Chapter 57
Gyeonggi Korea; July, 25th, 1953
"So I get as far as Guam, and all the flights are canceled. Nothing going in or out." B.J. explained as Ellie Marie handed him a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Klinger at the table, "I'm sitting there in this crummy officers club and this guy comes up to me and says, 'you Hunnicutt, the doctor?' Well I didn't like the sound of that so I said, 'Nope, not me pal, I'm Hunnicutt the chaplain.' He says, 'Well chaplain, you'd better start praying for a miracle, because you're going back to Korea to do surgery."
"Ugh…I'm sorry Captain….that's some bum luck." Klinger said sympathetically.
"Was a third of the way home!" B.J. groaned.
"Gotta say….when I was screaming for a surgeon, I sure didn't think they were gonna dig you up." Colonel Potter said.
"Yeah….well it's done now." B.J. sighed, taking a sip of his coffee.
Hawkeye walked through the mess tent doors, and stopped dead when he saw him, staring blankly.
"Hey." B.J. said stiffly.
"Hey…."Hawkeye replied.
"You're looking a lot better than last time I saw you." B.J. observed, "How're you feeling?"
"In the pink…."Hawkeye said, and he walked over and took a seat next to Ellie Marie. Another moment of awkward silence passed between them before B.J. spoke again.
"Uh…look, I wanted to leave you a note. I just didn't have the time." He said.
"I didn't even know you were gone…" Hawkeye quipped lightly, "I just thought you were in the bathroom." B.J. shot him an amused smirk, and shook his head slightly.
"Gotta say it sure is great to be back!" He commented, looking pointedly out the screen walls of the mess tent, "Where are we by the way?"
"No no no no no!" Charles' voice rang out from just outside the tent, "Dolce! Dolce!"
The Chinese P.O.W.s rattled something off at him in response and then began to play again.
"That's still going on?" B.J. commented.
"Been almost a week." Colonel Potter confirmed, "but at least he found a hobby."
"Colonel Potter?" Father Mulcahy walked up to their table, "I had an idea and I was hoping you might be willing to green light it."
"If it has to do with giving more of our medicine away Padre I might point we're in a bit of a crunch currently."
"No no….nothing like that." He replied, "it's just, this fire has caused the briefest of breaks in the fighting. I was hoping maybe we could take advantage of it, and organize a fun day tomorrow, for the refugee children and also the children from the orphanage. All this has been very hard on them."
"Not to mention us…." Klinger said, "I know I could use to spend a day goofing off.
"And we could all use the time to unwind as well…." Father Mulcahy said.
"Yeah….." Klinger said, looking at him in confusion.
"I think it'd be great." B.J. agreed, "Three legged races, ball games, maybe we could even get a barbecue going!"
"I'd just love to get those children out of the orphanage for a few hours, you know?" Father Mulcahy added.
"Padre….I love it." The Colonel said with a smile, "You get things organized with the orphanage and we'll get things off the ground here."
"What?" Father Mulcahy said vaguely, he'd been looking at Hawkeye as the Colonel spoke and quickly turned his attention back, "Oh…uh right."
"Hey Father, why don't you show me to my new digs?" B.J. said, standing up and putting an arm around him to steer him out of the tent.
"Klinger, you think you can talk to the cook about rustling up some burgers and dogs?" Colonel Potter asked.
"Shouldn't be a problem." Klinger replied, "We've got no refrigerator here so he was already complaining about all the perishables needing to go."
"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later, ok?" Ellie Marie said, as she got up. She'd been watching B.J. and the Father as they walked across the compound and she'd just realized something.
"Everything ok, gorgeous?" Klinger asked, looking up at her.
"Yeah it's good. Just want to check on something."
She left the mess tent and walked the dozen or so yards to where the Swamp had been erected on the edges of the trees. Father Mulcahy was exiting from it as she walked up. He smiled kindly and nodded to her as he passed. She opened the door of the Swamp and saw B.J. sitting on his bed, unpacking his rucksack.
"You know part of me thinks it's silly to unpack this, knowing I'm most likely just going to be packing it again in a few days when they finally sign that truce." He commented, "but by the same token I want that to be exactly what happens."
"I hear ya…" She agreed with a chuckle, she sat down on the edge of Hawkeye's bed and looked over at him. "Hey Beej….."
"Yo?"
"Father Mulcahy's hearing got damaged by that mortar didn't it?" She asked, B.J. looked up at her sharply, which was all the confirmation she needed, "How bad is it?" She asked.
"He didn't want anyone to know." B.J. explained, "He was worried they'd send him home, and he feels a responsibility to be here for the orphans."
"I understand…." Ellie Marie assured him, "I'm not going to say anything. It's not like I have much of a leg to stand on in the secret keeping department." She gently patted her stomach, and B.J. smiled appreciatively, "He's doing a pretty good job covering it. But there are some small tells creeping through. If he wants to hide it I'll help where I can, I just wanna know how bad we're talking." B.J. sighed.
