Chapter 26
Uijeongbu Korea; May 25th, 1952
Attention all personnel, mail will be delivered at 1300 hours today, also will Majors Houlihan and Winchester, Captains Pierce and Hunnicutt and Father Mulcahy please report to Colonel Potter's office for an impromptu meeting.
Klinger clicked off the P.A. as Colonel Potter came out of his office looking confused.
"Klinger I don't remember scheduling a meeting." He said.
"You didn't sir, I just did." Klinger responded.
"You did?" The Colonel said, "Well, do you think you could give me a little heads up as to what the impromptu meeting with the majority of my staff might be about?"
"Certainly I can sir." He said brightly, "As soon as they arrive." The Colonel sighed and rolled his eyes.
"Gotta say I have not missed this scheming side of you one bit." He said, "I'll be in my office…"
"Klinger what's this all about? I was doing my laundry!" Margaret said irritably as she walked through the doors.
"Patience Major…." Klinger said.
"You know I signed up for mosquitoes, hot and cold running dysentery, and trenches worth of blood and guts, but I draw the line at impromptu meetings!" Hawkeye grumbled as he and his two bunkies entered right behind Margaret.
"You didn't sign up, you were drafted." B.J. pointed out.
"Oh yeah….well then even more so! I've suffered enough!"
"I can't believe these words are leaving my mouth, but…..I agree with Pierce." Charles stated, "can we please get this little, whatever this is, over with?"
"One more minute Major." Klinger responded, "we're just waiting on the Father."
"A catechismic arrival as it were…" B.J. quipped.
""Hello everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting, I was hearing a patient's confessional!" Father Mulcahy said, coming in through the doors of Post Op.
"Prescription; take two 'hail Mary's' and call me in the morning." Hawkeye said.
"There! The Father has arrived! Can we get on with this!" Charles snapped impatiently.
They all walked across the room and into the office where Colonel Potter was seated at his desk.
"Alright Colonel, what's so allfire important that you had to drag me away from the very important task of reading my latest letter from home for the twelfth time?" B.J asked, as they all took seats or leaned against walls around the perimeter of the room.
"That's a great question Hunnicutt." The Colonel responded, "I'm waiting to hear the answer myself."
"What do you mean?" Margaret asked.
"I'm not the arbiter of this little powwow Major." He said, "just the guy whose office got Shanghaied into service for it."
"So then who did call it?" Hawkeye asked.
"I did!" Klinger said from the doorway. They all rolled their eyes and groaned.
"Klinger I swear! I left my delicates soaking in a tub just to come listen to one of your crazy schemes I'm going to throttle you!" Margaret said angrily.
"You have and you haven't Major." He said, unperturbed by her attitude, "this is definitely the biggest stunt I've ever pulled in this camp. But to do it right I'm gonna need all your help."
"What makes you think any of us would have an interest in aiding in your infantile antics?" Charles asked, "Well….any of us above the rank of Captain..." He amended.
"Speaking of Captains. I notice a certain Captain of the S.S. Klinger's heart, mind, and body wasn't included in this meeting. May I assume that has something to do with its theme?" Hawkeye asked.
"Why don't you just let the boy talk and maybe we can find out." The Colonel said.
"Thank you sir." Klinger replied, "So as you probably heard over the P.A. the mail came today, and a courier came with it."
"Oh did he?" Charles said with a smile, catching on to what was happening.
"He did sir." Klinger said, grinning at him.
Klinger reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. There were excited gasps all around the room.
"Maxwell you sly dog, is that what I think it is?" B.J. said as a slow smile spread across his face.
Klinger opened the box and there was another round of gasps as they saw the ring inside it.
"Steady Margaret…" Hawkeye said, grabbing her arm as she wobbled slightly beside him.
"Klinger, it's exquisite!" She said, walking over and taking the box to get a better look.
"Indeed." Charles agreed looking over her shoulder, "it's quite impressive."
"It must be at least 2 carats." Margaret said, touching the center stone gently as if it might break.
"2 and half." Klinger said proudly, "with a solid gold band and twelve sapphires around it."
"Wow….you must really like this girl." Hawkeye teased, joining the group to admire the ring.
"Not to be nosy, son." The Colonel said, as the ring box was passed to him for a better look, "but I know how much you made as a corpsman, and I know what you make as a company clerk, not to mention we all know how much of that gets blown on your gambling."
"Not as much as it used to, sir." Klinger pointed out.
"Fair enough, but still. How in the devil did you pull this off? This ring must have been $700 dollars easily."
