Chapter 3
Uijeongbu Korea; August 14th, 1951
Ellie Marie could hardly believe a month had passed since she first rode into the 4077th. It simultaneously felt like she'd just arrived and like she'd been there forever. There was a strange rhythm to life in a place like this. Things seemed to ebb and flow in a never ending cycle of frantic tension when the wounded rolled in, and then almost mind numbing monotony when things slowed down. Everyone had their own ways of passing the time, and Ellie Marie had adopted a few of her own. There were nights in the Officers Club of course, and the monthly poker game to look forward to. Her late night visits with Klinger while he was on guard duty had continued as well, and she couldn't deny that she'd also taken a shine to Radar. He reminded her in a lot of ways of her kid brother back home, and she had a feeling the more she got to know him, that as much as they loved him, a lot of the people in the camp talked down to him, while simultaneously depending on him for pretty much everything.
Her one month anniversary found her in the now all too familiar task of triaging wounded in the compound.
"We've got multiple compound fractures and severe abdominal trauma." She said to Hawkeye as he knelt to check the patient in front of her.
"This guy better go first." He said.
"I've got a sucking chest in the balcony Doctor!" Called Nurse Baker from a few feet away. He walked over to check him.
"This guy better go before first." He said.
As he turned to the next patient, a curly haired man with a head wound, recognition and surprise flashed across his face.
"Sidney! What are you doing here?" He exclaimed.
"I don't know, I thought I was getting on the cross town bus." The man said with a slight Brooklyn accent, "Do you give transfers here?"
"How'd you get all this red stuff on your head?" Hawkeye asked, lifting the bandage to examine the wound.
"Well, you might find it hard to believe, but I was doing therapy in a foxhole with that boy." He indicated to a soldier with a leg wound being carried into Pre Op., "We started to get overrun by some of those Chinese fellas."
"Oh group therapy." Hawkeye quipped, examining the second wound on his thigh.
"Then to discourage the Chinese," Sidney continued, "our artillery started lobbing shells into the area. That discouraged all of us. How's my tuchus?"
"Fine," said Hawkeye, putting the bandage back over his upper thigh, "Just a little diaper rash. We'll have you fixed up in no time."
The corpsman picked up Sidney's stretcher and carried it towards Pre Op while Ellie Marie wandered towards the ambulance where Klinger was just shutting the back doors.
"Did you hear that?" She asked, "I'm pretty sure that guy just told Hawkeye he was doing therapy in a fox hole."
"Wouldn't surprise me." He answered, "That's Dr Sidney Freeman. He's a wiz bang psychiatrist. We've had him up here a few times, whenever we get a kid whose noggin got extra scrambled up on the line, ya know?" She nodded, and then shot him a sideways glance.
"A psychiatrist eh? I guess that means you'll be adding an extra bit of looney to your tunes for the next few days?" He grinned in response.
"Oh how well you know me." He said.
In the O.R. Ellie Marie was happy to find out she'd been paired with B.J. for surgery. In truth she didn't mind working with any of the doctors, but B.J. was her favorite. Hawkeye's flirting and suggestive comments could wear thin after several hours, and Colonel Potter was slightly hard to predict as far as the manner in which he would do things, but they were all competent and easy to assist. She didn't really have to worry about Winchester because Margaret rarely allowed anyone but herself to assist him.
She and B.J. were currently working on a bowel resection, a straightforward if not somewhat tedious procedure. Sidney, who'd needed only a local anesthetic to deal with the shrapnel in his thigh, had been entertaining them all by explaining his new technique of treating combat fatigue and other battle related mental conditions as close to the front as possible to prevent them from becoming permanent life long issues, and Ellie Marie had to admit, she found it absolutely fascinating. B.J. nudged her gently with his elbow.
"Clamp." He said, and she jumped slightly, handing him one.
"Sorry!" She said quietly.
"It's fine." He replied, "We're not used to having such riveting entertainment in O.R."
"Major Winchester. I'm terribly sorry. Would you mind stepping outside and scrubbing up?" Said Margaret from behind them.
"I doubt that will be necessary Major." He replied, "I just spent seven and half minutes scrubbing."
