3

Hawkeye had never been more glad to see that camp as he was this morning. After being stranded the night before thinking Radar had been captured or killed in the night, this place looked like heaven on earth. He never thought he had ever smiled so big, until he caught the look on Margaret's face. Then the smile left as quickly as it came.

He ran over to her as she looked like she was about to pass out. Before he could get a word out she told him, "Wounded in post op. We got hit last night with shell fire too."

Hawkeye discovered her bandage and asked, "Are you okay?" The concern in his eyes touched her deeply as he softly asked that.

She nodded and Potter came running over, "What's this I hear about wounded?" Half the camp had come out at the sound, thinking more had arrived and Potter had caught one of the enlisted saying, 'Not again.' The nurses had all come out also and started running in various directions, knowing the drill.

Margaret explained as they all surrounded her. As they walked into Post Op Frank and BJ started assessing those not as serious, the ones she had intended to send out. They immediately got to work. Potter and Hawkeye followed her over to the others. She carefully directed Potter to the ones that were stabilized but not operated on yet and he took over there. Only Hawkeye caught that there was something she didn't want him knowing.

He asked as she lead him to the other two, the ones she had operated on. "So tell me, what is it you don't want him to know about these two."

She took a deep breath and then almost whispered as she handed him the chart, "I operated on them."

"You what?" he asked. He looked shocked and then looked down at the chart.

She tried to explain, "I know I shouldn't have but they came in with chest wounds. They were bad, Michaels had an artery nicked and Edwards had five holes in his left lung and six in his colon. He couldn't breathe. I couldn't get them to the 8063rd without them dying on the way. I tried over and over again to get Dudley and Henderson who left without consulting me back and I tried to get the Aid Station to send cases like this anywhere else, but they got sent here anyway. I didn't know what to do..."

Hawkeye saw she was starting to panic even as she was saying everything softly enough so no one else could hear. He shook his head and told her, "Margaret, you don't need to explain. I get it. I can read this chart. If you hadn't done anything neither of them would be here right now."

Unfortunately Frank Burns overheard their conversation. He spoke up, "Major Houlihan! I'm surprised at you! Ashamed! Are you saying you performed an operation here!" He was almost shouting.

That got Potter and BJ's attention quickly. Before he could say any more Hawkeye told him, "Frank why don't you go find a nice little cut to bandage up and leave the rest of the wounded to us, huh?"

Potter came over at that point and only said, "Margaret, is that true?" The look on his face scared her, but there was really no time to explain. Men were already being taken back into the OR for surgery.

Hawkeye then spoke up, "Sir, I think we should discuss this later. We need to get to these men."

Frank then said in front of all of them, as BJ had now come over to figure out what was going on, shocked that Margaret had done such a thing as well, but acknowledging to himself that he didn't really have all the details. "I think Major Houlihan should be detained in her quarters until the appropriate officials can come and ascertain if a court marshal is in order..."

Hawkeye was livid, "Frank I think you need to go back to the wounded you can handle and leave the real cases to us. Margaret isn't going anywhere..." He took her hand and then walked the two out, "She's assisting me."

They got into the scrub room and she started to change. He peeked behind the curtain just as she walked through it and told her as he followed her to the wash basin, "Listen, the vitals on both of them look good. I've got X-ray orders in now and we'll see how things are. I caught that you closed loosely so I can get back in easily, good work."

She was fighting so hard to keep the emotions at bay, so she could only nod at first. Finally she was able to say, "I hope it was good enough, doctor."

Hawkeye couldn't touch her because they were both sterile now, but he did block her path. He told her, "It was, Margaret. It got them to right now. Without surgery last night, they wouldn't be here. Irregardless of what anyone says, you saved their lives, military protocol be damned."

She nodded and followed him in. It was another 10 more agonizing hours of surgery before it was all over. Hawkeye had shown her as he went back in and double checked things, that all of her sutures were strong. He told her more than once, and loudly enough for all to hear, that he couldn't have done any better. He even cracked a couple of jokes asking when she was going to med school so she could replace him and he could go home, and more than once suggesting that she could replace Frank right now.

As the marathon session went on and on, Margaret was feeling worse and worse. She wouldn't admit it to anyone though. She had to wipe her eyes and forehead more than once and her arm was really starting to ache. On top of all that she was feeling more and more nauseous. She thought that was odd, given that she hadn't even eaten out of the mess tent all day.

