After Charles had left Hawkeye, he began taking the long route back to his office. It involved two going up not just one, but two separate elevators. Once he had finally arrived on the top floor of the hospital – that's where the head administers offices were – he had to walk down an endless maze of corridors until he reached his office. Much to his displeasure, his designated space just happened to be situated in the furthest corner from the elevator.
He hated the journey. To him, it seemed brutish and entirely unnecessary. If he knew what dunderhead designed the layout of the hospital, he'd write a rather vulgar anonymous letter in a heartbeat.
As Charles stood waiting for the first of the elevators he needed to take to arrive, a familiar face in a white lab coat showed up beside him.
"Dr. Winchester," the man greeted.
"Dr. McIntyre," Charles begrudgingly acknowledged Trapper's presence.
Since Margaret and Trapper had gotten married in the Fall of 59'; Charles made the effort to try and get o know Trapper a bit. He really did not care for the man at all. If it were up to him, he wouldn't have a single thing to do Trapper. However, Charles was still good friends with Margaret, so to keep the peace he put his opinion of on the backburner.
"What are you doing around here at this time of day? It's nearly 5:30pm. I thought that you'd be home enjoying whatever fancy meal the kitchen staff at your manor prepared for you by now." Trapper said, in an attempt to initiate some small talk.
Charles glanced over his shoulder at Trapper. The usual smugness that was present on the doctor's face ignited a fiery rage inside of Charles. The total cluelessness about the fact that his former best friend was wasting away in a hospital bed also added to the fire.
On a typical day, Charles could find it within himself to ignore Trapper's smugness, and at times rather nasty temper. He was able to look past Trapper's crude and boorish nature for short intervals at a time.
But this wasn't a typical day…
"I was unaware, Dr. McIntyre, that my schedule was your concern. Moreover, my diet and the food that is prepared for me at home is definitely none of business." Charles seethed, feeling his blood pressure rise by the second.
"Yeesh, somebody is a bit testy today," Trapper commented in return while shaking his head in annoyance.
"Testy? No, I am far from testy," Charles narrowed his eyes as he stared down Trapper.
"Seems to me like you are, Charles."
"Hah!" Charles sardonically boomed. "I am in fact quite depressed today, thanks to a tragic circumstance if you must know. In the present however, your sheer ignorance and lack of compassion for your fellow man is what is driving me mad!"
Trapper's eyes darkened with fury. He straightened up his posture and puffed out his chest slightly before asking, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that the man whom you used to refer to as your best friend, is in fact in this hospital, lying on his deathbed." Charles temper was functioning at its peak velocity, so he continued to steam on ahead, "Do really you have no regrets about how you decided just to cut open Margaret and Hawkeye's marriage and tear it apart like a rabid dog? Do you have any idea what kind of torment your actions have brought him? Yes, Pierce has done some deplorable things after he lost Margaret to you. Despite his actions which, I must note – were brought about by the disease he has paid his life for – he deserves to hear an apology from you! No, you did not physically shove the bottle in his hand and force him to drink himself to death. Your own selfishness and lack of general respect for the feelings of Hawkeye did contribute deeply to the unraveling of an extraordinary human being. If you have at least an ounce of decency within your calloused soul; you will think about what I've said. Maybe, just maybe you'd even do something to try and ratify the hurt you've caused Hawkeye while there is still time left."
Having said his piece, Charles then spun around on his heels and headed back down the hallway from where he came.
He didn't need to hear Trapper's enviably bigoted rebuttal; it would simply be a waste of precious time.
As Charles descended down the numerous sets of stairs that led to the parking garage; he decided that he would just call his secretary from home, to let her know that all of his appointments and surgeries needed to be cancelled for the next few days. After that, he would take a quick shower and change into some fresh clothes, before returning to help see his old Swampmate through his final days.
He was a Winchester, and Winchester's never fail to help out a friend in need.
Hawkeye, in fact, did not get one wink of sleep. He really could not believe that Sidney had read his letter, and actually flown to Boston to see him.
About twenty minutes after Charles had left his room; Hawkeye found himself looking upon the weary face of an old friend. He could see that Sidney was taken aback by the severe deterioration of his physical appearance, by how wide Sidney's eyes became as he halted in the doorway.
After a second, Sidney quickly got over his shock and regained his usual good-natured composure. As he walked towards Hawkeye's bed, he shook his head. In his usual exuberant, yet serious tone he remarked, "Do you really think that I wouldn't drag myself all the way out here for you?"
A deep chuckle emerged from Hawkeye's throat. He weakly patted edge of his bed, beckoning Sidney to sit down.
"Stop your griping and lose that overcoat and hat already," Hawkeye referred to the grey wool coat, and black tweed fedora that Sidney was sporting.
"I'd thought you'd never ask," Sidney smirked as he shed his heavy winter overcoat and placed it on a hook beside Hawkeye's bed. After placing his hat on the bed stand by Hawkeye's head, Sidney took a seat on the edge of the bed.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't be here for you?" Sidney didn't give Hawkeye a chance to answer as he quickly added on, "Come on, Hawkeye. After all the good and bad times we've been through together, I'd be a lousy friend if I let you leave this world feeling all alone. I know how guilty you feel, but like I said countless times before – anybody with a brain would realize that it was a disease that made you hurt the people you love. You – the real Hawkeye Pierce – would never in a million years intentionally harm those whom you care about the most."
Sidney's statement made Hawkeye feel like an enormous weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. First Bigelow, then Charles, and now Sidney… Maybe he wasn't going to end up in hell after all.
"You really believe that Sid – Because I've come to find that I don't know what I am and am not capable of anymore." Hawkeye still felt reluctant to believe him.
"Of course I do you louse," Sidney chuckled. "Now then, has Charles stopped by yet? He called me in quite the frantic panic yesterday, wondering if I knew where you were. He said that he had received a very touching letter from you. When I told him that you basically a few hundred yards away from him, he thanked me and hung up the phone so fast that I could have sworn his pants were on fire."
"On the level, Sid?" Hawkeye asked as he furrowed his brow. He wanted to make sure that Sidney wasn't joking.
"It's the truth!"
"Winchester," Hawkeye chuckled as he shook his head, "he has barely changed a bit!"
"How so?" Sidney was curious as to his meaning.
"He told me that he had found me all by himself. Boy, some people can never admit that they sometimes need to rely on the knowledge of others." Hawkeye commented.
"Well, maybe." Sidney casually shrugged his shoulders, "I think that Winchester is a special case. His ego and his subconscious desire to be a normal human being collide so much, that at the end of the day, everything balances out. Otherwise, I think that you and Hunnicutt would have clobbered him years ago in Korea."
"Hah," Hawkeye snorted, "You're sure right about that one."
"So, I believe that you mention that you wanted my help writing some letters. You only have BJ and Margaret left, if I recall correctly?"
The heavy feeling of bearing the knowledge that he wasn't long for the world, quickly returned to Hawkeye. With a sigh, he replied, "That's right."
"Okay, let me just grab my notepad and pen," Sidney said his most soothing, clinical voice.
After rooting through his coat pockets and finding the necessary supplies, Sidney resumed his original position on the bed.
"So, who will it be to first?"
Hawkeye sighed sadly and took a second before he made up his mind, "I think that I want to write to Beej first."
"Alright then, how do you want to start?"
"Well here goes nothing…" Hawkeye mumbled aside to himself. He then began to dictate to Sidney, "To the one whom I love…"
A/N: Well I lied. After this there will be three more chapters now! I hope this wasn't too dull :/ I just felt that an interlude was necessary before we get into the heavy content of Hawkeye writing to BJ and Margaret.