"Yes, but that was before you touched your nose." She said.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Your nose." She repeated, "You touched your nose. You're no longer sterile. If you operate now you'll contaminate the field."
"Of course. That is precisely what I would do if in fact I had touched my nose, which I didn't." He replied condescendingly.
"Uh oh looks like Ozzie and Harriet are at it again." B.J. muttered, shooting Ellie Marie a covert smile that she returned.
For weeks now the Majors seemed to be locked in some sort of strange dance where they were never far from each other's company, but also seemed perpetually ready to rip each other's throats out. No one was sure whether they wanted to kiss or kill each other, and Ellie Marie didn't think they had made up their minds one way or the other either.
"Major, I saw you touch your nose!" Margaret said, stomping her foot.
"Major, do you think my face is insensate? Don't you think if I had touched my nose I would have felt it?" Winchester shot back.
"I just felt something over my lip. Maybe you touched my nose." Interjected Hawkeye.
"You touch his nose, Charles, you'll have to marry him." B.J. added, and Ellie Marie stifled a giggle.
"Colonel Potter, I clearly saw Major Winchester touch his nose!" Margaret complained.
"You naughty boy." Hawkeye said, unabashedly fueling the drama.
"Colonel Potter, I refuse to spend another seven and a half minutes scrubbing up because of this woman's paranoid hallucinations!" Winchester snapped.
"She's a pretty good observer, Winchester." Colonel Potter pointed out.
"I DID NOT TOUCH MY NOSE!" Winchester began, before realizing who he was speaking to and regulating, "I did not touch my nose." He finished, much more calmly.
"You did touch your nose! I saw you touch your nose!" Margaret shouted, stomping her foot again in indignation.
"It's the battle of the noses ladies and gentlemen!" Hawkeye proclaimed loudly, "Who do you think is ahead?"
"Well, Winchester was ahead for a while, but he blew it." B.J. quipped.
"Should've picked his opponent more carefully." Ellie Marie added.
"Very nice." He said, grinning at her in approval.
"How am I supposed to operate in here if I must continually leave to wash my hands?" Snapped Winchester, undoing his gown.
"DON'T TOUCH YOUR NOSE!" They all yelled in unison.
"Idiots." He grumbled as he stormed back into the scrub room.
--
"Quite a show the Major's put on in O.R. today huh?" Kelly said with a smirk as she leaned over to tie her boots.
They had taken refuge in their tent for a few hours after surgery, and had finally convinced themselves to get up and go in search of food.
"Right?" Ellie Marie agreed, "I think those two might set a record for the pettiest argument in camp nose touching." Kelly laughed.
"You think they're ever gonna get over the fighting and...ya know." She asked, as they walked out of the tent.
"Who knows." Ellie Marie responded, "Honestly I'm not even sure if that would make them better or worse. I've been noticing though, lately it doesn't seem like it's just them. Everyone's been especially cranky."
"It happens." Kelly said, "When the O.R. sessions get long, and the breaks get short everyone tends to be on edge. Hopefully we'll get a lull again soon and everyone will have a chance to chill out."
They pushed open the doors of the mess tent and walked into utter pandemonium. The chaos was so complete that it was impossible to distinguish one argument from another but she could see Margaret and Charles shouting at the top of their lungs, no doubt continuing the nose debacle. Hawkeye and B.J. looked as if they were about to start a food fight with each other, and in the center of the room Klinger, dressed like an oversized little girl complete with petticoat dress, pig tails, and Mary Janes, was having a tug of war with Radar over his teddy bear. Ellie Marie shot a look at Kelly.
"My Mom sent me a pineapple upside down cake. Feel like sharing it?" Kelly asked. "Back in the tent?"
"Sounds perfect." Ellie Marie replied, and they walked back out the way they'd come in.
"So you're telling me that's not worse than usual?" Ellie Marie asked several minutes later as they both sat cross legged on Kelly's bed picking at the cake with forks.
"No it's definitely bad." She agreed, "I feel like we need something to release the pressure around here. You know?"
"Got any suggestions?"
"Nope." She said, shaking her head, "I'm just the casual observer, not the idea girl. But I know one thing. If we don't figure it out soon, things are gonna explode."