"I'd estimate he's at about 60% loss at this point, and it's progressive. He'll probably be completely deaf by August."
"Oh…poor man…." Ellie Marie said quietly, shaking her head.
"Don't say anything to him ok?" B.J. advised her, "Just cover for him when you can."
"Of course." She agreed.
———
"Come on, you can do it! Kick it!" Baker encouraged the little Korean girl who'd stepped up to the plate in kick ball. The little girl smiled at her and kicked the ball as hard as she could, sending it flying towards the river. Everyone cheered as Baker put the little girl on her shoulders and ran the bases as she giggled happily. When they got around everyone gave her a cheer.
"That was wonderful!" Baker said to her, "You did it! We won!"
"Hey Sidney!" Ellie Marie said, from her place as a spectator as he walked up beside her. "It's good to see you! Glad you could be here for this."
"Glad I could too…" He said with a smile.
"Isn't this great?" B.J. added, he was standing to Ellie Marie's left at an open grill, cooking hot dogs, "Just look at all their glowing faces!"
"Not to mention yours." Sidney observed, shooting him a wink, "Hey B.J."
"Hey Sid." He replied with a grin.
"Folks, can I have your attention please!" Colonel Potter called, raising his arms to get the attention of the crowd, "I need Captain Hunnicutt!"
"Hey hot dog man! Get your buns over here!" Klinger shouted, from his place next to Colonel Potter. He had a Korean boy on his shoulders who was wearing his Mud Hens cap.
Hunnicutt moved over to where they were standing in front of a table with a large white cake.
"What's going on?" Sidney asked.
"Not sure," Ellie Marie answered, "Why don't we go find out?"
They followed B.J., standing at the edge of the crowd.
"Now as you all know." Colonel Potter continued, "Hunnicutt would much rather be in the States celebrating his daughter Erin's birthday right now. So we thought we might be able to do something by proxy. As it turns out, little Kim here." Father Mulcahy handed him an adorable toddler girl, and there was an appreciative murmur through the crowd, "has the same birthday as Erin Hunnicutt."
He gave the little girl to B.J., as Klinger leaned down with his lighter and lit the three candles that were on the cake. Everyone joined in singing happy birthday, and then B.J. squatted down with the little girl.
"Look!" He said gently, "Isn't that pretty? Do you want to blow the candles out? Let's do it together. One two three!" They both blew and everyone cheered. "Ohh good job!" B.J. said, grinning as the little girl giggled.
"That's great." Sidney said with a smile, "Where'd you find a kid with the same birthday as Erin?" He asked, as Hawkeye and Margaret walked up beside them.
"We didn't really." Margaret explained, "There aren't any records on most of these kids. A lot of them, we don't know who their parents were or where they come from. So we just decided to find a little girl about three years old and make it her day."
"What better birthday present than your own birthday?" Hawkeye agreed.
A little boy ran towards them squealing happily and Hawkeye instinctively jumped back to avoid him.
"You wanna take a walk?" Sidney asked him.
"Yeah sounds good." Hawkeye agreed, "You sticking around here Ellie Marie?"
"Yup…" She confirmed, "gonna grab some cake and a hot dog and attempt to kick Major Houlihan's butt in a round of horse shoes."
"Bring it on, Captain." Margaret shot back with a smirk.
"Sounds good." He replied.
Hawkeye and Sidney walked away, beginning a slow trek around the perimeter of the camp.
"So I take it you being here means people are still worried I'm not all there?" Hawkeye said quietly, focusing on the ground as he walked.
"Heard you took a tank for a spin." Sidney replied.
"Everybody was getting shelled on account of that tank, and I got rid of it! You call that crazy?" Hawkeye shot back defensively.
"Actually, that might have been the sensible thing to do." Sidney agreed calmly, "but I am curious what was happening with that kid a minute ago." Hawkeye sighed heavily.
"Yeah….maybe you got me there." He admitted, "I was watching him, and then all of a sudden I noticed I had a butterfly collection in my stomach."
"Guess maybe that's something we'll need to work on." Sidney said, "What else have you been going through?"
"Well let's see….yesterday I spent a year in the operating room. I was up to my ankles in cold sweat and panic……" He sighed again, "I'm a little out of control Sidney. Surgery used to be like falling off a log, now it's more like falling off a cliff."
"You know just because just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you have to be perfect. Your patients aren't." Sidney pointed out, "They have pain….they're afraid. Actually, they're probably better off with you knowing how they feel. Might make being a surgeon a little hard, but it might also make you a better doctor…..something to think about anyway…."
"I can't sleep…."Hawkeye said quietly.
"Then you should take something." Sidney suggested.
