A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I was trying to finish up my 7th heaven story, so I put this one on hold. Well, I finally finished the 7th heaven story, so expect more chapters soon!
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of MASH or the characters in the tv series. The only thing that I own are this story line and the characters I made up.
Hawkeye looked out the window. The new doctor, Jason Brown, was supposed to arrive any time now. In some ways he was looking forward to handing over the practice, in other ways it was a little sad. He had planned on working in the clinic as a doctor until he retired. He and his dad had always talked about letting another doctor in, but they had both decided they wanted to keep it in the family. Now that wasn't going to happen. Hawkeye looked up and whispered, "I'm sorry, Dad." Just then a car pulled in the driveway. The new doctor had arrived.
Hawkeye went out to great Jason. He was relatively young, but Hawkeye had interviewed him and was sure he was experienced enough. He had just seemed like the right person for the job. He even had a wife who was a nurse, which made him all the better for the job. Hawkeye had the doctor work in the clinic with him for a week, and he had done well with the people. They all surprised Hawkeye at how quickly they took to their new doctor.
"Hi, Dr. Pierce. This is my wife, Molly." Jason said while motioning to the beautiful woman standing beside him. "Are you ready for us to move in now, or should we find somewhere else to stay for a little while. Hawkeye had agreed to let the couple stay at his house they found a place of their own. "No, it's all ready for you to move right in. Margaret and I will be leaving tomorrow morning, so you'll have company tonight, but tomorrow you'll have the house all to yourself."
"That's fine. Thanks again for letting us stay in your house."
"It's not a problem. This way I don't have to worry about getting someone to watch it while I'm gone."
"Is there a lot of robberies here?" That question came from Molly, who had a worried look on her face. "I thought small towns didn't usually have a high crime rate."
"No, there aren't a lot of robberies here. In fact the last major crime I can think of involved the theft of a child's doll. The culprit turned out to be a dog."
Everyone laughed at that. "The only reason I'd get someone to watch the house is to make sure that nothing gets damaged if we have a storm or something like that and to make sure it's kept in good repair." Hawkeye continued.
Molly looked relieved. "Well, if the dog was the culprit in the last major crime you had here, I guess I don't have to worry about robberies." They went inside, where Molly met Margaret, and, after a few hours of talking, everyone turned in for the night.
Early the next morning, Hawkeye and Margaret left for their first stop on the trip, to visit Charles Emerson Winchester, III. He was still working in Boston at the hospital Margaret had gotten him a job at. On the drive there, Margaret and Hawkeye talked about Korea.
"Do you know what ever happened to Frank?" Hawkeye asked Margaret.
"As far as I know, he stayed in Tokyo until the end of the war, at which time he went home to his wife. I haven't seen or talked to him since he left the 4077th."
"Really? You haven't?' Hawkeye was surprised. "You two were so close in Korea I just thought that maybe you'd kept in contact with him."
"No, and I have no desire to ever see him again. I regret what I did in Korea. Frank was a married man, and I almost caused his marriage to fall apart. I would never wish that upon anyone now that I know how it feels." Margaret was referring to her failed marriage to Donald Penobscot. "Have you kept in touch with Trapper?"
That was a sore spot for Hawkeye. "No, and I don't wish to see him again. What he did to me was unforgivable. How could he leave without so much as a goodbye? I thought that we were friends."
"And I thought you had gotten over this." said Margaret. "How long are you going to hold a grudge against a man because he didn't leave you a note when he was sent home?"
"Margaret, he hasn't even attempted to contact me. If he were sorry for not being able to tell me goodbye, he would have at least dropped me a note in the mail. He knows where I live." Hawkeye was starting to get upset.
Margaret thought it better to drop the subject rather than risk getting Hawkeye any more upset. "Look, we're almost there!" she said, excitedly. "Did you call Charles to let him know we were coming?"
"No, I didn't. As a matter of fact, I didn't call anyone. I wanted to surprise them all."
"Did you at least call Colonel Potter or B.J. like I suggested?"
