Chapter Text
"Attention... attention..." the PA's pre dawn announcement awoke the exhausted personnel of the 4077th for the sixth time in two days.
"Again? Put it on a damn record!" Hawkeye growled.
“Why not just make an album? We’ll call it Odious din!"
"Hey, Beej! Wake up! Call the papers! Chuckles made a joke!" Receiving no response, Hawkeye sailed a poorly-aimed pillow in the parent's direction.
Charles offered a sleepy yawn, rising and pulling on his robe.
A startled, yelp suddenly pierced the darkness as Charles stepped backwards.
"You dodo!" Hawkeye scolded.
Face turning crimson, foot raised in mid air, the embarrassed major stooped to offer an apologetic pat to J.R.'s furry head.
"Daaad?! … Saave for mmmorn, ok?" The boy mumbled as the pillow tumbled from his cot onto the floor.
Hawkeye immediately cringed, covering his embarrassed face with the palm of his hand.
“Welcome to the nest,” Charles chuckled, reveling in his bunkmate’s embarrassment with an exonerated smirk.
"Shhhiitt!" The irate parent muttered, shutting his eyes and shaking his head. Immediately retrieving Hawkeye's pillow, he tossed it onto the floor, releasing his anger with it. Patting the pillow semi-aggressively, he whistled for the dog.
Waggle Junior lay down on the pillow, stretching and contentedly curling up into a ball.
“Good girl.” He gave the furry head a quick guilty pat as he quickly stepped around her. "One down," he told himself, bending close to his son. "Ok, Tyger.” Gazing into half slit eyes, he brushed a few stray hairs from them, simultaneously depositing a quick kiss on his kid’s forehead. "Shhh...sleep....love you.”
Jamie mumbled unintelligibly, turning from him. The father grinned, lovingly and deviously ”…..ya Brat.”
"G'night sweet prince….” Hawkeye whispered, grinning as he imagined bedtime at the Hunnicutt house…two kids, two dogs...and two very exhausted parents who couldn’t wait to be alone. “C’mon, King,“ he lightly slapped the parent’s shoulder.
B.J. rose quickly, following him out into the compound. Immediately, he tapped the back of Hawkeye’s head…a bit too roughly for his friend’s liking.
"Ok, I'm sorry. It was just a pillow, Okay?"
"Next time he has a nightmare YOU are putting him back to sleep."
“Ok Ok.” Hawkeye barely dodged the finger in his face. “But it wasn't MY idea to let him help with triage.”
“Nor mine. Go slap his Aunt…I’m sure you’ll get no complaints."
“Her I’d have to do it a lot harder.” Hawkeye reminded him, examining a superficial injury.
“Not that you’d mind.”
"He can wait."
Before B.J. could respond, Kellye hailed from across the road, "Hunnicutt!”
"Pierce!" Margaret simultaneously summoned Hawkeye to the side of a blood-spattered litter. "He won't let me examine him." She was tired and irritated.
"Maybe he just doesn’t like a woman who grabs. Unlike yours truly who welcomes…” Her nonsense scowl prompted a more mature response “Lemme try my bedside manner…”
A minute later he fell back on stupidity, “it hasn’t worked on you.. maybe it’ll work on him".
”I’m Dr. Pierce,” he began, sobering up quickly as he gently examined the frightened soldier. There was no doubt in his mind from the way the man’s blood was pooling underneath his jacket that he had a severe chest wound.
"No....no!" the Marine attempted to struggle.
"Hey fella, you can't thrash around like that.”
"My kid....go…in… ho...me…"
"Huh?"
“P-ocket..." The father of two tried to explain. His pain didn’t deter him from reaching as the surgeon gently but firmly restrained him. "Ok. Okay… Easy…Can I look?"
"Uuhh hmm..." The man was clearly in pain, but still determined to hold onto any fragments of his family at any cost.
Deja vous! Hawkeye reached into his chest pocket, gently wedging out wet papers. The crinkled, blood-soaked travel orders tugged his heart, while a worn photo simultaneously made him smile: A baby girl in the arms of a beautiful woman with her arm around a little boy holding a dog in his lap.
"Beautiful family.... I’ll take good care of it……Taking him first!" He yelled as the corpsman approached. "Get him inside! GO!"
"Need help, Hawk?" B.J. was beside him.
‘Hell no!' every instinct Hawkeye had ever had seemed to scream. 'Not him, not now!'
But he simply said, "Thanks, Beej. I got it."
“Looked bad, that's all..."
"Dammit! I said I got it!"
"Okay!" B.J.'s hands went up in confused self defense. He turned and walked away.
Sixteen hours later, the exhausted surgeons collapsed on their cots without even changing their bloody clothes.
"Captain Hunnicutt, there was a call for you while we were in OR." Klinger came in behind them.
"Thanks, Darling," B.J. mumbled, eyes closed, without moving.
“Don't mention it, swaytheart," Klinger responded in his best Bogart imitation, as he strutted out the door.
B.J. was after him in a flash, knocking him to the ground.
"Line backer in high school?" Klinger looked up into his face with stunned surprise.
B.J. immediately released his feet, standing with a slightly apologetic grin. "My wife?"
"Yeah, I told her you were in surgery. She said she'd call back.”
"No, no I"ll call her. Ah... What time is it there?... ah…Doesn't matter."
"It's midnight, Captain," stopped him cold. "Ah, damn. I might wake them. She's been collicky lately.... Then she'll have to put Erin to sleep. Aww, I can't do that."
"I'll put in a call soon as it gets light, Sir."
"Thanks .... was she upset?"
"Actually she seemed happy,"
"Erin probably hit another milestone." He rubbed his eyes, now more alert, muttered thanks and stumbled back to the Swamp.