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At Halloween, the camp decides to have a party dressing up just for the occasion. Meeting Potter and Margaret near the mess tent, B.J. watches as Hawkeye takes one look at Margaret in her dress and appreciatively flirts, "'My my. That's quite a dress you don't have on. What a waste of my X-ray vision.'"
"'Shut your flap'," Margaret remarks thinking her husband is being too obvious. When B.J. tells her the slit in her dress is pretty high and then honks his clown horn, Margaret complains, "'When will you two ever get out of puberty?'"
Pointing to his friend, Hawkeye announces, "'He's in puberty. I'm in love.'"
As she watches her husband ogle her legs, Margaret declares him a germ. Just as Hawkeye stands up to make a suggestive comment, the PA system announces wounded. To distract themselves, the surgery team tells ghost stories instead to pass the time. Hawkeye ends up telling the story of his uncle who is lost at sea and then a nurse asks in surprise, "'Twenty years?'"
Not in the mood for the foolishness of the night, Charles tells the nurse, "'Not in twenty years. Now.'"
"'I don't know about you, Charles, but that certainly makes my flesh crawl'," Margaret announces walking toward Colonel Potter's table with his X-ray.
"'Good. Have it crawl over to my place tonight'," Hawkeye remarks. Still annoyed at his actions earlier, Margaret announces, "'You haven't got a prayer, even with the luck of the Irish.'"
When Klinger announces more wounded, Hawkeye tells them that he will go. As he takes his scrub gown off, he remarks in his wife's ear, "'Actually, I'd prefer the privacy of a phone booth.'"
Margaret rolls her eyes at him. By the time he comes back, Margaret is beginning her own ghost story.
Once the sessions are over, the group tries to have some sort of party despite the men they know are stuck in Post Op. By the time they all go to sleep there is still a little time for practical jokes. Making sure to attach a rope to the end of the light above Charles' bed, B.J. and Hawkeye get in their cots and then wait. Invoking terror into Charles by making the light swing back and forth seemingly by itself, B.J. and Hawkeye try as best they can to keep from laughing loudly.
A cold snap the next month signals the official beginnings of winter and with it soldiers with Hypothermia and the surgeons and medical personnel are angry as they watch Charles flaunt his snow suit. During surgery, Margaret makes her rounds to assist and asks Hawkeye what she can do to help. Upset that his patient is literally too cold to raise the temperature on a thermometer, he tells her, "'Yeah. See if kissing this man will get his temperature up.'"
Chastising him, Margaret tries not to roll her eyes when her husband remarks, "'Kiss me and see what you can do for mine.'"
Too cold to deal with the surgeons flirting, Potter tells the man to shut up. Looking at his wife, Hawkeye teases, "'Snitch.'"
Eyes wide, Margaret sighs angrily causing her husband to seriously ask for a pan of hot water to warm the blood as it goes through the tubing.
After surgery, the campmates freeze since their stoves and heaters are stolen for the men in post op. Everyone ends up in the mess tent to stay warm. Then the mines in their minefield go off because of the cold and deafen Klinger. Still in shock, the Klinger is quickly sedated just before the Sonja Henie film. By the time it is over and the surgeons save a man's life who is dying from hypothermia, Klinger wakes up and B.J. is excited for the man. Excited for his hearing to be back, Klinger gets on the phone with Sparky and then somehow finds a way to get turkeys sent to camp for Thanksgiving.
The camp eats as much turkey as they want that Thanksgiving, but soon regret it less than twenty-four hours later. When the majority of the camp comes down with salmonella from the turkeys, Potter and Mulcahey are left to take care of everyone as Hawkeye and B.J. get lost on their way back to camp with the antibiotics and Margaret and Charles are still at a medical conference at the 8063rd MASH. Once they get back, Margaret and Charles are surprised to find the entire camp in the midst of the salmonella outbreak and Margaret immediately decides to take charge. Within the hour, Colonel Potter gets sick and Charles immediately tries to get out of linen and bed pan duties. Angry at his insufferable attitude, Margaret is only too happy when she is not in the way of his tirades. Making sure to stay in Post Op, the nurse busies herself with taking care of patients. Finally giving in to washing linens, Charles is mortified when B.J. drives a motorcycle into the laundry he just puts on the line. Not too long after, Margaret and Colonel Potter hear the commotion and come outside to greet the surgeons.
"'You're back'," Colonel Potter announces as Margaret eagerly asks, "'Did you bring the antibiotics?'"
"'Margaret, did you miss me?'" Hawkeye asks while everyone talks over each other. Ignoring her husband, Margaret grabs the antibiotics from his arms. Ignoring Potter's asking about the North Korean soldier sitting behind B.J., Margaret tells the men that they have been going crazy waiting for them to get back. By the end of the day, everyone but those who are almost well again get a round of antibiotics. Then, Margaret corners the two surgeons telling them, "We need to test your stool to make sure you aren't sick."
Laughing, the men reply, "Come on Margaret. If we aren't sick now, we should be fine."
Narrowing her eyes at them, Margaret answers, "Fine, but just remember there are two vials with your names on it just in case."
