A/N: Well, it's back! I finally finished my Emergency story, so I decided to start writing this one again. I'll try to update frequently, but I go to college full-time and work full-time, so there might be a good bit of time between chapters. Please R & R!

Hawkeye had a restless night. Not only was he worried about seeing Trapper again, he was also worried about his newly discovered love for Margaret. Even if she did like him, which he was positive she didn't, she wouldn't want him now that he was going blind. What woman would? He had nothing to offer.

The next morning Hawkeye woke up early. He got up and got dresses very slowly. His vision was even worse today than it had ever been before. He realized for the first time that he wasn't going to be able to see everyone before he went completely blind.

Meanwhile, Margaret had met Charles and Trapper John in the lobby of the hotel, and they were discussing Charles' plan from last night. "Do you really think you can pull it off?" Margaret asked.

"Of course I can! Have I ever let you down before?" Charles answered in an offended voice.

"Well, no, I guess not, but I just don't see how you're going to pull this off." Margaret replied.

"Don't worry about a thing, Margaret. I'll make all the arrangements. All you have to do is sit back and relax."

"I'll help with anything you need help with." Trapper said.

"At least let me call Colonel Potter and BJ. Hawkeye hasn't told them yet, and I think it'd be easier on them if I were the one to tell them." Margaret insisted.

"Whatever you want, Margaret. Let them now know that I'll pay for their plane tickets out here, as well as their families, if they want them to come." Charles told her.

"Charles! You'd really do all that for Hawkeye?" Margaret asked, surprised.

"I'm not as cold and heartless as people think I am, Margaret. Of course I'd do that for Hawkeye." Charles scolded.

"I'm sorry, Charles. I didn't think before I spoke." Margaret looked at her watch and gasped. "I've got to go help Hawkeye. He's probably wondering where I am. I was supposed to have met him five minutes ago."

Margaret rushed to the elevator and, when the doors opened, got in.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Charles turned to Trapper. "Will you come with me as soon as breakfast is over? I'd like to start working on the surprise as soon as possible."

"Sure." Trapper agreed.

Once she reached the third floor, which was the same floor their rooms were on, Margaret rushed down the hall to Hawkeye's room. When she reached the door, she knocked on it.

"Come in." Hawkeye called from inside. "It's unlocked."

Margaret opened the door and found Hawkeye sitting on the edge of the bed. "You shouldn't just let someone come in like that without knowing who it is. That's dangerous, Hawkeye."

"I knew it was you. I could tell by your footsteps." Hawkeye replied. "Don't worry; I wouldn't let just anyone come in my room like that."

"You better not. You don't know who it could be."

"Would you be worried about me?" Hawkeye asked.

"Of course I would." Margaret replied, surprised that he'd ask such a question. "I worry about you, Hawkeye." Margaret quickly changed the subject. "Come on, we should go downstairs. Charles is probably wondering where we are." Hawkeye grabbed onto Margaret's arm, and they slowly made their way to the elevator. Once they were inside, Margaret asked softly, "You're vision's getting worse, isn't it."

Hawkeye nodded. "It's getting steadily worse, Margaret." He sighed. "Margaret, I'm not going to be able to visit everyone before I go blind. It's happening too fast."

Margaret heard the sadness in his voice as well as saw it on his face. "I know, Hawkeye. I've known that for a little while now. I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to be able to see everyone before you completely lost your sight. We can still visit people after you go blind, though."

"I know, but it won't be the same."

Before Margaret had a chance to say anything, the elevator opened to the lobby. Margaret led Hawkeye out of the elevator, then quickly took her arm away before Trapper had a chance to see that Hawkeye could no longer walk unless holding on to someone or something to guide him.

Charles and Trapper walked towards Hawkeye and Margaret as soon as they spotted them. Charles hung back a little to give Hawkeye and Trapper a chance to greet each other without an audience. Margaret, following Charles' cue, stepped back and off to the side as soon as Trapper reached Hawkeye.

"Well, Hawkeye, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" Trapper said when he reached Hawkeye.

"It sure has. " Hawkeye agreed. "Too long."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and then they both started talking at once. They stopped talking and Trapper said, "Let me go first, Hawkeye."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry. I should have left you a note. I just didn't know what to say or how to tell you that I was going back to the States. I mean, we'd just lost Henry, who was a good friend of both of ours', and with me leaving, you were about to lose the only other close friend that you had in Korea. I was afraid you'd be mad at me for being sent home. It wasn't right, and I know that's not a very good excuse, but it seemed good at the time. Will you forgive me, Hawk?"