"$750." Klinger corrected, "We had it appraised for the insurance right before I had it sent over. It's a family heirloom. My grandmother smuggled that ring out of Lebanon thirty five years ago. It was the only thing of value they took with them, and she's been saving it for me ever since, to give to my wife."
"Not trying to come off as rude or insensitive, but then shouldn't it have been with Laverne?" Hawkeye asked.
"She never liked it." Klinger said, "told me it was too fancy and flashy."
"Does the woman have any taste at all?" Margaret said incredulously. She had taken the box back and was staring at the ring almost reverently.
"Obviously not. She let our boy here get away didn't she?" B.J. said, and Klinger shot him an appreciative grin.
"Or maybe this ring simply was never meant to be hers." Father Mulcahy said kindly.
"That's pretty much what my Mom said when I asked for it." Klinger agreed. "Though she was real nervous about sending it to me. I gotta call her as soon as we're done here and let her know I got it. She said if it somehow got lost in transit, when I get home I'd better be prepared to go from Max to Maxine, if you catch my drift." They all laughed.
"Hold on….the GT-640 requisition." Colonel Potter said, "For high value items being delivered directly to personnel in the field. Radar put that form in front of me to sign months ago! Back around Valentine's Day if I'm remembering right. How long have you been working this scheme, Corporal?"
"Pretty much since the day she told me she loved me." Klinger said, "when you know you know sir."
"That you do son…" Colonel Potter said, and he swallowed hard and cleared his throat before he spoke again. "Alright. When are you planning to pop the question? The biggest question you're ever gonna ask I might add."
"Come on Colonel….why do ya you gotta say it like that? I'm nervous enough as it is?" Klinger complained.
"Why on earth are you nervous?" Charles asked, "there is no known universe in which she would even consider saying no."
"You still get nervous." B.J. said, "I knew for sure a Peg was going to say yes. She'd already started planning before I even asked. My palms were still so sweaty I almost dropped the box."
"Same here." Colonel Potter agreed, "Mildred and I had already put a deposit on our on base housing but I was still sweating like a call girl in Sunday Service. Oh, sorry Padre." He shot the Father an apologetic look.
"No worries Colonel." Father Mulcahy said with a smile, "Now Klinger I'm assuming you called us in here because you wanted our help in making this proposal special?"
"You bet I do Father." Klinger said, "Obviously I've had some time to think about this, and I kept thinking… one of the most special things about me and Ellie's story is that pretty much the entire thing happened right here in this compound… and all of you have gotten to watch it happen from the first minute we said hello! In a lot of ways our story belongs to the whole camp, and you guys are basically like our second family. Not to mention the only people who really know us as a couple right now. So I thought it was only fair, that everybody in camp gets to be part of it... I can't think of a better way to make it special."
Silence followed his statement as they all became very focused on their feet, and there was more than one sniff and cleared throat. After another moment Margaret stepped forward and spoke.
"Max…" She said, and her eyes were very bright as she put a hand on his arm, "that is beautiful, of course we'll help you."
"You bet we will. Sign me up for anything dirty." Hawkeye teased, but he ran his sleeve across his face and took a deep breath as he did.
"Thanks guys." Klinger said, "you got no idea what it means to me."
"So what's the plan, lover boy!" B.J. said brightly, and he also brushed quickly at his eyes.
"Oh right! Hang on, I've got it all ready to go!" Klinger said, scurrying out to his desk to collect his supplies.
A few hours later Hawkeye walked up to where Klinger was sitting, working on a report.
"Everything is in place." He said with a smile, "everybody is ready to get in position as soon as they get their cues. We have a team ready to disassemble and reassemble the mess tent as soon as it's clear for the biggest party this camp has ever seen. All we need now is for you to lower the checkered flag my friend.
"Whew…." Klinger said, taking a deep breath, "I can't believe this is actually happening." He looked up at Hawkeye nervously, "Is this actually happening sir?"
Hawkeye leaned down and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
"Maxwell…..this has been happening since the moment you first laid eyes on her in that O.R., this is just the culmination of what we all knew was destiny. So let's go out there and set the best thing that has ever happened in this camp into motion. What do you say?" Klinger grinned.
"I say let's do it Hawkeye." He replied.
————
It had been a very strange day for Ellie Marie. She'd spent most of the afternoon on shift in Post Op, which wasn't out of the ordinary in and of itself, but there seemed to have been a constant flow of people in and out. B.J. who she was on duty with, was endlessly heading down to the end of the ward to talk with one person or another who kept walking in. She'd taken her lunch break with Max like she usually did, but he'd seemed distracted the whole time. That again was not too disconcerting to her, they'd had a huge batch of wounded two days earlier and she knew that always meant piles of extra paperwork for him. Yet, there was also that strange impromptu meeting with Colonel Potter that she hadn't been included on. She asked Max about it but he'd just said something vague about housekeeping stuff, and she was off the hook for it, and now she was sitting in the mess tent eating her dinner alone for probably the first time since she'd come to the camp.