"More than we just saw in there?" Ellie Marie said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, that was crazy right?" Kelly agreed, "and what the heck was up with Klinger and the teddy bear?"
"It's Sidney being here." Ellie Marie said with a shrug, "Wasn't exactly sure what he'd do, but you know if a psychiatrist is around he's going to the extreme. At least I know what he wanted my last skein of yarn for." Kelly laughed.
"You two are getting kinda close aren't you?" She pointed out, and Ellie Marie shrugged.
"I guess," she said, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh no reason...it's just a small camp, and people talk."
"About me and Max?" Ellie Marie said, looking up in surprise.
"Well you know just how you're together a lot, and a few of the guys have been saying they've seen you two going off together late at night."
"We don't go off together!" Ellie Marie said indignantly, "I keep him company on guard duty occasionally. It's completely above board. Anyway he's happily married!"
"Trust me, that hasn't stopped many a person around here." Kelly said.
"Well it sure as hell stops me!" Ellie Marie said, "and believe me, Max is completely in love with his wife, it isn't like that."
"I believe you!" Kelly said, raising her hands in surrender, "I was just letting you know what people are saying."
"Well people should learn to keep their damned opinions to themselves." Ellie Marie snapped.
"Hey." Kelly said, "remember that crabbiness you were talking about?"
"Guess I'm not exactly immune huh?" Said Ellie Marie, shooting her an apologetic look, "I know you're just looking out for me I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted." Said Kelly, "now help me finish this cake before I eat it all myself."
The next day she was on her way to a shift in Post Op. when she noticed a large pile of what looked like junk in the middle of camp. She stopped to examine it.
"Quite the collection isn't it?" Said Klinger, who'd walked up beside her, making her jump.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Well, the guys were told to burn the Chinese P.O.W.s clothes, because of the lice ya know? But somehow the pile just keeps growing." He explained.
"Somebody better keep an eye on them or they're going to burn everything that's not nailed down." She said as she glanced over at him. He was back in one of his usual dresses.
"Done with the Shirley Temple routine?" She asked.
"Yeah it wasn't really having the desired effect. Besides I'm pretty sure Radar's still not speaking to me over the stupid teddy bear."
"Well parents can get a bit territorial when you kidnap their children." She said, and he laughed.
"Where you headed?" He asked.
"Post. Op. How about you?"
"Ugh K.P. and Cook is making liver tonight." He moaned. She put an encouraging hand on his arm.
"Go with God my friendâ.." she teased, as he shook his head and walked towards the mess tent.
She walked the rest of the way to Post Op. and entered to find Hawkeye coming on duty and B.J. coming off.
"Good afternoon Nurse Lennox, it's lovely of you to join us." Hawkeye said as she walked to the desk to examine the charts.
He grabbed the one on top of the pile and walked down the row of beds to the one nearest the end. She recognized Tom, the patient Sidney had come in with.
"Tom you're gonna be fine." Hawkeye said brightly, "You'll need a little more surgery down in Seoul, and some rehabilitative therapy but you're gonna walk." The boy grinned up at the two surgeons.
"Well I don't know if you guys take tips,but my dad is the king of the hardware business in Cleveland. You need a sink or anything I can get you a dozen." Tom said.
"King of the hardware business eh?" quipped B.J., "maybe he can get us a throne."
"You name it." Tom chuckled.
"Why don't you just get some rest ok? We'll check on you later." B.J. added.
"Okay. If I'm not here I've just gone dancing." Tom shot back, earning him a laugh from both doctors as Sidney entered Post. Op. through the door at the end of the room.
Ellie Marie couldn't hear what they were discussing, but what she did notice was the immediate change in Tom. His whole body had gone rigid with tension the moment Sidney had entered, and when the three men began to move in his direction he pointedly looked away, angling his entire body as if to keep as far from Sidney as he could. Sidney looked down at him, seemingly oblivious to his obvious discomfort.
"How ya feelin' Tom?" He asked kindly.
"How am I feeling?" Tom spat back at him, all trace of friendliness gone from his voice.
"You crud." He continued, beginning to shake with anger, "I'll tell you how I'm feelin' I feel like I had my damn legs blown off, how do you think I'm feelin'!"
