CHANGE
Chapter 8
Hawkeye paced in Colonel Potter's office. It was after eight at night on the day that Elizabeth was supposed to be back.
"The convoy should have been back by now. A couple hours ago, really. Where the hell are they?" Hawkeye complained.
Colonel Potter sat behind his desk and BJ sat in a chair next to the stressed-out Hawkeye.
"You're wearing a rut in my floor, son," Potter told him.
He stopped for a moment to open the door to the outer office where Radar sat. He was wearing his headset – waiting for a call to come in.
"Anything, Radar?"
"Nothing yet, Hawkeye."
Hawkeye closed his eyes in silent frustration. Elizabeth should be back by now. While it had only been mere weeks, they had become terrific friends. He should have volunteered to take his turn again. But he didn't.
Sure, there was an underlying sexual tension between the two of them that both chose to ignore. While he could see himself married to the woman for a couple of eternities, her friendship meant more to him. He'd never felt so strongly for a woman.
He ducked back into Potter's office. "We should be doing something. Anything!"
Colonel Potter stood to pour the three of them a drink. That's when the sounds of the helicopters echoed in the distance.
"I think they're playing our song," BJ said.
The men exited the office and waited while the sounds of the helicopters and buses grew closer to them.
All of them spotted Elizabeth a moment later. She was running triage outside one of the buses and she was caked in both mud and blood.
BJ went to assist Klinger carrying a patient while Hawkeye moved to Elizabeth's side.
"You're a sight for sore eyes, Bets, but where is all this blood from?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I've lost track. The convoy I was with hit with sniper fire. This one needs the OR now. Hole in his shoulder and another in the right chest. I packed it before we moved out, but he needs your hands, Hawk."
Hawkeye knew something was wrong – besides the obvious.
"Were you hit?" he asked while he looked her over. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine – fine," she hissed. "He has to go under now if we are going to save him. And the bullet might have shattered his clavicle."
He didn't believe her for a second, but for the time being, he had to because the wounded needed help.
Elizabeth watched Hawkeye move the patient with an orderly and she used the semi-clean back of her hand to wipe the sweat and mud from her forehead.
The convoy had brought in a dozen wounded and another half dozen that hadn't made it through the surprise attack. Elizabeth had been the only medical professional on the convoy; she'd tended to all of them for the duration of the day until the sniper fire had ceased and they could safely move out. And it turned out they were closer to the 4077th.
Elizabeth made herself move and head to the scrub room. She cleaned and scrubbed the best she could, but she'd probably already cross-contaminated everyone while she tried to contain the bleeding wounds.
She jumped in to work in the OR and did the cutting on three of the men she'd brought in without batting an eye.
One of the wounded under Frank's care crashed and they were unable to bring him back. Suddenly the faces of the six men she'd already lost in the field flooded her vision. She'd been doing her best to keep working, but it was overwhelming and her vision clouded with tears. She put the final stitch in the current patient and the tears began to flow. She began to audibly sob and all eyes turned to her.
"Elizabeth? Bets?" Hawkeye called to her but she didn't acknowledge him as she left the OR behind. Her head was hung low and it looked as though she was struggling to hold herself up.
Colonel Potter was the first person to speak.
"Pierce, go check on her. Help her calm down. I'll close up here," he pointed to Hawkeye's patient.
Hawkeye didn't argue; he nodded and dashed from the room while removing his gloves and mask.
"Klinger! Which way did she go?"
"Looked like she was heading to her tent, but I'm not sure. Is she okay?"
"No."
Hawkeye ran to the other end of the camp. He needed to get to her. He ripped open the door to her tent so hard it almost came off its hinges.
He found her staring into space, still covered in dirt and mud. It was caked into her hair and all over her. Tears left clean streaks down her face while she hiccupped uncontrollably.
"Elizabeth? Bets?" he asked cautiously. "Do you mind if I come in?"
She made a small sound, like that of a child. He took it as acknowledgement and walked to her. He pulled her into his arms and she began to fight him.
"No! No!" she shouted while she tried to push him away.
"What's the matter?" Hawkeye asked her. "What happened?"
He was trying to check her for wounds while he held her, but she collapsed into sobs once more, her body shaking.
"Shh, shh. It's okay," he whispered into her ear.
Hawkeye held her for ten minutes and just let her be silent. But he really needed to know what happened.
"Bets, I need you to tell me what happened. Did someone hurt you?"
She shook her head no.
"Why don't we get you cleaned up?" Hawkeye was trying a different approach.
She sobbed again. "I'm so tired and…" she trailed off.
"You can't sleep covered in mud. Come on – let's get you to the showers."
"I don't want…" she started. "I don't want to be alone."
"You won't be alone, honey. Ol' Hawkeye is here. And we'll go to the men's showers and I'll stand guard outside."
"No – I don't want to be left alone." She suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and looked in his eyes. "Don't leave me."
Hawkeye nodded. "I won't. I'll have BJ or Radar stand guard. I'll help you and won't leave you. Let's get you some things."