"Hey Ellie! Where's your posse?" Bigalow said brightly, sitting down next to her.
"I honestly have no idea." Ellie Marie said, picking at her meatloaf, "things have been kind of weird all day. Have you noticed?"
"Not really." Bigalow said, "But it happens sometimes, you know? Your rhythms just get out of sync with everyone else's. I'm sure it'll even out."
"Yeah…I'm sure it will." Ellie Marie agreed, "It's not like anyone seems upset or anything, things just seem….off." She rose to take her tray to the trash can.
"You planning on going to visit Klinger?" Bigalow asked.
"Yeah probably." She answered.
"Would you mind popping into the O.R. and grabbing my glasses for me? I'm due in Post Op and I left them in there earlier when I was inventorying our blood supply."
"Sure, no problem." Ellie Marie responded.
She walked up the hill towards the main office. When she went inside Klinger was nowhere to be found. She sighed heavily and moved to the doors that led through the scrub room and into the O.R. When she walked through them she pulled up short. Colonel Potter was standing in the middle of the room leaning against the second operating table, and smiling at her.
"Colonel?" She said in confusion, "what are you doing in here?"
"I was the one beside you when this particular event occurred. So it seemed appropriate that I get this thing out of the gate." He said.
"What thing?" She asked.
The Colonel held up a small white card and began to read.
I woke up that morning thinking it was gonna be like any other day. I guess nobody ever knows they're in the moment that's gonna change their life forever until after it's over. But there it was, I walked into this O.R., right to this table, and there you were. I couldn't see anything but your eyes and you were still the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. I remember thinking, 'God I didn't think they made eyes that blue' and then the first words out of your mouth were to give me a hard time, before you even knew my name. I think I always knew that's when I started to fall for you.
"Colonel….." Ellie Marie said slowly, her heartbeat picking up, "What's going on?"
The Colonel simply smiled at her and handed her the card.
"Time to head to the place where you became best friends Captain Lennox." He said.
She took the card from his hands and turned, her head spinning. She walked back out into the compound trying to decide what his clue meant. She suddenly noticed that in the few minutes she'd been in the office the compound had cleared entirely. There wasn't a person in sight, she walked down the road and out towards the outer guard post, the only location she could think of that would fit the Colonel's description. Sure enough, when she got close she saw Father Mulcahy sitting on the oil drum that was her traditional spot when she visited Klinger on guard duty. He looked up and smiled when he saw her coming.
"Good evening Captain Lennox." He said.
"Good evening Father." She replied, "I get the feeling you may be waiting for me."
"And you'd be right in that assumption." He replied with a smile, he held up yet another card.
Just a week after we met, you showed up here in the middle of the night. We barely knew each other but you trucked out here in the dark, just because I told you I hated being alone. That's the first time I realized how kind you were. We've got so many memories in this spot. Telling each other about our lives, finding out all the ways we were alike and different, reading more books than I can count, Me teaching you how to speak Arabic, just because you wanted me to have someone here I could speak it with. I always knew that was the real reason you learned, and I loved you for it. This spot is where you became the best friend I ever had or ever will have.
The Father handed her the card.
"Go to the place where you gave him his Christmas gift." He said with a smile.
Ellie Marie took the card and headed back into the camp. She was starting to suspect where this was going but she was trying not to get her hopes up too high. She opened the mess tent doors to find it completely empty. She'd half expected this to be where everyone was hiding. The only person in the room was Charles, sitting at one of the tables in the far left corner. She walked over to him and he smiled.
"You too?" She asked in surprise.
"Let it never be said again that I am not a team player in this camp." He said with a smirk, as he took out his note card.
I know this one is a little out of order, but I wanted to include it because we have more good memories in this tent than I can count, and almost none of them have to do with food.
Both she and Charles chuckled appreciatively.
The first time we danced together and earned our title as Fred and Ginger. Your birthday. The mock triage. A hundred conversations and little moments. I must have watched you talking and laughing while I was on the chow line a thousand times, just happy to be sharing your space, and everytime you'd look up and catch my eye, my day would get just a little bit better. Every second you've been in my life you've made it just that much brighter. But there is one food related memory in here that takes the cake, pun intended. It was when you gave me that baklava for Christmas. You got no idea how much that meant to me in that moment G. You gave me a piece of home, just because you knew I needed it. Once again you showed me how much you got me, and how much you cared about even the little stupid things, like a treat my Mom always makes at Christmas. You don't know how bad I wanted to kiss you right then and there. This is where I knew for sure that you were the love of my life.