Tom was shouting now, and the whole Post Op was silent, everyone frozen in shock as they watched the scene unfold.
"I'd be back home walking around on two good legs if you hadn't sent me back to the ridge."
"Tom, you were able to walk back to that ridge because of the work we did together." Sidney said, and Ellie Marie was amazed by the steady calmness of his voice, his tone hadn't changed in the slightest since his initial greeting to the boy.
"Why don't we talk about it for a few minutes?" He said.
He made to sit on the edge of the bed and reached out a comforting hand, but Tom wrenched himself away so quickly and violently that Ellie Marie worried he might fall off of the bed and injure himself further. As it was he simply balanced on the edge, putting as much distance between himself and Sidney as possible.
"Don't come near me you butcher." He growled.
Sidney opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but Tom cut him off, and ignoring him completely, he spoke directly to B.J. and Hawkeye.
"Now I'm telling you, you get him out of here or I am gonna wreck this place." He said, his voice still trembling with rage.
Sidney stood slowly, looking from the faces of the shocked Doctors and back to Tom, after another tense minute he sighed slightly and turned towards the door.
"If you change your mind I'll be in my tent." He said, in his still completely even tone.
He shot one more look in Tom's direction, just to see him staring fixedly at the ceiling, before walking out the door. As soon as he did, Hawkeye turned back to Tom.
"Well, you seem to be getting your strength back..." He snipped.
"Anything else we can get you?" B.J. asked flatly, "A baseball bat? A crow bar?"
"Sorry I raised my voice back there, Doc." Tom said, and Ellie Marie could hear that he was fighting to get his emotions back under control, "I want you guys to know I'm grateful for all you did for me. Goodnight."
He made a point of rolling on his side away from them and closing his eyes. B.J. gave Hawkeye one more sad and bewildered look before turning and walking out the same way Sidney had. Hawkeye made his way back down the row of beds and leaned against the desk next to her.
"Can you believe that?" He said quietly, looking quickly over his shoulder.
"I mean yes and no." Ellie Marie said, finishing the note she was writing before looking up at him, "It's not right, what he said, and it's definitely not fair, but I can understand how he's feeling. I'm sure you can too. I'd bet everyone of these boys has a level of bitterness and resentment in them for whoever it was that sent them up to the front to get clobbered. The line of cause and effect is just unfortunately a lot clearer for Tom, and his scapegoat happens to be right here in front of him."
"Yeah but like he told him, if Sidney hadn't worked with that kid he'd be in a padded cell in Tokyo right now." Hawkeye replied.
"You know that and I know that." Ellie Marie said, "and I expect someday Tom will be able to accept it too. But right now he's hurting inside and out, and Sidney is the easiest target for that pain."
"You know you kinda sound like him..." Hawkeye said.
"Who? Tom?"
"Noâ Sidney." He smirked, "I've talked with him about this kind of stuff more times than I can count, and he usually says stuff that sounds a lot like what you just said. You might have a knack for this whole head shrinking thing." Ellie Marie snorted.
"No thank you." She said, shaking her head, "I do not have the temperament for it. I can't believe how calm he stayed the whole time Tom was shouting at him. If it were me I would have walked out of here and cried my eyes out."
"How do you know he didn't?" Hawkeye said.
Ellie Marie looked up at him in surprise, as she realized he was right. He gave her a slightly sad smile and shrug, and she realized she wasn't even sure how to respond.
A few hours later, after exchanging shifts with Colonel Potter and Nurse Baker, they walked out of the O.R. and into the compound. The pile that had been substantial when she'd entered had now grown so tall the men assembling it had to use ladders to reach the top, and she noticed at least one ladder that had been added to the growing mass as well.
"Man when you people do a thing, you really do a thing." She said in amusement, "we'd better get our valuables secured. They look like they're on a mission to burn the whole camp."
"Nah, just the crummy parts..." Hawkeye replied.
"And which parts are those?" She asked. He gave her a quizzical look.
"You make an excellent point." He said, "I think I'll reset the combination on my foot locker." They walked in the direction of the Swamp and nurses quarters.
"You know with how crabby everyone's been this might be just the thing we need." He said.