After they sent the last one to post op to properly recover, Margaret never thought she had ever been so tired. She sat down behind the curtain and almost feel asleep. Since she had been sent out by Potter, none of the others thought she was still around.

They didn't see her, but she could hear every word of the conversation. Potter's voice was the first she heard, "I'm not saying I'm going to have her court martialed Pierce! I'm just saying I need the facts."

Before he could say anything else Frank spoke up again in that whiny voice of his, "What more facts do you need Colonel? She said so herself that she operated on two men. That's not just a violation of military protocol, but there are ethical considerations here too..."

Hawkeye then piped in much louder, "Ethical considerations?! How is saving lives unethical? What about this war is ethical!? Margaret didn't disobey army regulations for the fun of it Frank, she did it because she didn't have any other options. What was she supposed to do? Huh? We weren't here! The doctors sent to replace us, weren't here! What exactly were she and those soldiers supposed to do? Wait in pre op with a handful of 5 year old magazines and wait for who knows how many hours for a doctor that might arrive? They didn't have that kind of time Frank!"

Frank then said, "How can you of all people condone what she did? She is a nurse, not a doctor. She should have acted as a nurse, not tried to run this camp as if she were in charge..."

BJ then piped in, "If I recall correctly though, Frank, she was the ranking officer last night."

Frank then answered again, "Only because we weren't here, and that's beside the point anyway."

BJ then asked, "I thought you liked Margaret...why are you so against her now?"

Frank then answered smugly, "I do like Margaret, as much as any other officer in this camp. There is no special relationship between the two of us..." Hawkeye, BJ and Potter all looked at each other as if not believing he was trying to sell this again. But he continued, "Therefore I do not think it would be wise for me to try to cover this up. When I Corps finds out that we let a nurse operate on a soldier, we will be feeling the full brunt of their displeasure and I for one, am not going to be held accountable for her actions. I will officially make the request for a court martial if you refuse to do so and at least have that on my record. I won't have this ruin my career." He threw his scrubs in the bin and marched out.

The other three men all left, each voicing their opinion. They never knew Margaret was behind that screen the whole time, virtually in tears, nerves frayed she thought beyond repair. She took a few deep breaths and then slowly made her way to her tent.

Back in Potter's office, Klinger had just sat back down, looking over the paperwork Margaret had left on Radar's desk. He shook his head as he read it. She was taking full responsibility for everyone's actions. Basically she reported that if anything were deemed "inappropriate" she was the sole person responsible, including for the deaths of 3 men, none of which probably could have been saved anyway.

Potter came in with BJ and Hawkeye each explaining as best they could in Margaret's behalf, more or less. Hawkeye seemed to be the most vocal whereas BJ kept saying they needed all the facts.

Potter stopped at the desk and asked Klinger, "Is that the report on last night?"

Klinger really didn't want to give it to him yet. He hedged, but Potter took it anyway and read it over as they three walked into his office. BJ and Hawkeye kept looking at each other but kept silent as the senior officer read to himself.

As he put it down Hawkeye asked, "Well...what does it say?"

Klinger then burst in, "I'm sorry sir, but there is more to what happened last night than what is in that report."

The men looked back at him and Potter motioned to him as they all sat down, "Explain corporal."

Klinger then told them about how Major Houlihan had tried for hours to get help, not just doctors in the camp but patrols to search for them. Then how when everyone seemed to panic at the news of incoming wounded, she kept everyone grounded and showed real leadership. For a moment, and he didn't know why, Hawkeye was extremely proud of her. Then he explained how many times she had him calling other units for support and got nothing, how she had assessed the wounded and determined that operating was the only option. Her initial plan of binding wounds and waiting would only work on so many and they did that on those cases. She only took charge when she had to save the lives of the others and conserve their supply of blood for all those who needed it. He ended with, "She called every two and four star she could and they even blew her off!"

After hearing all this Potter then took a deep breath. "Well, it seems clear to me that she didn't really have any other options, at least according to corporal Klinger. The problem is, I need more than just one statement from one enlisted man..."

Before he could finish Klinger said, "Hold that thought...I'll have Lt. Kellye and Father Mulcahy in here double quick." He then bolted.

Hawkeye and Potter both looked at BJ who had been quiet this whole time, more or less. Potter asked him, "Well, what do you think about all this Hunnicut?"