"No…if I don't sleep then I talk. If I don't talk then I think. I think too fast! If I could slow down my thinking then I……I just think too fast that's all…." He stopped walking and kicked nervously at a stone by the path, "I mean I don't think we have to make a big deal out of this you know?" He looked up at Sidney quickly, "I think too fast and I'm afraid of children….that's not….it's not terrible." They started walking again, "Oh and I'm stalking a pregnant lady because I have an obsessive need to keep her unborn baby alive, but I think the correlation there is pretty easy to see."
"Say what now?" Sidney said, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah….ever since I found out about it. First I was happy, almost psychotically so. Then she nearly got hit by a truck and ever since I get cagey if I don't know where she is or what she's doing. It's gotten better though, at first I couldn't let her out of my sight. Now as long as I check in with her in the morning, and before bed, and intermittently throughout the day….I can handle it. She's been so understanding about it too….her and Klinger both."
"Klinger?" Sidney stopped walking and looked at him in surprise, "the pregnant woman is Ellie Marie?"
"Yeah. Didn't I say that?"
"Nope….you left that part out."
"Oh….sorry……so anyway Sidney what do you think? Are we heading back to the looney bin?"
"No….I don't think so. You seem pretty aware of your triggers, and what's causing them. The truth is you may never be complete over this, learning to cope with things as they come up is your best course of action."
"So you're saying I might find myself randomly terrified of children and over protective of pregnant ladies forever?" Hawkeye asked.
"Doubtful." Sidney answered, "those things should pass, but that doesn't mean other things won't show up here and there. As long as you keep acknowledging them, and talking them through, I think you're going to be fine."
"If that was meant to be comforting….I gotta say it was lackluster."
"I'd always prefer to be comforting when I can." Sidney replied, "but realistic is more important."
—--
Ellie Marie tossed her horseshoe and it clanked perfectly around the peg.
"And that's game!" She said triumphantly, shooting a smug grin at Margaret.
"Too bad that shell didn't take out your right shoulder." Margaret muttered with a smirk.
"Hey Sidney!" Ellie Marie said as he walked up to them, "Did you want to–" Her words were cut off as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Hey…what's this for?" She asked, hugging him back.
"I'm thinking Hawkeye may have let him in on the camp's newest member." Margaret observed with a smile.
"Oh…" Ellie said, as Sidney let her go and beamed at her.
"I'm so happy for you." He said kindly, "you and Max are going to be the most phenomenal parents. I can't wait to meet the extraordinary person that two exceptional people like you will raise."
"Thanks Sidney…." Ellie Marie said, a lump rising in her throat. Behind them, the sound of chopper blades filled the air.
"That's my ride." He said with a small smile.
"Now?" Ellie Marie asked, "but you just got here!"
"Duty calls I'm afraid…" He replied.
"Sidney…" She asked quietly, "is this goodbye?"
"It's see you later." He said, squeezing her shoulder, "I'll find my way to Boston to check up on my favorite psych student before you know it."
Ellie Marie grabbed him and hugged him again.
"You changed my life Sidney Freedman." She whispered in his ear.
"You changed your life Eleanor." He replied, "I was just lucky enough to get a footnote in one chapter."
She let him go and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Tell Max I said congratulations!" He called, as he jogged towards the helicopter, "and tell all the other screwballs I said it's been a blast!"
"Will do!" She called back as he hopped into the chopper and it took off.
———-
"Heads up Captain!" One of the corpsmen warned, and Ellie Marie looked up from the chart she'd been reading just in time to keep from walking into the line of P.O.W.s they had waiting to board a truck.
"Hey! What are you doing!? Where are you taking these people?" Charles said sharply, running up beside her.
"We gotta get 'em to the relocation center up by the line Major." The corpsman explained, "As soon as the truce is signed, these guys gotta be ready for the big switch. We're swapping their prisoners for ours."
"Alright that's fine…" Charles replied, "Just leave me five of them. Him, him, him, him, and him." He pointed out the five Chinese musicians.
"Sorry, Major. They all go."
"You can't!" Charles said in frustration, "Not yet! We've come too close to stop now!"
The corpsman shrugged apologetically as he loaded them into the truck.
"Ok move out!" He yelled to the driver.
As the truck pulled away one of the prisoners yelled something to Charles in Chinese and waved. They all picked up their instruments and began to play the piece by Mozart that he'd been teaching them. He gave a sad smile and raised his own hand to wave goodbye, before turning to walk back towards the Swamp.
Ladies and gentlemen. A voice rang out over the loudspeaker. Five minutes ago at 10:01 AM the truce was signed in Panmunjom. The hostilities will end 12 hours from now at 10 PM. The war is over!
Cheers erupted from all around the camp, but Ellie Marie stood frozen in place. She felt like heart had stopped beating, and she couldn't seem to make herself believe that what she'd just heard could actually be true. She looked up and saw Klinger come running out of the large tent they'd been using as their office. Their eyes met and suddenly she was running. He met her halfway and swooped her up into his arms, lifting her off the ground as they kissed passionately.
