Hi there. Thanks to any and all who read and reviewed. Just a filler chapter. Life is trying to kill me. I want feedback because right now, that's the only incentive I have left to come up with some ideas to keep the story moving so cough up, fellas!

Happy reading.

Chapter 97

BJ was in his cot, his shoes still on. Tent was warm. Either that or the time I had spent outside in the cold had done wonders for me. Frank was on his cot, humming something annoying, I was sure. On close inspection, he was butchering 'Girl from Kalamazoo'. He had a strange fixation with that song. I wondered if he had a couple of Shirley Temples as well. Last time, it was the beer we made him drink that got him to sing the same song.

"Where were you?" BJ asked me in a neutral tone.

"Making rounds. Frank's patients are all alive." I informed him with no irony or sarcasm.

BJ looked at me sharply as Frank stopped humming suddenly and started off heatedly.

"Pierce! I will not..."

"Frank. You did a good job, alright. Great job. They are all doing great." I changed tact so fast, I saw an almost shocked look on BJ's face which returned to his usual neutral one almost immediately.

"Well thank you, Mr. ...." He left the sentence unfinished. I gave him my most sincere smile.

I had spent the last half an hour in the cold slipping over a patch of ice once and otherwise just trying to watch my step in the unpaved streets in this little town of ours. The camp was deserted, shades down on almost all windows. The guy supposedly patrolling the premises was nowhere to be seen and I couldn't blame him. I had seen some cold weather but never tried to camp out during a snow storm. I did get stranded in my car on a country road once during a snow storm but that had nothing on this arctic hell. And even all that cold couldn't numb me to the fact that Frank had my life in the palm of his hands.

Life as I had known it.

Maybe Dad could help me...

Phones were down.

Besides, after our last talk and the letter he never received, I wasn't sure he wanted to hear from me anytime soon.

Sucking up to Frank, distasteful as it was, wasn't the worst thing I had been forced to do. The only problem was, the way I saw things, it was too late for that. If anything, it was bound to backfire. And then I saw the face of Colonel Potter in my head. If there were a million reasons not to do that, his face alone was reason enough to do what he had asked me to do.

Sitting on my cot, I picked up one of the Nudist's Weekly from the pile lying on my nightstand. That, too, failed to hold my attention as I felt my mind wandering. The hearing next week was something I just couldn't shake. I was feeling at my wits end and fear of the unknown was something I was getting tired of. My only chance lied with Cate and just like everybody else, I was asking myself the same question: What had I done to piss her off? Why was she lying?

"Hawk!" I turned my head towards Radar who was in our tent.

"Don't you know its Officer's Quarters?" Frank snarled as BJ turned on his side, mumbling something about trying to sleep. I motioned to Radar to step outside as I got up from my own cot and left the Swamp.

"Everything alright, Radar?" I was a little concerned remembering his earlier rather pale look and tiredness. We did overwork this little guy and sometimes, I felt really guilty about his position as everybody's goto guy.

One should never become so indispensable or dependable!

"Uh huh." He nodded noncommittally, not making eye contact.

Something was wrong.

"Your mom alright?"

"Uh huh."

"And your...uhhh, animals?" I damped down the urge to call his collection of animals a 'zoo'. Any attack on his animals, even metaphorical, would gag him even worse, not to mention bring out some dormant violent tendencies.

Radar wasn't interested in my line of questioning and just shook his head this time.

"Radaaar!" I was getting exasperated now.

"Yeah, Hawkeye?" He looked at me with a doleful expression that would have melted even the most hardened heart. Bambi couldn't have done it better!

"You do remember you came to me a few minutes back, right? What was it you wanted to talk about?" I said as we reached the door to the Officer's Club.

"I want a Grape Nehi." Radar said in a low tone.

I exhaled a little loudly and then opened the door for him to enter and followed him.

"One Grape Nehi." Klinger, the designated barmaid for the night, was in a gaudy black slinky dress that would have suited somebody like Margie Cutler just fine but on Klinger and his hairy self...

"What can I get you, Hawkeye?"

The desire to have some scotch took me over. It had been such a long time.

"One scotch on the rocks, Klinger."

"HAWKEYE!" Radar spoke loudly enough to get the attention of half the bar.

"Aww cummon, Radar. Just this once." I whined like a little boy but the desire was already gone and all that remained was the memory of the nausea and the exhaustion that still got the best of me on a regular basis.

"You know its bad..." But I was already pushing the glass away.

"Something soft, Klinger. And not this..." I pointed towards Radar's dusty bottle.

Radar made a face but I chose to ignore it. After I got a coke from Klinger, we both moved to the farthest table.

"Now don't make me beg you, Radar. I am pretty tired." I stifled a yawn, fake as it was. There were ways to get him to talk and this one was bound to work.

"Gee Hawkeye. I didn't realize. You go sleep. There was nothing..."

"Radar! Out with it or I won't be able to sleep." I pointed out with as much assertiveness as I could muster. He was worrying me.

"Hawkeye! You should not go."

Finally!

But go where?

"Go where, Radar?" I asked him with some surprise.

"I dunno. Ya know, first Colonel Blake died, then Trapper went home. I don't want you to go."

"I'm not going anywhere. Wish I were but..."

"I was thinking why you were doing all of this. First you fell sick and then that soldier died. I mean, for Crimeny's sake, you just keep getting in trouble, don't you? Sometimes, I feel like you hate this place so much, you would do anything to get out..."

The implications of what Radar had just said were profound. Or maybe I was hearing wrong. He didn't think I would...

"Radar! You know I would never hurt someone..."

"Yeah. I know." Radar hung his head this time, his Nehi still unfinished.

"I won't do crazy stuff to get out. I'm not that crazy. Section eight is all Klinger's. And he can have it. Have you seen this dress he's wearing?"

"Yeah. Looks kinda funny. I've never seen a woman with so much hair." Radar commented deadpan and started sipping at his drink. I just thought about what brought this worrying spell on him. His unloading left me thinking once again of this weight left on my shoulders. Why was it that they depended on me like this?

Whole of the camp depended on Radar, including myself. And he depended on me, of all the people. I just hoped I didn't end up disappointing him

Shaking my head, I finished now luke-warm coke and told Klinger to put it on my tab. I was bushed and Radar, even though had certain improvement in his color and disposition, still looked ready to drop. Dropping him off in his office-cum-bed, I strolled towards the Swamp, my mind spinning.

This just wasn't fair!