Stepping into the mess tent, Sarah grabbed a tray angrily and walked up to Igor, holding out her tray. "Fill her up, boss." she said glumly. Igor watched her face and smirked a little.
"Hey, it's not all bad…..look, we even have real potatoes today!" Sarah looked at the pale, sickly mush on the tray with disgust, then at Igor. "Ok, ok…they were freeze dried, flaked then had water added to them, but they were real once!" Sarah shook her head.
"Thanks anyways." Turning away, she walked towards where BJ, Col. Potter and Klinger were all talking.
"Aha! The lady approaches!" BJ announced as Sarah approached. "If you had taken any longer to get here, Sarah, I was going to recommend Col. Potter announce you AWOL." The rest of the table chuckled as Sarah sat down with the three.
"You boys picking on the only girl at the table? Looks like she needs a little hand here." Margaret Houlihan walked up to the table, and smirked at the three men, who all look down sheepishly. Taking a seat beside Sarah, Margaret nodded to her. "So, I hear you had yet another run in with the lipless wonder. Anything I can help you with?" Sarah shook her head.
"Margaret, after everything I told you and everything that has happened, you of all people should know that I can handle myself." Sarah smiled as best she could under the circumstances. She couldn't let anyone else know what she was going through. No matter what, she couldn't handle an inquisition by the MP's and the shame of a dishonorable discharge.
"That's what I like to see, Sarah….Stand up for yourself." Col. Potter smiled at her. "Don't let anyone push you around, you should know that we are all behind you and you don't need to feel like an outsider here. Hell Marlowe, we are all outsiders here anyhow, so we all depend on one another." Sarah gave Col. Potter a small smile. He reminded her of her father so much, right down to the farm euphemisms and the military attitude. Especially the way Col. Potter managed to absently hit the problem she was having on the head. BJ eyed her face, raising his eyebrow a little.
"Sarah? You ok? You seem a little preoccupied." He smiled a little. "If this is about our very own Tokyo rose, don't panic…he'll be home by tonight." Sarah started and choked a little on her lunch.
"Tonight?" she bit her lip. "I thought you said he'd be gone for the weekend. I mean…." She cleared her throat. "I can't wait to see him." Klinger smirked at the reaction and shook his head.
"Geez, I haven't seen that much excitement since the last round of flu shots." BJ kept quiet, just watching her. Col. Potter cut in, talking about how the North Korean army and the US military battles were receding from the area and how much easier this would be on the patients and staff of the 4077th; all the while, Sarah just sat back and listened to the talk. She smiled as she watched the four people around her laugh and joke together. In the midst of such hell, they were such a breath of fresh air.
BJ kept looking over at Sarah frowning at the expression on her face; she looked so sullen and quiet. Raising his eyebrow, he excused himself from the table and grabbed Sarah's arm and leaned down to her ear,
"You. Outside. Now" Sarah smiled nervously at everyone, excusing herself as she was dragged away from the table. Once they were outside, BJ let go of Sarah's arm and whirled on her.
"Ok Marlowe, spill it." He crossed his arms and looked at her questioningly, raising an eyebrow. "What's the problem with you lately? It seems that ever since you and Hawkeye had that kiss, you have been distant and upset about something. I want to help you, Sarah , but I can't unless you talk to me." Sarah sighed and shook her head.
"BJ, I can't tell you. Please understand that I want to, but I just can't talk about it." She looked up at BJ and pleadingly. "You need to trust me on this one, Hunnicutt."
BJ frowned and opened his mouth to say more, Sarah placed her hand over it and shook her head.
"Don't BJ. Please. I'll tell you soon…" Sarah let her hand fall to her side and turned to walk away from the worried Captain. "I just can't right now. You have to trust me."
BJ nodded but his expression never changed as she walked away. Something happened between her and Hawkeye, something big. BJ turned and slowly walked back to the mess tent.
Margaret looked up from her tray as BJ returned without Sarah. She looked puzzled. "Is everything alright BJ? Where's Sarah?"
Klinger gave a cheeky smirk. "You really should remember where you left her, we can't have you losing things like this."
BJ gave Klinger a look which stopped his comments immediately. Then, he turned to Margaret. "She went back to her tent." He shrugged. "I don't know."
Col. Potter eyed the two officers and frowned a little. "Something is amiss with our newest addition. Do either of you know what could have caused her to go off her feed like this?"
Margaret shook her head. "She did faint during surgery. Poor kid. She probably feels embarrassed by that."
BJ didn't look convinced. "I don't know. Maybe." He turned to look at the VIP tent and the cruel graffiti still written on Sarah's door.
Col. Potter eyed the blond doctor. "Do you have another theory, Hunnicutt?"
BJ looked back at Col. Potter. "Honestly sir, I am not sure of anything at the moment. I need to wait and talk to Hawkeye when he comes back."
Col. Potter look surprised at this. "Hawkeye? What does he have to do with this whole thing?"
BJ picked up his tray and nodded to Col. Potter and the rest. "Excuse me, I really am not hungry at the moment." He dumped his tray in a nearby trash and left the mess tent.
Col. Potter watched him leave and then looked back at the other two sitting at the table, who looked just as confused as him. "Something smells funny here. And I don't just mean the food." He looked over at Margaret. "Could you go and speak with Sarah, Margaret? She's taken a real shine to you and you can get to the bottom of this faster than Hunnicutt. Klinger or I."
Margaret nodded and quickly finished her lunch. "Right away sir." She picked up her tray and discarded it, then left the mess hall heading to Sarah's tent.