"I thought about it, Margaret, I really did. But then I realized I had no idea what to say to them. 'Hi, Colonel Potter, this is Hawkeye. I'm going blind.' just didn't seem right."
"I guess you're right. It would be kind of awkward." They pulled up to the hospital where Charles worked. "Well, we're here. Are you ready?" she asked.
"I don't think I'll ever be ready. Charles and I may not have been close, but we were still friends. How do you tell a friend that you're going blind?"
Margaret didn't have an answer to that question. "Come on; let's see if we can find Charles."
Hawkeye and Margaret walked inside the hospital and went up to a nurse. "Excuse me." said Hawkeye.
"Can I help you?" asked the nurse.
"Yes, we're looking for a Dr. Charles Emerson Winchester III. Do you happen to know where he is?" Hawkeye asked.
"Yes, I do. I'll take you to his office and then let him know that you're here." The nurse led them to a very plush office, then left to find Charles. "Excuse me, Dr. Winchester?" the nurse asked tentatively.
"What is it?" he asked rather curtly. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Dr. Winchester, there's some people here to see you, sir. There waiting in your office."
"Who is it?"
"I don't know, Doctor. It's a man and a woman."
"Alright. I'll go see what they want. Now get back to work." Charles walked towards his office, wondering all the while who it could be. When he got to his office, he opened the door and was pleasantly surprised by who he saw. "Margaret? Pierce? To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Can't we pay an old army friend a visit?" asked Hawkeye.
"Certainly, but since this is the first visit that either of you have paid me in the five years since that dreadful war ended, I must assume that you want something from me, or that something is wrong."
"Why Charles, I can't believe that you would think so little of us." Hawkeye said, sarcastically. The he turned serious. "Actually, there is a reason for this visit. Something is wrong."
"Oh, really? And what would that be?" inquired Charles, trying not to act to concerned.
"I'm going blind." Hawkeye stated matter-of-factly
"What?" Charles exclaimed. "You must be joking! You, Hawkeye Pierce, going blind? It can't be true!"
"It's true. I found out about a month ago, when Margaret here insisted I go to the eye doctor."
Now Charles looked confused. "Did I miss something? Why would Margaret insist that you see an eye doctor? You two aren't married, are you?"
Hawkeye and Margaret looked at each other and then burst out laughing. "No, Charles, we're not married." Margaret managed to get out.
"Then why on earth would you insist that Pierce see an eye doctor?"
"Colonel Potter had told me that Hawkeye was looking for a nurse, and I was tired of big city life, so I decided to go apply for the position. When I got there, Hawkeye was having problems with his eyes. When I finally got him to admit that there was something wrong, I convinced him to go see an eye doctor. The doctor told him that he was going blind." Margaret explained/
"But why? Your eyesight has always been perfectly healthy, hasn't it, Pierce?"
"Well, for the most part, yes. There was one time before you came, however, where it wasn't so healthy. I was fixing a stove in the nurses' tent, and it exploded in my face. I was temporarily blinded by the explosion. The doctor said that my blindness is more than likely being caused by the muscles in my eyes being weakened by the explosion." Hawkeye replied.
"I am very sorry, Pierce. Have you gotten a second opinion? We do have some of the best eye doctors in the country here at this hospital, you know."
"No, I haven't gotten a second opinion, but I don't need one. The eye doctor that I saw was not just some small town doctor. He's one of the best, Dr. Steven Johnson. Perhaps you've heard of him."
"I have, indeed, but I'd still like you to get a second opinion. As a matter of fact, I have a meeting with the very best eye doctor that we have hear at this hospital in about fifteen minutes. "Charles said, looking at his watch. "I'd like you to come with me. He can examine you, and maybe he'll have different results for you."
Hawkeye agreed, so Charles led Hawkeye and Margaret to the eye doctor's office. "Excuse me, Dr. Moore?"
Dr. Moore looked up from the paperwork he had been working on. When he saw Charles, he looked at his clock. "Are you early, or did I just get the time wrong?" he asked.
"I'm early. I have a favor to ask of you." Charles replied.
Dr. Moore looked surprised. Everyone knew that Dr. Winchester asked for favors from no one. "What is it?"
