I don't own M*A*S*H. This chapter turned out longer than I expected. Please enjoy.
Karen hated other nurses.
Mindless chit-chat and gossip. Neither of which she had any care for. She had no time for all that if she wanted to become a doctor in the future. Her parents would settle for nothing less than perfection.
She read as she ate, barely tasting the disgusting food. Although it was an older textbook, Karen immersed herself in it. She could learn all the techniques from this one book and then she could update herself on new procedures when she got back home. That would put her ahead of her classmates since she left to come to Korea.
It had been the right move, even if it did put her slightly behind in her studies. She wanted to help people as much as she wanted her parents' respect and admiration. This was a win-win in her book.
She checked her watch and realized that she was on post-OP duty in ten minutes. She finished her food and carried her tray out of the mess tent, book tucked firmly under her arm.
It was at this time that she felt the eyes on her.
She quickly swept her eyes over to the nurses table, sure that the 3 women she came in with were gossiping about her and drawing the attention to her. However, the eyes on her were not coming from the nurses. She looked around the room quickly, but didn't notice anyone's eyes on her at this time, despite the fact she could still feel them.
She shook her head. She must be tired from the trip and the hustle of the OR when she arrived. She resolved to take a coffee break during her shift to help her wake up later. She placed her empty tray with the others waiting to be cleaned and walked away from the mess tent, still feeling those eyes on her.
Hawkeye was glad that she hadn't noticed him staring. He didn't want her to know about this sudden growing attraction to her.
She was too young for him and much too serious. She didn't sit with the other nurses and interact with them, instead choosing to sit alone and read an outdated textbook.
He had seen that book when she walked by, recognized it as one they stopped using when he was in medical school. She wasn't going to learn anything from that book.
He took a deep breath and turned his full attention back to BJ, who was still going on about something Peg had written about Erin in her last letter. For a moment, and not for the first time, Hawkeye felt a moment of jealousy for his friend.
He liked the bachelor life, but hearing about the happiness BJ had with his wife and daughter made him wish for the same thing. Not that he would ever admit it.
He already knew that he wasn't cut out for marriage or children. They were just dreams that would never become reality, and he was fine with that.
He stood, cutting BJ off with the reminder that he had Post-OP duty, despite how tired he was. He grabbed a cup of coffee to take with him and started off towards Post-OP, leaving his buddy behind to finish his meal.
Hawkeye pushed BJ's happy life out of his mind and found that his thoughts went back to Karen.
Reading such an outdated textbook would do nothing but deter her in the future. Before he knew it, he redirected course and went to the Swamp. He pulled out his truck and dug down to the bottom to find a medical book he kept there in case of emergencies.
It was a few years old now, but it was closer to what was being done today then what Karen was currently reading. He planned to give it to her after Post-OP duty and carried it with his coffee to Post-OP.
He opened the door and walked in, only to find Karen being filled in by the nurse going off duty.
For a moment he hoped that they were just talking about idle gossip and not work related items. Then he watched as Karen nodded and the other nurse left.
Potter wasted no time catching Hawkeye and quickly updating him on the entire Post-OP and making sure he was ready to get to work. Hawkeye watched as Potter left and he was left alone with Karen in the small Post-OP.
He looked down at the book in his hand and shook his head. What was wrong with him? He is Hawkeye Pierce. He wasn't attracted to brunettes with green eyes. He was attracted to blondes with blue eyes. And yet...
He glanced at Karen as she went about checking the wraps on one of the patients. For some reason he was attracted to this brunette.
He set the book down and went to work, deciding to focus on the patients. He would sort out his strange feelings later. There were more important things to do right now.
Karen smiled at the man in the cot. He was telling her all about his parents back home and how he couldn't wait to get back and see them. She finished changing his bandage as he spoke.
"I'm sure that they are proud of you," she said as she finished. "I know that they can't wait for you to get home either."
"What about you?"
Karen hadn't been expecting him to ask. She should have, but she didn't. She wasn't very good with small talk.
"My parents are waiting for me to come home too."
"Anyone special waiting for you?"
Karen blinked. Special? No. There was no one. Every man her parents had introduced her to weren't interested in her but rather her GPA and how she could help them pass the next test. Once or twice she had fallen for it in high school, but once the test was over they disappeared from her life. She learned her lesson well.
"No, just my parents waiting for me. How about you?"