"Look, Trapper, I was hurt when I came back from R & R in Tokyo and found out that I'd just missed you. To top it all off, you hadn't left a not or anything. With having just lost Henry, I was scared that something was going to happen to you too, and I'd never get a chance to say goodbye. I didn't know how to react, so I got mad. I've stayed mad for a long time, but just recently, I realized that it was wrong of me. I'm sorry. I never should have held a grudge against you for that long. Of course I forgive you."

Margaret and Charles walked up to the two friends. "Let's go eat breakfast. You two will have time to catch up later." Margaret suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Hawkeye said. Trapper nodded in agreement.

"All right then, let's go eat. Would you be so kind as to escort me to the table, Hawkeye?' Margaret asked, trying to be subtle about guiding Hawkeye to the table.

Hawkeye caught on. "Certainly." He replied, taking her arm.

Charles and Trapper walked in front of the pair to an empty table in the hotel restaurant. When the waiter brought their menus, Hawkeye realized that he wouldn't be able to read his. Trapper realized it as well, despite Hawkeye's best effort not to show it."

"Hawk, you can't see well enough to read the menu, can you?" Trapper asked.

Hawkeye shook his head. "No, I can't." Hawkeye admitted.

"How bad is your vision, Hawkeye?" Trapper asked, wanting an honest answer. Charles had told Trapper that Hawkeye's vision was getting bad and that he would eventually be blind, but he didn't tell him how bad or when he'd go blind.

"It's bad. They've only given me three more months before I'm completely blind, and that's the absolute most. Now, unless someone is really close to me, I can just barely make out their facial features. There are periods that I have of complete blindness, but they're short and infrequent right now. I'm told that they'll get longer and more frequent as my vision worsens until finally it doesn't go away."

Trapper was speechless. Now he understood why Charles and Margaret wanted to organize the surprise as quickly as possible. There wasn't a whole lot of time left until Hawkeye would go blind. After everyone had finished eating, Trapper made a suggestion. "Charles, I'm sure you have some stuff that you have to work on, and Margaret, I'm sure you'd enjoy some time to yourself, so why don't the two of you go on and Hawkeye and I will spend the day together, if that's alright with you, Hawk."

Charles, Margaret, and Hawkeye all agreed, so Trapper took Hawkeye to the lounge in the hotel and kept him busy so Margaret and Charles could plan the surprise.

As soon as Margaret got back to her room, she looked up Colonel Potter's number and called him.

"Hello?"

"Colonel Potter? This is Margaret."

"Margaret! This is a pleasant surprise. How's everything going working as Hawkeye's nurse there in Crabapple Cove?"

"That's the reason I called, Colonel." Margaret replied.

"Oh? Is something wrong? Did it not work out?"

"There is something wrong, Colonel, but it has nothing to do with that. Hawkeye's going blind, Colonel."

"What?! When did this happen?"

"Well, he first started having problems right before I went to be his nurse. When I arrived, I forced him to go to an optometrist. The report wasn't good. He gave Hawkeye only a year before he's completely blind."

"That poor boy. He must be going crazy."

"That's not the worst of it, Colonel. Hawkeye and I are in Boston. He wants to visit everyone before he goes completely blind, and he asked me to go with him. I agrees, and the first person we visited was Charles. Charles made him get a second opinion. The doctor, Dr. Steven Johnson, is one of the best in the world. He said that Hawkeye only has three months before he's totally blind, and only about two months before he's lost most of his vision."

"How's he handling it?"

"Better than I expected. At first, he got upset, but now he seems to be getting used to the fact. It's so hard to see him like this, Colonel. Knowing that he's had to give up the thing that he loves most is so hard. I can't imagine how he's feeling."

"I wish there were something I could do to help." Colonel Potter said.

"Actually, Colonel, there is something you can do. He's not going to be able to visit everyone before he loses his sight, so Charles, Trapper, and I would like to bring everyone to him. We'd like everyone to be out here by the beginning of next week, if not sooner. Don't sorry about a thing; Charles will pay for your ticket, as well as a ticket for Mrs. Potter, if she'd like to come. Just please get here as soon as possible."

"I'll be there the…wait a minute. Did you just say Trapper? Isn't he the one that left without saying goodbye to Hawkeye?"

