Chapter Two

Flashback continued...

Father Mulcahy hurried across the compound, not easy to do as the wind was blowing rather hard. He'd been preparing his sermon for the next day when Margaret Houlihan had sent word he was needed. Being in such a hurry, Father Mulcahy failed to see the new nurse that had recently been assigned to the M.A.S.H. 4077. By the time he did, she was landing on the ground below her.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Father Mulcahy reached down and took a hold of her hand, helping her up as he did so. "I usually pay better attention than that. Are you all right?" He looked at the young black haired nurse closely. He'd hate the thought she'd been hurt when she fell.

"I'm fine, father." Nurse Ellen Chapin brushed the dirt off her pants and smiled. "I missed the mud." She nodded to a nearby puddle which remained from the previous day. "Where are you going in such a hurry anyway?" Since arriving at the unit, Ellen had been very observant of the people she worked with, including the good father that served among them. She had never seen him in such a rush before.

"I was told I was needed in the O.R." Father Mulcahy explained.

Ellen sighed. She'd just come from the O.R. and knew full well why the priest had been sent for. "There's no need to rush now. A young soldier wanted to speak to you before they operated on him only…" her voice broke and she looked away.

Francis Mulcahy felt a pit in his stomach. He didn't need the nurse to tell him what had happened. He let out a sigh. "I best still go. He'll need the last rites administered to him or," he asked as he looked at Ellen, "was he even Catholic?"

She nodded. "He said he was."

"I best go then." Father Mulcahy said as he excused himself and started to leave only to have Ellen speak up.

"Will you be free later? I was hoping to talk to you in private."

Father Mulcahy was surprised to hear Ellen say that as she was not Catholic and had, on the few occasions she needed to talk, had always turned to one of the other nurses. Rumor even had it she'd managed to get past Margaret's shell and had some heart to heart talks with her. Of course, that was only rumor and Ellen had neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. "Sure, I'll see you as soon as I go give the young soldier the last rites. If you want, you can wait for me in my tent." Realizing what he's just said, the good father blushed, before nervously adding. "It is very common for people to wait for me, so we can talk in private. It's hard to get any of that, privacy that is, around here."

Ellen understood that all too well; she nodded and headed for his tent. As she walked she saw BJ and Hawkeye, along with some others, laughing and talking. She couldn't help but shake her head. Hawkeye had tried to get her to go on a date with him, tried for the first month she'd been there, until she finally had to put her foot down and tell him she just wasn't interested in anything but a friendship. Though, truth be told, she did pray for the day he found someone he could love enough to stop bouncing from one woman to the other.

As much as she might have liked to, Ellen did not linger in the compound as she walked to the good father's tent and stepped inside. She looked around. When she looked upon the books he had sitting next to his bed; Ellen had to give the priest credit. He had good taste when it came to reading material. Knowing she really had no business snooping around, Elle sat down on a chair and waited until Father Mulcahy walked in the door.

"What can I do for you?" he asked as he pulled the chair that sat next to his 'desk' out and sat down.

Ellen, who was rather nervous, almost apologized for bothering him as she thought about just leaving only she didn't. Instead she took a deep breath and asked, "If you knew someone who was thinking to enter the priesthood and you were thoroughly convinced they were making the biggest mistake of their life, would you say something or not?"

Father Mulcahy thought back on the many men he'd known through the years. There had definitely been those he could not see being in the priesthood; still, the choice was theirs not his. "I assume you know someone in this position?" He looked questionably upon his visitor.

Ellen nodded as she stood up and walked to the side of his tent and then turned around. "I come from a rather large family, father. If I told you how many brothers and sisters I have, I'm sure you'd have heart failure. The thing is while my father was born a Methodist, he's not active in his faith and mother is Catholic. We were all raised Catholic it's just that," she chuckled, "some of us found our way back to the Methodists." She shrugged her shoulders and continued. "I have one brother who has been a priest for awhile now and I have no problem with it. His heart is in it and he does his best. But, my youngest brother," she shook her head as she sat back down, "well, put it this way. If Hawkeye walked in here and told you he was converting to Catholicism and entering the priesthood what would you do?"

Father Mulcahy couldn't help it. He started roaring with laughter. Just the picture of Benjamin Franklin Pierce in the clothes of a priest and turning away a good looking woman was just too much. He fought to get control of his laughter, not easy to do as Ellen had joined in his laughter. However, he was finally able to do so. "Your brother's like Hawkeye?"

Ellen shrugged her shoulders and answered, "He might not flirt as much as Hawkeye, but yes, that man had had more girlfriends than I care to count. On top of that, like Hawkeye, he has a hard time with obeying those who he disagrees with, even those who have authority over him. Besides, my baby brother always dreamed of getting his own mechanic shop and having a family. I can't see anything in his life that would explain the sudden change. He wants my support, but every time I try to write, I can't seem to do it."

"For the sake of your brother, you need to give him the support and," Father Mulcahy sighed, "be there to catch him if he falls. Which, if he's not entering the priesthood for the right reasons, he will do, fall that is."

Ellen nodded and stood up. "Thanks, father."

"No problem," Father Mulcahy smiled. "Come by anytime. The door's open anytime. If it makes you more comfortable, we can eve go on small walks where we can talk privately without being alone here. Either way, the door is always open." He said that because he'd seen how uncomfortable she'd been in his tent with it being just the two of them.

End Flashback...

Father Mulcahy stopped talking and looked at Colonel Potter with a look that was just as confused as his feelings were. "When I told her I'd be there for her anytime, neither one of us thought anything of it. We never dreamt…." His voice trailed off as his mind once again turned back the pages of time while Colonel Potter simply waited for the good priest to continue.