To their dismay, the men begin to show symptoms a week later. With Colonel Potter's help, Margaret makes sure the men are quarantined to their tents and has Charles stay in the VIP tent for a week.
"But Margaret," Charles protests, "There is no way I will get it."
"You're not that special Charles," Margaret remarks as she throws his pillow at him. "Besides, we're down two surgeons already. I don't want a third."
As Margaret nurses the men over the next few days, Hawkeye teases, "You're loving this aren't you?"
"Hush," Margaret demands as she puts a water cup up to her husband's lips.
"I think she like being bossy," B.J. supplies from his bed with a weak grin. Rolling her eyes, Margaret tells the men, "You're both incorrigible."
By Christmas, the camp gets to host the local orphanage again. A treat for both the children who visit and the adults at the unit. When the children come into camp, the adults run to the truck eager to start the party. Exiting out of her tent, Margaret is immediately met with a wounded man in a jeep. Seeing Hawkeye and B.J. leave their tent, the nurse calls out, "'Doctors!'"
"'Why Margaret! You're a sight for four eyes'," Hawkeye jokes through his Groucho Marx glasses. When she tells the men that a soldier was hit by a sniper, they all break into a run. They barely get the man into pre op when the man dies. Finding a photo of the soldier's family, Margaret frowns as B.J. makes the decision to prolong the man's heart beating for as long as they can. No child wants their father to die on Christmas. "'If you three don't take the cake'," Potter tells them always surprised at the caring nature and love his Chief Surgeon, Head Nurse, and B.J. put in their patients.
Leaving OR that night after falsifying the time of death, the doctors and Head Nurse have no joy left in them. Met by Potter who sends one of the children to give them each one of the last pieces of Peg's fudge, Margaret, B.J., Father Mulcahey, and Hawkeye make a toast to Christmas before excusing themselves to change. None of them really want to join the party, but decide to go anyway if not to see some sort of happiness in the midst of their sorrow. As they head inside various personnel from the camp continue playing with the children or helping them get ready to leave. Hawkeye and B.J. even make glove balloons for some of the children to take home. Shaking her head at their antics, Margaret cannot help the smile that creeps across her lips. Finding a corner, Margaret makes sure to sip her hot drink but cannot get the image of the soldier, Denny, out of her head. Finding her, B.J. and Hawkeye sit down next to her, each unwilling to forget the man whose family will think their father died the day after Christmas.
"Thank you for turning the clock forward," Margaret tells the men as they watch the festivities continue around them. Having had time to think through the gesture, the nurse is finally able to accept it. With a heavy sigh, Hawkeye mutters his thanks adding, "I just hope I don't have to do it again."
British officers come in a few minutes later and for an instant, B.J. and Hawkeye share a look. Placing a hand on each of the men's shoulders, Margaret shakes her head explaining to them silently that no one else is wounded. By the end of the night, the three have joined the festivities and even whatever food is around after the children leave. When the British Officers mention their Boxing Day tradition, Klinger instantly likes the idea and asks Colonel Potter about it. He mulls it over a minute before asking the camp for a vote on Celebrating Boxing Day thanks to the idea of British officers Enjoying the idea of swapping places with each other, the camp eagerly accepts the idea eager to know what roles they will have.
Margaret and Charles are less than pleased.
No one is excited the next morning when they are all woken before daybreak for their new placements thanks to orders of Colonel for a Day Klinger. Hawkeye becomes an orderly and BJ and Margaret work on Kitchen Duty. Charles is assigned cook.
Their Boxing Day is less than thrilling. Hawkeye is annoyed by Mulcahey as they strip beds and wash floors and windows. Margaret and B.J. are surprised at how hungry people can get. By the end of the day everyone is happy to have their old jobs back, but thankful for the experience. Waking up the next morning from Charles' snoring, Hawkeye decides to take a walk around the compound and finds Margaret sitting outside her tent knitting. Walking toward his wife, Hawkeye asks what she is knitting. Looking up, Margaret answers, "The scarf I started last Spring?"
"The one you turned into a blanket?"
Nodding, Margaret states, "It had a few flaws and I felt like doing something constructive and didn't feel like darning socks."
Hawkeye nods silently before asking if he can join her. Margaret nods not looking up from her project hoping to tie off the ends by the end of the week. The couple sits together for about fifteen minutes when Margaret tells him, "Hawkeye, I think we should start looking into that discharge."
Surprised and little amused she tells him this while knitting Hawkeye asks, "Yeah? Are you sure?"
Nodding, Margaret motions for them to head into her tent before explaining, "The soldier, Denny, who died got me thinking. I don't want to die without a family.'
Thinking it an odd thought to come from a soldier's death, Hawkeye says nothing, but has to ask, "This has nothing to do with the kids does it? I know how you get with them."
A small laugh escapes her as Margaret explains, "No, it's not the children. I just think it's time to at least start thinking about it. The war is not holding its appeal for me much anymore. I want to do something else with my life. I'm sick to death of death."
Nodding, Hawkeye kisses his wife on the forehead and tells her he will support her in whatever she chooses.
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