Hawkeye watched BJ as he shrugged and then said, "I don't know what to think Col. Potter. I know what nurses should do and what they shouldn't. I also know that we live in chaos and sometimes rules and regulations don't make a lot of sense in this chaos. I guess I'm just glad I wasn't in her position last night."

Hawkeye then spoke up, "Look, I think we can agree as doctors, that by looking at those charts, she did the only thing she could. She didn't operate on all of them, only the most serious, the ones that really stood nothing to lose. However, the rest of the men did stand to lose everything if they had run out of whole blood. And given the circumstances with the shelling...I mean its hard enough for us to remain composed in a situation like that and we've got each other for support. She had no one, really that is. I mean...what would have happened if she would have just sat on everyone? Those two men in post op would be dead right now."

Before he could say anything else, Frank Burns walked in. "Three men are dead right now, Pierce." He threw down two charts of his own and one from the morgue detail report as the van had just arrived to pick them up. "How is that going to look Colonel Potter? Huh? We let an unqualified..."

Hawkeye jumped in then and said, "We didn't do anything Frank, remember? We weren't here. She was the only one here."

Frank then butted in again, "Colonel I hope you will take into consideration your ethical responsibility to the integrity of this unit..."

Potter had heard just about enough and hollered, "Enough! I will look over the charts myself. I have Major Houlihan's account of what happened, Corporal Klinger's account..."

Frank interrupted again, "You can't take the word of that pervert..."

Potter continued, "And I expect to have a report from the nurses and Father Mulcahy. Pierce..." He turned to Hawkeye and BJ, "You and BJ go over and bring me everything we have on the all the men Major Houlihan worked on. I also want the men who didn't make it brought into the OR where myself and BJ can conduct autopsies to determine if there was any hint of malpractice."

Before he could finish Hawkeye interrupted this time, "Colonel Potter, you can't hold her to the same standard you do us. She's not a surgeon. She was acting in extreme circumstances."

Frank then chimed in again, "That's what I've been arguing the whole time!"

Hawkeye was about to punch Frank so Potter stepped between the two and said, "Now Pierce!" At that point the two men left.

Father Mulcahy had just received word from Klinger what Frank was trying to do and he was livid. His first thought was of Margaret and he told Klinger, "I'll be in the office in just a minute. You and the nurses go on ahead. I want to check on the major first." They all agreed and left him. Kellye especially was angry about what she had heard Frank Burns was trying to do.

Father Mulcahy tapped lightly on Margaret's tent door. "Major, I hate to disturb you..."

The door slowly opened and he had never seen Margaret look as devastated as she did at that moment. She told him as she tried to compose herself, "Not at all Father, please come in."

The two walked in and he could see where she had tried to hide tissues under her blanket. She sat down on her cot and he sat in the chair. He wasn't quite sure what to say so just went with the first thing that came to mind. He took off his hat, "Major I understand that Major Burns has expressed some concern over the activities of last night..."

She chuckled for a second which caught him by surprise, "Expressed some concern?" she asked. "Don't you mean he's trying to get a court martial started at this very minute." She then just shook her head, which was starting to pound more and more.

Mulcahy then asked, "Major, are you feeling alright? You don't look all that well yourself."

Margaret answered, "I'm just tired that's all. Have you talked to Colonel Potter yet?"

Mulcahy answered, "No, uh not yet. I was on my way but I wanted to check on you first. I still think you should be proud of what you did, how you lead us last night. I have no idea what Major Burns is trying to accomplish here, but no matter military protocol, you did the right thing as far as I am concerned."

Margaret smiled and then told him, "Thank you for that." She then inhaled and stood up saying, "If you don't mind I should probably go with you. I want to make sure no one, not even you takes any punishment for anything that happened. I was the one in command and you along with everyone else were following my orders."

He nodded and the two left. They encountered Potter, Frank along with Klinger and Lt. Kellye in the office. Kellye was explaining, "Sir, I've never seen anyone take charge and do what she did for us last night." She then pointed angrily at Burns and said, "And you! You wouldn't have known what to if you had a manual sitting right in front of you last night! She went by the book and she tried to get help but no one would listen!" Her voice was rising. "If it weren't for her this whole camp would have fallen apart! And I know she did a hell of a lot better job than you could and she probably did the same in the operating room!"

Frank jumped up and then shouted at her, "Insubordination! How dare you speak to superior officer like that!"

