Chapter 32

"Captain Pierce!" I heard Klinger's voice before I had even opened the door to the Swamp. I turned to see the most amazingly mismatched fashion atrocities on Klinger. And the stench was awful. For someone from Toledo, he sure had a real intolerance for cold weather. I wondered how he survived there during winters.

"Yes, my beaky prince?"

"Col. Potter wants to see you. Pronto."

"What happened to your dress sense? You look like The-Scarlet-Pimpernel-meets-Teddy Hesh."

"I am on garbage duty..."

"So you decided to put some on to blend in? I can smell some rotten fish and spinach mixed with dried leaves and...potatoes, yes. Nice perfume! Mulch a la Sewer! Starting your own line, I presume!"

"Very nice, Hawkeye! While you sit in your cozy tent, I am freezing my ass out there and need all the warmth I can get. My nose is frozen."

"Its size rules out any effective circulation." I smiled mischievously, "Hey! Thats what they told us in Med school, alright!" I raised my hands as I saw his expressions.

"You are wanted and the old man is not in one of his best moods. I have to go get some chow before going back to the dump. Don't know which is worse." He mumbled something in Arabic while waving his arms around.

I entered the outer office and say Radar's back disappearing into Col.'s office so I naturally followed him in.

"...Cap'n Pierce here to see you sir!"

"Send him in. I really need to set him...Aha, so you are already in. Dismissed."

Radar stayed while I turned about face and started leaving.

"PIERCE! I am not in the mood for cute. Radar, I need to speak with the captain. ALONE. No physical for the wall and no interruptions. If there is anything you need to know, I am sure the Captain will gladly disregard my advice and fill you in. Dismissed!"

This sounded bad.

"I did not do it!" Sprawling on one of the chairs while putting up my legs on another, I spoke as soon as Radar left the office and Col. Potter returned to his paper work.

"I know!"

"You do?"

"Yes!"

"Then what am I doing here? I hate detention. Personally, I prefer suspension over detention." I got up to leave.

"SIT DOWN, PIERCE. And stop horsing around! I know you have been in detention long enough. I have no intention of putting you back in there any longer than necessary. That's not what I called you for."

"OK. You have my extremely divided and fleetingly sketchy attention now. Could you stop being Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes at the same time? The suspense is killing me, not that it needs any hard work right now."

"Frank was here earlier."

"The prodigal son!"

"I did not hear that. I made a personal request for you to go easy on him not so long ago. Why do I have to keep reminding you of that request again and again?"

"He was trying to grope me!"

"PIERCE! I did not hear that either. I need you back in the OR sooner than you would want. We are expecting a heavy pre-Christmas push in more than one sectors and that would mean a murderous winter. Between your tantrums and your illness, you have added to my gray hair more than I expected you to. I sent that horse's patoot to help you make nice but you are not the one for subtle hints, are you?" He was controlling his anger and I felt bad but what could I do. Frank just had the knack to push my buttons at the worst of times.

"But Col..." I started protesting but he cut me off with an angry glare and a wave of hand.

"Let me finish! With the push, we will be bombarded with casualties. Between you and Frank, we cannot muster even one semi-decent surgeon." That was it!

"Col. I did not hear that. You want me to operate today, I will do it today! But don't you compare me with that..." He cut me off again.

How dare he?

" I know you can. And I was not comparing you with him. I might be old but I ain't stupid. I just wanted you to stop pushing him around. And start taking care of yourself. Eat! Rest! Get better! Any questions?"

"Why not just shoot Frank and put him out of my misery? Better yet, why not just send me home so I can fix at least something that is not entirely my fault and I am still held responsible for!" With that, I stormed out of the office.

Between me and Frank...

Like it was my fault I got sick. And why did he have to make me make nice to him.

I even forgot to ask Radar about the phone lines. I heard him call my name but ignored him. Of all the people, I did not want to take it out on him, not after the infamous tantrum I had thrown earlier today.

"HAWK! Hawk!" I felt my arm grabbed and he turned me around. Before I could lash out or even open my mouth, " We got through. Hurry up before we lose the connection again."

I blindly followed him, not sure what he was talking about.

He shoved the receiver in my hand.
"Pierce here, I need to place a call for...Dad, Hi-i-i-i." Forced greetings.

"Hey-y-y Son, How are ya?" Return of greetings, just as forced.

" I am good. Good. How about you? What's cookin'?" I glared at Radar and waved at him to go away or else. He left the office for post-op.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. See you got the stuff I sent you? These damned postal services, Pony Express was more reliable. And fast."

"Yeah Dad, thank you. And...uhhhhhh...about the postal services, I wrote you a letter a few weeks ago. I think mail people lost it or something. I mean...I just wanted to say that I was really happy you found that lady. How is she doing?"

Damn!

Radar could not have done this favor at a worse time.

"Oh. She is fine. Fine. We did not hit it off all that well. Did not work out as expected. You know how its is with women. Unpredictable. She may move back to where she came from. Says its too cold here. And lonely. You know, with all the snow and everything. Not everybody is like your mother."

God I hated this.

I could feel the pain in his voice. He had told me more than he knew.

" Listen Dad, I don't have a lot of time so let me get to the point. Just for future, don't wait for my approval. Find someone and just be happy, alright? Dad?"

Line had gone dead.

I slammed the phone down and left the office.

This was the perfect ending to a perfectly miserable day. And I did not know if it could get any worse. I sincerely doubted it!