Her gaze barely left the tent door for the past half hour, awaiting a man that would decide her fate. Her career, her life even, was in his man's hands and nobody could stop him from utterly destroying her, tearing her from limb to limb, just as she had done to so many before. And somehow, Margaret Houlihan knew that this was her due, but did not expect it to be this bad.
For Margaret, though, there was some hope, even if she was due in Seoul in four days, pending a trial that would probably kill her, body and soul. Oh, she had heard some more news from the outside world (much more than her life ending, just three days after being arrested), some words here and there that her captors had said that perked her ears and made her excited or sad. There was always the camp business, busy as usual, although more and more people have been accused along with her and trapped inside their own tents, allowed the liberties that she doesn't have. And then, there was that fire, so odd in a place like this, especially when it was whispered to be intentional…
Margaret, chained to her bed, sighed, turning back towards the one place that allowed her to dream and wonder: her window. She could glance out of the blurry, plastic panes, wondering how life was going on without her around, the bossiest one in the unit. There was no authority figure over the nurses, no one to push the men into shape and most certainly no woman to show that she could do it better than any man could.
Of course, things could be better. For Margaret, as a prisoner, the food and coffee were a little better (albeit, she had fewer meals), even with a Red Cross package due to her. She felt all of her responsibility drain from her, as if it was a relief to be rid of her title as head nurse, but slapped herself because she thought of shirking her duties. And, of course, Major Floyd had promised clemency again and again when he came to see Margaret, especially if she confessed, signing on the dotted line that this person and that had helped her in this new conspiracy that he seemed to be making up. It seemed a lot larger than just the simple murder of an annoying nurse, but then again, it was evolving into the murder of Sergeant Church and some others that Margaret had no idea existed, only being told that they were US spies, hired by the government.
Sharply whipping her head back from the window to face her door, Margaret shook her head in shame. I blamed Hawkeye, to get Major Floyd to stop harassing me. I can't agree to sign away everybody else's lives too.
Outside, her guards suddenly laughed about something, as if mocking her misery. Then, one complained about the hot weather and the dead bodies that stank, seeing as how Grave Registry hadn't picked them up yet because the unit seemed to be taboo at the moment. The other reminded him to shut up because Major Floyd had ears and eyes everything, surely knowing when his subordinate was whining about his job.
"Remember, you could easily be removed back to the front," the second man reminded him.
Margaret gritted her teeth together in frustration, trying hard to not yell. How dare they mock those at the front lines, like it was a terrible thing to go there? Those men have been the body and soul of this war, their sacrifices the most that they can offer!
"Hey, think we can, you know…ask Major Floyd if fraternizing with the prisoner would be against regulations?" the whiner asked his companion, laughing again as he did.
"Probably," the second replied jokingly. "I'm sure we'll get down to the nitty gritty, if he allowed us to. I mean, is that blonde head really blonde? Or does she dye it every night? I heard some rumors around this camp that would make your own head whirl!"
Both of them laughed once more, infuriating Margaret further. However, their merriment died down quickly. Things sounded as if they were dropped suddenly and the two guards were soon stuttering like idiots. Margaret assumed that Major Floyd caught them goofing off and was being saluted with excuses on their lips, to boot.
"Have any of you checked on Major Houlihan in the last hour?" Major Floyd asked them. "The regulations, as you recall, order that the prisoner be accounted for every hour. If not…"
Floyd let his sentence trail, to let the two guards explain themselves.
"Well, I made sure she was in there 'bout half an hour ago," the whiner said. "She was in there, all right, but she kept staring out of her window. You know…the plastic cover thing?"
"And she was there half an hour before that," the second added. "I took her lunch in and waited the fifteen minutes and took her tray out. She's eaten her meal."
"Is she still chained and unarmed?" Floyd then asked, his foot tapping being heard by Margaret.
"Yes, Sir," both exclaimed.
"Good, good…now, here are the new orders, just in from Seoul. While Major Houlihan was supposed to have four days to contemplate her deeds, Headquarters wants her in sooner than that. They want her locked up and on trial in three days, so in two they want her in their clutches. That'll give us the time we need to round up the rest of her stupid conspirators and try them too. In the meantime, we have to wait for Wright and Wellington to call back from Tokyo. Claus Schultz was shot and is in critical condition at Tokyo General. Nurse Curtis herself, that sniffling bitch, is keeping us out and won't let us in on his condition after telling them that."
"So, Major, we're trying to accuse her sister too?" the whiner asked, sounding stupid as he did.
"If I can make the charges stick, I will. I hate that woman with a passion. She's been a hindrance to this investigation and I'm sure as hell that she helped Corporal Klinger and Captain Pierce escape the first time around, when Wright and Wellington's men caught them in Tokyo. I'm also pretty sure that she also has been hiding Claus Schultz this whole time."