The soldier shook his head. "Nope, still looking. But maybe you and I could..." He reached over and placed his hand over her's and Karen instantly jumped up.
"Oh! I have to tend to the other patients now," she said smiling. "You just rest now."
The man seemed confused and just nodded before relaxing back onto the cot. Karen turned and moved away from him and to the man in the cot farthest from the one she had just been talking to.
She went to work checking that he didn't need any bandages changed or that the IV was still where it needed to be. She focused on the job to forget what had just happened.
"You know..." she looked up into the blue eyes of Captain Pierce. She had been to busy in OR to notice but now that he was right in front of her she couldn't help but admit he was a very handsome man.
Dark black hair, deep voice and bright blue eyes that sent shivers down her spine. Just him looking at her made her entire body warm.
"You might have hurt his feelings."
Instantly the warm feeling turned hot as anger flooded Karen's veins. She looked back down at the patient, who was still asleep. "He shouldn't be making passes at nurses when he had a fiance back home."
She glanced up at Hawkeye and found he had an eyebrow raised. It didn't help that it just made him more attractive. "How did you know that?"
She looked up at him completely. "Lt. Jacobson from before warned me about him. She said that he's been hitting on every nurse since he woke up yesterday, but before going into surgery he was talking about his fiance back home and wondering how she would handle it if he passed. Now that he's better he doesn't see it that way."
Hawkeye nodded and then smiled at her. Karen felt like she had been knocked back. That smile was so kind and just made her heart thump harder in her chest.
"Well, I guess his feelings aren't too hurt then." He held out his hand. "I know we only met briefly in OR, but I'm Hawkeye."
"Karen," she replied as she took his hand in hers.
Fireworks went off at his touch. Flames filled her veins and her pulse quickened even more. What the hell was going on with her?
She prayed that she wasn't blushing when she let go of Hawkeye's hand. This was silly. He was attractive of course, but she wasn't in Korea to meet a man. She smiled at him and gestured to the patient. "We should get back to work."
Hawkeye looked down at the patient and then back at her, as if he had forgotten where they were. She was sure that wasn't so, based on his skills in the OR she had witnessed. He seemed like the type to take his job seriously.
"Yeah," he said. He looked like he wanted to say something more but instead he stood and moved to make his own rounds.
As soon as he moved out of her sight Karen felt her body relax. She didn't know why she was feeling so tense, but for some reason Hawkeye made her feel that way.
It would be best to ignore it.
Hawkeye couldn't ignore it.
He had held out his hand to introduce himself knowing that she would take it. Then when she did, his whole world shattered and all that kept him grounded was that hand in his. He had even forgotten where he was at the moment.
He knew that this was stupid. She was very pretty, but she wasn't his type.
It was just because she was new. Once he flirted with those 2 new blonde nurses he would be back to normal. This was just because she was a novelty, nothing more than that.
Despite that, he couldn't help sneaking peeks at her all through their shift together.
Then, a new nurse came in to relieve Karen from Post-OP duty. He waited until Karen had finished going over the things with the blonde nurse, one of the new ones, before he approached her with the book.
She was walking outside when he touched her shoulder, drawing her attention back to him.
Even that touch caused his brain to malfunction again. He kept his cool and handed her the textbook.
"I noticed you were reading during lunch and that the book you had was outdated. This one is outdated as well, but it's more up to date than the one you were currently reading."
Karen looked at the book he had handed her with wide eyes before looking back up at him.
"You don't think it's weird for a woman to study medicine?"
He didn't know why this question meant so much to her, but he could tell that it did. Someone must have told her that it was wrong or weird for her to learn in the past.
"No, why would I?"
Then she smiled and the world seemed to become brighter. His chest tightened and he felt warmth fill him. He had made her smile and he allowed himself to feel good about that.
"My parents thought it was a strange choice, thinking I would instead go into teaching like my mother had. I wanted to help in another way." She looked back down at the book and then back at him. "Thanks for the book. I'll return it when I'm done."
She turned and walked away before he could say anything else.
Not that he knew what he would say. That girl had thrown him for a loop and knocked him on his head. He turned back to the Post-OP with a sigh.
The war must be getting to him, making him feel attracted to a young brunette with bright green eyes. That had to be it.
He looked at the blonde nurse looking over the patient chart across the Post-OP and started to her. He just needed to get himself a pretty blonde to forget all about his temporary insanity.