"We did it baby!" He said against her lips, "We did it. We're going home."
"We're going home!" She repeatedly, laughing and crying at the same time, "we're going home together! All three of us." He put her down and leaned over to plant another kiss on her stomach.
"You hear that peanut?" He said, "You get to go meet your family! They're gonna be so over the moon to find out about you!"
"THE WAR IS OVER! THE WAR IS OVER!"
A dozen people had started a conga line through the camp, and were chanting. Ellie Marie and Klinger laughed as they watched.
"Hang on!!" Colonel Potter shouted over the noise, "Listen!!"
They all fell silent as the sound of choppers filled the air.
"We've got wounded coming! So listen up!" He continued, "We'll operate on the ones who can't wait. Those that can we take with us! I-Corps wants us back in Uijeongbu right away!"
Uijeongbu Korea; July 27th, 1953
"Hunnicutt! Take a look at that boy over there!" Colonel Potter barked, as they organized the patients in their own pre op.
"Colonel got a bad one here! Chest case!" Ellie Marie called, as the Colonel ran over.
"Does this look like peace to you?" He muttered, and she smiled sympathetically. "Alright everybody let's get to work!"
"Ok let's make sure everything is cleaned up and ready!" Ellie Marie called out as she ran into the O.R.
"'I've got fresh sponges ready to go Captain!" Bigalow replied.
"Thank you Lieutenant! Ok corpsman, bring the first one in and put him right there. Major Winchester will take him."
"Ellie Marie…." Margaret began, but she cut her off.
"My shoulder is fine Major and my ribs are manageable. You're not benching me when we're this swamped. Besides, you think I'd miss the last O.R. session from hell?" Margaret smirked.
"Alright fine….who am I to stop you."
It is 2 PM, in exactly 8 hours the Korean War will be over. It's a time for summing up, and these are the most up-to-date figures we have.
"Oh perfect….I love a little statistical analysis with my carnage…." Hawkeye muttered, "clamp." Ellie Marie handed it to him.
The cost of the war to the United States has been placed at 22 billion dollars.
"Holy Toledo….."Klinger muttered, as he hung an X-Ray up on the light table.
"Don't look at me, I only get paid 300 dollars a month." B.J. quipped.
In human terms, the cost was much greater. U.N. forces have suffered the following casualties. Killed in combat; 71,500. Missing and captured; 83,263. Wounded; 250,000.
"Make that 250,000 and one." Hawkeye said, as they closed up their patient.
"And 2." said B.J.
"3." Colonel Potter added.
"4." Charles finished.
"And there's still 12 more out in the hall…." Klinger pointed out.
On the communist side, 1,347,000 people were killed or wounded. The war also killed 400,000 Korean civilians.
"This is not a good place to have a career as an innocent bystander." B.J. muttered.
If you add it all up, it comes to more than 2 million people killed or wounded.
"Now that's what I call a grand total." Hawkeye said with a sigh, as he finished suturing the wound.
In addition, one fourth of all Koreans are homeless and 100,000 are orphans.
"What did he say?" Father Mulcahy asked, looking up at the P.A. speaker, "How many orphans?"
"100,000 Father." Ellie Marie said, quickly pulling her mask down so he could see her lips.
"Dear God….." He whispered.
———-
"A big glass of fresh milk…." B.J. said wistfully, and they all murmured appreciatively.
"For me, a banana." Hawkeye said, "and of course what's a banana without a piece of chocolate cake?" They all laughed.
"What are you laughing at? It's delicious!" He protested.
"I'm going to take a three hour bubble bath…." Margaret said.
"Ugh…yes!" Ellie Marie groaned in agreement, "What about you Colonel? What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get home?"
"Well," The Colonel said as he took the retractor from Kelly, "I like fresh corn, and I mean real fresh corn. So I think maybe I'll just take the hot plate out to the garden, make a pot of boiling water, and then I won't even pick the corn. I'll just bend the stalk till the ear drops in the water and it eat it right their standin' up!"
"Scrumptious!" B.J. said, as they all laughed again.
"How about you Charles? What are you looking forward to?" Margaret asked.
"I'm looking forward to a hemostat!" He snapped at her.
"Hemostat doctor." She said flatly, handing it to him, "There's no need to bite my head off."
"Sponge." He demanded, ignoring her comment. She handed it to him.
"You know I don't see why some people can't just be grateful when other people try to help them…." She said pointedly.
"Oh don't you?" He retorted.
"I think a person is lucky if someone cares enough to help. Where would I be without my father's help?"
Charles snorted derisively.
"Where indeed?" He said, "He's pulling you in three different directions. If you get any luckier there's gonna be a piece of you in every corner of the world!"
"Maybe some people just can't feel gratitude!" Margaret shot at him.
"Maybe some people like having other people run their lives, but some people don't!" He retorted.