"Kelly was talking about that this morning," She said, "that the camp needed a way to relieve the tension. You'd think they could find a slightly less violent way to get their rocks off though."
"Well we don't all have Lebanese Corporals in petticoats to distract us." Hawkeye said.
Ellie Marie stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. It took a few more steps before he realized she wasn't following and he turned. He rolled his eyes slightly as he saw the look on her face.
"Oh come one I was kidding." He said walking back to her.
"Hilarious." She said flatly.
"Don't be like that." He continued, "It's not like it's particularly a secret who you spend your time with. If you wanted discretion, you might have considered not taking up with the loudest, most flagrant member of our camp."
"I haven't taken up with anyone!" She snapped, "I spend time with him because he's fun and funny. In case you haven't noticed I spend just as much time with Radar and I don't see anyone accusing me of taking up with him."
"Well yeah...but that's because he's Radar." Hawkeye shrugged.
"Oh yeah I forgot he's Radar, so unworthy of consideration, that even though he's a perfectly nice single young man, you immediately discount him and instead insinuate that I'm going after a happily married man!"
"So you're saying you like Radar?"
"Of course I don't like Radar, he's like a little brother to me!" She snapped.
"Then excuse me Captain Lennox but I'm failing to see the point of this little tirade. It's not as if you and Klinger finding a little solace in each other would be an uncommon occurrence around here. We're all tired, and scared and interminably lonely and we take comfort where we can."
"Just because you use the war as an excuse for your inability to be near a woman without trying to get her to bed, doesn't mean we all think that way."
Now it was Hawkeye's turn to pull up short. He stared at her for a moment looking shocked, and then his eyes hardened.
"Why don't you tell me how you really feel, Captain." He said cooly, "You've known me for all of a month. I can't wait to hear your deep and profound assessment of me as a human being."
"It doesn't take much time to make that assessment." She shot back, "with the way you chase every woman in the camp, and can't hold a conversation without making a suggestive remark."
"Well, excuse me princess. I'm sorry not all of us can be as pure and perfect as you are." He said.
"I never said I was pure in any way, and I'm far from perfect. On a whole I don't even give a damn what people do with their own private time, and believe it or not I actually do understand what would drive people to seek comfort in those around them. It's just not me, and I resent the implication that it is, just because Klinger and I are friends."
"Fair point." Hawkeye said his voice leveling, "but did you ever consider at any point that maybe you gravitate toward people like Klinger, and B.J. and even Radar because you know there's no potential for anything more? That they're safe in that way?"
She glared at him, but she struggled to hold the expression. He'd hit a nerve.
"Did you ever consider that you put someone like B.J. up on a pedestal because somewhere deep inside you wish you could be like him, and find someone to love the way he loves Peg but it scares the hell out of you?" She shot back.
He raised an eyebrow. He crossed his arms, examining her for a moment, trying to decide whether he was ready to end the standoff. Finally he held out a hand to her.
"How about I don't psychoanalyze you and you don't psychoanalyze me?" He said.
"Done." She said, shaking his hand.
Cheers drew her from her tent a few hours later. The pile that was scheduled to become a bonfire within the hour had taken on a life of its own. It was over 8 feet tall now and at least half the camp was assembled around it, throwing random items in varying sizes onto it with raucous cheers. She made her way around it towards the V.I.P. tent at the edge of camp. In the light of the fading sun she could just make out the lights on inside. She raised her hand to knock, but as she did the door opened and Klinger walked out, almost bumping into her.
"Hey you." He said with a smirk, "on your way in to get your head shrieked?"
"Something like that." She replied, "How bout you? Any luck on the crazy front?"
"In a manner of speaking ... but not like you'd expect." He said vaguely, and there was something behind his eyes that made her pause.
"You alright Toledo?" She asked, and when he met her gaze his expression softened and he smiled.
"Never better kid." He said, and then to her surprise he pulled her into a quick one armed hug that she returned.
"Don't take too long." He said, letting her go, "Got a big show happening soon."
"You know what you're throwing in?" She asked.
"Oh I got a few ideas." He said with a mischievous eyebrow wiggle. She laughed and shook her head as she entered the tent.
Sidney was sitting at the desk in the back of the room filling out paperwork as she entered. He looked up and smiled.
