Margaret had seen it all in this war. She was one of the first nurses on the scene in Pusan and dealt with more bloodshed from that point onward. It was tough dealing with the perimeter and then moving north as the armed forced deemed it. As a woman, she and her nurses were considered too sensitive and oftentimes pushed back. She denied this. She also had to prove that she could rough it out like the rest of the boys. This also meant competing with many of them.

One of the men drove her insane when a unit had been established and building began in earnest. His name was Duke. Well, technically, it was something else. Margaret could not remember what. What mattered was that he was a pain in the ass and not Regular Army. He thought that he was best invention after sliced bread. He took charge and pretended that he was the uppermost ranking officer on base, even though she was a grade higher. He even treated her worse than an enlisted man.

Margaret took it in stride. The newly-dubbed 4077th had yet to be in working order and people had tempers worse than usual. True, she had to push herself as much as the next person and never rest. She didn't care that somebody was barking orders at her. But things changed when enemy fire drew closer. Once he began treating her like a bag of potatoes and saying that women were inferior, the game was on.

Margaret cornered Duke one day. He was directing some enlisted personnel. The floor of their OR was being built and he had been yelling at them nonstop about where the boards should go, why the adhesive had to be applied and much more. Margaret waited patiently enough, arms crossed and foot tapping, and grabbed Duke by the shoulder when nobody was looking.

He yelped. That pleased Margaret. She wanted nothing more than to cause him pain. She pulled harder, dragging him hard enough that he was tripping over rocks and screaming at her about giving a man some peace.

"Dammit, Major, can't you me work?" Duke demanded loudly. By then, his uniform was bloodied by her abuse.

Oh, no. Not this time! I am giving him hell!

Margaret found some privacy (if she wanted to call it that) where the actual hospital was situated. The walls had been built, but there was no roof and the floors were still dirt and pebbles. She pulled Duke inside this skeleton structure and threw him in a corner.

"How dare you?!" she screeched. "How dare you?!"

Margaret repeated the phrase several times without explanation. Duke was confused, but did not back down. He didn't understand why the nurse was acting like a lunatic and what he did wrong this time. He only tended to his minor wounds while she ranted. However, when Margaret finished, she took a deep breath and lunged forward. She kissed him.

She was surprised with herself. Margaret was pretty good at controlling herself except with officers that carried two or more stars. Duke was a nobody in the Army. He hardly had any career to speak of and came from some silly little town with no significance. He took her mantle of command and turned it into some comedy hour. Laugh with the men here, bark at them there, and have a drink on the side – that was all he was made up of.

Margaret pulled herself back immediately and slid a finger across her disheveled hair. "How did you like that?"

"I'd like it better in a tent," Duke replied huskily.

"There isn't any one around." Margaret checked left and right frantically.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Sugar. There should be something somewhere around here. You leave that to me."

Margaret was skeptical, in the very least. She knew the camp (or what was built anyway) like the back of her hand. At the moment, there was hardly a tent anyone could call their own. Everybody, including the women, was sleeping in camp bags on the ground and sought shelter under ponchos and soaked blankets. She didn't believe that Duke had something hidden.

He took her by the hand gently. Together, they walked out of the building and down a pathway. Margaret recognized where they were going. They were close to the river. She didn't know Duke extended the camp this far. Then, she mused that it might not be part of the base as that was not their allotted space. It was a place of privacy he made for himself.

It was exhilarating indeed! Margaret gasped when they came to the little hut by the water. It was a common one, similar to ones she had seen in some of the burnt villages south of where they were, but it held so much allure. It also was untouched by the tragedy of war and that was excited her the most. She clapped her hands like a child and ran forward. Duke could hardly keep up with her.

"Hey, Sugar! Hey! Wait up!" He jogged after her. "This old draftee can hardly keep up."

"Come catch me!" Margaret taunted as she turned. "You can't catch me!"

"Oh, I think I can. You just need to learn how to let go."

"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!"

Margaret felt free. It was the first time in her life that she never had to think about regulations, rules and structure. She was a woman all on her own, pretending to play with a man she hardly knew, and abandoning all responsibility. The wind around her whirled and her hair wickedly whipped with it as she rushed forward. All the while, she hoped that Duke understood how liberated she was and how she was anxious for his touch.

He ran after her, of course, but it was like slow motion. Margaret stopped in the darkness, trying to see where Duke was, and continued to beam. However, when he drew closer, he started fading until he was next to her. By the time his fingers reached for her hair, Due had disappeared.

Frowning, Margaret tried for the doorway. When she exited, she did not feel like she was on terra firma. Her feet led her down into thin air. Colors streaked past her as she fell. Faces expressed disappointment above her head. Her own emotions overwhelmed her. But, oh, down and down a rabbit hole she went. Where she stopped, nobody knew.

Down, down, down…

When Margaret woke up, she jerked upward. She sought to silence her lips and was partially successful. She smothered her screams into a pillow and slowly calmed down before an MP came in. It was only a dream, she mused. Duke was no longer here and she did not love him. She and Frank had a wonderful dinner and sleepover. His snoring form was next to her was evidence enough of that.

Yet, she thought of it. It was strange indeed. But the more Margaret thought about it, the more it might have made sense. She was always afraid of not being equal to a man and having control and structure taken away. Other questions plagued her with that revelation though. Was it really her mantle of command being taken away? Was she truly in control of her life? Did she really need a man to guide her and validate her existence?

Not yet. I am safe.

And that was that. Frank will make sure of it.