M*A*S*H 4077 By Taylor Froelich and Sammi Simonar

Day 3: M*A*S*H Compound, Post-Op, 1100 Hours

Day 3: M*A*S*H Compound, Post-Op, 1100 Hours

The next day Colonel Potter came to talk to Jess.

"Jessica?" he asks, sitting down on the edge of her cot.

"Yeah?" she asks, not even looking at him but keeping her eyes on Dalli, willing her to wake up.

"Jessica, I know you're worried about your sister-" he started, but Jess cut him off.

"Jess! And she's my cousin, not my sister," Jess shouted, her voice getting caught in her throat as tears started running down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Colonel Potter said, apologizing before continuing. "You're well enough to not be bedridden anymore, so you need to let Adallia be."

"Dalli," Jess replied, her voice coming out choked with tears, she was still crying because she was so upset, realizing what he'd meant that she couldn't be next to her cousin anymore. "She hates the name Adallia, she likes being called Dalli," Jess explained.

"Oh," Colonel Potter said, and then his voice took on a serious tone as he explained, "Since the orphanage burned down, all the other girls are staying in the nurses' tents. But there's no more room, and we need the room in post-op for the wounded soldiers. Would you be all right sharing a tent with Captain's Pierce and Hunnicutt and Major Winchester? They have an extra cot in there, and they're pretty decent people once you get to know them," Colonel Potter said the last part with a chuckle.

With a sniffle, Jess asked, "Will I still be able to visit her?"

"Of course, you just can't be holding up a bed," Colonel Potter joked, trying to cheer up the red-eyed fourteen-year-old.

A small smile crossed Jess's face, and she agreed, "All right, I guess I can." Pierce and Hunnicutt seemed nice enough, she just wasn't sure how she felt about Winchester.