"I have a friend with me. His name is Dr. Benjamin Pierce. He worked with me in a M.A.S.H. He recently started having trouble with eyes, so he went to see an eye doctor. At that visit, he was told he was going blind and nothing could be done. If you could, I'd like you to give him a second opinion."
"Certainly. Right this way, Dr. Pierce." Dr. Moore led Hawkeye to his examining room. When the Doctor had finished examining Hawkeye, he asked him many of the same questions that Dr. Johnson had asked. When he was finished, he said, "I'm very sorry, Dr. Pierce, but I'm afraid that Dr. Johnson's diagnosis was correct. You are going blind, and there's nothing we can do. However, the blindness does appear to be progressing much faster then Dr. Johnson thought it would. I'd give you three more months, at best, before you are completely blind. I must warn you, though, by the end of the second month, you will probably have lost most of your vision. I am very sorry."
Hawkeye stood up and shook Dr. Moore's hand. "Thank you for being willing to see me on such short notice. I kind of figured that the diagnoses wouldn't be any different, but Charles insisted on a second opinion."
When Hawkeye came out of the treatment room, Charles and Margaret immediately started asking questions. "What did he say?" "Is the diagnoses any different?" "Is there any treatment?" "How much longer?"
Hawkeye held up his hands to stop the questions. "I'll tell you what the doctor said if you'll give me the chance." he complained. Margaret and Charles both immediately went silent. "Okay. Dr. Moore said the same thing as Doctor Johnson. Yes, I will go blind. The only thing he said that was different is that he only gave me three months before I'm completely blind. He said that this is because it's progressing much faster than Dr. Johnson had thought."
"Is there no treatment available to keep you from going blind?" Charles was genuinely concerned.
"No, there isn't. Dr. Johnson checked with some of his colleagues, and none of them knew of any kind of treatment for this, and neither does Dr. Moore."
"But what of your practice? Have you given it up?"
"Not very many people want a blind doctor, Charles." Hawkeye said, annoyed.
"I am sorry. That was a stupid question for me to ask." Charles looked at his watch. "Why don't we go get something to eat? We can talk more once we're at the restaurant."
Once the three of them had chosen a restaurant and ordered their food, Hawkeye started telling Charles about his plans. "I want to see all of the people that I was close over in Korea before I go completely blind. Margaret is coming with me to drive and to help me once my eyesight gets worse."
"How bad is it now?" Charles wanted to know.
"Well, as long as I'm close to a person, I can still make out their features, but everything is growing darker and more blurry by the day. Dr. Moore said that by the end of two months, I will have lost most of my vision. I'm already having short, frequent periods of total blindness."
That news surprised Margaret as well as Charles. She knew that he had been having periods of total blindness, but she had no idea that they were frequent. "How often are they happening, Hawkeye?" she asked.
"I get at least two a day. It varies."
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded. "How am I supposed to help you if you don't let me know what's going on?"
"Well, Margaret, I figured that you'd be having to take care of me soon enough, Why rush things?" Hawkeye said, bitterly. "If you two will excuse me, I'm going to the restroom."
Once Hawkeye had left the table, Charles turned to Margaret in shock. "I don't believe I have ever seen him so upset." Charles said. "Usually he's one to just laugh it off or joke about it."
Margaret sighed. "I know. It really has me worried, Charles. This isn't like the Hawkeye that I know. He's taking it so hard. He's scared. It's all happening so fast, faster than the doctor expected. To tell you the truth, I don't think he's going to be able to see everyone he wants to before he goes completely blind, and I think he knows it too. I think that's why he's taking all this so hard. It devastates him to think that he'll never be able to see his friends' faces again. He loves all of his friends so much."
Charles looked thoughtful. "I have an idea that may help with that," he said.
"Really? What is it?" Margaret asked excitedly. "It would mean so much to Hawkeye if he were able to see everyone one last time."
Hawkeye came back then, forcing Margaret and Charles to postpone the rest of their conversation. "So, Charles, how do you like it here in Boston?"