"Yes, he is, but he and Hawkeye have made up. So you can come?"

"Yes. I'll get there tomorrow. It will just be me, not the Mrs. She doesn't feel up to traveling right now. She's just getting over a cold."

"I'm so glad you can come! I just hope everyone will be as willing as you are. It's too bad Mrs. Potter can't come as well."

"I know, I'd love for her to meet everyone, but I think it'd be a little too much for Hawkeye if he had to meet everyone's spouse and children right now."

"You're right, Colonel. I never thought about that. I'll let Charles know so he can consider that when he invites people. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Sure thing. Goodbye, Margaret."

"Goodbye, Colonel." Margaret hung up the phone. "Well, one call down, one more to go." she said to herself. After a few minutes, she picked up the phone and dialed BJ's number.

"Hunnicutt Residence, BJ speaking."

"Hi, BJ. It's Margaret."

"Margaret? How are you? It's been forever since I've heard from you!"

"I'm good, BJ. BJ, I didn't call just to talk. I called for a reason. BJ, I need to tell you something."

"What's wrong, Margaret? Are you okay?"

"It's not me, BJ. It's Hawkeye. He's going blind."

"What?!"

"It's true, BJ. He's known for a little while now. I kept telling him to call you, but he refused."

"How is it that you knew about this before I did?"

"I went to Crabapple Cove to apply for a job as a nurse at Hawkeye's clinic. When I got there, it was apparent that he was having trouble with his eyes, so I convinced him to go to an optometrist. After the optometrist examined him, he said that Hawkeye would be totally blind in a year."

"Oh, man. Poor Hawkeye. How's he handling it?"

"He's done really well. He was upset at first, but he's starting to get used to it. But that's not the worse of it, BJ. Hawkeye decided that he wanted to travel around and visit everyone from the 4077th before he became totally blind. He asked me to go with him, and I agreed. We're currently in Boston visiting Charles, our first stop. When we told Charles, he decided that Hawkeye needed a second opinion, so he got him an appointment with one of the best optometrists in the world, Dr. Steven Johnson. Dr. Johnson examined him, and then told him that he has only three months at the most before he's totally blind. He also told him that within two months, he'll have lost almost all of his sight. BJ, he's not going to be able to visit everyone before he goes blind. Charles, Trapper, and I have decided to bring everyone to him so he can see them all before he goes blind. Charles is even offering to pay for everyone's plane tickets. We'd like to have everyone here by the beginning of next week. I already talked to Colonel Potter, and he's flying in tomorrow. Can you come?"

"Of course I'll come, Margaret. I'll be there tomorrow. I do have a question first. Isn't Trapper the guy that I replaced who left without saying goodbye? The one Hawkeye was mad at for so long?"

"Yes, he is, but they've made up."

"Oh, Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Goodbye, Margaret."

"Bye, BJ. See you tomorrow." Margaret hung up the phone and breather a sigh of relief. The two most important people, Colonel Potter and BJ, would both be there for Hawkeye.

Margaret left her hotel room and went down to the lobby to see what progress Charles had made. She looked around for him and finally spotted him sitting in a chair by the front desk. "Any luck, Charles?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Nurses Able and Kelley are both going to be able to come and they're going to contact the rest of the nurses. Father Mulchahy and Klinger are both coming as well. Radar is coming too, as well as Sidney. I think that is everyone." Charles said.

"When are they getting in?" Margaret asked.

"Nurse Kelley is getting in tomorrow morning, and so are Klinger, Radar, and Father Mulchahy. Sidney and Nurse Able are getting in tomorrow afternoon. I don't know about the other nurses yet. Nurses Kelley and Able will call me as soon as they find out. Did you get a hold of the Colonel and Hunnicut?"

"Yes, I did. They're both getting in tomorrow morning." Margaret replied.

"Good. Why don't we plan to surprise Pierce tomorrow evening? That gives everyone enough time to get settled."

"How are we going to keep Hawkeye from finding out? He's going to know something's up if I pawn him off on Trapper again tomorrow."

"Don't worry about a thing. John and I will take care of everything. You just spend tomorrow with Pierce. Keep him busy and away from the hotel if at all possible."

"I can do that. Thanks, Charles. This is going to mean a lot to Hawkeye."

Charles was flustered. "Yes, well, you'd better locate Pierce and John before they get into trouble. I will see you tomorrow evening."