--
Although we are well past the halfway point in these final 12 hours, both sides continue heavy artillery shelling. Further bulletins as they arrive.
"You want a sandwich baby?" Klinger asked, sitting down on the bench next to her in the scrub room and holding it out.
"What's in it?" She asked.
"Cucumbers…watercress…a little French mayonnaise…"
She shot him an amused eye roll.
"You cut the crusts off?"
"No…."
"Well then forget it."
He chuckled as she took the sandwich out of his hand and took a bite.
"Tell you one thing I'm not gonna miss. Bologna." She said with a sigh.
"We got that stateside too ya know." Klinger pointed out.
"Not in our house," She said, "I'm instituting at minimum, a five year ban." He laughed appreciatively.
"You got it gorgeous."
"Hey….speaking of going home…" Ellie Marie said.
"Seems like all anyone's speaking of." Klinger replied, and she smirked.
"Very true, but it got me thinking. Your parents are doing all this work to get the house set up for us right? I don't know why I never thought about this before, and I don't know if you have….but we keep talking about setting up our home in Toledo…"
"But we're gonna be in Boston for the next four years at least?" Klinger finished, smiling at her, "Yeah….I thought about it."
"And how do you feel about that?" She asked, "you've been talking about going home to Toledo since the day I met you. Are you really ok with just being there for a month or two and then moving away again?"
"Baby….." He brushed his hand across her cheek, "You got a lousy memory." He teased, "I told you. My home is wherever you are. That's all I care about now. Wherever you, and our little peanut are, is where I wanna be. Besides, Boston is a big city too, I'm sure I'll find plenty to do, and we'll spend our summers back in Toledo and visit on holidays. It's gonna be great." Ellie Marie kissed him.
"You're the best dollface." She said, "The absolute best."
"Well I try." He said with a shrug, "guess you gotta get back in there huh?" He nodded towards the O.R.
"Yup….." She agreed, "Wouldn't be a grand finale if they didn't have us operating through the night would it?"
President Eisenhower is expected to ask for an emergency relief fund of 200 million to rebuild the war torn Korean economy. Another 200 million may be allocated for the reinforcement of the Vietnam Army in its own war against communism. It is now three hours before the cessation of hostilities.
"Where's Vietnam?" Klinger asked, as they walked back into the O.R.
"South East Asia I'm pretty sure." Ellie Marie answered.
Sorry to interrupt your peace bulletin folks, but we got wounded in the compound! We need people for triage! Looks like it's all over but the shooting.
"Who's free?" Colonel Potter asked, looking around.
"I can go." Ellie Marie said.
"I'll assist her." said Charles, stripping off his gloves and following her outside.
"Ok we'll take him second!" She said a few minutes later, as they organized the patients, "What else you got?"
"There's a P.O.W. over here." The driver said, and she and Charles followed him.
"He was in the back of the truck when it was hit."
"Half his chest is gone!" Ellie Marie said sharply, "does he even have a pulse?"
"Oh god no….."Charles said weakly. Ellie Marie looked up at him, and then suddenly registered what was left of the Chinese uniform on the man.
"Oh Charles….." She said, her eyes filling with tears.
"Is there anything we can do for him Doc?" The driver asked. Charles continued to stare at the man, seemingly unable to move or speak. "Doc?" The driver asked again.
"He wasn't even a soldier…." Charles whispered, "He….he was a musician. What happened to the others in the truck with him?" He looked desperately at the driver.
"He's the only one who made it this far sir." The man said apologetically. Charles took a step back, shaking his head slightly as if to push away the horror of it.
"He's gone." Ellie Marie said quietly to the driver before standing and taking a step towards Charles, "Charles…." She said gently, "We're going to get these others prepped. Why don't you take a break?" He looked up at her blankly.
"Ok…." He said, and he turned mechanically and walked towards the Swamp.
Ellie Marie was helping Ginger get vitals on one of the last patients they needed to bring in when all of a sudden there was a loud crashing noise and a shout. She looked up, realizing where it had come from.
"You got him Ging?" She asked, and Ginger nodded quickly.
Ellie Marie took off running and threw open the door of Swamp. Charles was on his knees in the middle of the floor. The broken shards of his record collection lay scattered around him. She dropped quickly and pulled him into her arms where he clung to her tightly as sobs racked his body.
———
"How you doin?" She asked Hawkeye a little while later, as the corpsman took out another of their patients.
"I'm just barely getting through it…." He replied.
"Congratulations." She said, "that's all we can ask for."
"Got another one!" Father Mulcahy yelled, "She was thrown into a ditch by the shelling! She can't be more than eight years old!"
They brought the little girl in and put her on the table in front of them. Hawkeye looked down at her and seemed to freeze.
"Doctor….her pressures dropping." Baker said, from the head of the table where she was running anesthesia. Hawkeye continued to stare.
"Pierce….do you need to switch with me? I can take her." Colonel Potter offered.
