Chapter 5: Connecting With An Old Friend

Hawkeye was sitting with Father Mulcahy in post op, keeping watch over him and monitoring him closely. He was going over the latest round of vital signs that had been taken when Radar walked quietly into the room, carrying a tray of food from the mess tent.

"Hawkeye?" Radar said quietly.

"Yeah, what is it, Radar? Don't tell me we have wounded."

"No, sir. I just brought you some food from the mess tent. You missed dinner."

"Thanks for going to the trouble, Radar, but I'm just not hungry right now. Besides, even if I was I don't think I could hold anything down after all I've seen around this hell hole today." Hawkeye said, turning away from the young corporal and returning to his chair.

"Hey, come on, Hawkeye. You've got to at least try to eat a little bit of something. If you don't, you'll make yourself sick. On top of that, you'll be too weak to help anyone." Radar pointed out, taking the tray and setting it on Hawkeye's lap.

"Okay. You make a good point. I'll try to eat a little of this. Besides, it'd be really rude of me to refuse after you went to all the trouble to bring this over here for me."

"How's Father Mulcahy doing?"

"Well, he seems to be okay now. His blood pressure's stabilizing and he seems to be resting comfortably. We had to go back in earlier today because there was a bleeder in there that I missed."

"Oh, gee. I'm glad you took care of it, Hawkeye. Is he going to be okay?" Radar asked, his eyes wide.

"I think so. He'll be out for quite some time though. We're giving him morphine to kill the pain and it's keeping him sedated. At least he's not in any pain right now." Hawkeye said, readjusting the blanket over the sleeping man.

Back at the Swamp, BJ was sitting on the chair next to his cot having a drink and listening to Charles dictating something into his tape recorder in an attempt to distract himself from the tension in the room, which was thick enough to be cut with a scalpel. As he sipped at the martini in his hands, BJ allowed his mind to wander and as it did he found himself thanking God that Hawkeye and Charles had succeeded in stabilizing Mulcahy again and he was also very concerned about Hawkeye. He kept replaying in his mind the look of horror on his friend's face when we had awakened from a nightmare the night before. As he was wracking his brain trying to find some way to help his friend unwind, an idea suddenly occurred to him.

"Charles, can I borrow a piece of paper and a pen. I need to write something down real fast."

"Of course. Here you are, Hunnicutt." Charles said, handing a note pad and pen to his counterpart.

"Thanks, Charles." BJ said quickly, scribbling something down on a piece of the note paper and folding it up as he stood and headed out the door into the compound.

As BJ walked across the compound, he caught sight of Corporal Max Klinger on guard duty, as usually wearing a dress and ladies hat. He stopped in mid step and turned to face BJ as he approached.

"Klinger, I need a favor. Can I get you to do something for me real fast and I'll cover for you out here?"

"Sure. What's up, Captain?"

"I want you to go to supply and get what I have written down on this slip of paper and bring it back to me without letting anyone see you. I'll stay here and keep the watch until you get back. If anyone asks, I'll say that I asked you to do something for me." BJ explained, handing the slip of paper to Klinger.

"I don't understand. What are you going to do with this?" Klinger asked, regarding BJ with a confused expression as he handed him the gun he carried and headed to the supply room before the other man could answer.

When Klinger returned with the small bottle that he was sent to retrieve, BJ pocketed it and thanked the cross dressing corporal for his assistance. Then, putting his plan into action, he headed to post op to talk to Hawkeye.

Hawkeye was helping one of the nurses change a dressing on one of the patients in post op when BJ walked in. When he noticed his friend's arrival, he stood up wearily and approached him.

"How's Father Mulcahy? Charles told me that the two of you had to operate again this afternoon."

"He's stable now, Beej. We drew another hematocrit level on him a couple hours ago and it's back in a normal range so I think we closed everything. I can't believe that I missed that. He could have bled to death and it would have been my fault." Hawkeye said, his voice cracking.

"Hawk, you can't blame yourself. It was very hectic in OR that day and we nearly lost Father Mulcahy on the table. You were working frantically in order to save him and you thought you got all the bleeders closed. It's happened to all of us. You need to unwind. The tension you're putting on yourself isn't good for you. I have an idea. Why don't you come back to the Swamp with me and have a couple of drinks. Lieutenant Anderson will come and get you if anything changes." BJ urged.

"That sounds like a pretty good idea. All right, Beej. I think I need to get out of here for a little while. There's nothing else I can do here for now anyway." Hawkeye agreed, allowing BJ to lead him toward the door.

When they got to the Swamp, Hawkeye sat heavily on his cot and rested his head on his hands. BJ walked over to the still and poured two drinks. After glancing around to make sure neither of the other two were watching him, he pulled the bottle out of his pocket and poured a small amount into one of the martinis before stirring it. He took this glass and handed it to Hawkeye before turning to Charles.