"Of all the people I expected to see walk through my door I can honestly say you were not on my list Captain." He said standing, "but I'm pleased to meet you officially." He held out a hand which she shook.
"Pleased to meet you too." She replied, "but you can call me Ellie Marie."
"Alright Ellie Marie," he said, motioning for her to sit, "what brings you here today?"
"I'm not sure." She said, "I mean you're probably wondering what in the world a girl who's only been in the camp for a month could even have to talk about." She said.
"Not at all." He replied, "It's been my experience that the horrors of war don't really discriminate between those who have been here for years and those who have been here for days. And from what I've heard about you, it seems you've hit the ground running."
"Is that what they're calling it?" She scoffed, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Is that what they're calling what?"" He asked.
"Let's just say...in the past twenty four hours it's been made clear to me that the main thing being spread around this camp about me is that I'm making whoopy, with a transvestite Corporal." She said, rolling her eyes.
"Is that right?" He said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms as he looked at her, "Well I gotta say, I just got done talking to one of those. He didn't mention anything of the sort, and based on the nature of our conversation, it feels like it might have come up, if it had actually happened. Which leads me to believe it's just a rumor."
"Of course it's just a rumor!" Ellie Marie said, "I've never so much as given him a hug until a few minutes ago outside this tent."
"So if it's just a rumor why are you so upset by it?" He asked.
"Because perception is reality around here." She said, "I don't want people thinking that of me and I definitely don't want people thinking that of Max."
"Does Max strike you as the kind of person who cares much about what people think of him?" Sidney asked with a smirk.
"Actually yes." She replied, making him raise his eyebrows once again, "He may wear ridiculous outfits and do outlandish things to make a fool of himself, but that's different because he's controlling that narrative. People thinking he was unfaithful to Laverne? That's a knock against him as a man and a husband. It's something he would never do and he'd never want people to believe about him. He'd care. Max Klinger is probably one of the most self aware people in this camp. You have to be completely secure in who you are to be able to act as insane as he does without tipping off the deep end." Sidney laughed.
"You know...It's ironic, Klinger really could have saved himself a trip to see me, if he'd just had a nice heart to heart with you. I essentially told him the exact same thing you just said." He said, "I can't tell you specifics obviously, but it's safe to say Max Klinger is lucky to have found a friend like you. Don't let other people's assumptions mess it up alright?"
"Alright." Ellie Marie answered.
"And for what it's worth." He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees as he spoke, "I think you did a hell of a job picking a friend in this camp. Klinger has always been one of my favorites. Just don't tell anyone I said that." He winked.
Another cheer sounded from outside.
"We'd better head out there or we're going to miss all the fun!" He said.
The door opened and Father Mulcahy stuck his head in.
"Oh! My apologies." He said, and began to back out.
"No don't worry father!" Ellie Marie said, standing quickly. "I was just headed out anyway."
She vacated her seat and the Father took it. She stepped out into what was now twilight, to see that the group around the pile had grown even more. She walked over to the rest of the nurses standing to the far left rifling through their things.
"Everybody decide what they're burning, yet?" She asked.
"I tossed the last of the curl smoothing potion my Momma sent me to keep my hair looking 'presentable' while I'm here." Said Ginger with a grin.
"I'm trying to decide between this set of heels that my mother insisted I pack to get a nice doctor to notice me." Bigalow said, holding them up, "or this kimono I got as a, 'sorry I forgot to mention I'm married' gift, I got from a Marine I spent the night with in Seoul."
"Why not both?" Ellie Marie suggested.
"I knew I liked you." Said Bigalow with a grin, tossing them both on.
"The sweater I kept because a good for nothing Private from the 8063rd told me it made me look thin!" Kelly shouted, throwing it onto the pile to the cheers of everyone.
"My dear John letter and the picture of the floozy who sent it!" Yelled someone from the other side of the pile and they all cheered.
"How about you Ellie?" Kelly asked, "I know you haven't been here as long but you gotta have something you're sick of?"
"I do." Ellie Marie agreed, she saw Klinger walking out of the mess tent, "but I think I'm gonna protest in my own way."