Kellye didn't back down, "We were under attack! Everyone was scared and terrified and she went out in that to bring more wounded in and got wounded herself!"

Before she could say anymore Potter interrupted, "Wounded? Major Houlihan was wounded?" He now looked much more concerned as he walked around the desk.

Kellye explained, "Yes, she was. A shell hit close to the mess tent where a private was sitting. She ran out, in the line of fire and brought him into pre op to be treated, but not before another shell went off and she took 8 fragments in her arm." She then gestured to Potter as to where the fragments landed on her arm.

Frank then asked, "How do you know she really took shell fragments. She could have just been making that up to cover for what she was really doing, operating, way out of line."

Kellye then said, "I know she wasn't faking anything. I..." she was pointing to herself vigorously, "pulled each one out. She wouldn't even take a local or any pain medication other than aspirin because she didn't want to deprive the wounded and they were in deep too."

Potter then put his hand up in front of Frank before he could say anything else. "Alright now...Lt. Kellye is that your official statement on what happened last night?" Kellye nodded and he continued, "Fine, type it up and turn it in, in the morning."

As she left the room she told Frank, "If so much as one red mark lands in her file for this, rest assured that what Hawkeye Pierce has done to you in the past will pale in comparison to what us nurses will do to you."

As she left Margaret and Mulcahy walked in. Mulcahy took off his hat again and said after opening the door for Margaret to go into Potter's office, "You wanted to see us, sir?"

Frank spoke up again, "Not both of you, just you Father. Major Houlihan should wait outside."

They both looked at Potter who nodded sadly and she left. As she went into the outer office she sat down on Radar's cot. At that point he and Klinger came in. Klinger asked her, "Are you alright major?"

She was lost in thought and barely caught that he asked her something and nodded, "Yes, corporal, I'm fine, sorry. How are the wounded in post op?"

Radar then answered, "Ah, just fine, ma'am. We were just making notes for Captains Hunnicut and Pierce on all the soldiers in there. They told us to write all this down to give to Colonel Potter, but he's busy now."

Margaret nodded and said, "Yes, he is. He is in right now with Father Mulcahy and Major Burns." Radar's sixth sense still amazed her in some ways.

Klinger asked, "Do you want anything, major?"

She still seemed dazed but looked up at him, "What?"

Radar and Klinger looked at each other, she didn't really seem well to them at all. Klinger repeated himself, "Do you want anything, any coffee or orange juice? I hear 1948 was a good year for powdered orange juice."

She chuckled and answered, "No corporal, but thank you for asking."

They could then hear loud voices coming out of the office. It was rare that Mulcahy raised his voice but he was so angry, "I am acrimonious! I cannot believe for one second what you are implying Major Burns! That woman..." He pointed into the outer office, "held this camp together in the midst of utter destruction! She worked tirelessly, forsaking her own health to see that others were taken care of. I cannot believe you would accuse her of grandstanding and acting in an improper manner. I can assure you that it is highly improper for a priest to hit another human being, but if you want to see improper, I can show you improper!" Potter had to jump between the two as Mulcahy almost punched Frank out himself.

At that point Radar and Klinger were up against the door. Margaret was too tired and achy now to even move much so she just sat there. BJ and Hawkeye came in with more charts, or copies that is and didn't even see her.

BJ said, "Ah, excuse us fellas," as they broke between the two. "Colonel we have the files right here if you want to look them over."

Mulcahy seemed to calm down then and Potter asked, "Well, leave them on the desk. Are the three unfortunate soldiers ready in OR?"

Hawkeye then told them, "Yes they are Colonel and I can tell you by just looking at one, there was no way any of us could have saved him. He took a shot to the head, grey matter was all around the exit wound."

Potter took a deep breath and then said, "Ok, BJ, you ready?"

Frank then said, "I'm sorry, but I must object. Hunnicut is a friend of Margaret's. He can't be objective..."

Before he could say much more all the men were arguing again. Radar and Klinger were watching in the window. Margaret silently got up and walked out the door. The last thing she heard was Frank saying, "They died anyway! If anything she only prolonged their suffering!" It was now 11pm again, about 24 hours since this whole nightmare had started. She had never slept, never ate really, but had thrown up twice. She also had wounds in her arm that were beyond achy and just made her feel bad all over. She only whispered softly that she needed some air. Radar more or less nodded back and she left. She began walking, but went past her tent and out of the camp.