He stared around the room. Hawkeye had no clue where to begin looking for toiletries. Eventually after opening drawers and her trunk, she pointed him to where she kept a shower caddy of sorts.
"Okay, come on," Hawkeye said as he helped her to her feet and let her use him for support.
"Hawkeye, I just want to go to sleep," Elizabeth said.
"Bets, you need a good shower first; you'll feel better," he said. "I can at least promise an okay shower at this point," Hawkeye told her.
He opened the door with his foot and helped Elizabeth out into the night once more.
BJ was coming out of the OR and spotted the two of them. He rushed over to them.
"How are you?" BJ asked her.
Elizabeth was still quietly staring at her blood-covered boots.
"She doesn't want to talk about it now. I'm going to commandeer the men's showers. Will you stand guard outside?"
BJ nodded. "Of course."
The men helped Elizabeth the rest of the way to the showers and Hawkeye went inside to see if it was empty. He told the two men inside to leave.
"Come on!" one complained. "The women have their own showers!"
"Yeah, doc!" the other one shouted.
"Get out!" Hawkeye said. "I'm not asking."
The two angry and confused corporals dashed out of the building, clutching their towels around themselves.
"You go in and get under the hot water. I'm going to talk with BJ real quick."
She nodded slightly and hesitantly left his side.
"I think she's in shock," Hawkeye said quietly once she'd walked inside.
BJ nodded. "That would be my diagnosis, as well," he told him. "She's not hurt?"
Hawkeye shrugged. "I don't think so, but she won't tell me anything."
"You don't think…?" BJ trailed off.
"I don't know what I think right now, Beej. I should probably go make sure she hasn't drowned in there."
Elizabeth had made it into her shower – her blood and mud-covered fatigues in a pile. But she just stood under the water, not moving.
"Come on," Hawkeye said, climbing into the shower stall next to her. "Get closer to the water. We need to get the mud out of your beautiful hair."
She blinked at him as if she was only noticing him now. "Hawkeye?"
"Yeah, Bets?" he replied as he began to put soap in her hair.
"Thank you."
His long sleeves were becoming soaked, but he didn't care – she needed him.
"Anything for you, Bets."
…
Hawkeye had given Elizabeth a sleeping pill and put her to bed while BJ and he stood guard over her. She was snoring softly before either said anything to each other.
"What do you think happened?" BJ asked.
Hawkeye shook his head, hands on his hips.
"I honestly…I don't know. I tried to check her without making her more uncomfortable, but all the blood was washing off and it didn't look like any of it had come from her. I guess someone could have attacked her, but…"
She whimpered quietly in her sleep and both men turned to look at her. Her face, while still asleep, was frowning.
"I'll go talk with the CO. He came out of the whole thing with just a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. I'll see if he can shed some light on the situation. You all right here?"
Hawkeye sat in the camp chair and crossed his legs. "Yeah," he said as he picked up a magazine that was laying out. "I'm fine."
BJ clapped him on the shoulder and quietly left the tent. He headed straight for post-op.
…
"She was amazing out there, Colonel," the man told them.
He was bandaged and he wore a cast on his left arm, but his free arm was active.
"I know it musta been awful for her…"
"What do you mean?" BJ asked. "What happened to the lady?"
The bullets started coming at us from all directions. She was in the jeep with me and two of my men and we were the second of five vehicles. Well, we wanted to move, but they had us pinned. The lieutenant she was next to covered her, being she was unarmed. He took the both of them down into a ditch full of muck and mud to try and protect her. None of us had seen this coming – things have been quiet for days. We'd even all tossed our helmets in the back so we couldn't reached them. Well, Hemsworth, he got hit – he was the one up front with me – he took a shot to the shoulder. And Kranz, he was down in the ditch with the doc. He climbed out to bring Hemsworth down for the doc to check out and he took a slug to the side of his head. He collapsed back on her and despite getting the wind knocked outta her, she was able to get him off her and she tried so hard. She was covered in blood and the rain had kicked up just long enough to make the mud even worse, but Kranz was gone before she could even start working on him. And she helped every single one of the wounded – we tried to help if we could, but she was a one-woman force and she looked at every single one of the wounded. Would you let her know that I'm going to put her in for a medal for heroism? Not many folks – man or woman – would do that."
Colonel Potter nodded. "You just rest now. Thanks for telling us the tale, son."
He and BJ walked away.
"I think we know why Lizzie's a bit shaken up now, Hunnicut. Pierce is gonna stay with her tonight?"
"That's the plan," BJ said. "That's a hell of a lot to have forced on you, Colonel."
"Well, that woman is made of strong stock, Hunnicut. Don't count her out just yet. Some people just need a bit of time to recuperate."
"I wouldn't dream of underestimating her, Colonel. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd be reacting the same way if I'd been in her combat boots out there."
…
Author's note: What's going through your heads?! Let me know! Too intense? I'd love to know what you're thinking!