"Hold it! Wait a minute!" Klinger yelled, climbing the ladder propped on the side of the pile and holding a small book in the air for all to see, "Here goesâ the army cookbook!!"
A particularly loud cheer went up as he threw it on, followed by an even louder one as Radar tossed his bugle up beside it. No one would miss his morning playing of revelry. One of the nurses behind her squealed and she just had time to jump out of the way as B.J. and Hawkeye came running past carrying a cot between them and launched it onto the pile.
"A cot?" questioned Winchester, who was observing near the edge of the chaos, "how can you do that?"
"It's just an object." Said B.J., "It has no intrinsic value, it's just a thing."
"Besides, it's yours." Hawkeye added.
Ellie Marie got her next big surprise when Sidney appeared, and unceremoniously began to strip off his clothes, tossing them into the fire to a chorus of whoops and whistles.
Someone put a torch to the edge, and before Ellie Marie could blink the entire thing was engulfed. It was a strange sensation, as they all stood mesmerized by the flames, soaking up the warmth of the fire, the tension that had been brewing for the past few weeks began to slowly melt away. She saw someone come to stand next to her in her peripheral and knew who it was. So as Colonel Potter's deep voice sang out the first line of Keep the Homefires Burning, she slid an arm around Klinger's waist and rested her head against his shoulder. He threw an arm across hers as they sang, and they stood there completely comfortable and unashamed. Ellie Marie locked eyes with Sidney, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod, and smiled. It took a little while for the fire to burn down to a containable smolder, but as it did and the hypnotic effect it created began to wane, a sort of frenzied giddiness overtook everyone. Colonel Potter took that moment to raise his hands and shout.
"All right folks, I was keeping a lid on this one cuz it didn't seem like the time was ever going to be right, but since everyone is in such a good mood. I'd like to suggest we turn up our favorite evening broadcast, clear the tables in the mess tent and have ourselves a good old fashioned dance!"
His suggestion was met with enthusiastic cheers, and within a half hour the camp had come together to raid the Officers Club and move all the booze to their makeshift bar in the mess tent, push the tables to the side, and make sure the radio was blasting in at full volume. They all danced the night away. Ellie Marie danced two lindy's with B.J. and one with Hawkeye, and even convinced Radar to come out for a spin with her though he stepped on her feet as much as the floor. The biggest hit of the night was her jitterbug with Klinger, which brought the house down as they intentionally kept switching off who was leading. As another slow waltz came on she plopped herself down on a bench next to Hawkeye and grabbed another can of beer, cracking it open.
"So am I safe in assuming you're no longer angry at me?" He asked.
"I was angry at you?" She teased, and he smiled.
"Of course not." She answered anyway, "How could I stay mad at someone who lindy's like that?"
"And anyway," she added, "we perpetually avoidant, fear of intimacy types have to stick together right?" He laughed and shook his head at her.
"You are quite a woman Captain Lennox." He said.
"Careful Hawk, that was almost a genuine compliment without ulterior motive." She teased back.
"You're right." He said in mock horror, "what am I doing? I've gotta find a nurse to objectify immediately! Hey there Bigalow!"
He stood quickly, expertly sweeping the woman into his arms and spinning her back out onto the dance floor. Ellie Marie laughed as they swooped away. She watched the people spinning around her, when suddenly something caught her attention. As she looked across the compound she saw that there was one person not partaking in the festivities. She got up and exited the tent, walking the short distance to the door of the Swamp where she could hear the strains of classical music playing. She knocked lightly.
"Come in if you must." Winchester called.
She opened the door and found him sitting at his desk with his feet propped on his bed, and a glass of wine in one hand. She saw the bottle on the desk next to him and could see from its contents this glass was not his first.
"Hello Major."
"Captain..." he replied, "what brings you here? Have the libations at your shindig run out already? Piece and Hunnicutt send you on a mission to retrieve that swill they try to pass off as alcohol?"
"No," she answered, "I actually came to check in on you."
"On me?" He said, looking at her curiously, "whatever for?"
"Well, I'd noticed you weren't at the party." She explained.
"Very astute." He said, "Sufficed to say there is no scenario on this earth in which you would find me rubbin' elbows and drinkin hooch in that kind of...hootenanny."