"Fine, just fine. As a matter of fact, I've been meaning to contact you with some very interesting news. There's another surgeon here that worked in a M.A.S.H unit in Korea."
"Really?" Hawkeye looked interested. "What unit did he serve with?"
"That's the most interesting part. He served with the 4077th."
Hawkeye groaned inwardly. There were only two people it could be, Frank Burns or Trapper McIntyre, and he really wasn't interested in seeing either of them again.
"When I told him that I, too, had worked in the same M.A.S.H unit, he asked about you, and Margaret, and another person whose name I can't remember."
"What is the surgeon's name?" Margaret asked.
"He calls himself Trapper, but his name is John McIntyre." Charles replied.
Margaret glanced over at Hawkeye who had stopped eating as soon as he heard the name. "Say that again, Charles?" he asked.
Charles looked confused. "His name is 'Trapper' John McIntyre." he repeated.
Hawkeye sighed. "Are you absolutely positive?"
Now Charles looked really confused. "Of course I'm positive, Pierce." he said, sounding insulted that Hawkeye would even consider asking such a question.
When Hawkeye didn't say anything, Margaret spoke up. "Listen, Charles, Hawkeye's tired. It was a long trip here. How about Hawkeye and I go back to the hotel for the night. We can meet again tomorrow for breakfast."
"Sure, that's fine. I'll meet you two at your hotel around 9:00 tomorrow morning."
"Okay, Charles that sounds good. We'll see you then. Come on, Hawkeye." Margaret said.
Once Margaret and Hawkeye were outside, Hawkeye said, 'Well, I guess I have to see him now, don't I? Charles has probably already told him that we're in town."
Margaret helped Hawkeye get in the car, went around and got in on the driver's side, and drove back to the hotel without saying a word. When they pulled into the hotel parking lot, she said, "You know, Hawkeye, maybe it's good that you have to see him. Maybe you'll finally forgive him for going home."
"I'm not mad at him for going home, Margaret. I mad at him for going home without saying goodbye."
"Oh, yes you are. Him not saying goodbye is just a cover-up. You're mad at him because he got to go home while you had to stay in Korea. But Hawkeye, what if Trapper hadn't been sent home, or what if you had been sent home instead? Think about it. You wouldn't have met B.J., Colonel Potter, or Charles. You became close friends with two of those people, and even though neither of you would admit it, you and Charles even became pretty good friends. If you had gone home, I wouldn't have been able to make it through my divorce from Donald. You were what kept me sane then, Hawkeye Pierce. I came very close to requesting a transfer at that time. You were the only person stopping me from doing that. If you hadn't of been there, I would have transferred out of the 4077th."
Hawkeye turned towards Margaret. "You're right. I was mad at Trapper for going home, not just for failing to tell me goodbye. When you put it the way that you did, it really made me think." Hawkeye opened his door. "Come on, let's go inside and get some sleep. I have a feeling that Charles has invited Trapper to join us for breakfast, and I definitely don't want to miss that. I mean, come on, can you imagine it? Charles and Trapper together?"
Margaret had to smile. No, she couldn't imagine it. Stuck-up, pompous Charles with a joker such as Trapper? That had to be funny. She opened her door and got out, and then she and Hawkeye went inside to their separate hotel rooms.
Once Hawkeye was inside his hotel room, he sat down in the chair that was in there and started thinking about what Margaret had said. She had said that if it hadn't been for him, she would have transferred out of the 4077th during her divorce. He hadn't realized that he'd helped her that much.
"Could she possibly feel more for me than just friendship?" he wondered out loud. "I mean, sure, there was that night that we spent together in that abandoned hut behind enemy lines, and it sure seemed like a possibility then, but when we got back to the 4077th, she was back to her normal self again. Then there was that kiss that we shared as she was leaving when the war was over, but she hasn't mentioned anything about it." He hoped that she did feel more for him than just friendship, because he had realized when he was leaving Korea that he did feel more for her than friendship. Once he had gotten back to the states, he's tried to forget about her and the way he felt, but he couldn't. In the weeks since he had found out that he was going blind, and Margaret had been helping him, those feelings had grown stronger. He was in love with Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan.