as I walked through the door of the swamp. Hawkeye was standing at the mirror nailed to the tent post, shaving. "I guess you heard about the physicals," I said.

"What gave me away?" Hawkeye asked with a flick of his razor.

"Oh, I'm just brilliant," I said, closing the door and peering through the mesh tent to the group of nurses in the compound."

"I thought staring at nurses was supposed to be my job," Hawkeye said, wiping his freshly shaven face with his towel. He stepped next to me and peered with me. "What's the occasion?"

"Margaret is about to tell the nurses who are already so very fond of Linda that they now have to answer to her."

We stood quietly and listened to Margaret read off names. Finally, Linda's name was called and no one responded. I could feel the chill of some of those glares across the camp and could only imagine how she was feeling three feet away.

"Well, there you have it," I said, walking to my bed. "Linda is now officially on the senior nursing staff."

"Margaret must have taken my recommendation seriously," he replied. "I almost thought she would think I was being biased."

"The she would have had to discard my recommendation too," I said. "And Colonel Potter's. Even Ferret Face had nice things to say about her, even though he's still steamed at her for insulting him that first day."

"She is the most qualified," Hawkeye replied.

"Yeah, but we just signed her life away. If they hated her before, they're gonna hate her more now that they have to answer to her."

"Well, it's out of our hands now," he said. "Now, you have to get dressed so we can go to Colonel Potter's office and get our physical appointments."

I laughed. "Excited about seeing soldiers in their skivvies?"

"Not the soldiers as much as the nurses. You coming?"

"Hold your skivvies, I'm coming." I threw my robe on my bed and put on my fatigues. Combing my hand through my hair, I ran to the door just as Hawkeye was excitedly running out of the tent. "Whoa, slow down!"

"I can't help it," he said, stopping only long enough for me to scamper out of the door. "This is my favorite time of the year. Biannual physicals are better than Christmas."

"It's just another army directive to me," I replied.

"Well, to the bachelor doctors of the world, like yours truly, it's an opportunity to see more of the nursing staff than you can catch at a matinee in the women's shower."

We made our way across the compound to Colonel Potter's office. Despite the chill, it was a beautiful, sunny day. However, the weather was precarious and the thermometers of the camp would soon read negative numbers.

Strolling into Radar's office, we saw him scuttling around his desk, fastening sheets of paper to clipboards. Hawkeye immediately got excited.

"Are those the physical assignments?" he asked, eager as a boy at his birthday party.

"Yes they are," Radar said, never looking up from his task. He handed the clipboard labeled "Captain Pierce" to Hawkeye who snatched it out of his hand and began to skim the page. "Here's yours BJ," he said, handing me mine.

With little gusto, I looked over the page.

With much gusto, Hawkeye slammed his clipboard on the table.

"Is something wrong, Captain?" Radar asked casually, finally glancing up from his work.

"You bet there is!" Hawkeye yelled. "I have names upon names on this sheet of paper and none of them read 'Lieutenant Linda Florence!'"

"That's because she's not yours to examine, Hawkeye," Radar replied, matter-of-factly.

"Then who?"

I spotted the name halfway down my sheet. I grinned at Hawkeye and pointed to the page.

"It figures!" Hawkeye screamed, kicking Radar's trashcan in frustration. "The married man gets to perform a physical on the woman of my dreams and I'm stuck with Sergeant Zale, Frank, and Radar."

"Hey!" Radar interjected.

"No offense, Radar," Hawkeye said, "But you are not a beautiful, stacked nurse whose name is right now on BJ's list!"

"Sorry, Hawk," I replied, looking over his list. "At least your exams will be interesting." I pointed at a name that, in his haste to find Linda's name, he missed.

"Are you kidding me?" he whooped. "I hate the army!" He chucked the clipboard at the file cabinet, cracking it in two clean pieces.

"Hey!" Radar screamed again. "That comes out of my pay."

"I'm sorry, Radar. I'll pay for it," Hawkeye said, calming down. He ran a hand through his hair and looked at me, defeated. "Sherry. I have to examine Sherry Gardner."

"You'd better keep those sharp instruments away from her," I replied, patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "Tell Linda and her fabulous body I say hello."

"I will. Give my regards to Lieutenant Gardner."

"Everyone's a comedian."