Later that night the doctors awoke to the P.A. System announcing incoming wounded. "Why can't the war have work hours?" Khezia grumbled as she pulled herself out of her cot. She threw her pants on and raced out to the compound. As she knelt down next to the first boy she saw she noticed that most of his stomach was covered in blood. "I'll take this one." The other doctors nodded and ran to get more of the young men to operate on. The next twenty-four hours were spent in the OR. By the time they were done all the doctors were dead on their feet.
Khezia fell onto her bed and groaned.
"I hope I don't have to get used to this." She mumbled into her pillow.
"I agree." Trapper sighed into his blanket.
"Hey Trapper."
"Well, glad you got to sleep, Hawkeye."
"How'd she do in there?" Khezia sat up and stared at Trapper waiting for the answer. "Khezia did bang up job. I think we have the best surgeon in the world in our tent." "Now, I am not NEAR that good." Khezia argued.
"I was talking about myself." Trapper laughed. Khezia glared at him and walked over to Hawkeye.
"I take it you are still alive?" she laughed.
"Yeah, guess I am. Maybe you aren't so bad after all."
"Thanks."
"Would you all please shut up already? I am trying to sleep!" Frank Burns yelled from his bed. The captains looked at each other before going to sleep.
After three days of bed rest Hawkeye was ready to scream if he had to stay in bed any longer. "Hawkeye"
"What do you want, Tyler?" He glared at her smiling face.
"Wanna get out of bed?"
"What?"
"Yeah, I'll get that bandage off." She sat down on the cot beside him and began to unwind the bandage. Trapper walked in the room and stood behind her watching. When Khezia was done unwrapping the leg she picked up a small piece of amber/red colored wax.
"What is that?"
"That, my friend, is the brandy, meat tenderizer, peroxide, snake poison, and wax. Merry Christmas, you now have a new tree ornament. Send it home to your family." She laughed and tossed it to Hawkeye. "Wow, you are good."
"You're welcome." They sat and talked like that until dinner.
Khezia looked at the bowl of what they thought was stew. As she finished swallowing she grinned.
"What?" Radar, who was sitting beside her, asked.
"This is almost as bad as my own cooking."
"Almost?" Hawk smiled and crunched his mashed potatoes.
"Yeah, I couldn't cook to save my life."
"Attention all personnel who ate in the mess tent." The PA system blared. "The cook has just informed me that the stew was vegetable and that if you find meat, it is just a rat accidentally getting chopped up and dumped in." As Henry finished his announcement the doctors, who were the only ones in the mess tent, looked slightly green. Khezia dropped her spoon and looked into her bowl. Floating beside a potato was a rat tail. She stood up quickly and ran to the latrine. "I think I'll join her." Hawkeye gagged and ran out of the room.
Trapper opened the door to the latrine and saw Hawkeye looking very green. "Now you know why I passed on the stew." He laughed and pulled Hawkeye to his feet. "Come on. You'll be more comfortable in the Swamp." As he led him out of the latrines. Margaret was walking by the latrine. "Hey, Major, Khezia should still be in the latrines. Could you help her back to the Swamp?"
"I'll see how bad she is. What did they eat?"
"A rat in the soup. We should be glad we didn't want to eat." Trapper laughed and helped Hawkeye to bed. Margaret helped a dizzy Khezia into bed before she and Trapper left them to sleep it off.