Don't own M*A*S*H.

Michelle smiled at Private Boone as he ate his late dinner. It had been so long that she was starting to think he would never wake up. Then, just yesterday, he had awoken and his vitals were starting to improve again.

"Thanks again for the food," he said softly. He was a shy boy with a sweet smile. "Much better than what we get up at the front."

Michelle smiled as she removed the tray from in front of him. "Glad you like it." She moved the tray off to the side before taking his wrist in her hand. "Just gonna check your pulse and then your blood pressure real quick."

"Sure thing Ma'am."

She smiled. "You know, I told you to call me Michelle."

He smiled back. "My mother raised me to treat all women with respect, Ma'am."

Michelle took a quick check of his pulse and made not of it on the chart. "She sounds like a wonderful woman."

He nodded. "She is, the very best. After my father passed away, Mother was the one who took care of me all on her own. She was so proud of me when I graduated high school."

Michelle quickly took his blood pressure and made note of it on the chart as well. "All signs are looking good. You may even be well enough to ship off to Seoul tomorrow."

She chatted with Private Boone for a few more minutes about his mother and life back home before she moved on to the two other patients in Post-OP, both of which were sleeping.

Private Boone was off-cycle, sleeping during the day and being awake all night. That was something they were trying to break him of, but it wasn't easy.

She looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost 3 A.M. It was almost time for coffee.

She looked over at Winchester. He was pouring over paperwork that the Army demanded be done in triplicate. As much as she disliked him, she couldn't ignore him, no matter how hard she tried.

She walked over to him. "Dr. Winchester?"

He turned to her, those hazel eyes fixed on her so intently that warmth instantly spread throughout her body. It wasn't unpleasant, just unnerving.

She forced herself to smile. "I was going for a cup of coffee. Would you like one?"

Winchester seemed confused for a moment, as if not expecting her ask such a question. Her smile wasn't forced now as she thought about how fun it was to confuse him every once in a while.

"I would love a cup," he replied, turning the confusion back to her. She had fully expected him to refuse. Perhaps this was step in the right direction, a step to take her out of her brother's dark shadow and have people see her as she is.

She nodded before walking out of Post-OP to the Mess Tent. The coffee would be cold and bitter, but it was better than nothing at all. She knew that if she could make it another 2 hours then the coffee would be fresh, but she just couldn't force herself to wait any longer.

She quickly filled two cups and started back to Post-OP. Although it was quiet right now, who knew when it would pick back up again. Any second away from Post-OP could bring more wounded in that wouldn't be treated right away.

She entered Post-OP and saw Dr. Winchester making his rounds. She glanced over at Private Boone and smiled when she saw that his eyes were closed. Perhaps he was starting to get back on normal sleep patterns again. That would be great.

She sat the coffee down on the table and turned back to the room. She took a deep breath when she heard it.

Coughing.

She turned back to the room with wide eyes instantly moving to Private Boone. He was coughing and convulsing on the bed.

Both she and Dr. Winchester rushed to him. Winchester started shouting out orders which Michelle was quick to obey.

"We need to get him back into OR immediately," Dr. Winchester said and Michelle couldn't agree more.

They quickly maneuvered Private Boone into the OR and Dr. Winchester stayed with him while Michelle woke Klinger to retrieve Dr. Pierce to help. She quickly scrubbed and rushed back into the OR to assist.

It was three hours later when Dr. Winchester and Dr. Pierce had no choice but to declare Private Boone dead. There was nothing more they could have done for him and Michelle knew that.

She looked at the young man who only a few hours ago had been chatting to her about his mother back home, a mother who would now be all alone.

The sun rose and both she and Dr. Winchester were relieved of duty. Neither spoke a word as they left Post-OP that morning and went their separate ways. Michelle thought about eating, but found that she didn't want food.

She went straight to her tent and fell into her bed, drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

Michelle was thankful that she was off the next night.

Guilt had filled her entire body. She knew that it had to have been her fault. If only she had done something different, anything, then he would still be alive now.

She wandered into Rosie's Bar, not wanting anyone to see her destroy herself tonight. Rosie's rarely held anyone from the camp in the evenings, most spending their time in the Officer's Club instead.

She said nothing as glass after glass of alcohol was placed in from of her. When her fourth glass was placed in front of her and she was feeling pretty well sloshed, a large body sat next to her.

She turned and nearly groaned in frustration. Dr. Winchester. "Are you here to reprimand me?" she said softly as she took another swig of the unknown booze she had been consuming.

"No," he replied as Rosie sat his own drink in front of him. "I wanted you to know that it wasn't your fault. It was no one's fault."

Michelle turned and glared at him. He didn't notice as he took a swig of his own drink. She glared harder, or at least she felt like she did. Her mind was a bit fuzzy already. "It was my fault," she slurred. "I should have done a better job taking care of him."

Charles turned to her. "Private Boone had too many internal injuries when we brought him in. The fact that he woke up at all was a miracle in itself. If it was anyone's fault, it was my own for not making sure that there were no areas where internal bleeding would occur."

Michelle shook her head. "I assisted you and I should have helped you better. Had a done so..."

He reached over and placed a hand on her own, spreading warmth through her body at the touch. She looked up into his hazel eyes, which suddenly seemed so kind as opposed to judgmental. "It would have made no difference. The injuries were too severe to begin with. It was always an uphill battle."

Michelle felt tears fill her eyes and turned from Charles, not wanting him to see them. "I just feel so...helpless."

An arm wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into his wide chest. She froze for a moment at the strange situation she found herself in. She could smell the alcohol between them and realized that he had been drinking too, probably at the Officer's Club.

"We are people in the medical field," he said firmly. "Losing a patient is nothing new."

Those words were of no comfort for Michelle. "Just for tonight," she said softly, "I want to be human, not a nurse."

Charles held her closer to him. "We are still human," he replied softly. "But we learn to deal with it as time passes."

As the night progressed, Michelle and Charles sat in that bar and drank their worries away.

Although he had vowed to not get involved with Lt. Flagg, he found that when he saw her tears he couldn't leave her alone.

So he drank with her, drink for drink, the rest of the night.

Michelle hadn't realized how kind Dr. Winchester could be until he held her as she cried out for the loss of Private Boone and his family.

He allowed her to be human and didn't leave her to drink alone.

The later the night got, the more the two drank, until finally they passed out in their separate tents, promptly forgetting the events that had transpired earlier in the night.