Thank you for all the feedback from the last chapter :) all those emails in my inbox really make my day. Anyway, sorry for the wait in updating, school's been...well...school.

But on the bright side, ONLY 2 WEEKS UNTIL ONCE UPON A TIME COMES BACK! I'm probably (definitely) way too obsessed with that show, but if there are any fans out there that have been counting down like I've been, Hi!

Anyway, I still do not own M*A*S*H or any of the affiliated characters

Chapter 6: Problems

A week into her stay at the 4077th, Andi felt as if she'd known everyone for years, especially Hawkeye, Trapper, Radar, and Henry. She was very friendly with Klinger and Father Mulcahy, and even got along with Margaret.

But Andi noticed something on her seventh day, and that was a growing tension between her and a few nurses. Andi had no clue as to why some of them were giving her dirty looks. Not all of them were; some rolled their eyes at the others' behaviors, but Andi was still in the dark.

"Clamp," Andi said, holding out her hand. Her nurse slammed the instrument into her palm with such force that Andi felt a shock go up her forearm. She inhaled quickly, catching Hawkeye's attention.

"I'm fine," she told him, wiggling her fingers a bit. "A little less force, next time, please," she requested.

"Yes, doctor," the nurse responded. Her attitude was left alone but did not go unnoticed by the two surgeons.

"Suction," Andi asked, and a while later, "Clamp." This time, the nurse held up the clamp, but put it a good six inches away from Andi's hand. Andi snatched it and snapped, "I don't know what your problem is, but I do know that if you waste my time, you're wasting this man's time too." The nurse didn't respond.

"Is there a problem here?" Margaret asked. She was giving the nurse a disapproving look.

"No," the nurse replied curtly.

"Good."

A short while later, Hawkeye and Trapper had just finished with their last patients.

"How're you doing over there, Andi?" Trapper asked.

"I'm fine," she replied. "But this guy's got enough metal in him to build a jeep. I need to make sure I get it all."

"Let us know if you need anything," Hawkeye said.

"Yup," she answered absentmindedly. "Aha. There it is. Scalpel," Andi requested, planning to widen the opening to reach what she was sure was the last piece of shrapnel.

She felt the object in her hand, then a sharp, unexpected pain as it slit her palm. She felt the stinging as her open wound made contact with the air. For a split second, Andi and the nurse both stared in surprise.

Andi recovered first when the pain finally sunk in and she let a small sound escape from her mouth.

"Nurse!" Margaret exclaimed. She looked on with wide eyes as Andi shielded her wound from the sanitized area and ran out of the room. "Captain McIntyre-"

Trapper was already changing his gloves. "I've got it."

Hawkeye pulled off his gloves and ran out after Andi. When he reached her, she was running her hand under the faucet, a mixture of blood and water swirling down the drain. He washed up in the other sink, then took off her mask and helped her out of her surgery gown while she cleaned the cut. "What happened?" he asked.

Andi winced; the cut stung. "The nurse wasn't happy with me today."

"So she went after you with a scalpel?"

"It was an accident, but I don't know what her problem was."

"Here," he said, holding out his hand for hers. "Let me see." She placed her wounded hand on top of his, palm up, and Hawkeye examined it. He kept wiping away the endless flow of blood with a towel now stained red, trying to see how deep it was before the blood welled up again. He cast quick glances at her face and saw that she seemed more troubled by the nurse's behavior than she did by her own gushing hand. He decided to diffuse the tension.

He shook his head. "I don't think there's anything I can do. We'll have to chop it off." He looked down at her and smiled, letting her know he was joking.

"I think we should ask Trapper for a second opinion," she teased back.

Hawkeye mocked being hurt. "Ouch. That took my ego down about five steps." He continued to tend to the wound. "It really doesn't look that bad, but it's deep enough to need stitches."

Just then the nurse came out of the O.R. Still holding Andi's hand, Hawkeye and Andi watched as she took off her mask and scrubs, washed up, and left without so much as a glance at the two surgeons. They looked at each other and Hawkeye continued getting the stitches ready.

A few seconds later, Margaret emerged. She took one look around and said, "She didn't apologize, did she?"

"Nope," Hawkeye replied. Andi's finger was in her mouth, biting hard on it as the disinfectant stung like lemon juice would. "Sorry," he told her.

"I'll go get her back here," Margaret said.

"Wait," Andi called. "I don't want an apology. I want an explanation."

The head nurse allowed her eyebrow to creep up slightly as she paid attention to Hawkeye, who still hadn't let go of Andi's hand. "Okay," Margaret replied after a moment. She watched as he carefully and gently stitched up the gash. "I'll find out." She left the two alone, but seeing the look on Hawkeye's face, she thought she already knew the nurse's problem.

"Major?" Andi asked, knocking on the door.

"Come in," Margaret replied, already knowing what the visit was about.

"Did you happen to find out why the nursed behaved the way she did today?" Both looked down at the hand Hawkeye had stitched up.

Andi was completely confused. She had worked with many nurses at the 58th and other bases, but they all respected her as a surgeon. Some even looked up to her because she had beaten the odds and gone the extra miles. She had never once met a nurse with whom she had a problem.

"Do you know that Captain Pierce plays a very big part in keeping the people here sane?" Margaret asked. Andi nodded; his jokes, his wit, his crazy ideas- they kept her sane. "Including the women," she added. Andi paused and blinked a few times; she understood what was meant by that, and felt something in the pit of her stomach. "Just know that after you came, some of the nurses became rather upset with Hawkeye."

Andi's head snapped up, sure that the head nurse was implying what she thought she was implying. But nothing else was said.

"Attention, please! Attention! All medical personnel be prepared for incoming wounded!" the PA system had announced earlier that day. Eleven hours later, everyone was still in surgery. The inflow of wounded never seemed to end, and the surgeons had long since lost their original energy.

"NO! NO! NO!" Andi heard one man shouting. She had just finished up, and went to help Henry with the shouting patient. "It doesn't matter! They're all dead! Nothing matters! Let me die!" It took both Hawkeye and Henry to hold the young soldier down as he threw punches and kicked his legs out.

"Andi! The sedative!" Henry cried. Grabbing the needle, Andi soon found her opportunity, and the young man stopped struggling.

With new gloves, Andi turned to her next patient: blonde hair, blue eyes, muscles, and an emotionless face. If he hadn't been on the table with shrapnel in his chest, Andi would have been extremely intimidated by the hulk-like figure.

"Put him under," Andi said.

"Wait!" the man demanded gruffly. He looked at Andi with cold, hard eyes. "A woman? No. I refuse to be operated on by a woman."

Hawkeye came over and stared down at the man. "What's the problem?"

"I refuse to have a woman operate on me," the soldier repeated.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "Get over yourself. You'll be out cold anyway. We could have a someone operating on you with chopsticks and you would never know."

Andi looked up to Hawkeye. His gaze was hard, stubborn. He was defending her, and her thoughts drifted to the conversation with Margaret.

"It's fine, Hawk," she said, making him look at her. "Can we switch?" Hawkeye opened his mouth, then shut it. He stared at her for a second. She wasn't sure what he was looking for, but his clear, blue eyes searched hers and he nodded after a moment.

"Nurse, put him under," he said, and Andi went over to Hawkeye's patient.

"Don't take it personally. That's just him," her new patient said with a small smile. Andi looked down and saw big, bright blue eyes, similar to the other soldier's, but so very different. "You're okay with me, Doc."

Not sure how I feel about this one, but it's necessary to the plot (as most chapters are). Reviews welcome!