Ellie Marie brushed a tear from the corner of her eye as she looked up at Charles.
"Atrocious grammar aside, who knew our Maxwell could be so eloquent?" Charles said wryly.
"I did."
He smirked and shook his head.
"Alright Captain, I've been instructed to send you on to the place you went on the worst day of your life." Charles said, handing her the card. She took it and nodded in understanding.
The sun was beginning to set as she walked across the still empty compound towards Post. Op. She walked around the back corner of the building where the shadows were already building and saw B.J. sitting on one of the crates.
"Ready to get into the not so fluffy stuff?" He asked. She nodded and he began to read from his card.
This one is a little tougher baby. I know this is probably a memory you'd rather not revisit but I want you to know this was the moment I fell completely in love with your amazing heart. You know how much I've always admired you, your passion for your job, how hard you work and how much you give to every patient under your care. It's why you're gonna be the best damned doctor in the world someday, and seeing how much losing Rinaldi broke you? It broke me too. As I held you in my arms and let you cry out all that pain and heartbreak it was the first moment I realized how connected we already were. I hurt because you hurt, and the only thing I wanted was to make it better for you. Then you know what happened next, you looked at me and it was the first time I felt it, the pull to you that just a part of me now. I'd never even thought of you that way but suddenly you were right there in front of me and I let myself imagine what it would be like to be yours. Never in a million years did I think I'd be lucky enough for that to be true.
B.J. smiled and handed her the card.
"I get the feeling our company clerk kinda likes ya." He teased, "How about you head over to the spot where Bonnie and Clyde had their first ride?"
She walked towards her own tent and saw Margaret standing next to it, in the exact spot where she'd spoken to Klinger just before they headed out to Seoul. She briefly wondered where she'd come from because she definitely hadn't been there when Ellie Marie had crossed the compound to talk to B.J. She shot a quick look over her shoulder and saw that the mess tent was now completely empty as well, Charles was gone. It seemed the entire camp was in on this. The thought made a lump of emotion rise in her throat.
"I'm the only one he trusted near the nurses quarters." Margaret teased, with a wry smile as she began to read.
I came here on the worst night of my life to tell you goodbye. I knew I probably shouldn't, that I was risking my entire plan, and it would have been smarter just to leave you a note, but even then I couldn't stand the thought of leaving without seeing your face one more time. So I came to say goodbye, and then you did the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me. You stood by me, even when I tried to push you away, even though it could have tanked your future right along with mine, you stood by me and refused to let me go it alone. You had my back in a way no one ever had before, and that's when I knew that you loved me just as much as I loved you. You've had my back everyday since, you got me through the darkest days with your never ending support, a caring word, a simple touch of your hand on my shoulder. You were my anchor, my life boat, you were my whole damn world. That's what you became, you became my world.
Margaret brushed a tear away as she handed the card to Ellie Marie.
"I hope you know how lucky you are Ellie." She said, "to have someone who loves you with every single cell in his body like this."
"Believe me, Major. I do." She said. Margaret gave her a quick hug.
"I'm so happy for you." She whispered, before stepping back, "Now this one isn't going to be as cryptic, because he wanted to make sure you got it." She explained, "Your last stop is the upper helipad."
"Alright." Ellie Marie said, and she took a deep breath.
She walked to the edge of the road and took the steep earthen steps that had been cut into the hillside up to the helipad. When she got there she was surprised to see that it was Hawkeye standing at the far edge in the last rays of the setting sun, not Klinger.
"You knew I was always going to insist on being part of the grand finale." He said with a grin, holding up the last card.
I wasn't gonna make you ride all the way up the side of the hill, so I figured this is close enough. You can just about see the cave from here. The cave where everything changed for us, gorgeous. I've never been as scared in my life as I was then. It's funny, I spent so much time here being scared that I was gonna die, being terrified watching other people do it, but when I thought it could be you? There's no words for that kind of fear. It made me realize I wouldn't want to spend one second in a world where you don't exist. The minute I met you it was like my world came alive in a way I never knew it could. And up on that hill, when I held you in my arms for the first time, I knew every second in the year and half before had been leading up to that moment. I came all the way to Korea to find a girl who was just three hours away my whole life, and it was totally worth it. I'd do it a hundred times over if it meant I'd get you.
Hawkeye looked up at her with a warm smile and handed her the card.
"You ready for this Captain?" He asked with a wink. She nodded.
