Hawkeye's plane landed in San Francisco shortly before 10:00pm. Thirty minutes later he had his suitcase and was in a rental car headed to the hospital. On the drive to the hospital he wondered what condition he'd find BJ in. Broken bones? Maybe. And Erin had mentioned surgery so there were definitely internal injuries. Was BJ even conscious? He doubted it. For all he knew BJ may have already died from his injuries. No, he thought, best not to think that way.

Arriving at the hospital Hawkeye parked and quickly went inside and up to the ICU ward. He stopped at the nurse's station to inquire what room BJ was in and made his way to the first room on the left. The door was closed. Hawkeye paused briefly taking a few deep breaths before quietly opening the door and walking in.

He stepped up to the bed and finally gazed down at his friend . . . lover . . . ex-lover. BJ had a cut across his forward and his head was wrapped in bandages so only his face was visible. He was a little older but he had finally shaved off his moustache. He was sleeping (in a coma?) but he was breathing on his own (good sign there). They were feeding him a steady flow of pain killers intravenously. Seeing his medical chart Hawkeye picked it up and quickly read it. He had 3 broken ribs, 2 on his right and 1 on his left. One of the ribs had punctured his lung causing internal bleeding hence the surgery along with a couple units of blood. He had also suffered a severe concussion – that seemed to be the biggest issue. BJ had severe swelling around his brain – the doctors had drilled a hole in his skull to relieve the swelling. The concern was whether his motor skills and memory had been affected. His blood pressure readings had been shocky immediately following surgery but were now stabilizing.

Hawkeye slowly sunk down into the chair next to BJ's bed silently watching him. It had been 6 years since Hawkeye had left. Six years since Hawkeye had ended their relationship. It had taken Hawk almost a full year after that before he finally began living again. He wondered how it had been for BJ. Had BJ been as devastated by their break-up as Hawk had been? Had he moved on to greener pastures? Was he seeing someone now (a woman or a man)? Did he even give Hawkeye a passing thought these days?

He wondered about Erin and how she was doing. She obviously didn't hate him or she wouldn't have called him. Why had she called? Life hadn't been easy for her certainly. She had spent the first two years of her life without her dad and when he finally did come home she had her parents together for only a short time before her parents had separated. Peg had left the state with her new husband shortly after he and BJ had become a couple and had not kept in touch with her daughter, leaving BJ a single father. Was Peg back in her life now? Hawk had been in her life too as a parent to her only that hadn't worked out either. Erin had essentially lost 2 parents, not just one. How was Erin faring in all this?

Hawkeye just sat there watching BJ breath. A nurse would come in from time to time to check and record BJ's vitals but other than that it was quiet. Finally around 4:00am Hawkeye dozed off in the chair.

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"Daddy Hawk! Daddy Hawk!"

Hawkeye woke abruptly. Standing in front of him was 16-year-old Erin Hunicutt. She was already about 5'10" – well on her to having some of her father's height. She had a round face with long blond hair, the delicate facial features of her mother and her father's blue eyes.

Hawkeye sat up and opened his arms in an inviting hug. Erin hugged him back fiercely. "I'm so glad you came." She mumbled into his ear.

"I had to." Hawkeye replied. He gently pushed her back studying her. She was a beauty. "Has your dad bought a shot-gun yet?" he asked, his eyes twinkling slightly.

Erin frowned. "Dad buy a shot-gun? Why?" she asked, looking at him strangely.

"To keep the boys away from you that's why!" Hawkeye retorted.

Erin blushed furiously. "Oh please!" She exclaimed.

Hawkeye finally noticed the woman standing a few feet behind Erin. He stood up slowly rubbing the kink out of his neck and stretching. Walking over to her he held his hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Hawkeye. I'm a . . . friend. BJ and I met while serving over in Korea." Was BJ in a relationship with this woman?

Her eyes flickered with recognition when he introduced himself. She took his hand in a brief handshake. "I'm Maggie. I live just down the street. I check in on Erin when BJ has emergency calls. It's nice to meet you. You're the one who lives in Maine right? That's a long way to travel."

"Yeah."

"You used to live with BJ and Erin right? You can stay at the house while you're here – I'm sure BJ wouldn't mind. And it sounds like you and Erin may have some catching up to do."

"Yeah thanks."

Erin moved to the bed to look down at her dad. She leaned down kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Hi Dad. I miss you." She sat in the chair next to his bed lightly running her hand up and down his arm in a gentle caress.

Hawk swallowed. It was good that she still had such a close relationship with her dad. He offered his chair to Maggie and went and stood by the window. The doctor came in about an hour later to check on BJ.

After introducing himself as a fellow doctor Hawkeye asked about BJ's status. They spent the next 5 minutes talking doctor jargon then the doctor left.

"Daddy Hawk . . . is dad going to be okay?" Erin asked.

Hawkeye slowly nodded. "He's breathing on his own which is a good sign and his blood pressure is normal. He's pretty banged up but the doctor thinks your dad will pull through. He's on some heavy pain killers today due to the surgery so he probably won't wake up until tomorrow or the next day."

Erin watched him a minutes perhaps picking up on his hesitation. "What else?" she asked quietly.

Hawkeye looked at her than looked away.

"Daddy Hawk what else? What aren't you telling me?"

"He has a severe concussion, his brain swelled. They had to drill a hole in his skull to relieve the pressure. It's too early for the doctors to tell but it's possible that he may have sustained either temporary or permanent motor loss."

Erin's eyes grew round with fear. "What . . . what does that mean?"

"There's a possibility he may have lost his ability to talk, to walk, and he may have suffered permanent memory loss. There's no way to know until he wakes up."

Erin's eyes welled up with tears. Hawkeye walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her the only comfort he could.

They sat in silence watching BJ. Finally around lunch time Maggie left after Erin assured her she was fine. Hawkeye and Erin spent the day talking about mundane things in between periods of quiet and just watching BJ's steady breathing. Finally about 6:30pm Hawkeye stood up and stretched.

"Erin I'm beat and I didn't really sleep well last night. What do you say we go grab some dinner and head back to the house for some rest?"

Erin nodded and stood up. She went to the bed and leaned over planting a soft kiss on BJ's check. "Goodnight dad. Get some rest and we'll be back tomorrow okay?"

Hawkeye too walked up to the bed. He stood for a moment gazing down at the man he thought he would spend the rest of his life with, not quite sure what to say to him. Finally he reached out and patted him on the arm. "Take care Beej. We'll be back tomorrow morning." One last look and they turned walking out of the room. Neither noticed the slight twitching of BJ's right hand

Fifteen minutes later they were sitting in a small diner eating a light dinner. Neither of them were particularly hungry but knew they needed to eat a little something to keep up their strength.

tbc