"Who's Claus Schultz though?" The second man sounded confused, like he forgot what Floyd was talking about concerning Winifred Curtis' husband. "I thought you said that he was the murdered nurse's hubby there. Isn't he the one that was saying that we should look elsewhere other than the 4077th?"
Floyd was impatient, losing his temper on the second man. Margaret flinched as she heard a smack sound and then a man's soft whimpering.
"You will not put that on report," Floyd growled, most likely at his two guards and not just the one that was hit. "Do you understand me? Seoul believes that Major Houlihan and her company did the deed because I found the evidence, so we should believe that too. We follow no other leads. Is that clear, you two?"
"Yes, Sir," the whiner replied.
There was silence afterward, as if the second man was in no mood to deal with Major Floyd. From her position, Margaret thought that, perhaps, the man himself did not like his superior. Regular Army that she was, Margaret could understand a little that to serve a man like that was to serve a brute. Even she could not imagine being under Major Floyd's thumb.
"Gaines? I didn't hear anything from you. I only heard Pyle here say something." Floyd grumbled something else under his breath, obviously irritated, but Margaret could not hear what it was.
"Yes, Sir," the man named Gaines mumbled, a volume barely enough for Margaret to hear. "I won't put this on report. I'll guard Major Houlihan and do whatever else you say, just as I was ordered to."
"Good, good. Now, quit fooling around and stand at attention. Even if you don't act like soldiers, at least look like them." Floyd snickered, but then caught himself, knowing that he was behaving unmilitary in front of his men. "Now, have any of you heard anything about Major Winchester, Captain Hunnicutt and Nurse Kellye?"
"Other than they escaped during the fire?" Pyle asked in his usual high-pitched voice. "No, Sir. I haven't heard anything."
"Me neither, Sir," Gaines offered humbly. "Major, is it possible that the checkpoints from here to the coasts had no description of the people in question? All of the mentioned that everybody had their paperwork in order and that there was nothing suspicious. Only thing that had them concerned was a nurse in the back seat of a jeep. All of them said that two doctors claimed that she was sick and that she had to get to another unit and then to Tokyo for evaluation."
"And what was the name of the two doctors?" Floyd tapped his fingers against Margaret's door inanely. "Like you mentioned that they should do, they should have a description of the three, am I right?"
"Well, we're still waiting on an answer, Sir."
Floyd struck again. This time, his slap sounded like it was harder, a sickening thud almost. It made Margaret almost gasp, wanting to help the man, even if he was her sentry. However much she did, though, there was always that good, warm feeling inside of her, telling her that it was Charles, BJ and Kellye, on the way to help Hawkeye in Tokyo, where she heard he headed to as soon as he could.
But he's been captured with Klinger. Who knows if they found anything? Margaret sighed. What good would that to for those three, though, other than making them look guilty?
"What is our case going to be looking like in Seoul if we don't have these answers?!" Floyd yelled at his men, probably loud enough that they heard him from the latrines at the edge of the camp. "When you two are off duty, make sure to contact those checkpoints and get your answers. Check Kimpo, Tokyo and Guam as well. Don't wait for them to call back. And that's an order!"
"Yes, Sir!" Gaines and Pyle responded simultaneously.
"Oh, and one more thing," Floyd added, sounding like he was leaving already. "I have an arrest warrant for one Father Mulcahy, who I'm convinced took down Sergeant Church, the same way Major Houlihan and her gang took down our very own Nurse Curtis. Colonel Potter says that he's at some orphanage some miles down the road and won't be back until tomorrow afternoon. After you've talked to those MP's from here to the coast about our three prisoners, tell them to detain the priest. One of you can pick him up when we know he's been stopped."
"Yes, Sir!" both Pyle and Gaines said again.
Floyd didn't say another word, so Margaret assumed that he left. Even without him interrogating her again, taunting her night and day, she still felt a shiver come up her back and it wasn't only for herself and her friends. As far as she knew, BJ, Charles and Kellye had been accused along with her false confession of Hawkeye. Klinger was automatically added in the mix because he became an accessory to murders that none of them committed.
Who else might be accused along with us? Would they even stoop down low enough and accuse Colonel Potter?
Margaret soon turned back to the sunshine of her window, feeling the summer warmth. For her, it may be the only comfort left to her, even as her friends and co-workers here in Korea are arrested left and right. It may be her only way to escape from the danger and horror that they've all experienced thus far, even if war seemed far more horrific than this.
God, if you're out there, please help us, Margaret prayed silently as she stared up at the summer skies. I know that I'm not one to communicate with you and we're not so well acquainted as we used to be, but please, listen to me, for my sake. Please help us get out of this, with everyone proclaimed innocent. Please help us find who really murdered these people and expose him or her soon. I cannot stand it here any longer…