"No…"Hawkeye said, shaking his head and taking a deep breath, "I've got her. Scalpel Ellie."
"Here you go Doctor." She said, handing it to him, "You've got this."
This is Robert Pierpoint speaking to you from Panmunjom. It's one minute to 10:00 PM. We can still hear the sound of nearby artillery. At some point during the next few seconds the gun shots should go silent as the cease fire officially goes into effect.
They all collectively held their breath as the gunfire continued and then suddenly went quiet. They looked around the completely silent O.R. at each other, hardly daring to move for fear of breaking the magic of the moment.
"There it is." Hawkeye said finally, "the sound of peace."
"Scalpel." Colonel Potter said to Bigalow, and they all slowly got back to patching up the last remnants of the bloody war.
————-
Ellie Marie looked around her now entirely empty tent and sighed. She brushed her hand over the stiff painted yellow canvas.
"You ready to head over to the party baby?" Klinger asked, coming up behind her in the doorway and wrapping his arms around her from behind.
"Yeah I guess….." She said sadly, "I know it sounds stupid. I know we've been waiting for this day ever since we first put boots on the ground. But I'm really gonna miss this tent."
"That's not stupid at all G." Klinger said, "It was our first home together, of course you're going to miss it. I spent years telling everybody how much I wasn't gonna miss a single thing around here, that I was gonna put it in my rear view the first chance I got. Now I can't stop seeing all the things I'm gonna miss! All the things I'll never see again. The place where we had our first kiss? The place where we had our first….everything else?" She looked back and grinned at him.
"The mess tent we got married in?" She said.
"The O.R. where I saw you for the first time."
"The compound where you asked me to marry you. We really did manage to build ourselves quite the amazing life in the middle of all this didn't we?"
"Crazy as it sounds….it's true." He agreed with a smile, "but how bout we go build ourselves an even better one?" She kissed him softly.
"Let's do it Toledo."
Colonel Potter stood at the front of the room and clinked his fork against the side of his glass.
"Hey!" He shouted, over the third round of Home Home on the Range, that B.J. and Hawkeye were leading, "I'm still your C.O for a few more hours! So when I go like this!" He tapped his cup again, "you go like this!" He motioned zipping his mouth closed, and they all laughed.
"Now I want you to take your seats please!" He continued, "Tomorrow the tents of the 4077th will be coming down for good!" They all cheered, "Uh….for an awful long time….we've been living together….and eating together…."
"And sleeping together!" Somebody from the back yelled, and everyone laughed again.
"Well I wouldn't know….I have a horse." Colonel Potter said with a smirk, causing more laughter, "Anyway….since this is our last evening together, I've been wondering what your lives will be like when all this is over. I thought it might be a good idea for each of us to get up and tell everybody what we'll be doing."
"You outta go first Colonel!" Klinger encouraged, from their spot on his left.
"Huh? Oh….." Colonel Potter smiled shyly, "well….there's a woman in Hannibal Missouri, who's spent the better part of 30 years waiting for me to come home from one tour of duty or another. She's had to learn to do an awful lot on her own. Now I'm going home to see if she can show me how to do it with her. So uh….part of the time I'll be a semi retired country doctor, but most of the time….I'm gonna be Mrs. Potter's, Mr. Potter." Everyone gave him a loud round of applause, and Ellie Marie beamed up at him, as Klinger gave her a squeeze.
"Alright who's next?" He asked.
"Me me!" Kelly said, jumping up, "I just put in to be assigned to Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu. To be with my family, who I really miss. And I just want to say….." She blinked back tears, "That I love you all….so much!" She sat down.
"Well I don't love you all…." Rizzo said, standing up, and everyone laughed, "some of you owe me money!" He pointed threateningly towards the back of the room, "and I really need it, cuz I plan on openin' up a business when I get back to Louisiana. I'm gonna start breeding frogs for French restaurants!" Everyone devolved into laughter again.
"What?" Rizzo said, looking around at them.
"Here go buy yourself a frog!" Hawkeye yelled, throwing a few dollars at him as he stood up.
"So uh….when I graduated med school, I couldn't wait for the…uh….the action of a big hospital…..but now I'm not sure action is all it's cracked up to be…..neither is cracking up for that matter." There were a few nervous chuckles around the room, "So I think I'll just take it easy for a while. I don't want to just have a bunch of patients parade through my office. I think maybe I'd like to….uh…talk with them, get to know who they are. So I think for now, I'll be very happy just getting Crab Apple Cove Maine to say, "Ahhh."" More chuckling, "And I can't say I've loved you all either…." He looked up with his classic impish grin, "but I've loved as many of you ask I could!" They all laughed and applauded.
"I'm going back to Colorado!" One of the corpsman said, "My father-in-laws got a ranch there!"
"I wanna see if I can get into radiology." Another one said.
"I got no clue what I'm gonna do!" said a third, inciting more laughter.