"You want a drink, Charles? Why don't you join us?" BJ offered sincerely.

"I believe I will. Thank you, gentlemen." Charles agreed, taking the glass that BJ handed him.

The three surgeons sat quietly having a drink together. All of their minds were on their wounded friend and they were drawing a kind of strength and solace in each other's company. After several minutes, Hawkeye began to loosen up and soon felt relaxed, if not a little tired. He placed his glass on the floor by his feet and lay back on the cot.

"Are you all right, Pierce? Don't you feel well?" Charles asked.

"I'm okay. The martini I had just relaxed me, that's all. It's been a really long day and I'm a little tired. I think I'm just going to lie here for a while. I feel a little light headed too." Hawkeye responded tiredly, a yawn escaping him as if to accent his words.

"You look beat, Hawk. Why don't you sack out for a few hours. May make you feel a little better." BJ suggested as Hawkeye merely nodded his head in response, too fatigued to muster up a verbal answer.

Hawkeye lay quietly on his bunk and stared at the canvas ceiling, letting his mind wander where it wanted. After a while, he started to feel drowsy and his eyelids slowly began to fall. He reached up and rubbed a hand over his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up but it was a futile attempt. Hawkeye's tired eyes soon slid closed and his breathing became deep and even as he dropped into a very sound slumber.

BJ looked up from the game of Solitaire that he had been playing and saw that the special martini he gave Hawkeye had the desired effect and his friend was sleeping comfortably. It wasn't long before BJ began to feel the effects of another long day himself and he bid Charles good night before settling down on his own cot.

At 4:00 the next morning, Hawkeye sat up on his cot, breathing rapidly and drenched in a cold sweat. He took several deep breaths to slow his heart rate and prevent himself from hyper ventilating, raking a trembling hand through his damp hair. The nightmare he had awakened from was more terrifying than the one he'd had the previous night. Realizing what he needed to do, Hawkeye slipped quietly from his bed and hurried across the compound.

When Hawkeye rushed into Radar's office, he shook the young company clerk in order to wake him. Radar sat up drowsily and fumbled to put on his glasses. Once he saw the frightened look on Hawkeye's face, the irritation he had initially felt immediately turned to concern.

"What's the matter, Hawkeye?" Radar asked.

"I need to make a stateside call. What time is it in Boston right now?" Hawkeye inquired, following Radar over to the desk and sitting on the edge.

"Hang on a second. Well, right now it's 10:00 last night."

"Okay, great. Hurry up and place the call, Radar."

"Wait. Who are you calling, Hawkeye?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm going to call Trapper. I had a nightmare that something happened to him. I can't really talk about it but I just need to hear his voice right now." Hawkeye said quietly.

"Yes, sir. Just a second." Radar said as he cranked the phone on the desk beside him and waited. "Sparky? Yeah, I know it's late but I need a favor. Can you place a call to Boston for me? Okay, thanks a lot."

"Is he going to place the call?"

"Yeah. He's routing the call through Guam and they'll reroute it to Boston. Okay, I've got the operator in Boston." Hawkeye waiting impatiently as Radar spoke quietly with the person on the other end of the line to get the call through to it's directed recipient. "It's ringing now."

At his home in Boston, Trapper John McIntyre was awakened by the sound of his telephone ringing. His wife was out of town on business and he was at home with his two daughters, the youngest of whom was sleeping on his lap. Rubbing his eyes, Trapper reached over and grabbed the telephone receiver.

"Hello?"

"Trapper!" Hawkeye's shouted hail came clearly through the static on the line.

"Hawk? Is that you?" Trapper answered, the shock of hearing his best friend's voice jolting him awake totally.

"Yeah, it's me. How've you been?"

"Things have been going pretty good. It's a little strange getting adjusted to civilian life again. It must be the middle of the night there. Is something wrong?"

"No. I just had a crazy dream and I needed to hear your voice to reassure myself. I know it sounds ridiculous. Hey, look. I'm really sorry if I disturbed you or anything."

"You didn't. I was just sitting here with my girls. I'm really glad to hear from you, Hawk. I've really missed you, pal." Trapper said.

"I've missed you too. I wish I'd have gotten the chance to say goodbye to you. I drove to Kimpo the day you were shipped stateside because I wanted to see you off but your plane took off ten minutes before I got there." Hawkeye admitted with a smile, his heart feeling lighter than it had before. "Listen, Trap. There's a time limit on this call and we're about to get cut off. It was great talking to you. I feel a lot better now."

"It was good talking to you again, too. I'm glad I was able to help an old friend just by picking up the phone. Listen, you can call me anytime you want." Trapper smiled, putting the receiver down when the call was cut. He put his daughters to bed before going to sleep himself as, 10,000 miles away in Korea, Hawkeye left Radar's office and headed back to the Swamp.