"So instead you prefer to sit in the dark listening to Vagner, and drinking Chateau Latour alone?" She asked. He looked up at her in surprise.
"You're familiar with Chateau Latour?" He asked. She sat down on the edge of Hawkeye's bed.
"I used to regularly go to wine tastings when I lived in Providence." She explained, "I know it isn't Boston, but it has its own cultural scene."
"I'm sure it does I just wouldn't have taken you for someone who..."
"Has an interest in anything of culture?" She finished.
"You would of you'd taken five minutes to actually get to know me." She said, "just because I spend my time with the rubes and ignoramuses, as you call them. Doesn't mean my interests don't vary. I actually held season tickets to the Boston Philharmonic when I was in school."
"Truly?" Charles asked, looking at her more intently now.
"Do you remember when they performed Mozart's Requiem two years ago?" She asked.
"Who could forget?" He said, placing a hand on his heart at the memories.
"I bawled." Ellie Marie said, "Ugly tears, streaming down my face."
"Of course you did!" He said, "One would have to be made of stone not to." He sat up, looking at her quizzically again, and then reached for a second glass and pouring some more wine.
"It seems an apology is in order," he said, handing her a glass, "It appears I lumped you in with the rest of thisâchattel, without actually learning anything about you."
"Charles excuse me if this seems pointed, but I imagine there are plenty of things about that chattel that might surprise you if you actually took the time to ask." He snorted, shaking his head slightly.
"You know it takes a lot more energy to keep people away than to just allow yourself to assimilate." She said, "you may find you have more in common with these people than you originally thought."
"Believe me I have no desire to have the smallest iota in common with those peopleâ.." he snapped, motioning towards the packed tent.
"Well that's pretty sad then." Ellie Marie shot back, "because you're stuck here whether you like it or not, and it's gonna be an awfully pitiful day when something goes wrong and you need the support of the people around you, and it isn't there. You don't have to be great at making connections, and you don't have to be Mr. Congeniality of the camp. But for your own sake, you should at least try."
"That's so easy for you to say isn't it." He said, "you just waltz in here all perky and make friends with everyone you see. I'm not like that! I'll never understand these people. The things they talk about, the way they behave. This is not my world, and I refuse to grovel and become someone or something I'm not just to fit into whatever box they've created for me! I'm not good at fitting in, it's always ended badly so I'd just as soon be apart, it's where I am most comfortable."
"I understand that." Ellie Marie said, putting a hand lightly on his forearm, "but there's a difference between standing your ground, and lording it over everyone. You make people feel small so they can't do the same to you. I've been talking with you for all of five minutes and I can see there is a decent man under all those layers of pomposity. Now as I said, I'm not suggesting you go attempt to have a theoretical conversation with Radar about the social implications of Nietzche." Winchester chuckled at that. "But I'm sure there's someone in this camp, who you've seen some kind of friendship potential in. Perhaps someone of a blond persuasion who happens to be of similar rank to you?" His eyes shot to hers and he gave her a glare.
"Hardly," he said flatly, "That woman is the most infuriating person I've ever met."
"And yet you two seem to spend an inordinate amount of time together." Ellie Marie pointed out.
"Because she has some sort of perverse obsession!" He said replied loudly. Ellie Marie put her hands up in surrender.
"Alright, alright! It was just a suggestion." She said, "sorry I brought it up." He gave her one more look before settling back in his chair and taking another sip of wine.
"Why do you care so much who I'm friends with anyway?" He asked, "You've got your little posse. Radar, the nurses, Corporal Marilyn Monroe, and doctors tweedle dee and dum. Why does my social life bear any interest to you?" Ellie Marie shrugged.
"I guess I just don't like to see anyone lonely. Even if it's caused by their own pig headedness, and like I said, now that I got a glimpse of the man you are underneath all that, I kinda like ya."
"So then it appears I have in fact made a friend, and I did it my way." He said with a self satisfied smirk.
"Oh no." She said, shaking her head, "you don't get off that easy. You go out there and make an attempt at being personable or you're never going to hear the end of it from me."
"Lovely." He said, "I'm so very glad we had this chat. Feel free to not stop by again, anytime you like."
Ellie Marie grinned in response.