"Well….as you know I was all set to go back to Mill Valley to Peg and Erin and all that…." B.J. said, "but I tell you…. I had the best time in Guam! I met this little cookie at the airport bar, and she begged me to run off with her. So I figured, what the hell? You only live once right?"
There was a chorus of laughter and boos and several people threw hats and streamers at him.
"Kidding! I'm kidding!" He said, sitting down with a laugh.
"I'm gonna do something where people don't yell at me when I put food in front of them!" Igor piped up, "I'm gonna be a pig farmer!"
"What do you mean gonna be??" Hawkeye heckled.
"Well…." Bigalow said, standing up, "I was a nurse at the tail end of World War 2…..and now this….and you know something? I've had it. I'm done." They all murmured sympathetically.
"I was anxious to get back to being in a parish, and coaching boxing for the C.Y.O." Father Mulcahy said, "But lately I've kind of been interested in working with the deaf. Of course, not doing parish work, I'll miss hearing confession. But after being with you people for so long…." He smirked at them, "I think I've just about heard it all."
Everyone laughed loudly, and Ellie Marie caught the significant look that passed between him and B.J.
"I'm gonna stick with the Army." Ginger said, "I'd really love to live in Washington, so I'm gonna see if I can get a position at Walter Reed."
"What about you Winchester?" Colonel Potter asked, Charles jumped slightly and looked up from where he'd been staring into his cup.
"Well…uh…." He stammered, "I'm gonna be head of thoracic surgery at Boston Mercy Hospital. So my life will go on pretty much as expected….with one exception. You see, for me….music was always a refuge from this miserable experience. And now….it will always be a reminder." He sat down heavily, and went back to focusing on his drink. The room was very quiet, as Baker hesitantly stood up.
"So…um, I'm going to stay in nursing, but I want to do maternity, or pediatrics. After all this….it'll be nice to bring people into the world." She said. Ellie Marie caught Hawkeye's eye, and he winked at her.
"For the next few days I'll be on assignment to the 8063rd." Margaret said as she stood, "helping them break down. Then after a little furlough I'm going to my next assignment."
"Tokyo right?" B.J. asked.
"Wrong. Belgium." Charles corrected.
"You're both wrong." said Margaret, and she clutched her drink nervously as she spoke, "I've always looked to my father for guidance. When he makes up his mind about something he does it no matter what anyone says…..So that's what I'm going to do. What I've wanted to do for a long time, work in the States, in a hospital." They all gave her a small round of applause and she looked up and smiled, "There's a lot of my father in me…." She continued, "It's never been his way to tell people how he feels about them. So I guess that's why….I never told my nursing staff what I told other people about you. It's been an honor and a privilege to have worked with you, and I'm very very proud to have known you all." She looked around at all the women in the room stopping on Ellie Marie last, who put a hand to her lips and blew her a kiss. Margaret smiled and blew one back.
"Well….I know this might come as quite a shock…." Klinger said with a smirk, standing up, "but I'm going back to Toledo!" The whole room erupted into cheers. "But uh….we won't be there too long cuz in the fall the gorgeous lady and I are headed to Boston. Not sure exactly what I'll be doing there yet, except for being the biggest cheerleader ever while she becomes Dr. Klinger, psychiatrist." More cheering for Ellie Marie who stood up next to him.
"And this seems like as good a time as any to let you guys know a little something else that Max and I are going to be doing this fall she said." Klinger looked over at her and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Yeah?" He said quietly, and she grinned and nodded.
"Turns out." He said addressing the group again, "Ellie and I are gonna be leaving Korea with one hell of a souvenir…." He put his hand on her stomach, and it only took a second for everyone to realize what he meant. Then the entire tent erupted with cheers and cat calls, both Kelly and Baker started to cry and hugged each other.
"While we know we made this little miracle on our own…" Ellie Marie continued, and B.J. gave a loud whistle that made everyone laugh, "we wanted to tell you all before we left. Cuz in a way….it kinda does feel like this baby belongs to all of you too. And with that being said….we wanted to tell you all one more thing."
"We've been doing a lot of thinking about what we want to name this little Peanut." Klinger explained, "and one thing we knew for sure is that it had to be something that symbolized the crazy unbelievable things and people that were with us when he or she showed up in the world."
"So if it's a girl……we're going to name her Margaret Frances." Ellie Marie said, and both Major Houlihan and Father Mulcahy eyes widened.
"What….."Margaret said, looking at them in disbelief.
"And if it's a boy…..he's gonna be Benjamin Walter." Klinger added. Hawkeye looked up sharply, staring at them in awe.
"Awwww come on now….you can't do that to the poor kid." He teased, but Ellie Marie could see the tears in his eyes as everyone laughed appreciatively.
"We figured what better way to name the baby, than after the people who meant the most to us when we made them." Ellie Marie said.