He put his hands on both her shoulders and spun her around. Her breath caught in her chest. In the gathering twilight the compound below them was glowing with light. Every single member of the camp was standing in the middle of the compound holding a lit candle, and smiling up at them, and standing a few feet in front of them was Max.
"Your future awaits." Hawkeye said, giving her a gentle nudge.
She walked down the stairs, feeling in a daze and mesmerized by the beauty of all the twinkling lights. She made her way to the spot where Klinger stood and he immediately reached out and took both her hands.
"I can't believe all this!" She whispered, "is this actually happening right now?"
"You better believe it is, baby." Max said with a smile, as Hawkeye walked past them and took a spot next to B.J. at the front of the group.
"Eleanor Marie Lennox." Max began, and she already felt the tears forming in her eyes, there was no way she was getting through this without crying.
"I fell in love with you right here on this half acre of packed mud, on the far side of the world." He said, "every single day in a million little ways and moments you showed me that you were the piece of me that I never knew was missing until I found it. You make me a better, stronger, kinder man just by being by my side, and I don't want to spend a single second of my life without you."
He got down on one knee and Ellie Marie couldn't quite contain her small hiccup of happy tears.
"Will you do me the absolute honor of marrying me?"
"Yes!" She gasped through her tears, pulling him up and kissing him, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
He crushed her into his arms picking her up and spinning her around to the tumultuous cheers of the entire camp behind them. There was a fresh new wave of tears as he brought out the ring box and placed the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen on her finger. An oval shaped diamond surrounded by deep blue sapphires.
"Max…." She breathed as she looked down at.
"It was my grandmother's." He explained, "it's kinda one of the most precious heirlooms my family has. My Mom said she wants a picture as soon as I got it on your hand." He said with a smile. She started to cry again as she kissed him.
"I can't believe how well it fits!" She said, holding her hand up to admire it and still feeling like she was in a dream.
"I knew it would." He said, wrapping his arms around her from behind, "it was always supposed to be yours."
"Alright folks!" Colonel Potter called loudly to the crowd, "in honor of the 4077th's as yet greatest love story! Let's all retire to the mess tent for one good old fashioned engagement suaire!
Everyone cheered their agreement as the tide of people moved with him.
———-
"Let me see that rock again." Baker said excitedly a few hours later, reaching out and taking Ellie Marie's hand to admire her ring. "Damn that's gorgeous. You really did good Max." Klinger sent her an appreciative wink.
The party had been raging on, and everyone was having an amazing time. They'd set the mess tent up for a traditional party by pushing the tables to the side but with the added edition of two chairs placed on a makeshift platform at the far end under a banner that read 'Congratulations Future Mr. Mrs. Klinger!'. Ellie Marie and Klinger had taken their thrones for a brief time while everyone cheered and toasted them, but as the night went on and the dancing and frivolity became more rowdy, Ellie Marie had left her seat and taken up a spot on Klinger's chair with him sitting in his lap.
"I can't believe we're actually engaged." She said, leaning her head against his, she held her hand out in front of her admiring her ring for at least the hundredth time, "I'm going to be Mrs. Ellie Marie Klinger."
"God you don't know how much hearing you say that makes me wanna kick every single bum out of this tent and show you right here right now how excited I am about it." He said quietly into her ear. She giggled.
"So kids…..when's the wedding?" Hawkeye said, walking up to them wearing his purple bathrobe and Colonel Potter's ten gallon hat.
"Pretty much the second we get out of here and can plan it." Ellie Marie answered.
"It's gonna be the biggest, craziest Lebanese wedding Toledo has ever seen." Klinger confirmed, "and all of you are invited of course."
"Oh yeah? Can't say as I've ever been to a Lebanese wedding. How big are we talking?" B.J. asked.
"Let's put it this way, you ever heard of Mardis Gras, down in New Orleans?" Klinger asked.
"Of course."
"Child's play."
"Now that sounds like my kind of party!" Hawkeye said with a grin, "just say the word and I'll be there with bells on!"
The Colonel stood on a table and waved his hands.
"Ok troops!" He said, and he wobbled slightly. He'd been imbibing as much as anyone. "Now that the evening is winding down I wanted to take a moment to make one last toast! These two crazy kids, one a bit crazier than the other as we all know." Everyone laughed appreciatively, "have had a lot of things stacked against them, but I think it's safe to say it didn't take any of us long to see that they were absolutely and undeniably made for each other. Their road to this moment was a long one, with more than one pot hole along the way. I'll admit there were many times I thought they might not make it here, but by golly they figured it out, and I'm very proud to have been able to be a part of their beautiful story. So I would like us all to raise a glass, to the one hope that I think we all cling to in times like these." He raised his glass, "To love conquering all."
"To love conquering all!" They all echoed.