"And by the way…." Klinger added, "if you're feeling jipped, don't worry, this nut job wants six kids, so we got plenty more names coming down the pipe." Everybody laughed again.
"We're thinking…..Charles Sherman and Betty Jane Erin, for a start." Ellie Marie added, winking at the other three.
The next morning Ellie Marie watched in awe as, for the very last time, all of the tents were taken down. As everyone moved towards their respective vehicles Kelly stopped and turned quickly around.
"Wait a minute! I'm taking my home town home with me!" She said, running over to the sign post and pulling down, Honolulu. They all followed suit and in a few minutes it was nothing but an empty pole. Klinger and Ellie Marie's ride was one of the supply trucks that was taking them to their connecting flight in Seoul. They walked over to it, and as they did the other officers gathered around.
"Goodbye Klinger." Father Mulcahy said, reaching out his hand, "May god bless you and your family."
"Thanks Father." Klinger said with a smile, the Father turned to Ellie Marie.
"Bless you as well sweet girl…." He said, and she hugged him tightly. She looked at him and signed the words thank you. He gave her a look of slight surprise but then smiled warmly, signing 'your welcome' back.
"Well Klinger…." Margaret sighed as she stood in front of him, "I know there've been times when I yelled at you and called you names."
"It's ok Major…I know you didn't mean it."
"Oh….well I wouldn't go that far…" Margaret said, but Klinger just grinned.
"I know you don't mean that either." He said, he pulled her into a hug, "So long Major."
"And you!" Margaret said, putting her hands on each of Ellie Marie's shoulders and resting her forehead against hers, "Thanks for being the best damn number two any head nurse could ever ask for."
"It was an honor Major…" Ellie Marie replied, her throat tight.
"And you better take good care of my little namesake in there!" She patted her stomach.
"Will do." Ellie Marie said with a smile.
"Max…."B.J. said, walking up to the two of them, "in years to come when I tell Erin about this, there are some things she's just not gonna believe. So uh….how about you autograph this for me?" He held out a picture of Klinger in his full Scarlett O'Hara get up, and they both laughed.
"You got it Captain." Klinger said, taking the picture and the pen he offered.
"Don't worry Beej." Ellie Marie assured him, "Erin is gonna get plenty of wild stories from her Uncle Max every summer when we come out to visit." B.J. smiled and leaned over to plant a firm kiss on the top of her head.
"Guess we'll be seeing you in Beantown soon eh Major?" Klinger said, winking at Charles.
"Yes…..what an inspiring thought…." Charles said with a dry smirk. He turned his attention to Ellie Marie, who felt the tears in her eyes as soon as he looked at her.
"Ok let's not make this a big deal Charles…."She said quickly, brushing them away, "We'll be in Boston at the end of August and I'm sure I'll see you at Harvard so much that I'll get sick of you." Charles smiled at that, and then cupped her face in his hands, tilting it up so he could place a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"You were always my ever fixed mark in the midst of these tempests Eleanor Marie…." He said quietly. She wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him tightly before finally letting go and turning to the Colonel.
"Well honey…."He said with a sigh, "Never in my life did I think anyone would give Evy a run for her money as the little lady I adored most. She still wins out of course, but you made one hell of a play for it." Ellie Marie felt the tears begin to fall as she hugged him.
"They couldn't have picked anyone better to be our leader than you sir, not in a million years.." She said quietly. She kissed his cheek at let him go as he turned to Klinger.
"Goodbye sir." Klinger said, his eyes also bright with tears.
"Goodbye son." Colonel Potter said, "I don't think I got the words to tell you how proud I am of the man you've become. Couldn't be prouder of you were my own damn boy…." Klinger grabbed him and they hugged fiercely, as Ellie Marie turned to say her final goodbye.
"Guess it's that time." Hawkeye said with a shy smile, "boy I tell ya when you first walked into that O.R. I never coulda guessed how much you'd turn this place upside down."
"Sorry." She teased, "I didn't intend to."
"Don't ever be sorry." Hawkeye replied, and he scooped her up into his arms, "you were one of the best things to ever happen here."
"You are an amazing man, Benjamin Pierce." She said back, "just stay brave enough to let people see how amazing you are under there ok?"
"I'll try." He whispered, as he put her back down. "Klinger…." He held out his hand to him. "So long kiddo….I'm gonna miss you." He said.
"Me too, Captain." Klinger replied, "I'm sure glad you're feeling okay now."
"Couldn't be better." Hawkeye said, and he reached out and squeezed Klinger's nose like he was honking it, "I always wanted to do that…" He said with a grin, and they all laughed.
"Alright baby? You ready to go home?" Klinger asked. Ellie Marie took a deep breath, and nodded. Klinger helped her into the passenger seat of the truck and then got in behind her. The engine started and they took off down the round watching as their friends waved, growing smaller and smaller, until they disappeared in the cloud of dust behind the truck.